The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-10-06
------. (Continued.) / CHAPTER xl.
Torpedoes Are Launched.

HALF mile ahead and to the 1 M right of the Arizona giant A wave of spray spurted into the 1 air; another nearer as the en- enny's shell ricocheted. It was by without damage, and Bob Wendell . gave no more thought to it. He ig- nored as completely the position of tho destroyers dashing ahead on both sides of the Arizona. He had forgot ten entirely since the first loading of the gun to look for the American bi- planes in the sky The shell from his gun was still in flight. The gun again was reloaded and ready. I
 i. "No changer the voice on the tele- phone circuit cried. The visuals con 1rmed it The voice through the speaking, tube said it once more. "No thangeT That meant a hit.
 Fire by. salvos!'
 Salvos! All six forward guns togeth- scr, both turrets firing at once. The bther guns in Wendell's turret, hidden behind their bulkheads, were ready They. were bulwarked up, but they were aimed as unit A pressure on the firing key in Louden's hand could fire them, all together. The buzzer on Louden's breast was sounding now for the simultaneous discharge of all, but the man strained less as he stopped, and he waited only an instant before hiS fingers closed on the key. i.l
 '.Up a hundred; one right! Up hun dred; one rfght!v Corrections were com 4sx~. r,zxt, <<>v. <f<s. xxx,d <JcAor<;ov, So all six shells had missed. They had fallen short a little and had gone astcrn Were the enemy's ships satfs- led with having drawn the American ships out so far? Were they pushing iat full speed to run away? -
 .Smoke-not the yellow, gaseous clouds from the guns just fired agaiiA but a wide, black pail which did not 2 clear away, but rose higher and spread thicker and thicker and blinded Wen d1il's glass as bis guns were ready to { Hfe again. The smoke. blown by the wind, cl0uded over the battleship, and < more smoke and more poured up ahead and on both sides and shut out all light from turret No. 2. The forward turret also was silenced by it, shroud- cd Iip blacknessa heavy, oil smelling, < sooty pail through which the Arizona now rushed. It came from the Ameri- on destroyers which had been trailing only the usual streamers of brown be hInd them as they raced ahead of the battleships. Now they had flung them ]. ,teIves across the battleships' course with tunnels belching up the black pail which came to curtain the ship, and as the Arizona's great guns were silent the sharp, incessant "pang" of the de stroyers' quick firers came back on the wind.
 "submarines! The regents spbma- rinesv' i,Mo
 The smoke as well as the clatter of gthe torpedo defense guns proclaimed that; the destroyers, sighting peri scopes, were throwing the screen of smoke to hide the battleships, while with their four inch guns they were driving the submersibles, blind, be low Al
 But, before they were fired upon had the submarines taken a success ful sight7 Had they started their tor : pedoes straight on their ways through the wsEer? Bob Wendell turned from : the smoky cloud outside the turret tc the light of the battle lanterns whict showed him his men standing idle <, Staring at each other and helplessly whiting beside the uselessly loaded guns in the armored trap of the turret while, hidden in the smoke, the Arizona sheered suddenly and altered speed tc try to escape, at the last instant, the strike of the torpedoes which hat been launched.
 x There is a span of minutes following ' the learning that torpedoes have beer < dispatched at ship in action aud be fore the instant of their impact-or o their passing harmlessly-which re < ssembles few other intervals. The time
 e not long, usually; but. since the eff fcctive range of torpedo ,has, length ened to more than 5000 yards, thu Interval may be almost ten minutes ! and during those minutes there is lit tie for any one-c ycept the engine crew 4 and navigators-tb do but to think sp AI1 preparation for torpedo attacl had been made on the Arizona. Lonl before, when the gun crews were run nipg t0 their battle stations, theil mates below had closed every watel tight door, isolated each fire room ana the engine room, and the heavy "col hsion" mat was ready to be brough up and lowered over the side ant drawn over the chasm, which torpedo would make, in an effort to stay tht first thrush of water. There was ab solutely nothing for Bob Wendell t do after his guns were loaded agail but to stand silent and cool befor
 his men, waiting either fe. the cloud
 of smoke to clear away aiid show tn
 gun pointers their target, or after tn
 crash and concussion of the torpedoe
 to direct his division in order as tn
 lsugles would be blowing the command 'sAbandon shipv'
 The bugles. # they blew. would no cal for practice this time, And thirt t-perhaps half-of the officers and mel might be saved; that was the Englisl experience with battleships hard hi E mine or torpedo. The others would