The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1916-07-21

meInO0 Tor avoiding mine HeluS, Du1 |
this much l can say-we Germans |
know a trick to beat the mines danger
and / used it in my run through the
Channel.
taking soundings is simple. There
is a tube which projects from the
Deutschland's bottom and through this
tube we heave the lead. BY system
of valves we prevent water entering
the hull while the soundings are being
taken. But this is dry talk. Let me
tell you about our happiest evening.
The Champagne Party.
Then the tale of the champagne
party came out.
"And we felt that way" said Koenig,
referring to the bells on our fingers"
song. 1--WE were the finger-ringed, bell
toed boys, and we didn't care a damn
for all the British ships of the Ckan-
mel patrol"
Rid of the perilous straits finally, the
Deutschland breasted the Atlantic roll
lers and proceeded upon its business.
officers and crew had plenty of time
on their hands. The long days and
nights were divided into four-hour
watches, shifts on duty for four hours,
at leisure for four, on duty again for
four, and so on. necessarily they kept
vigilant watch for enemy craft-any
craft.
Koenig. who knows New York as
well as he knows Bremen, says the
North sea and the Channel were as
crowded as Broadway, and at night
about as garishly lighted with those
"detestable destroyers" playing tag all
over the waters with their searchlights.
A lot of time he poked the periscopc
in time to dive without being spotted.
But there were dull hours.
Had Photograph Aboard.
"How did you folks amuse your
selves?" he was asked.
Mostly" he said, with the phono-
graph. Every submarine carries a
photograph. 1t is as much of the sub
marines equipment as torpedo tube.
We keep it going pretty steadily tat
| times, of course, when there was no
special danger in enjoying music), and
we had a fine lot of records, though
the American records were not es-
pecially up to date"
"Have any time to read, captain?
| Did the ship boast of a library"
"You bet it did," he replied. 1--WE
have a fine little library of German,
American, English and Spanish books"
''It was remarkable" Koenig said,
'aIl things considered, how seldom the
submarine was forced to dive. In the
entire trip only ninety miles was I'M
dersurface going. This ninety miles
was logged as straight progress and
did not include the times the Deutsch-
land simply went below and sat on Its
bunkers, staying there until it felt it
was quite judicious for nice, fat,
quite helpless U-boat to risk sun or
moonlight. There never was close
call.
No Warship Saw Them.
"Not one time in the whole trip
were we seen by warship," explained
Captain Koenig. "And l very much
doubt if as many as half dozen mer-
chant ships spied US. We, of course
saw scores of craft. The very last one
we sighted was thirty miles off the
virginian capes, a,big white fruit boat
rolling home from Jamaica, suppose
The Deutschland submerged less
than twenty times from Bremerhaven
to Norfolk. Six times in the North
sea it reckoned discretion as the bet
ter part, six times in the English chan
mel, and six times in the Atlantic. Once
in the Channel it chung to the sea floor
for ten hours. 1t can stay down foul
days. if necessary. 1t can resist the
terrific pressure of 800 feet of water.
Boat a Mass of Machinery.
AS described by DIR. John G. Travers
assistant U. S. health officer, who was
taken through the boat by Captain
Koenig, the Deutschland's interior ap
pears to be mainly mass of machin
cry. She has but one deck below ano
a seventeen-foot depth of hold for hei
cargo. DIR. Travers descended through
the forward hatch, where he found
the crews quarters, hunks on either
side of a narrow passageway leading
to compartments occupied by the cap
tain and his two officers. The cap
tains room is scarcely six feet square
and barely high enough for a mar
to stand.
1t is furnished all in metal. will
the exception of a small oak desk
Directly beneath the officers quarters
is the dynamo, which stores electrical
energy to drive the vessel when sub
merged.
Next DR. Travers was taken int
the officers messroom. scarcely large
than the staterooms. with gale!
built with all the economy of spac'
of Pullman dining-car kitchen. AT
the messroom, about one-third tn
ships length from her stern, is tn
J submerging machinery and two peris
copes.
Calls 1t Amazing Sight.
! II. e