New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-20

There has been some discussion
/, America as to whether Mr.. Will
so,'s notes or some other more, Sc
,rs. and certain power caused the
Germans to abandon their deadhest
ga weapon. Inasmuch as this
geapon ceased to trouble the Eng
gsb a little earlier than it ceased
% sink neutrals, the latter alterna-
i've might be accepted as probable,
even without,further knowledge, but
further knowledge absolutely con-
firms this probability.
Nothing is more striking in the
conduct of this war than the way
IN which the British method Of ''slow
and sure" has justified itself. The
spperfeial clamor for sudden and
sensational proofs Of what England
is doing began in the first fortnight
NJ the war. Neutral countries even
wondered why the first month of the
war had produced no great his
torian.
In the mean time, England was
making the history Of the next thou
sand years; and that can only be
done on vast and deeply sunken
foundations. which must be laid in
sjler.e. Results, and solid results,
of ranite and oak were England's
ain. These are now appearing; and
while her great new armies are de-
nonstrating what England has ere
s.ed on that side, it is now possible
TO give q glimpse Of the farreaching
method that destroyed the menace
q the German submarine.
Silence an Effective Weapon.
It was done in silence, and silence
was one Of the weapons. Subma-
rines went out and never returned.
Other submarines went out, per-
picked. against a mystery, and these,
too. never returned, or returned in
riysteriously diminishing numbers.
Nothing was said about it till the
destruction Of the fftieth was quiet
ly celebrated at a small gathering
in London; and then neutrais began
&c inquire, with a new note Of curl
tsity, what is England doing?"
We heard tales Of steel nets-as
vague as the results would have been
but for certain great preliminaries
Of which we never heard. A few
days ago had the opportunity Of
SEEING the finished system; and this
threw a food Of light on the i'm
mense work that must have gone be-
fore in even this one branch Of our
sea warfare.
To begin with, a body Of men,
larger than the United States army,
was chosen from the longshore fish
trmen and trawler crews. They
we're gradually drilled, disciplined
and trained and put into naval uni
form. The accompanying illustra-
tion shows one contingent Of this
force (now over a hundred thousand
stroug) marching through the little
fishing port which is their headquar-
ters. They were chosen, Of course,
On an entirely different principle
irpm that Of the army. They were
tough sea dogs, of all ages, Injured
10 all the ways Of the sea, but not
at all to any form of discipline. This
N itself implies very great prelim-
inaries; for the finished product, as
seen in the picture, is fit to man a
battleship.
In the mean time their fishing
boats, trawlers and drifters were
gradually taken over by the govern
ment and fitted out for the hunt,
some three thousand of them. To
these were added a feet of fast
motor boats, specially built for scout
ing purposes. They were stationed
ct various points all round the ISL
and.
Mysterious Defences Used.
Night and day, in all weathers,
section replacing section, these
trawlers and drifters string them
selves out from coast to coast; while
on shore thousands Of workers are
turning out their own special NUM-
ions and equipment-nets, mines
and q dozen mysteries which may
not be mentioned.
From one Of their bases patrol
boat took me out along one of the
longest lines Of the flotilla. This in