The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1916-07-21

method for avoiding mine fields, but
this much | 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 n tube which projects from the
Deutschland's bottom and through tillS
tube we heave the lead. by system
of valves we prevent water entering
the hull while the SoundingS are Deihs
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 koenlS
referring TO the bells on our myers
song 1--WE were the tinger-ringed, bell
toed boys, and we didn't care damn
for all the British ships of the ollaii-
mel patrol"
Rid of the perilous straits finally, the
Deutschland breasted the Atlantic rol-
lers and proceeded upon its business.
Officers and crew had plenty of time
on their hands. The long days ana
nights were divided into foul-hour
watches. shifts Oh duty for four hours,
at leisure for four, on duty again 1or
four, and so on. necessarily they kept
yjgilant 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 searchllghtS.
A lot of time he p0ked the perlScOpc
clear and sighted looming perilS just
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
monograph. 1t is as much of the sub
marines equipment as torpedo tube.
We keep it going pretty steadily (at
times, of course, when there was no
special danger in enjoying music), and
we had fine lot Of records, though
the American records were not es-
pecialIy up to date"
Have any time to read, captain?
Did the ship boast of library"
"You bet it did" he replied. 1--WE
have fine little library of German,
American, English and Spanish books"
ut was remarkable" Koenig said
"all things considered, how seldom the
submarine was forced to dive. In the
entire trip only ninety miles was un-
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 a close
call.
No Warship Saw Them.
mot one time in the whole trip
were we seen by warship," explained
| Captain koenig. "And | 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. It can stay down four
| days, if necessary. 1t can resist the
terrific pressure of 300 feet of water.
Boat a Mass of Machinery.
AS described by DR.. John G. Travers,
assistant q. S. health officer, who was
taken through the boat by Captain
KOenig, the Deutschland's interior ap-
pears to be mainly a mass of machin-
cry. She has but one deck below and
a seventeen-foot depth of hold for her
cargo. DR.. Travers descended through
| the forward hatch, where he found
the crews quarters, hunks on either
side Of narrow pasSageway leading
to compartments occupied by the cap
tain and his two officers. The cap.
tain's room is scarcely six feet square
and barely high enough for a man
| to stand.
| 1t is furnished all in metal, with
the exception Of 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 into
the officers messroom, scarcely larger
than the staterooms. with a galley
built with all the economy of space
of Pullman dining-car kitchen. Aft
the messroOm, about one-third the