Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1916-07-20


practice drill" he sald "and besides
we submerged, as / remember, five
times In the North sea, six In the Eng
fish channel, and three or four In the
open water.
YES" laughing heartily, Eyes, each
time there was q reason.
''The longest we actually stayed I'M
der was that ten hours in the English
channel, but we could stay four days.
At the end of that time our batteries
would be exhausted, and we would
have to rise and recharge them. Dur
ing the entire trip we Travelled a total
Of ninety miles under water.
"As far as the physical effect on the
ships company is concerned, we could
remain forever. We can submerge fifty
fathOms-three hundred feet-but as
matter of fact we never went nearly
that deep, and probably never SHALL"
Liked the submereing.
Those on the Deutschland besides
himself were First Mate Krapuhl, Sec
ond Mate Gyring, Chief Engineer Kleis
and crew of % men. Kleis, he said.
over and over again, was "the most i'm
portant of ALL" Then he told how the
crew spent the time.
"On board they busted themselves
with the machinery, for practically all
of them are mechanics. They played
cards, and they had their singing and
their sleeping and their sitting about,
and the time passed.
Best of all, they-all of us, In fact
liked the submerging. Unpleasant?
Indeed it was not. II was just like
sinking into a sort Of blue nest. We
open the portfolios, and then through
formations of the sea, and always we
| listened, listened, listened.
"How do we listen? There are
aboard two microphones, and with
them we were able TO hear the whis-
| Ting of buoy six miles off when we
were under water. And just before we
came up about thirty miles from the
| Virginia capes, we were able to hear
the ringing of bell buoy six miles
| from us.
"The screw of q ship we could hear
| quite plainly while it was yet a safe
distance from us. More than hearing
it, we could tell whether it was a
cruiser or a destroyer. 1t was quite
fascinating TO listen so.
Details Of the Trip.
Captain Koenig did not take the
Deutschland around Scotland, as has
been conjectured. He came straight
through the Channel, he said.
"We left Bremerhaven at noon on
June IA. We proceeded quietly to Hell
goland; there we stayed four days.
There were three reasons for, that: No
ship proceeds all the way after start
ing. 1t is too easy to calculate when
she may be expected at some given
place. So we lay in wait a while
Then, too, we wanted to train the men,
During those four days we drilled and
taught them hard, and when once more
we proceeded we had q capable sub
marine crew.
again, we had to trim the cargo
That must always be done after {
start is made. We must shift. thing.
about and stow them away. And every
thing needs to be tested. All worked
nicely.
1--WE carried $50 tons of fuel oil. o.
that we have % tons left-more thar
enough to take us back-and we shall
not ship any more here. Then we car
ried many tons of oxygen and twent!
tons Of fresh water, of which we haC
ten left.
1.-THE last time we submerged wa
as we were nearing the Virginia cape
and we saw an American boat ap
preaching. We thought it was a frui
boat so we just dipped under for tn,
last time. The men were always glaC
when we did that-it made sucl
smooth travelling. The Deutschlant
scarcely rolls at all under water.
"And that about completes the stor,
of the voyage. We travelled, we saw
ships and submerged, we travele,
again on the surface and at last W
arrived"
The Deutschland, built by the KrupI
Germania works, cost 100000. Thi
voyage will pay for her, he said.
Boat a Mass Of Machinery.
As described by DIR. John c. Travers
assistant U. S. health officer, who wa
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 ant
a seventeen-foOt depth of hold for he
cargo. DR.. Travers descended through
the forward hatch, where he fOunt
/ the crews quarters, hunks on eithe
side of narrow passageway leadin
to compartments occupied by the CAP
/ tain and his two officers. The car
tain's room is scarcely six feet squar
| and barely high enough for a ma
to stand.
t 1t is furnished all in metal, wit
the exception of a small oak desl
Directly beneath the officers quarter
} is the dynamo, which stores electrics
t energy to drive the vessel when sui