The Dolores star., 1917-06-08

the plugman swings his lever again
and closes the breech Of the gun.
That is what the plugman does.
While he is doing It five other
men are doing other things OF equal
Importance. The moment the gun Is
open the trayman slaps into the form
box metal contrivance which pro-
tects Its fine gears and edges from
being injured by the sharp point Of
The heavy wheel. and which guides
the shell itself into the bore Of the
gun.
The brush being open and the tray
IN place. the first shellman with oil
his might hurls into the opening the
shell that he has been holding. the
nrst powderman hurls after II bag
| or powder. and then even as the
tray comes out and the breech closes.
the first shellman has turned. without
using his feet. and received from the
second shellman n fresh shell. and
the first powderman has turned and
received from the second powderman
fresh haR Of powder.
That is how the gun Is loaded. 1t
Is matter of seconds. In practice
the shell and the powder bag tomis-
sion by censorD to keys the junction
OF two lines that cross each other at
right angle on the exact center OF
the bull's-eye. A third pointer does
the same thing with another pair of
crossed lines, but the wheel elevates
the muzzle of the gun end or de-
presses 1t. And Of all the men In
the compartment of that particular
| gun he Is the luckiest. for he Is the
only one who knows the exact mo
ment when the bang Is coming. He
causes it by pressing button. At
any moment while "A certain buzzer is
buz2ng. and the crossed lines are on
the bull'S-eye, he is at liberty to fire
| the gun
Blast Of the Guns.
We steamed slowly down the range
number of times, and all the com.
partment guns on our side of the
ship swung slowly from left to right.
as the pointers kept the crossed lines
on the bull's-eye. And we all got II
line because we knew that each prac-
tice run brought us nearer to that
real run when the awful blasts that
We anticipated would have to be en-
dured somehow.
We turned and steamed slowly to-
ward the range. We were in the
| compartment. the gun crew and the
officer in charge. myself and twenty
or thirty fiedglIng scamen, who were
there to pick up what they could by
eye and ear.
l have never In one time or place
seen so many forced smiles. One Of
them was mine. We had been served
with absorbent cotton and had plugged
our ears. The cotton made mems
voices sound numb and far-off. 1t had
no effect whatever upon the voice OF
the cannon.
The steel doors of the compartment
had been closed and locked. There
was no escape.
The range came over the speaking
tube. The first pointer repeated 1t
and made an adjustment. There
come a voice, even through cotton, a
believing voice: Coming on the
range! Coming on the ranger There
was dead silence. Then low, clear
and insistent, like the deadly rattle
of our most infamous native snake.
the buzzer.
/ had forgotten about the gun In
the next compartment. l shall never
forget 1t again. 1t went off.
Lifted by the concussion.
l was sitting at the moment and
my feet were swinging clear of the
deck. I had nothing to jump into.
But rose in the air and came down.
Then our gun went. The flash was
brighter than sunlight. 1t was of an
intOlerable brightness, and all but in
tolerable was the bang that went with
1t. The assault was less upon the
body than upon the soul. My ears
did not suffer at all.
went out to see how many shots
were fired. did not get used to 1t.
l know that, for not once did / see
the gun recoil and go back into place.
Try as l would, that white. hot, deaf
ening flash shut my eyes tight for me.
l watched second run from the
bridge. ltkvas pleasanter. The bang.
sticks were even farther off and you
could see the tall, white splashes of
the ricOchetting shells. I got so that
l could keep my eyes open.
I have said that battleship Is n
man. I have said that it is city.
1t Is neither. 1t Is a romance. / re-
call searchlights that searched the
heavens and the face of the waters.
that crossed and crisscrossed; the
starry calls Of the bugles and the
sea-salt names Of things. Have you
lived In Arcadia? Well, l have lived