Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1917-06-14

Ing apparatus and an increased supply of fuel and
food which would make It possible for her to per-
form her service for longer periods ana over
wider zones Of action.
The whole subject of submarine mines, offensive
and defensive, and the subaqueous protection
against enemy submarines is one with which our
naval and military authorities are deeply engaged.
1t Is safe IL say that we are going to see some re-
Inarkahle developments, and largely because our
allies are going to give us the benefit of their own
experience so that native ingenuity can start to
improve upon the fruits Of the labors Of others.
Indeed. our subaNueous defenses must of necessity
he of the best types possible because Of the extent
Of our seaboard and the comparatively limited
number of vessels that the navy has for patrol
work.
The recent presidential order prescribing de-
Tense zones ut the approaches of certain ports and
waterways had TO do with the army's part pri-
marily in this matter of subaqueous safeguards.
The mine fields controlled ly the military authori-
ties, those of the Coast Artillery corps, are as q
rule protected by observation mines or electric
contact mines that are made active or inactive by
the operation of n switch. That Is to say, the vita
lizing current comes from u central station ashore.
and neither of these types of mines will explode
unless the electric current reaches them by way
Of n submerged cable.
In the case Of the contact mine with the current
turned on tne WHne Will eSIloue WITH bulAPeu
and tilted over to II prescribed angle. The obser-
walton mine, on the other hand, does not have
to be touched by the enemy craft, but Is subject
to the will Of an observer on shore.
Observation mines nre planted In groups and
are laid out in definite checkerboard areas. and
each group Is set Oft separately and simultane-
ously. The observer, by means of range marks
or bearings, knows just when the approaching foe
reaches any one of these squares, and accordingly
A.. 49, ,,t,b,o ,rhfoh Tho NON LOG nj tho mo-.
ment determines the group of mines to be deto-
mated. =" ST.sEE-e e - las:sr az >~~
The contact mine. as may easily be understood.
does Its work where an observer might fail. after
dark, and for that reason the electric current Is
turned on with set Of sun and the whole area so
sown becomes instantly a menace to friend or Zoe.
II Is quite likely that observation mines were
employed by the Turks mt the Dardanelles. ana
therefore by approaching from under water 1t was
possible for the British submarine Bill to dive
beneath five rows Of mines. probably showing
their cables aside and fitting the weapons, and
then pushing on so that she could rise to the sur
face and torpedo the Turkish battleship Messu-
diyeh. which was stationed to guard that very
mine field.
Had those mines been of the contact sort, the
disbursement of their cables would probably have
caused their defamation and likewise the destruc
ton of the Bill. Other British submarines sue
(ppupu III InSSluk uUuuc ECU thiVuSH ~" Ao'"
ish d~efenses, the enemy observers being unable tt
see the underwater bouts. 1t was the exploits o.
the submarines Mt the Dardanelles that disclosed
to the British the weak spot In their own min'
defenses and led n, short while nfterward to TN
deyelOpment Of other protective agencies IN deal
ing with the German underwater boats.
Unoucstionnbly the most spectacular part o
submarine mining IL that in which the weapon
nre resorted to In open waters, especially In thos
onsbore areas where h defense Of that sort IL no
ordinarily employed. The Italians were the Pic
neers in this order of subaqueOIs warfare. nm
they developed the art In peace to such q poin
that other nations realized that the mine wns n
longer limited in Its potential usefulness either I
tho defense of q port or FOR blocEadlng the ship
In an enemy harbor.
The Italians showed TINT the submarine mine
could he used extensively, 80 to spenk. II plante
secretly and placed where by strategy the unsu'
Meeting foe could he lured over and into then
The Jopanese during their war with Russia mnd
rooi use OF what the Italians had taught then
md when the present conflict begun German
WINS fully prepared to carry the practice still III
Their.
German mine layers were ready and nuneros
an August 1 three yenrs agO; and Ms we now kno
,he.kniser's navy lost no time In mining the mart
unnroorhcs TO the fatherland. Not only TINT, 81
these craft, In various guises. planted mines ow
wide nreas In the North sen and In the waters
the British isles. 40
The Hnruc convention Of 1907 among 9th
things provided TINT 1T II forbidden to lny II
rhorpd nutomatic contact mines which do n
hocome harmless rs soon as they hive broken loo
from their imoorings; - md 1t was also preserlh'