Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-13
AMERICA SHOULD "ARM
HER LINERS TO TEETH"
SO Declares Chief Steward of
British Tanker Cheyenne, De-
scribing Voyage Here

1
| armed to the teeth" TO protect the lives Of
| passengers and crew. This Is the opinion
of Alfred Griffith chief steward of the large
| tank steamship Cheyenne, and James Nose
| dale, the gunner of the oil ship. Both men
| have seen service during the present Euro
| pean conflict as members of the British
| navy and they narrate many colorfu and
| thrilling incidents that they have expe-
rienced on the English Channel and the
| North Sea
| The Cheyenne which is a 3000-ton tanker,
| under the command of Captain Hudson,
| steamed from Hull. England, on January Is.
| ran the gauntlet OF German submarines and
| arrived at the Atlantic Refining Company
! piers at Point Breeze late Saturday after
noon, just five days overdue. 1t was an
| eventful trip. according TO the members of
| the crew, not due 20 submarines, however
for they never sighted a perlscope during
| the entire voyage. but because of the rough
| seas that continuously threatened to upset
| the uncargocd vessel
"Submarine poof" was tho answer of
the busy members of the crew when the sub.
iect was broached All of them have
careless disregard for the undersea fighters,
but It is apparent that the owners of the
tanker or It's officers have another view
point This is best and most forcbly ex-
pressed by that gun that rests on swivel
at the stern of the Cheyenne and the pres
cnce Of Gunner Moscdale who, incidentally,
has somewhat Of a reputation for handling
such deadly weapons with considerable ac.
Curacy.
Never saw a submarine" grunted First
Mate williams as he passed by on the gang
way to speed up" the crow In having things
shipshape for return journey. Not both
cred about them" he added.
Finally Steward Griffith and Gunner
Mosedale slipped below to avoid the strong
and cold winds that whisked across the
nd "a
ted that the submarines were not n myth.
"The men that invented submarines and
diriglble balloons for warfare should DO
said Griffith. 1T seems to me that the only
thing the United States can do is to arm
its ships to the teeth to fight off the sub
marines IL IT wants to save the lives OF pas
sengers and crew
II wish these GermarF would come out
and fight. We'd show EN-" continued Grit-
fifth.
Bet YOU 'at we would" asscnted the gun
ncr II wouldn't mind taking shot at
en-"
BY and by Griffith began to loosen up
and told of his experiences on mine
sweeper He said
81 spent nearly a year on the mine
sweeper William Wavery. She's a steam
ship about the size of the Cheyenne Let me
tell you it is tough work. We always wore
two life belts, cork belt and n rubber one.
We worked long hours with these heavy
affairs about our bodies.
Mine sweepers travel In pairs. Some
times there are as many as ten to n dozen
pairs OF sweepers trailing one another on
the Channel or on the North Sea. The |
nets or sweep wires, as they are known are |
stretched between two of the ships. Then |
the work begins, dragging the sea to |
depth of two or thirty fathoms. Some days |
we discovered and exploded as high as |
thirty mines, but the next day we could |
go over the same spot and catch almost |
an equal number.
They are like an army of feas. When
the mines are caught in the wires they are
raised 10 the surface and exploded. either
by rifle shot or shell from a six-pounder. |
If they are hit in the right spot you hear
deafening roar; sometimes they are
merely punctured. They foam and szzle
fill with water and sink perfectly harmless
bulbs.
THE mine sweepers are not accompanied
by destroyers, cruisers or other war YES
sells They are, in way, fighting ships
themselves armed with guns OF varying
caliber They ride the seas In all kinds of
weather; are tossed at times like so many
shells
"One day we accidentally drifted little
too close to Ostend, where we had no busi-
ness to be. Ieppens were sent out TO de-
stroy us. Then the fun began. Unfor-
tunately, il was largely in favor of the
Ieppelins They dropped bombs in our
midst. II seemed to rain. bombs but we
escaped in some manner or other without
mishap.
another time we caught powerful mine
in the wires 1t exploded and broke the
wires causing terrific recol due to the
tension that exists by stretching the wires
II hurled the mine sweeper almost fat on
its port side. Nearly every memDer of the
crew, and they numbered nearly 100 suf-
fered from bruises as the result of the