The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1917-09-19


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"Old Glory" Our navy was right there
on the rim OF the barred zone" witt,
teeth set, full OF actual experience in
fighting submarines and possessing the
latest dope" about the enemy. Cheer
for the navy
Formations Change Frequently.
On swep, the transports, never once
slackening their speed First we had
one formation, then another Often we
zig ragged One felt as If in NOV
ing box, carried along on the shoulders
OF a strong man The box took various
shapes. We drove ahead, by day and
by night, never relaxing the strain, our
naval commander varying the cvolu
tons We made according to circum
stances. - Remember the marching com
pany with the plumed hats in the
Knights of Pythias parade YOU saw
when a boy' thought of it more thar
once as we did our transformations
The sky was overcast a strong
northwest wind was blowing and a
rough following sea running W nrmy
officer remarked 80 far as ! can de
termine the ocean is no bluer, the wind
no stronger and the waves no bigger
inside the zone than Just outside"
Right about where we took up the
gauntlet thrown down by the kaiser the
currents OF the gulf stream spread into
ian and carry their warmth in vari-
Gus directions. Hidden somewhere in
these currents were the German sub
marines, The average speed OF sub
marine is ten knots under water and
| double that on the surface TO come
TO the surface was to come into range
OF an American gunncry which they
have learned to respect They can run
under the water al a depth> Of sixty ieel
and can Submerge to 200 feet The high
explosive bombs with which the Eng
lish deStroycrS have fought them burst
at depth IN the water OF eighty fee
and more These bombs have an effect
i've exploding radius Of D0'square feet
$50 Square Miles Covered.
lnasmuch as overmuoh has been writ
ten OF the menace of the submarine. |
want to show that our troopship, aside
from the navy guns and their operating
lackics on our decks. aside from the
protecting units Of the navy itself with
as. as well as any other army transport
has a tip-top chance to escape the I'm
derseas craft From the spar of the
forward mast in the ship about eighty.
live ieet above the upper deck. the hu-
man eye commands an area OF $50
square miles in which submarine
emerged can be seen. At the same al.
titude the pcriScope OF submarine is
visible Tor an area Of twelve square
miles. Good watchers combined with
high speed are in themselves enough tn
get away with, provided there is no haze
or log around the ship.
Mothers anxious over the welfare OF
their boys who have Joined the United
states army ough, 10 realize that wher
ever trained human intelligence couli
devise a plan of either salvage OF
prevention the element OF danger was
reduced. Nothing was left to chance.
All hazard was forecasted. Soldiers
were drilled over and over again to
meet what might happen until the
road out" had assumed the character
Of disciplined evolution. Thus panic
and disorgan,ed efforts to escape the
perils incident TO the overseas crossing
were evaporated in preparedness
Everlasting Boat Drill.
have in mind the boat drills on all
OF the American troop ships Although
precedent is set high in the sky against
the sinking OF properly conveyed
transport, l. c, the movement of Cana
dian troops overseas without the loss OF
a single ship. nevertheless our war de-
lpartmcn, proceeded upon the theory
that Some. day, perhaps, a troop ship Of
ours might be torpedoed Hence the
everlasting boat drill; an evolution Of
life upon our transport, repeated by day
and by night until i, had become as IA
Imiliar to the men as the manual Of
arms.
On our ship the men were called ouI
for boat drill TIE very first day that
they came aboard, and the practice wa,
kept up all the way across until we hat
entered the barred zone Not a mar
was on the boat but knew the location
OF his liieboat, kept his life-preservel
somewhere near him at all times ant
thoroughly undorstood the part he wa
to play in the drama OF an emergency
! got supremely tired OF running will
my li'e-prcServer to my station ever,
time the Call to arms" was bugled or
the transport This call is used on
transport when the commanding office
decides that the ship mus, he aban
doncd
Commanders Get Dirty.
Naval officers were the instructors o
the boat drills although our ships mas
ter, a man of great physical strength
took a hand at II upon almost every &C
caSion The navy commanders 20
themselves frigh,iully dirty at time
crawling under the lifeboats, explainin
wha, was meant by "the cradle, IN
shaved blocks upon which the boat
rested They also elucida,ed grips.
levers" "dav's" and falls" We wer
not hi by torpedo, hut il WE had bee
&C unfortunate have no douh, all o
shpboatd would have been saved