Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-08-04

trained to man the comparatively
mall-caliber guns which our mer-
chant vessels carry. Intensive train
ing has been the order of the day.
and the fleet is full of bully stories
OF how these young and comparative
ly Inexperienced men have taken to
the game.
There is sucn a thing as being gun
shy, and even old-time men might an
ticipate things before firing. A draft
of men came on board dreadnouEht
the other day. Though willing. they
had only a mere idea of naval dis
cipline; they had only been at the
training station a few weeks. They
didn't ask who the "topside guy was
walking up and down the deck with
an opera-glass under his arm, doing
no work" They knew that he was
the officer of the deck. But in man
o'-war term. they were just green.
The first thing 'was to show them
u gun; the second which was the
business end of the gun, and where
the gun was loaded. And in the do
ing, the loading machine was intro
duced, a contrivance which Stimulates
the breech of a gun in which the blue
jacket lad is taught to pump in pro-
jectiles and powder at the rate OF
fifteen a minute. Then subcaliber
work. which means that a small gun
clamped on the big one, Is fired at q
small target close aboard.
With all hands properly keyed up
and full of pep and hope, there was
the first target practice. Not one of
the rockies had ever heard anything
bigger go off than a Fourth OF July
firecracker. Three gun crews were
to fire at the target in what is known
as short range practice, which con-
sists of firing at a mark not very
large and at moderate distance. The
doors of each gun compartment were
closed so that each gun was COM
pletely isolated from the others and
from communication with the entire
ship except by telephone or voice
tube. Several runs were made across
the course; ranges were taken down;
the sight-sotter set his sights, and,
outside of actually firing the pieces,
1t was the first touch in the test.
One of the precautionary measures
which is always taken in target prac-
tice is that after a round is fired the
first loader looks through the bore of
the gun to see that there are no un-
burned powder grains or parts of the
powder bag or any smoke or flame
left in the gun. An automatic air.
blast drives the gases out of the muz-
zle, thereby preventing premature ex-
plosion. Neither the she'll nor the
powder charge are put in the breech
until this man sings out bore clear"
But at this practice the wind was on
the bow and drifted the smoke into
the gun ports and the muzzle of the
gun, taking it longer to clear the
bore.
The youngsters knew and had been
told what flarebacks meant and that
any premature explosion would send
all handst o kingdom come. The order
Commence firing!" had been given.
Almost instantly the gun pointers
found their target and had the cross
wires in the sight right on 1t. Num-
ber l gun fired right after number 2.
AS the breech of number two gun
was thrown open, some smoke and
powder gases from number one were
blown into the muzzle. The second
loader, whose duty it was to examine
the bore, tok a good look through
it, and seeing that the bore was ap-
parently filled with smoke, sang out
Bore not clear"
Now, the lad with the powder
charge felt instinctively that some
thing was wrong. Anyway. his rou-
tine was interfered with. In his arms
he had the powder. He knew its po-
tential energy. He knew the danger.
and wrapped himself around the pow
der bag just like an elephant wraps
his trunk around a peanut. He had
to shield 1t. He believed that the life
of the ship depended upon him.
With only a months training, the
boy had already the instincts of a
man o'-warsman. He was willing to
sacrifice his life to save the ship, and
he did it upon his own responsibility
without anybodys say-so. He had al
ready learned initiative.
At present the Fleet is the training
school for the navy, Plattsburg
afioat. where in time of war the
training which would ordinarily take
months is compressed into weeks.
The main thing is the morale of the
lad, the implanting of self-confidence,
of responsibility, quick wit and initi-
ative. 1t is around that same initi-
ative that the annals of the navy have
been written. The new lads will help
to write some more.
There is a haze. Like gray fort
resses, the dreadnoughts pile up
against the evening sky. The notes
of taps" rise over the water. The
running lights of the patrol glimmer
their reflections in the turning tide.
Blinker signals make f1re-fies in the
night, the red truck lights dot the
guard ships. Tired men break out
hammocks and turn in for the night.
The days work is done.