The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1917-06-22
HALF OF SUBMARINE LOSSES
TAKE PLACE IN THE
MEDITERRANEAN.
TRANSPORTS TARGET
Vessels Bearing Food, Coal and Wal
Supplies Spe, iaI Mark for
Submarines.

q
According to Italian shipping Lead
ers. half the allied tonnage destroy
ed i'm April was lost in the Medltcr-
raneau Sea. 1t consisted chiefly of
large transports laden with coal and
victuals for Egyptian and Mescopo-
tamian army bases.
The people of Italian sea towns
tell wonderful stories OF submarine
activity and exploits along the Ty-
rrhenean coasts Submarine COM
manders seem to be extremely fond
of paying unexpected brief visits to
towns nestled among rocks and
reefs and almost invisible from the
sea
As soon as the commander of the
nearest torpedo base answers the
wireless, informing him that the
enemy has arrived. the commander
of the submarine. who in the mean
while has tried his Workmanship
against the local bell tower or rail-
road station or has sunk whatever
sailing craft happen TO be in the har-
Dor. salutes and disappears below the
surface.
How Transports Are Attacked.
Sometimes other towns relate, a
submarine follows Undecided a con-
voyed transport till within a short
distance from the home port. remain
ing subm erged till late in the even
ing. When everything is quiet and
the convoy has left and the crew Of
the transport feels safe within the
friendly harbor, the submarine pops
up and the ship is sunk.
One of the spots most badly in
tested by U-boats in Italy Is the
Straits of Messna. Since Italy in
teryened in the conflict the ferr"-
boats carrying to Messina the contin-
entail trains running to Syracuse and
Palermo have been manned by pick
ed crews from the Italian navy and
are armed with powerful guns. Yet
the submarine is always on the look
out for a favorable opportunity.
Whether this opportunity has e"cr
presented itself only the Italian Ad-
miralty is in position. TO say With
accuracy.
Eaider PIT To Flight.
Syracuse. which is the home port
of every ship plying between ltsly
and Tripoli, has had quite a differ
ent experience. The entrance to the
harbor is never free from mines and,
now and then, Notwithstanding the
steady work OF the Italian miua
'dredger. a ship is towed back to port
either in a sinking or greatly DAM
aged condition.
Several days ago an Austrian sub
marine appeared OFF P0rtoierraio,
Elba, and started to corral all the
fishing and sailing vessels engegd in
the coastWise trade. Apparently the
submarine felt absolutely safe and IN
less than hour eight or nine
crafts had been collected and the
order given to their crews 10 take 10
the life boats.
The panic-stricken sailors were
watching with tears in their eyes the
preparations the submarine was max
ing TO sink the boats, when all Of a
sudden report rang out and a shell
splashed in the water only short
distance FROM the raider.
The commander seemed puzzled,
but a second shot sent him scurrying
below deck and soon after his boat
dived and was never seen again.
But what occurs along the 5000
miles of Italian coast is nothing com
pared to what happens around Malta.
which is England's main station on
the route TO Port Said and Sal0niki,
and England's most powerful torpe-
do base. Apparently the German Ad-
miralty is determined To spare no
effort 90 prevent the reyictuailmg OF
'iAN t<HSihoi ~ iAiNH 'pNA NhAiiS III sHHiN
and the Allied army at Salonikl, as
no less than twenty submarines are
now stationed between the southern
coast of Sardinia and the eastern
Aegean.
Mail Boats UnmOlesied.
While an Austrian submarine com
mander is ready TO sink anything
from an outgoing emigrant steamer,
with women and children ON Ohard,
10 a Red Cross hospital ship, YET one
steamer he will never sink and that
is the mail boat plying between the
continent and Sardinia.
Various reasons have been offered
10 explain this fact. One is that, as
Sardinia Is the concentration camp
for the Austrian civilian population
that preferred TO be informed instead
Of returning to Austria, the Austrian
Admiralty iss Instructed the sub