The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-12-20

had been on the bridge, was in the
ward room when the explosion came,
and not nj of them survived. 1t
would be useless to describe the ap-
pearance of that room. The living,
breathing human beings who had filed
1t the night before with laughter and
courage and hope were one shapeless
mass-part Of the twisted, broken steel.
And they never had "a chance to
fight. Death came to them without
warning and without giving them the
| opportunity SO much desired to strike
a blow for Britain in the going. But
that is part of wa rs it is fought to-
day.
I went up to thu hospital to see the
navigating ofticeN and, swathed in
bandages and suffering from terrible
burns, he told me all he knew of what
had happened
"We were running along at fair
speed" he said, with most of the crew
on deck and watching out sharp, for l
knew that sixth mine hadn't been pick
ed up, and it's pretty safe to count on
six being laid here every Wednesday,
The rest Of the officers were below.
poor chaps! Not one Of them left, they
tell me.
Thrown Into the Sea.
II was swinging her round, which /
guess is what brought her stern quar-
ter on the mine. l thought a thunder
clap had det0nated right under my feet.
l went spinning off the bridge like q
catapult. | don't pretend " to know
whether I was conscious as 1 hurtled
through the air, but the shock Of the
cold water brought me to. l was some
yards from the destroyer and started
OF the men lying on the deck, others
crawling up the companionways and
some crawling about on the deck. A
very few were standing on their feet
and doing the best they could to help
the others.
There wasn't an officer in sight, and
l knew then they must all have been
killed or at least knocked unconscious.
my leg hurt me so that I could
scarcely move It, but I kept on strug-
Cling. The water tasted oily, and I
could make out that oil was escaping
from the destroyer and spreading all
over the surface of the sea, which was
as calm as IL 1t were a mirror.
suddenly there was a flash. A lit
tie tongue of fame darted out of the
entrails Of the wounded destroyer and
ran q short way over the surface of the
oily patch, then died. Presently came
another tongue. Then half a dozen
began to lick. A dozen! Twenty!
Great God, there were a thousand,
and they were licking the surface of
the water as though a thousand hell
cats were tapping a giant bowl Of
fendish milk.
'.They ran toward me, and l may
have screamed. II l didn't It was be-
cause ! was too scared. | struck out
away from the destroyer. The tongues
ran toward me faster than could
swim. then seemed to curl back upon
themselves, but only to dart out once
more. and each time they darted near
er to me.
II only Icould get beyond that oil.
The Y glinmered m~rlinbow colors
on its surface. bit the only thing It
meant to me Was; ! was still In II.
The smell Of II in my n~ostrils and the
taste OF it In my mouth SO terrified my
imagination that could feel the pierc-
Ing pain Of burns already. s
81 envied the mel who had been
smashed Ia Jelly quickly III the ward
room.
a last the demes upon M.
felt them on nv neck. 4 dove and
1rcve mysalf forMatd Under tn ~
-, Ut ~ I ealns ~ ~ haif 49,
eo4 ~ $500 men : b111g
- - 49,