Arizona republican., 1917-05-25

the top of the big guns and the crews go through all the motions of firing, but instead of big shell, little one weighing a pound speeds for the tar get when the buzzer sounds or when the turret captains in charge of the bigger rifles yell Fire"
 Aftera period of firing with the sub caliber arrangement the crews get down to real battle practice. There are few busiar places than q turrct in action Concave steel walls are all around and a steel roof is just above the heads of the gunners. The polnrers sit far forward, underneath the bar rels of the guns. Little seats like those on motor cycle are there for them and on every side are instruments As the turret begins to fire lift, bearing the huge projectile, bangs up from be- low, great bags of powder slide from the magazines into long brass trough. Husky bluejackets toss the powder into another brass trough that is slipped into position at the gigantic breach. The >projectile, almost as large as a man, meanwhile has been rolled into the trough, a long auto matic rammer has jumped from the rear and showed it into the barrel. The powder bags are driven home, man at the breach swings a lever, a ton of steel swings up with hiss of com pressed air me bieacA block turns and locks, a buzZer sounds, the charge is i2nited and with a rush of air the guns recoil about a yard and then jump back into position. There is a loud 'swish-swish" as the guns come back and then go forward. Inside the trrrnt not much more than that is heard.
 outside it is much different. There is flash, d roar. u ring of smoke and the loud whistle of the projectile rushing through the air Sc great is the concussion that every man outside has cotton or some other substance in his ears to save his ear durns from being broken.
 Fifteen seconds from Commence firing to fire is considered pretty good time for the big guns in the navy. They have new guns crews in training now who never saw salt wa ter until three weeks ago who are do- ing the thing easily in sixteen seconds.
 Some nights the ships of the fleet cruise in waters nearby for night bat tie practice Other nights they are anchored in the base waters, where the
  The guns are manned and dummy tor pedoes and submarines are picked up v the searchlight ana theoretically de- stroyed.
 The fleet has gained efficiency in torpedo defense. They tell story in the ward rooms of an American s;b- marine which decided to change it's anchorage without giving notice. The fleet is dark after a certain hour at night. Not a light shows, but the watch is intensely alert.
 One of the deck officers saw the submarine outline itself and gun quickly was trained The submarine was hailed. but the men on it failed to hear. The fact that the suhmersi- ble was running behind the patrols was the only thing that saved it. A fiVe-inch gun probably would have blown it to pieces if the maneuver lad taken place on the other .,ide pf the net. Now submarines don't move around like that at night. 1t was a dangerous business.
 Before the fleet is darkened, the ships lying in every direction present an inspiring spectacle. Lights, as Of g city, show everywhere. Blinker sig nals flash on and off-signalling in the dots and dashes of the Morse coCe Long fingers of white from searchlignts shoot up into the sky-on and nff--cr and off-signalling also with dots and | dashes.
 Other searehlight beams pick uI boats that approach them. some illu minate a landing wharf. Away in the distance searchlights of the patrol boats flash on every now and then sweep the waters to discover that what might have been perscope is only a white cap. Then they flicker out again. From the shore, a night boats passing anywhere in the neigh borhood suddenly find themselves in the glare of searchiigh:s.
 While the guns crews are being trained on some of the ships, aboard others are being trained men to run the hundred or more German vessels the United States will operate as soon gnd the feet of merchantmen being built to carry food ard supplies tu the Allies. The fleet is training eEginee rs, electricians-men 70 fill eve:'y posi- on. The Atlantic fleet is confident that if will be able to supply f,.ll comnle. ment for every slip for the navy is getting men now faster than ever be- fore, and if the officers are proud of their ships, the suns or the decks and the power of the engines in their hulls they are douby proud of the spirit O the new men who are coming inlo tn navy. A ranking officer said:
 These new men have come into th navy to fight and they want to ge into the thick of it. We are tu-n,li out guns crews every day and over. day we get orders for more. In thiei months from now many hundreds o guns crews will have left the fleet fo places where they may sink German submarines or cheerfully give up tleil lives trying. And these boys-for mos of them are no more than that--car shoot"
 A large majority of the new men 1T tEc fleet, their officers said have come from farms. especially in the middle west On any ship may be found youths who until the war began, were fol lowing blows.
 In this fleet" said one of the off cers, more than ninety per cent o the men are native born Americans i There are few foreign born men here l On any ship may be heard the draw of South Carolinian or a Georgian the New Yorkese of the East Side; tn twang that is New England's, the ris ing intonation of western Pennsylvania and the tone that comes from west O.