The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1917-08-30

Then we settle down again, and ex-
cept for a scared look on the faces of
couple of men and rather nervous,
forced jestS on the lips of others we
are blowing ahead just as before.
Nothing has happened except the
towing torpedo of the boat in front of
us in the line fouled submerged spar
or bit Of wreckage and exploded
right under our bow. IF we had been
a few yards closer we would never
have been there any more"
AS we realized what had happened
our tongues were loosened, and If the
crew Of the boat ahead could have
heard what we said about them we
would have lost their friendship most
assuredly.
Way inshore, after circling chase
OF perhaps twenty minutes, the SUBJ
marine came up. She was in such
shallow water that she probably was
having trouble in operating submerged.
She was gone then.
What followed was very businesslike
It illustrates the attitude the British
have come to take toward the SUBJ
marines because Of their fragrant vio-
lations Of every form Of international
law and decency. 1t is the attitude
which any country obliged to fight
against them will assume. To the
British mind submarines must be ex-
terminated just as one would exter-
inmate a nest Of poisonous vipers or a
nest Of hornets. People ask me how
many submarines are being captured
now. Very few. Many are destroyed.
but few captured.
No sooner did the hull of the subma-
rine show itself than we began to
hammer her with our three inch guns.
She opened fire, but her shots went
wild, and>in few seconds she disap-
peared.
AS fast as we could we ran over to
where she had gone down. II the
principles which obtain on land, in the
air or in the navy at large existed
In submarine warfare we would have
gone over to see If we could rescue
any Of the wounded, but it was a
U boat, and we simply made sure that
there was nothing left Of the craft.
Some Bubbles, a Greasy Patch
That's All.
About where she went down q guam
t1ty of gas and air bubbles was ris-
ing, and the dirty patch of oil was
once more in evidence. That was a
pretty certain sign the career Of one
U boat was at an end, for the sea
must have been pouring into her, and,
even though all her crew did not
drown, once the salt water reached the
storage batteries the chlorine would do
the work.
But we are taking no chances. We
circle round and round the spot and
drop depth bombs deadly machines.
These are powerful explosives which
are set so they will detonate at GER
tain depth. We first sounded the bot
tom and then set our bombs for ten
fathoms. Suddenly I hear cry from
the boat behind us. One of the crew
reaches out, grabs the collar of a man
who has just dropped a depth bomb
over the stern and yanks him uncere-
into the cockpit. At q
glance see what has happened.
The engineer has stalled his motor
just as the bomb is let go. It sinks
slowly, and there is a slight momen-
tum left in the submarine chaser. We
hold our breath and watch in suspense,
any second to see our COM
rades hurled into the air among
mushroom Of water and splinters.
There is no way to help them. Sud
denly there is a muffled roar, column
Of water rises to what seems hun
dred feet and falls back, drenching
every one who Is near it. But our COM
rades are unhdrt. The momentum Of |
their boat has carried them just far |
enough to save them from being blown