El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-05-24

are not yet ready to fire the reSu-
I lar charges one FOUNDERS. that go
| off with a sharp crack. are dashed
on top of the big guns and the crews
but instead of a big shell, little one
weighing a pound speeds for the
target when the buzzer sounds or
when the turret captains in charge
OF the bigger rifles yell Fire"
After a period OF firing with the
subcaliber arrangement the crews
get down to real battle practice
There are few buster places than a
turret in action Concave steel walls
are all around. and a steel roof is
lust above the heads Of the gunners-
The pointers sit far forward, under
meath the barrels of the guns. Little
seats like those on motor cycle are
there for them and on every side
are Instruments As the turret be-
gins to fire, a lift, bearing the huge
projectile, bangs up from below,
great bags Of poWdtr slide from the
magazines into a 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 automatic
hammer has jumped from the rear
and showed it into the barrel The
powder bags are driven home, man
at the breach swings a lever, ton
OF steel swings up with mss OF
compressed air The breach block
turns and locks, buzzer sounds, the
charge is ignited and with a rush OF
air the guns recoil about yard and
then Jump back into position There
is A loud "swish-swish" as the guns
come back and then go forward In
side the turret not much more tnan
Outside. it is much different. There
is a flash, a roar. a ring Of smoke
and the loud whistle of the proJectile
rushing through the air So great
is the conclusion that every man out
side has cotton OF some other sub
stance in his ears to save his ear
drums 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
water until three weeks ago, who
are doing the thing easily in IS sec
onds.
Some nights the ships Of the fleet
cruise in waters nearby for night
battle practice. Other nights they
are anchored in the base waters,
where crews are drilled at torpedo
defence. The guns are manned and
dummy torpedoes and submarines are
picked up by the searchhghtS ana
theoretically destroyed
Submarines Close Call
The fleet has gained efficiency IN
torpedo defence They tell a story
in the ward rooms Of an American
submarine which decided TO change
its 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 a gun
quickly was trained. The submarine
was hailed. but the men on il failed
to hear The fact that the sub
mersible was running behind the pa
trolls was the only thing that saved
it A five inch gun probably would
have blown il to pieces II the man
euver had taken place on the other
side of the net Now submarines
don't move around like that at night.
It was dangerous business
Before the fleet is darkened. the
ships lying in every direction present
an inspiring spectacle Lights, as