Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-09-04

crown made or gold braid and trlmm'
the collar.
1t was untouched. He had died OF
heart failure.
Then hades broke loose on the
tanker. A well-aimad shell tore into
a tank aft. There was a roar, and
out OF the tank poured black, choking
| smoke. After 1t red, hungry flames.
1t was awful. The desperate gun
crews loading. firing and reloadins
| with the deadening certainty that
| they were falling far short OF that
| long, rakish and unmerciful thing 30
! far away in the haze. Smoke black
ered and choked them. The roar of
the fiery gasoline deafened them.
They cursed the caliber of their guns.
The Ships In Flames.
Ammunition giving out, sir'' a
man from the aft gun had run the
! gauntlet Of flame to report to Chief
| Boatswain's Mate Copassaki who was
| standing forward with eyes glued to
binoculars. praying for some circum-
stance to bring the submarine within
range. Immediately both gun crew
and merchant crew began to pass
| ammunition back.
A shot struck the forecastle and
| its woodwork caught fire. Stimuli
taneously small fires broke out all
over the ship. 1t vas impossible to
pass any more ammunition. Another
| shot disabled the wireless. Another
swept the snlokeStack away. Tho
fire crept up from the aft tank and
broke out amidships
Burning gasoline leaked from the
| ship oyersides and famed in the sea.
one shell was left in the ammuni-
ton box of the gun aft Just as tho
the submarine were within range 1t
was fired, and despondently the crew
| fell back to the starboard rail-, gasp
ing for air.
| We had no sooner let 'er rip"
said "Iangor, when / made out a
shell heading right our way. II
looked as big as a house and | re-
member thinking that the end would
II wo had had a chance to get in one
shot. But, glory be, 1t struck just
under us in the side OF the old
| tanker"
( More than an hour and half had
slipped by. The gun crew had fired
more than a hundred shots, but the
submarine had discharged more than
twice as many. Her supply seemed
| ineXhaustible.
The whole ship was now in flames.
All of her. tanks were blazing. Her
tate was certain, but still the subma-
| rine continued to keep up shelllng.
The merchant sailors huddled behind
| V hatover scanty protection they
could find. A burtting shell tore
away the only remaining bulkhead,
and with 1t the side of a merchant
sailor hiding behind it. Right after
| that shell another merchantman
| dropped with a gaping wound In his
leg.
Lost Machine Guns.
| 1t would have been folly to have
| remained any longer on the tanker.
| All the port side lifeboats were out
| of commission and those remaining
on the starboard side away from the
shellfire were blisteriDg from the
heat.
A we'll aimed shell struck aft and
shattered the steering gear. The
Moreni veered and started to turn III
a circle. Captain Thompson came
down from the bridge and ordered
all hands to the lifeboats All but
Fetty officer Copassaki obeyed.
Copassaki had noticed that the
IT-boat was drifting within range.
Ordering two of the gun crew out of
| q lifeboat he rushed forward to the
how gun and began blazing away at
the submarine. In quick succession
four shots were fired and so close to
tho submarine did they drop that the
L boat afrightedly put on full power
and went astern Of the Moreni out Of
range. Then the firing pin Of the
bow gun went bad
I'VE might have got the submarine
at that" said Riley IF II had not
been for a bit of bad luck when we
vera lowering away the lifeboat |
was In. You see, we had a machine
gun concealed in her forward. There
was not a chance that II could be
seen But In the rush to get AWAY
from the scorching heat--several of
us had our clothes burned-a shell
W hstled across the deck. 1t exploded
Just as we were lowering our boat
and snapped the tackles.
"Over went the lifeboar and out
went our ammunition and supplies.
Gone was the chances of our little
scheme. We righted the boat and
found her leaking from some shrap-
mel punctures. All of US were In
water up to our waist. My uniform
was soaked. And this started me
thinking.
"A prison camp for mine " they
ret me in this uniform, was my thot
So off / yanked my blouse and pants
looked at my boots and they looked
too much navy. Overheard they
went, too. Then I looked over my
unueTclotneS. lney Hau tHo navy
4 marking on them.
No Time for MOdcsty.
t"Believe me, IL was no time for
modesty. Off came that clothing,
too. The other lads who were uni
formed did the same as / did. We
looked back. The stern Of the
Morcni was high in the air sinking"
Slowly the two boats rowed up
alongside the submarine that stood
waiting picturesquely a half mile.
away A whistle piped ito quarter"
and the German sailors lined up and
stood at attention on her broad back.
Bangor" counted them. over his
shoulder. They were 80 in number.
indicating that she carried crew OF
about fifty. All wore the regulation
uniform and tasseled hat and seemed
to be In good condition. Not young