Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1917-10-31
BlindfoId Campaign of Submarine
Chasing Is RepIete With
Surprises.
TORPEDO FISH" IS FOOLER
interesting sidelight on Work Of Navy
in Fighting U-6oat Peril--many
an Encounter With Table
Leg or Swab Handle.

| leg OF SWdD rdnolc.
New York. Leaves from the diary
Of the commander of Il destroyer and
! sidellghts on the thrills that come to
| the men aboard the vessels of the Unit
ed States navy in the war zone
were made public in statement
issued by the navy publicity bureau OF
31s West Thlrsy-ninth street.
ut is stimulating from the maze of
convoy and submarine Search work to
,.ptangle vivid tn. eadS of adventure"
the statement said. "For the first half
of a certain month few points stand
out for emphasis or INSTALLATION"
They are these:
Enemy operations have been large
~ in the southern part of our area.
Calm weather and the moon have ia
vored them. Merchant ships have as
sembled thickT.s at the rendezvous, and
the sight has veen frequent of one
with four or five s'eat vessels on her
hands before others assigned have join
ed the escort.
"Many rescues Of crews have been
successfully made.
in behind the net however, 1t is
less easy to borrow the lookout's eyes,
set for the pin thrust of the distant
periscope through the blue frets of the
quiet. treacherous ocean. Or to hear
In the dark small hours the throbbing
general quarters alarm, the blowers
hum in a racing crescendO. and the
gun crews-like Tweedledums and
Twpedledees I'm their slate-hued life
preseryers-tear the covers from the
ammunition boxes. 1t is a tension to
bear down at % knots upon the lean
tramp that makes no response to the
tiap-hap of your searchlight blinker,
spelling out the challenge to distin-
guish whether the phosphorescent
streak that at night flashes across your
bow is made by Hun torpedo or the
animal shippers have canned the tor
pedo fish blaCllfish or porpOise. Sur
viyOrs come mutely up the side. often
Lascars and Cingalese. mutterlng of
Allah and America lndistlngulshably.
q
pill calmly stick 1t behind the ear,
and as the surgeon uncorks his lodo-
form in the Mushroom for gushes made
by wreckage, some old gunner of the
reserve takes pneumonia from his
hours of exposure, and is put ashore
at \ say, on a stretcher, and with his
hours of life numbered.
Two Ships in the Thick Of II.
The Y and the z have been in the
thick OF such Incidents. AT IS
minutes past 1 o'clock on the morn
Ing of the 18th. the Y was steaming
singly at u knots. with a quiet sea
and good visibility for that hour. The
captain v..s smoking cigar on the
bridge, wondering. he told me. whether
Mrs. G.. would ever have the pleas
ure Of putting roses on her old mans
tomb up the Hudson. A heavy expIo-
sion, without flash, shook the dark
ness about three miles over the port
bow, A whistle bleated three times.
and the radio shack called up the tube
that the steamer Kioto was torpndoed
20 miles southwest by west of Fastnet
Light
The y switched on her general
alarm for battle, changed her course
10 DDS degrees true and plunged thith-
err at full speed. In two minutes she
made out the staccato sparks OF a
hlinker, repeating over and over. Tor
pedoes !-TorpetQes = In five, she
changed her course 10 degrees faster
east, and at half-psst one the flush
decks of a single stacker of about
1900 tons doomed over the cocoa mat
ting and thrust men about a gun.
"She was now nearing the freight
or, bow on, bit 90 port. Suddenly
out VI the darkness TO the right a livid
beam rushed straigr, nd simmer.
ing at her under the We put over
fun right rudder. The torpedo passed
close aboard across his bows. TO the
left, Just ahead Of the Kioto. and as
the luminous wake receded like a muf-
fled searehlight il seemed To break
spent upon the near horizon. ANY
how said the captain afterward. 1T
was worth crossing the ocean to see
and feel that instant 1t made those
roses seem lot nearer.
THE destroyer began TO circle the
Kioto at high speeds, with alternate
right and left rudder Her blinker
stammered on. that she had been hit in
the port quarter ahaft the engine room.
Then the lights ceased. Ten minutes
after two loaded lifeboatS emerged out
Of the Stnrboard darkness. They held
20 men, including the second officer
and tall engineer, wounded In the
! leg. Soon after two O'Clock all were
safe aboard the Y. She continued to
! circle the steamer. which was slowly
/ sinking by the stern. Alarm of the dis
| aSter had been flashed 10 adjacent pa
/ trolls The Y nosed into sight and
/ stood by. likewise H. NJ s. -. who
! signaled thai she had taken aboard 10
| more survivors and the Kioto'S i'm
! pctuous captain--he that returned to
! the wreck. At 20 minutes past 3
! The freighter sank, leaving only float
/ ing Nvreckage and a CostOn light. which
tljckered nc grom time 10 time until
duybreab like n lantern In lifeboat.
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VETERANS BUSY IN LONDON