American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-06-12

anu a rA4l4EA AAADA-A NAt - 1f
then a humping. scraping sound
"Good"' exclaimed Breen. We've
reached the bottom, 40 feet down
Three hundred and hfty's the crush
ing point"
But we're scraping along with the
tide, sir" answered one Of the men,
land we may go deeper"
Then Wen find the torpedoes right
above US" said Breen promptly. "Out
with the other"
Out they went, one after the other,
and after them the water in the tube.
The boat lifted her bow to an angle
Of % degrees, but the scraping and
humping Of the propeller guard on the
bottom continued, and the depth In
dicator told them that she was now
100 feet below the surface and drag
ging downhill. Only Breen showed de-
cision.
Draw LOTS he said, bringing forth
a box Of matches from his pocket, "as
to who goes first
You mean last. sir, don't your ask
ed the engineer. 1T makes no differ
ence who goes first on the chance Of
swimming up over a hundred feet TO
GuI u torpedo at night, but some one
must remain TO fire out the last man."
Il remain said Breen. Il am the
commander. Who goes first now|
Il will" said one Of the trimming
tank men. but, Lieutenant" he add
ell. we can swim up in two minutes.
| should think, and I've held my breath
three. But low'u ne know which
way 10 SWIM IRIS nieht up there.
We can't see.
IF your head and stomach don't
tell you let your Snife hang loose by
the lanyard. Itn hang down. swim
parallel Hold on. Keep your shoes
on" The man was shedding them.
Take all weights out that you can.
Put your coats on, all of you. It's a
cold night up above. You'll need your
coats riding a torpedo
"Goodby, sir. Goodby, boys, all
round"
lie threw open the breech Of the
tube and crawled in. A man stood
with his hand on the compressed air
valve; another stood by the bow port
lever: Breen himself was at the breech
Take "A good breath when you hear
the breech closed he called In and
was answered. Then be slammed to
the swinging breech door, locked it
and waved his hand 10 his men. They
knew the drill. Water was admitted
> at once, the bow port was lifted, com
pressed air was turned on. there was
the usual cough and thud and thrush
Of water. and a man under a pressure
Of four a~tmospheres was swimming
somewhere through water black as
Z night. guided only 10y his knife Ian.
= yard or the feel of his head and
stomach.
Breen himself elected the last mar
and stood mp alone in a boat 40 feet
, beneath the surface ul the sea. hel
bow lifted on an angie Of 80 degrees
from the horizontal. her main mOtol
drowned and her auxiliary motor burn
ed. There was one chance in a mil
lion that he would be rescued Two
hours later when be looked at th'
depth indicator lie saw a reading Of 800
He c a dftV Jdthoms 6cloic the surface
Breen looked around. first at the al
pressure indicators. All but two regis
tered at zero. He had two tanks a
1000 pounds pressure. and he cOulI
have blown out a few more torpedOe
or men or tanks of water. but not tina
water washing about aft. He though
4 Of the storage battery beneath tn
dooring-ninety large Jars Of sulphur
VI lie acid I'm danger from contact wit
II that washing salt water, a bad CON
bination, and inspected it. He fOun
that the last jars aft lifted six inche
above the water level and. KNOWN
that they were designed for an inclins
ton Of - degrees. was treasured
He looked ut the burned out mote
overhead in the handling room.
worked the air compressor and one {
the bilge pumps. the other being col
nected to the main motor, under watG
and equally useless. He had q nav'
officers knowledge Of electricity an
motors. acquired at Annapolis. an
he this told him that it would be hopeless
even for an expert mechanic, to a
tempt rewiuding that small motor wit
" the dried out wires Of the other.
lie SluQltu tue mann AANAfAf ANAA
buried in water. When dry it worke
- with seventy horsepower. II wouI
pump out against the pressure OF Il
" sea the water that kept the boat dow
II clear Of this water il would dry oil
in time. In what times Breen hs
~ fifteen days supply Of food and wat
for a crew Of eight. l21 days supp
- for himself. Ills air supply was shoI
but sunocation Is a long death.
The lower part of the armature al
fully half the heieht of the field ma
- nets were stil immersed. He need
more weight forward or less aft al
- as his eye roved about the maze
- hxtures-pipes. valves and machine
it rested upon the useless gasolr
engine. a 1000 pound weight Reno
mn ing his coat. he first made sure IN
- the gas feed valve was screwed ugi