The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1917-05-26

and showed It into the barrel The pow
=, = bags arc driven home. Il man at ING
breach swings Il lever. ton ar steer
swings up with u hiss Of comprises"
air. Til" breach block turns anu tofhS ;; ;
:. llZzrr sounds. tn" charge IL ignit'a
and with Il rush OF air the guns recoi!
about a yard ana then jump back INTO
rosiiimu There is loud "SwlSh--,
swish" a. tn" guns r"ln" back and then
60 forward. Inside the turret not muSn
mere than that is heard.
Out id" It is much different. IheFr
is :. flash. 4 roar. Il ring Of smoke ana
tho loud whistle ~ Tho nruJt;tllc rush
ing through the air. So great IS inc
conclusion that every man OUTSIDE mas
cotton or some oihrr substance in his
cars To savr his ear drums from pelnS
broken.
Fifteen seconds from commence FIR.
ing" To "Eirt" is considered pretty good
.irnc for the Ing guns i'll the navy, In"E
have new guns crews III training now
WHO mover saw salt water until tire"
weeks ago who ar" DOING the thlnG CHS
~ III sixteen seconds.
Some nights tn" ships If the feet
rrlI iS.' in waters nearby tor night baI;h
y~lcticc. other nights they are an
chnrrd in tho has" waters. where crows
nrn drilled at torpedo defense. Tho
guns are manned and dummy tnrrcd"' y
and submarines are picked up Ivy the
ScarChliEhtS und Theoretically destroyed.
The fleet has gained efficiency in tor
rrdu defense. They tell Il story i'll The
ward rooms of m American submarine:
which decided t0 chang" its anchoraS ="
without giving notice. The fleet is dark
after L certain hour ut night. Not Il
l.nt shows, but the watch is intensely
al ri
Onr Of the deck officers saw tn" sub
marine outline itself and II gun quickly
wHs TRIMMED. The submarine wLS ha,h"n.
h..
fact that the Suhm"rsiblo WAS running;
h. land III" patrols was the "nl% in,n..
hat saved it. y i|"-irch gun rr"hai'%
would HAY" blown i; Ia pieces # tn.
:I'un"uvrr had taken piHr" 1;l tn" "l;i'f
s,Ir o. III" net. Now submarines d"Ht
my" around llt" that ut night II WIS
dangerous business.
Il"iurr m. fleet is dark.nrd the ships
lying in every direction present m in
spring spectacle. Lights. aS a! Il city.
show everywhere. E!Ink"r signals flash
on and ufr-sirnal,in:: in III" dots and
daSh"S Of th. MnrS" code. Long fingers
- whit" S"archlehts shoot up int" the
sky--ru and "ff--"n AMI off-->igrai-
ling ais" with dots and dashcs.
other s"archliisht beams pick M
boats that approach them. some. ilumi-
nat. It binding wharf. Away III til" dis
innrr s"archlights 81 III" ra'r"l boats
flash on ,,v"ry n"w and then. sweep the
waters 10 discover that what might
hnv" been n pcr!Sc"p" is only white
cap. Then they flicker on; again. From
th" shore. at night. boats passing amy
where in the u"ichhurhun! suddenly
ind themselves in the glare of search
lights.
While the guns crews are being
trained on some If tn" ships. aboard
others arc bc!n:; trained men Ia run HI"
hundred or moro German vessels IN"
United States will operate rs soon rs
r"raIrs nrc mad" 10 thrir engines. AN!
the fleet of MERCHANTMEN being huIlt
Ia carr. food and supplies /" the Allies.
The f!.rt is training engineers. c!""-
iririar.-irrn Ii III every position. Th"
Atlantis Fleet is confident that il will
h.. able "a supply luli complement for
every shin. for tn" navy IS getting mon
now faster than ever before. and II tho
officers ara. proI! Of their ships. the
guns on tn" decks and III" power -
the rnrines' in their huIlS. they ar"
rI"ubly proud "f ih" spirit of III" new
niru who are coming INFO til" navy. y
ranking officer said:
"rh"sc now mon hay" 'C"'"' into tho
navy tn tight and they went I" get in'o
the thick of il W" are turning out
guns crows every day and cv"ry G"i'
We rr, orders f0r more. IN three
months. from now many hundreds of
guns crews will hHvr loft III" fleet for
places where they may sink German
Submarines @? rh""rfu!ly rive up ih"ir
1Iyrs trying And th"@r hnys--fur must
Of them are no NOR" Tran that--rrn
shoot"
\ large majority Of the r"w men in
th.. fleet. their officers SAID. h1V" com"
from farms. respectfully in III" Mihh'n
West TN any ship may ;" fox Il
Youths who until III" wa began were
following p!uws.
"ln this n"ct." said on" Of the Of
t'rrr$. ''m"r" than ninety per cent of
IN" men ar" nHliv" horn Americans.
'rJ1.rr ,rn f,w foreign horn mon here -
On am ship mnv h" heard Tn" hra 81
Of south f'ar"linian Or Il Georgian. ihn
New Y"-li"sr "r ~" East Side. tn"
twanc that is New EnClands. m" rising
intnuat:on Of western renusyl"a nil: and
III" ton" that only comes from west OF
Chicago. So fuSt is Til" enlisted pnr-
is No room for III" new mon at III"
training stations ashore. \ man enlist :
ono day in Kentucky and tire" days
later finds himself al It loading machin.
on IN" deck Of - drnaGnauGht.
Mary ships have aboard them the
naval militia from the various states.
SoNir Of the militia are pronounced good
sailors.
On ncarly every ship arc mon viii"
used {" b. in tho navy and who hay"
gone back 10 their old. and usually low.
ranks because their country needs
thcm. They are regular officers.
On one ~ tho ships Is Il Wall street
broker. He graduated from Annapolis
many years ago resigned and later
came back into the service during tho
Snanish-American war. He commanded