The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-07-17
to U-boats.
Medical Aid at Sea.

Medical Aid at Sea.
 At the South tail of the Bank of Newfoundland the Convoy was en- veloped in fog. At 10 a. m. the fog began to lift and slowly vanish, and the ships gradually loomed into bright sunlight and resumed their proper stations. The dispositions of the ships when the fog lifted resembled in a striking way the position of draughts on chequer board when a clumsy person stumbles against it.
 In the course of the morning ship signalled that man on board needed medical aid, and asked for a doctor. A boat was lowered from Beautiful Dove, the surgeon went aboard, and found that the man needed help and these circumstances the patient was lowered into the boat and brought on board the Escort. This little in cident illustrates what has been call ed the omnipotence of surgeons. On several occasions it has happened that a twenty or thirty thousand ton mail steamer has been held up in mid-At- lantic whilst the ships surgeon has performed an operation. On this occasion a cooks mate required sur gical aid, and this the cook had en- deavored to render, after consulting a book on domestic medicine.
 For those who believe in omens 1t may be added that the heavens ap- proved the act. It was midday when the boat returned to the Escort with the sick man. The sun was in the zenith, surrounded by a. large halo, and as the boat was hoisted the inner border of the halo was tinted of a faint pink like rainbow. I had nev CT seen a solar halo before; it was an object of exquisite beauty. Under the care of the ships surgeon the man quickly recovered and an opera tion was avoided.
 The convoy is kept in order by sig rals. During daylight signalling is continual, and if the yeoman of sig nals is not smart at his job the Cap tain of the cruiser has an extremely unpleasant time. Signalling is indis- pensable for station-keeping at sea, and to facilitate matters a signalman R. N. V. A., of experience is put on board each ship of the convoy. It is easy for a squadron of battleships to keep station; the ships work together, and are able to keep @ few spare knots "up their sleeve" so to speak, and at night each ship tows a fog buoy astern. A fog-buoy is barrel tied to the end of rope and dragged astern, where it makes a splash; this l is easily seen, and, if necessary, illum- mated by a searchlight. This is not permissible on a convoy, where the ex- hibition of a light at night even for a few moments might give the show away and bring on disaster.
 Station-keeping in convoy of merchant ships differing in shape, l tonnage and speed, is not an easy 1 job. The first difficulty is the re- puted speed of each ship: some ara l over-rated, especially the slowesr and it is the highest Speed of the slowest ship that regulates the sail. | ing rate of the whole convoy. Some of the ships could steam at double l the rate of the slowest, so they had to mark time, and when impatient came in for stern rebuke. A discor- dant steam whistle can utter an un- mistakable reprimand. A quica ship cas, as rule answer the helm 1 quickly; a slow ship takes time, and like the tortoise when a hundred years old seems to think a great dea
 before altering course. In many o1 their action ships seem extraordin i arily like. Sailors always refer tc the ship as She.
 1 It is easily appreciable that if sig,
 nals are badly displayed, il1-under I stood, or answered in a dilatory way | the convoy would soon become dis organized like a flock of sheep with
 cut shepherd, or mixed up as 1:
 the familiar game of General Post
 and when they bump against eacl
 other, we'll. The method employ
 ed is simple. In starting each shil
 gets in space several cable lengths il
 the four cardinal direction, and a
 the navigating officers form an opin ion of the peculiarities of the ship
 they gradually reduce the space GOV
 cred by the convoy, by limiting tn
 intervals between the ships. Gradual . ly' the convoy came to be handled al most as smartly as a line of battl
 ships All day long the rangefnde was in use to keep the leaders in DO
 sition, any deviation was prompt !, noted, and by controlling the leadin
 ship of each line the followers wer . kept fairly well in order.
 The yeoman of signals had a smar
 set of men under him who hoiste
 az, penant, and burgee with celerit! [, neatness, and smartness, and dre, 2 them in again with alacrity Tn o yeoman watched for replies through :, telescope, using his right or left ey : with equal facility and accuracy. dF O na deep blue sea, with the su
 shining and signals flying starboar
 and port, the convoy often looked .
 if it were befagged for regatta. Il After a few days training the COT 2 voy could be manoeuvred easily, an gradually the ships were brougl u closer together. Merchant ships ss convoy are not very anxious about
 neigh on the beam, but they al ss fdgety of the ship immediate - astern., The bow of a heavy ship clos = under the stern of one that sluggish
 answers the helm does not make fl e bliss in bad weather, especially fC
 and snow.
 Tn addition to fog-signalling, mes
 ages are transmitted very rapidly ,- semaphone, and an extremely usef ,-. method is More signalling.
 ,q Stragglers.
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