The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-05-09
SWEEPING MINES
A PER|LOUS TASK
EVANS TELLS OF TRIP TAKEN ON
ONE OF THESE SCOUTS THAT
MAKE OCEAN SAFE
ASTRONG STORY Of THE WARS DANGERS
Doing Work That Has Little Notice
From The Public But More Dan
gerous Than The Trench
By II. C.. EVANS
copyrighted, 1919

days Capt. John w. Glo-r noses his
old fishing smack into a cove of the
harbor at - From the window
of my headquarters | ear see the
Union Jack floating from the old bat
tered mast, and her | 90 down for
a visit with the captain and his crew.
The old smack is a mine sweeper
and the captain is her skipper. She
is one of the fleet Of - mine sweep
ers at work in this field, and is known
as the Goodbye, Good-Luck, God
Bless-Ye" with the Il don'tgive-a-dam"
crew.
Another unit of the feet is called
"Hell-Bent Helen" and another
"Sweepin' Sinbad of the Sea" The
members Of the crew respond to
names that relate to the particular
wok each one performs. They ia
miliarly address each other as Skull"
and ship" and Mess" Watch"
Scissors" "Rudder," Timber" and
Kite" and by these names were in
troduced to me.
When they were told that I repre-
sented the Young Mems Christian as
sociation they SHE'D at closer relations
than a formal greeting and called me
"Parson." When | protested and told
them | was just a common everyday
sinner whom the captain had prom
Used to take along on the next trip,
they relaxed, and | am now known
among them as THE Youngun," part
ly in Difference to my age, but prin-
cipally because | must have a name
that has some relation to my work.
was happy and somewhat surprised
that they applied to me the first word
Of our association rather than the
first syllable of the last word.
As near as | may. under censorship,
shall relate the work of the mine
sWeepers. Our readers must under
stand that this is one of the most i'm
portant units of the allied forces.
Thousands Of ships and tens Of thous-
ands of men are employed in this ser
vice. From the eastern line of the
Mediterranean sea westward through
the Straights of Gibralter, then north
along the coasts of Portugal, Spain
and France. then west and north
around the British Isles into the North
Sea and south ntO the English Chan-
mel, this immense sweep of old ocean
affords Germany a fertile field for the
laying of mines.
The mines are much more danger
Gus to the allied ships than direct
attacks by submarines. Were the
seas not swept and the mines broken
from their anchorage and destroyed.
there would not be a harbor that al
lied ships would enter without the
greatest danger.
The submarine can plant mines with
greater safety than it can attack
ships. A fleet of ships from Ameri-
CO enters the danger zone owe here
and proceeds into harbor attended by
so many destroyers that the lurking
submarines dare not attack. Blu
when the shadows of night fall they
rise to the surface, follow in the wake
of the ships and plant mines, and
woe betide the mex feet that under
takes the passage of that sea lane
unless II has been SWeDt.
One of these mines is about the
size and shape of a large barrel. To
its bottom end is attached a cable
and to the other end of the cable an
anchor. or a weight made Of cement.
In laying a mine, soundings Of the
depth OF the sea are taken. and the
mine is anchored so that its top is
three feet below the surface of the
water at low tide.
1t must be remembered that the
mine is %buoyant, and floats if broken
from it's anchorage. The mine is
filled with ct. n. T."-Tretnite, one
of the most powerful explosives
known. Projecting from the top of
the mine, or barrel, are glass tubes
that encase the wires that connect
with the explosives just below. The
tubes look something like the glass
knobs on a telephone pole. These
wires are electrically charged, and
the breaking of one of the frail glass
tubes ignites the spark that explodes