Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1918-04-18

Far up on the two masts, switching back and
forth across the sky In great arcs were the fore
and main tops-the ''crow's nests" In each Of
these four men were stationed-the eyes Of the
vessel. In pent house at the foot of each
mast dwelt the commanders of the fore and aft
guns, in constant communication with the look
outs above.
Dawn broke over a thousand ranges Of gray,
rolling mountains. Behind the Ramapo, two 9TH
er transports ducked and crashed through the
waves Before her the bulk of an armored
cruiser showed now and again through the foam.
Waves were breaking over her all the time. She
plowed straight through. Sometimes to the men
on the Ramapo it seemed as though only her fun
nels and masts were above the sea-
The first night, when the Ramapo behaved more
like drunken acrobat than stately ship, was
merely the forerunner Of worse things to come
All winter, storms have ranged up and down the
sea lanes Of the Atlantic. Calm days on the
trip across are always rarity In December jan
uary and February. This year they have been
unique.
There were windstorms when the vessel rolled
in arc of 50 degrees. There were days of ice
when the spray froze wherever 1t struck and men
came off watch, cased in mail. There were days
of snow that dashed the lookouts' faces like
whips There were days of tremendous seas that
reached up 60 feet from the water line to rip
lifeboats from their davits.
There was little time free of hard work and no
leisure for the seamen. To sleep one had to
clutch the sides Of his bunk, and usually when
he relaxed as slumber overlook him, he fell out
with dismal crash.
Day and night they fought the seas, making
fast repairing defending their vessel against the
unending assault Of the waves.
petty officer was going through the mess
hall, progressing cautiously, never letting go Of
one stable object until he had grasped another,
when his grip slipped. He was thrown the whole
length Of the hall. and was carried a limp piece
Of bloody wreckage to the sick bay.
They had to operate to save his life. the sur
geon said. That in storm that was making the
Ramapo behave like an outlaw horse. But the
navy cares for It's own and they operated, and
the man Is still alive. The wind from the
north and was making the ship roll terribly. They
turned her bow into the gale and faced into 1t
for two hours, because the motion that way was
easier
The cruiser and her convoy passed on down
over the horizon. The storm got worse. For
two hours the Ramapo steamed slowly into Its
teeth, alone on the ocean, she and her thousands
of men waiting, while In the operating room the
surgeon balanced himself to the more regular
plunge of the vessel and saved the mans life.
The ordeal Of the never-ending series of storms
sufficient to try mems souls, occupied by
other worry. But over the Ramapo hung an
other threat-the menace that enyelops any yes
sci that faces out across the Atlantic.
"Watchful waiting"-the men Of the Ramapo
grew to know the true inward agony Of the
word Always to watch. To stand for four
hour watch in the crows nest until your eyes
ached from scanning the battling waves for the
sight Of the white periscope trail. To tread the
deck, your ears ever strained for the dull boom
below that might tell of torpedo driven home
To sleep, with one-half of you wide awake ready
to jump to your appointed post while the vessel
dropped swiftly away beneath your feet.
The thing got them. For the first day or SO
they talked and joked about it. Then into the
talking came note Of defiance, as though each
man were telling his fellows that he wasn't
afraid. Then they stopped talking about it en-
tirely.
Then one morning the section that awoke te
the twitter of the boatswain's pipe caught new
emphasis in the old navy cry:
"Third section on deck relieve wheel, lookout
speed cone and ammunition"
Especially the lookout They had reached the
far-fung limit of the war zone
The Ramapo and her consorts and the armoret
cruiser were all zg-zagging now. Navy mel
know how long after vessel has been sighted
it takes to aim and discharge a torpedo Sa.
that 1t takes five minutes. Every four minute
the vessels changed their courses, lodging bacl
md forth from an unseen foe that might not b
there at ALL Unfortunately.