The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-10-09

ing except the QS muffled voice of the sea. On the q hOr appears noth- ing except the inpeccable black of moonless and somewhat foggy night.
 The men have the air of excessive watchfulness. Everyone seems to be alive to the great importance of his role. From this time on the slightest mistake in maneuver may be fatal; coming awash, even for the shortest time might deliver us to the enemy.
 The commander lifts his arm, He turns aside a little, 'Land" [. He says. His voice sounds in the still ness of the submarine, which vibrates only with the dull rolling sound of their work. They form a single body with the machine which they are tending. I have very clear impress sion that these men are nothing but automatons, a part of the machinery of the submarines.
 Land The commander has perceived darker shadow in the general shadow of the night, Then stream Of whiteness pierces the night at intervals; 1t is the pencil of light from a searchlight. We are in front of the German naval base.
 During long hours there are stud fed maneuvres, here below the sea- Waiting then a precipitous run ahead, as if to bounce upon something in the sea, then a stop, then a new ad- vance in serpentine movements, very slow or very swift. The listener at the microphone makes g. discret gesture then everything stops-the engine oi the submarine and even the breathing of the men. That is because the listener has heard a suspicious sound A German ship that is passing very near. The sound becomes weaker ceases-the submarine resumes its mysterious course.
 We are now in the enemy road stead,
 Faces are tense, eyes distended. A the slightest start the bodies of th' men receive something like an cleo trio shock. That is because eyer! second one may have fear of striking a mine, or some other device. TheE' will be a slight grating of the shell nothing very strong, for the wate' muffles these sounds :. . then every thing will be blown up. Only the sur vivors, if there are any, will hear tn noise of the explosion. Or there wil be a shock, a blow. A wave of wate will fall upon us in the shape of cascade; in ten or twenty seconds mel and machines will be in a singl
 tumble, whirling about; then tn wave of water, growing m1ghtier, vii cover anything with blackness.
 The quarter master at the torped switchboard lets a lever go from hi hand. His big eyes are fixed upoI 1 the commanders face. The torped
 man is ready for any event. But .ou
 mission Is not to torpedo.
 We are at the place intended. Ther
 Is no sound at the microphone. Every
 thing sleeps, 1t seems, in the road 1 stead.
 Big brown balls have been brodgh toward the kiosk. The men are pre- pairing to let a train of cables ru,
 through the central alley of the sub marine. At the ladder are some sail
 CTS, crouching, silent, waiting-me
 of sturdy bodies.
 Very slowly the x-50 rises throug
 the waters. There is a stop. All tn
 while nothing at the microphone;
 Is going we'll. One more effort. Tn
 shell now touches the surface of tn
 sea. Another stop An observatio
 by periscope. Certain precautior
 are provided, to prevent the sailor
 who will step out into the free al
 from being struck down by the di1
 ference in pressure.
 A careful unlatchlng. A sound (
 crumpled silk. The shell is open. In the sleping roadstead of the Ger
 man port, in a very dark night, tn
 X-5O emerges, hardly as much as , water flower. Three hundred meter distant is the mole, on which tt
 cannons and the searchights al
 sleeping, ready to do their work
 little carelessness, an unusual soun' and the German sailors on watch c the mole will devine that there is a intruder, the searchlights will u1
 mask him, the cannon will prompt
 reduce him to nothing.
 But these men of the X-50 posse
 a coo1ness and a skill which is il
 conceivable. The danger that is
 near does not trouble them. Thr' shadows rise from the shell. On u 2 narrow bridge of tho submarine, CO cred with thin sheet of water, u !. three Pnantoms are making prude1 S ovements-creeping, feline, impe ceptibls movements. They let u cables run-and slowly, slowly the b brown balls slide toward the wate . The mines are anchored.
 u The mission of the X-50 is ende Again she submarine dives. The sol 5 of the water ballasts resounds like
 hymn of victory.
 Before the first light of dawn ' must leave the enemy port. The submerged X-50 runs alor 5 under the keels of the destroye
 moored in a row in the center of u s roadstead. Soon we shall be saili1 @ where the farthest jbuoys of the roa t stead float. A few careful observ s tions by periscope to pick up t s channel and everything will be t @ open sea-
 0 Suddenly a powerful jolt. v IS hear crushing sounds. The shell y the x-5o pivots upon itself. The sh e stops. And yet the propeller is tur n ing. The submarine has struck l. obstaclS.
 ts The commander lets the helm dri Il to the right, to the left. It is a va st maneuvey. And the stern strikes g we know not what.
 ot, The commander shakes his hea j. Nothing to be done. ; he mt y nurs sadly. The men did not all he IS their chiefs remark but all eyes a ly fixed upon the officer; they unde le stand For in a submarine in dang
 there obtains a mysterious comnul k cation between the chief and his me Id Thought IS transmitted without wort