Trench and camp. ([Admiral, Md.) 1917-1919, 1918-01-02
CARRYING THE BOYS "OVER
THERE"

THERE" :
There is," said Napoleon, "no such
thing as certainty in war;"
That maxim applies today as surely
as it did at Austerlitz, at Jena and at
Waterloo. There 10 no certainty as to
the effect of artillery-fre, perfected
though il seems to have been. There
is no certainty as to the resistance of
the enemy, tried though he has been
by three years of fighting. There is
no certainty as 10 the future of the
submarine, combatted though it is by
the most accurate science and the
most cease1ess vigilance of the allies.
This was why Assistant Secretary
Roosevelt, in announcing the arrival
of the FIRST American troops in France,
felt it necessary to warn the people
that some of our transports would
inevitably be lost before all the boys
had been landed "Over There" II
nothing else operated, the mere laws
Of probability and chance would make
it almost certain that some Of our
transports would founder and sink.
There is no use concealing the prob
ability.
But this we can write down with as
surance and with pride: Thanks to
the efforts of the allied navies, not
one OF the tens Of thousands who have
left American ports for foreign service
since last April has yet lost his life at
sea en- route to England or France.
Dangers there have been as a matter
OF course, and close escapes: but Of
deaths, not one In all the army.
How this record has thus far been
attained it 10 neither prudent nor pa
triotic to explain in detail. The less
the enemy knows about our defensive
methods, the less capable he will be
Of. combating them. But the censor
ship has permitted the publication of
few facts from which readers of
Trench and Camp may draw conclu-
sionS.
Reports have come, from time to
time, of submarines operating 300,
400 and sometimes as much az 500
miles from the shores of France and
Ireland, but actual experience has
demonstrated that the undersea boats
seldom venture more than zoo miles
from shore. II 10 within this distance
the last days run-that the danger
10 most acute. Consequently, as our
transports approach the edge of this
zone, preparations are made for de-
tense and the size of the convoy Is
greatly increased. The guns are
manned. the boats are swung out on
their davits and the men put on life
belts. Fore and aft, the gun-crews
stand ready TO FIRE ON an instant's
warning, while the officers and the
lookout scan the horizon.
Chief reliance, however. Is placed
upon the destroyers and the subma-
rine chasers. These move around the
transports in q Gordon and at a speed
more than twice that of the trans
ports. If q submarine is sighted, the
destroyer is under orders to open FIRE
and run it down. where practicable.
II chaser" or a destroyer sights the
wake OF a torpedo, the navigator must,
it possible, putt his boat between the
torpedo and the transport. Dangerous
work, that, with the assurance of a
certain death if the torpedo strikes the
destroyer or the thin sides of the
chaser! But the men on those fast
flying craft face it with cold courage
and quick decision that are an honor
to America.
1anng ali the roop-movementS at
sea since the outbreak of hostilities,
some statistician has computed that
the chances of death on a transport
are only about is times what they
would be on ocean-liners during times
of peace. If the comparative losses
on transports during three years Of
war be reckone6 against the losses at
sea during the three years immediate
ly preceding the war, the chances of
death are even less than is to 1. That
Is consoling to the fighting man who
wants at least, to die with Mother
Earth beneath him. But If those
chances were ten times as great as
they are. there is scarcely q man in
any Of the thirty-two camps that
would hesitate q moment. That Is the
spirit of America and that is the spirit
which is to win the war;