Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-06
CAPT. CARPENTER
TELLS OF zEEbRUCGE
Splendid Address by Hero of That
War Triumph, Made at
The Playhouse.

Quiet and modest, but with an enuncia-
taon that showed the stamina, that made
hin and his fellows accomplish the wonder
full achievement they did, in blocking the
Zecbrugge, channel, G ptain \. r. +.
Carpenter. V. G. of the British Navy,
was given "A rouslng ovation at the mass
meeting in the Playhouse yesterday
afternoon Incidentally IT was The first
public announcement of the opening OF
the Rcd Cross Membership dntc on
December lb.
The great audience that filled every
seat and nook Of the theatre, the occasion
he object Of his coming, his achievement
and the man himself, all combined To
make the meeting. what will be perhaps,
one of the most interesting of any meeting
connected with the war.
While the war made many heroes, II is
not likely that any moro celebrated will
ever appear before n Wimingio on audience
Captain Carpenter $ recital of What he
and his brave fellows went through. was
given in such an unohstrusive matter of
fact way. that there was little opportunity
for applause certainly none where any
hcroIcs could be noted and little chance
for the emotions to gain control. rs his
Philadelphia critics sad, his descriptions
~ the magnificent manner IN whIch the
British NAVY onthat occasion distinguished
itself. was gwen Just hike a dentist or
physician might explain some technical
process in surgery before class of students.
Captain Carpenter wa nj nervous
BUT hc,showcd hat he i, not accustomed
to standing before such audiences a~
greeted him here. He didn't know what
to do with his hands, OF his feet Rut
that did'n matter tu the men aud women
that welcomed him. They were ready
and waiting for an opportunity to cheer
or applaud or even shout They applaud
cd and appauClcd when Josiah Marvel,
introuced hum And the welcome pleased
The skipper He smiled and despite his
best efforts at composuTo, almost laughed
nj medium height. with sharp fcat ures
4nd turned up nose, attrcd m a uniform
that was not oycrhuricned with gold
braid and dccorations. and wearing very
low laydoWn coll r. no ono would have
accused him. hal II not been for The
officers cnsignia on his sleeves. that hc
was anything more than John smith
WAS AMONG woRSHiPrIRs
However. Wilmington people had been
reading about his deeds Thcv We're
glad 10 see and 30 hear him md cvrn
when he s3Id damn the members ot the
cloth, who were there in large numbers
grinned and chucklci They were with
HIM too. with al Of that
One OF the things that Captain Car
nentcr said, that touched 4 universal
chord, WAS his reference t. Tho relations
nf love AMI sympathy, between the
English speaking nations Only tho
uccan he said separated them
II any man says they arc not together
3nd viii CcntlnUe to stand with each
~ F,= al
say nc was q liar q say he WAS damn
af said the captain.
And when the peace delegates get
together, and begin discussing pence.
and YOU hear some ono say. why hear
that the French are going 70 demand
his or that, would not say that person
was liar, I'd say he WAS = damn liar
Captain Carpenter prophcSied the
most friendly relations q. tho peace
table. and that everything would be
adjusted satisfactory to all Hc rclcred
20 the American navv in terms OF ad-
miration, and said that then corporation
had been splendid.
BROUGHT No ILLUSTRATIONS.
In beginning bis address Captain
Carpenter apoiogizcd FOR net bringing
the illustrations Of his narrative with
him, but begged the indulgence of the
audience because Of lack ul tnc He
Iegan hy telling how the British navy
had grown, what it had done. and assert
ed that it wGs the sea power OF klnG
George. that had great lot To do with
winning the war. Just ono illustration
10 900 900 men wcrc transported on
ships. with a loss Of IN 5000
hps story Of the blocking Of the canal
Vas concise. There Were l56 ships
engaged in the operation The cH-
pedition was planned FOR fve months,
andi while there were some things about
the maneuvcr that went wrong the
major portions were we'll executed and
made the Job s complete success
He told of the landing Of british sea-.
men and marines on the German mole.
uf their capture Of the tlc guns, of The
inferno Of shot and shell through which
every vessel uear the mole was exposed
1T one time said Captain Carpenter.
lieutenant stood on one side cf him
and a petty officer on the other Both
were shot. the officer through both legs
and the petty officer through the ann
The lieutenant refused to give up but
walked around with bullet wounds IN
both legs. and the petty officer remained
on duty also.
''One time during the fright. | went
below TO see how things we're coming
on, said h Briton The scene below