The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-29

course to ram, acknowledge a lombard
 ment of smoke bombs by altering course
 second time to "toddle off" Upturned boats wait to be looked at and logged, and then keep on waiting for whatever it is they wait for. Fishing craft cut their nets and flee. Depth charges boom and
 tinkle far away Seaplanes swoop zoon- l ing out of the sun to be greeted with hurried explanation with hand flags, the reply to which was illegible tXY-7 is 1 speaking now owing to rapid turning or | aircraft and background of silver clouds. l as we'll as pray dashing on my bridge" 1 Fogs roll down like the dusk in Pitts ! burg, and a wise submarine, being in a very favorable position for observation without being detected" stops it's engines and suddenly hull up 1000 yards away sloep in a hurry slams through with 1 flourish of general quarters. The winds ] blow and comfort loving submarines go 1 below into the silence, intermittently to
 stop and listen and porpoise. The sun l breaks through over rotten calm when' 1 even at two kno,s, an American periscepe attracts no more attention than mad l dog in a tenement street.
 ! And all through the empty, sun struck 1 sea German submarines, intent on ton | on German submarines, patrol their re- spective bilets, each like pickpocket and policeman intent on it's respective pur- I suit.
 l By night shafts of moonlight slant through the low-lying clouds to light l up dark objects on the sea. AY-S sighted one of these dark objects while l she was charging air and battery, weather clear and moonlight" last Sun I oI-od nv hnr mander at once and. on the bridge in This bathrobe, he put the glasses to it., l and said in low tone that the chance | of it's being an enemy looked to him I to be about 50-50. He called up the second, who handed the glasses back 1 and shrugged his shoulders, Then | he passed them to the crew, beginning with a chief machinists mate, who wore a lady in tights tattooed on on broad forearm, a snake tattooed on the other and half cigarette behind his l ear. When the last of them had re- turned down the hatch, the udgment, | Damned if I'd fire' had acceptance and XY-5 had begun to alter course. But she had hardly swung through go I degrees when the dark object sud denly turned loose every gun it had with a fearful flashing and crashing, and altered course to ram HY-o. By these tokens, XY-5 knew for certainty that the dark object was not an enemy | at all, but was one of her God-con- demned friendsl so she sent up a sig- | nal and a challenge in hurry. And | in time the dark object, as they say | in the navy, proceeded And in time I the commander rumbled below to his I bunk in the torpedo compartment like an irritated thunderstorm, and &4-5 resumed her course, speed and battery charge in a mood in which she was best left alone.
 XY-9. by the way, had somewhat different experience about month ago. | At 0145 she encountered one of these dark objects and finally fired at it. But l the commander lob served" that his torpedo was circling and that it finally steadied on a course to blow up XY-9 herself. So, says XY-9, with seaman like simplicity, T changed course" The | sky became overcast again and by ! the time I was strengthened out,
 the vessel had disappeared into the darkness.
 ON THE KILLING JOB ] Now the submarines have nothing to defend. They bother with no clumsy con voys such as trouble topside craft. Their | sole job is to kill. You will find it writ
 ten in their sailing orders: ITO search | for and destroy the enemy They are stalking their lives to Win the joy of killing, for compared to the joy of kill l ing their lives amount to as little as a violin compared to the song 1t can be made to yield. They are clfief among the few romancers remaining to human l kind.
 l In the submarines war is not matter of buying Liberty Bonds, although four ! fifths Of the officers and men at the ! base have bought, and are still buying ] them, War here is physical force, or ganized to the nth power of efficiency. Yet the two-and half -strper whose war tool is XY-3, puts to sea with Emer- sons English Traits" for his present hobby.
 l He had a busy time before breakfast | a week ago Tuesday. At 05l2 ('day was | just breaking and the moon had set') | h. sighted one of those dark objects and l a moment later made it out to be con ming tower, heading toward him. What happened then occupied about ID mlii- utes, for contact lasts only until your enemy discovers you Then it ends ab- I ruptly.
 l He waited until his enemy came on at very close range. Then he let go. the I torpedo Jumping slightly to the left on I leay ing, the tube and then steadylng for | straight, hot shot. He observed the I wake lining straightaway to hit just l forward of the coming tower and when ' no explosion ensued, he kept straight on ! t) ram, lunging across the spot with both 1 engines on his propellers and all the | knots he had through a whirl of water caused by his enemy's descent and a plothering of bubbles from his vents al ] though he knew that if he succeeded I the chances were that both of them would go down, locked together, into oo 1 fatboms where nothing human can live. | "Rut YOU never stop to think of all that | it happens so quickly you don't think of anything except getting Fritz-and when l its over, there are other things to think about. .-
 IL is one of those minutiae of the sup marines which prompt outsiders to go up to the hotel on the beach ana get tish,. Then, having lost his enemy anu finding himself alone in an empty sea. | ("Fritz can get under in hurry; 1 -.o,,,..a srot to hand If tn him J. he com-