Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1918-11-29

ged airplanes behind the British lines
part is impending. We know it and
OF its extent. We face it with that
knowledge, and with the steadfast
courage of our seamen it will be met
Praise for Aircraft. /
What your ships Of all classes are
doing on and under the surface your
aircraft in no less degree are accom-
pllshing in their own element, and,
among all the instruments of war
which are combining to make the life
OF the undersea pirates intolerable,
there is none which causes them great
er anxiety and discontinue than the
constantly vigilant aircraft.
SO far | have given a very brief out
line of what your various units are en-
gagged upon, but in order to gauge the
fruits OF their labors just bear this
one fact in mind: During the last three
months seven American soldiers and
their equipment have arrived in Eu-
rope every minute of the day and
night, and their maintenance on top of
that! That is the formidable fact
which the enemy has to face, and that
is the result Of the eXerciae of sea
power by the alliance, to which the
American naval forces are so ably
contributing.
1t is a great tribute to American
shipbulding and to your enterprise
that you are now able to carry more
than half of these troops in your own
vessels, built in your own country, and
manned by your own men. Thanks
to the mercantile marine of the al
lies. with their skill, unflinching cour-
age and pertinacity which we cannot
adequately extol, we have been able
to maintain those sea communications
without which our man power, our
munitions and our food supplies would
have been disintegrated and para
lyzed.
The record of the seaborne traffic of
the alliance is the clearest proof Of
the value OF sea power about which
your great naval historian, Rear Ad-
miral Mahan, wrote so emphatically
and prophetically, but this result has
only been attained by the splendid her
oism and endurance of the seafaring
men, whether of the fighting forces or
Of the mercantile marine.
To have had the opportunity of Wis
iting your country in the great war is
the very greatest honor and pleasure
to Vice Admiral Duff and myself, as
representing the British board of adj
miralty, and 1t is an added pleasure to
us that we have come at time when
the allied forces are winning all along
the line, and when we are reaping the
fruits Of the sound naval strategy and
the overwhelming sea power of the al
lied nations.
probation Of the magnificent work
which is being undertaken by the
United States naval forces operating
in European waters without express
| ing on behalf of the board of admiralty
and the royal navy our affection, in
many cases personal, and our admira
ton for your officers and men who
/
lies, are keeping open the sea com
munications Of the alliance; are re
! ducing the enemys fleets to impotence
| and have driven his commerce from
the seas.
| U. S. Navy Plays B:g Part
| None Of the navies do much talking
but among themselves they talk tn,
l | Ion -, ~
! dangers, they undertake indiscrim
! inately the same responsibilities, &C
! cording to the whole power behind tn
controlling chief of staff in each coun
u try. Since the beginning of the wa
Il the British navy has escorted over
\ seas to and from all theaters of wa
/ some 100000 men belonging to tn
Il armies of the British empire, and tn
q loss has been one-thousandth part Of
81 man per hundred carried from al
4 causes-marine risks or enemy actio
j and it is our purpose and our prid
q to maintain and reduce that percent
FL age in the great flow of young maj
b hood across the Atlantic.
81 I venture the opinion that when tn
4 history Of this war is written ther
p will be no more glorious page in ths
IT, history than the one which tells muc
b. that today cannot be told of the wor
Of done, the dangers faced, and the pr
O. vations endured by your navy, in cor
in mon with the navies of your co-be
s. ligerents, and there will be no grea
he er manifestation of the overwhel1nir
" importance of sea power in figl
ct such as this has been. In that man
" festation the great American nay
IF, the third largest in the world-h;
an played highly honorable, an increa
ly ingly important, part, and it has BET
Aaraairol Duff