Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1918-01-02
CARRYING THE BOYS over
THERE


"TKcrc is" said Napoleon, mo such
thing as certainty in war"
That maxim applies today as surely
IS it did at Austerlitz, at Jena and at
Waterloo. There is no certainty as to
the etfect Of artillery-hre, perfected
though it 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 to the future of the
submarine, cornbatted though it is by
the most accurate science and the
most Ceascless 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 cur transports would
inevitably be lost before all the boys
had been landed "Over There" If
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 matter
OF course, and close escapes: but of
deaths, not one in all the army.
How this record has thus far been
attained il is 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 ano Camp may draw conclu-
sions.
Reports have come, from time to
time, Ct ST. ~narines operating 800,
400 and sometimes as much as 500
miles from the shores of France and
Ireland, but actual experience has
demonstrated that the undersea boats
seldom venture more than 200 miles
from shore. 1t is within this distance
the last days run--that the danger
is rncst 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 subrna-
rine chasers. These move around the
transports in a Gordon and at speed
more than twice that of the trans
ports. If submarine is sighted, the
destroyer is under orders to open FIRE
and run it down, where practicable.
II chaser" or destroyer sights the
wake of torpedo, the navigator must,
if possible, put his boat between the
torpedo and the transport. Dangerous
work, that, with the assurance of a
certain o ath 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 a quick decision that are an honor
to America.
Taking all the troop-movements at
sea since the outbreak of hostiiitics
some statistician has computed that
the chances Of death on 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 oil
war be reckoned against the losses al
sea during the three years immediate
ly preceding the war, the chances o.
death are even less than is to !. THAI
wants at least, to die with Mothel
Earth beneath him. But if thos,
chances were ten times as great a;
they are, there is scarcely a man il
any of the thirty-two camps tina
would hesitate a moment. That is the
spirit of America and that is the spiri
which il to win the warl