Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-02-03

4 1t Is OnlS ny Sneer luck
that the gunncrs ut sea have escaped
being killed and wounded by she'll fire.
When n man drops. his mates VIII be
| ready to fill his place and keep the gun
in action. And 80 at the gun drill in
! the yard they shift from one position
10 another 10 be prepared for bloody
casualties. Such things arc seldom
discussed. but 50 long ao the United
states Navy floats. there viii live in
| the soul and fiber OF /, the words of
Chesapeake: Don't give up the ship"
ELECTRIC LAMPS WINK
! AND FLASH MORSE COEE
| There arc classes in signalins scno ;
phore and dottcr. and ut night with the
"blinkcr" that sets the electric lamps
to winking and flushing the letters OF
the Morse code. Lookout duty requires
special instruction. Nothing is more
important in defense against the sub
marine. one petty officer. by way Of
( imprcssing his audience. stcrnly quot, 3
this awful example. possibly true and
perhaps not: "Ouc ship was lost be-
cause lockout rolled Il cigarette.
Get TINT? Well. don't forget it,"
For this purpose. the dummy COM
pass is employed. Il card upon which
the circle III tho horizon is marked or
IN ecc;ur& like the pieces OF I, pie. 1t
ih vital that when n lookou; sights
"a submarine he should he able to sing
out the petition. 80 many point on
til" h"w OF ahaft the beam. in order
that the eunncrs may instantly operate
the training gear and waste no pre-
cious seconds OF time before the spot
tor begins sending his ranges. And
the crew Of tho gun must learn to
know prcc:-cly where to look when the
man in the crows nest yells, PERT
Sc.r" NV" points of the starboard
bow THIS hey pra, o.. in the yard
until letter perfect, uu;ii every sector
~ the horizon has it's definite meaning
and location.
GOODNESS AND DENTERITY
HAVE SAVED SHIP CREWS
This condition Of affairs explains
why boat drill Is on the blucjackcts'
program. In many instances their
GOODNESS and dextcrity have aIrrady
saved the ships crews as we'll as their
own lives.
There Is also rifle and pistol practice
at tho target range items in the
rigorous daily routine. When not
otherwise employed. the men read over
the Biuejackets Manual in which
small volume is compressed an amax-
ing amount Of Information essential TO
the making Of a irst-class naval sea-
man All this instruction is additional
to the regulation routine OF duties
which they learned on Shipboard-
cleanliness. order and obedience. set
ting-up drill and tnspcctions-thi1 won
dcrful system which puts the awkward.
untamcd rookie through the mill and
turns him out an alert and disciplined
man with his two feet under him.
BY far the most interesting part "
this special education for the armed
guard service is the personal contact
with the chief petty officers and sea-
men who have done their hi, behind
tho guns and arc waiting for another
crack at submarine. 1t Ia no theory
with them. They know. Absorbed re-
spcctful the new recruits from The
fleet listen To thci- stories of sea fights
and foreign ports. They gather IN
groups when the days work is done
and tho drum and buElc no longer echo
through tho yard. The talk may run
something like this:
when you're ashore on the other
side YOU hear stuff that never gets into
the newspapers. The Belgian Prince
isn't the only case Of it's kind our
!ifcboats picked UP the second engi-
ncer Of British steamer that had
been sunk few miles ahead II US
me swine OF a subm ,rinc had taken
on all the officers, stood them on deck,
closed the matches. and then sub
merged after running five miles. The
only survivor was this second engineer.
who could swim like a duck"
TELL STORIES OF MEN
WASHED OFF SUBMARINES
Il believe you. Did you know the
Germane were pulling this same stunt
on their own sailors: What do
mean? Two Of them were washed
ashore last time was In England.
They were still kicking, and cxplnincd
that their commander had put them IN
deck as lookouts and then sealed his
matches while nc was running awash
In waters where the dcstroycrs were
after him. When he had to submcrgc
in hurry. these poor guys just nat
urally loatcd on. That was what they
were there for. They were supposed
I" drown. which they usually did"
Like claiming EN- 10 the machine
eunS on the western 'front.' observed q
chief boatswain's mate, accepting the
story as fact, for he had seen a thing
or two himself. "DrowninE Is soon
over. What about the boat from an
american schooner We picked IN last
voyage? There was n sight to give YOU
bad dreams. Fourteen days adr.ft
they were, and twelve days Of il with
nothing to cat hut their hoots There
had been eight men to start with
-Four were alive when we found The
hoat-,he captain. mate and two sea-
men. Yes; they were some skinny aud
hungry looking. Tough roos,c;s,
though. They couldn't wigglc a lin.
of course. but they chrkcd up lot
before We reached port"
There was n reflective pause, and
then another Of tho group went on to
say:
There was ono submarine outf
that got theirs. AMI hope 10 God they
Inc same bunch that Spf those