Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-05-30
ALLIED FLEETS
BUSY KEEPING
The SEA SAFE
Ralph D. Paine Says Naval
Men Still Hope for Real
Fight with Huns.

New York. May 30.-stories OF,
American. British Ind French sea
fighters in action were told In the
Morgan library to- a company OF
guests Of j. p. Morgan. including
large number of oficers in the three
navies. by Ralph ID. Paine, the novel;
lat, who has visited the warships un-
e government authorization to pres
pare a book called .'The Fighting
Fleet"
People talk Of the inactivity Of the
grand fieet." he said, but the grand
feet is continually active. 1t is not
afraid Of submarines: It. has gone to
sea again and again to answer alarms
that the, German high seas feet was
coming out and III, every officer and
man In the feet there is confidence
that some day they will actually
Beatty what would happen II the
Germans did come, out. and he an
swered cheerfully. We're. here-what.
what?'S"' -
: Mr.. Paine told of one of these oc-
casions when the feet left its base in
the north of Scotland between mid
night and dawn in. response to a re-
port that the Germans were abroad.
They came through "a channel." he
said, which navjgators had said be-
fore the war could+not be traversedy at,
night but in the war all the fleets
have learned to the Impossible. On
this occasion the newly arrived Amer
lean ~battleships !. had fecefved' the
place Of honor in the van just behind
the British fagship. The fleets cruis-
ed twenty hours in a high gale, but
found no Germans,
zone of the British ~battieships had
$500 49, H. = a -HH---
Just before: the fie~etFsailed. and had
no. time to bring him down. So for
twenty hours. he was. towed by the
battleship. at the end Of his long cable
ma wind SO high that his observation
car was usually sticking out hori-
, zontally. behind the balloon.
II: visited also the submarine base
where American submarines are un-
hergotng intensive training for stalk
rection Of Captain Easmith, who COM
manded a British submarine that per-
formed remarkable exploits in the
Dardanelles. and the, Sea Of Marmora.
sinking a. Turkish battleship and sew
eral transports. He is now training
Americans In theEvery difficult work
Of submarine stalking. 3.
The submarine has no friends:
other. vessels shoot whenever they. see
; out whether Il belonRs to friend or
enemy. SO the work is somewhat
4! hazardous. The submarine men are
resigned to q. good deal Of it. ] met
one ofiter who said that he didn't
| mind It when two destroyers of his
own feet had attacked his boat. n
ramminp il and the other dronpinR
a, death homh. hut he did think it was
a little too much when the admiral
commended them for their energy.
Among the crews Of the larger ships
! there *, a feeling that the submarine
has spoiled this war"
Mr.. Paine told of a German. mine
| laying submarine which had settled
! in the bottom Of a British harbor to
Of the BOAT there was heard a tap
ping which presently assumed the
form Of a message in the in%ternation-
! al Morse code.
Unless you come to the surface
and surrender at once" said the mes
sage. I'VE shall drop a depth bomb
Unable to see how the message could
have been sent to him, the command
err hesitated, but there came another
position" Then the. German came
10 the surface almost under a British.
trawler, which. though taken by sur
prise, opened fire, and forced the sub
marine to surrender; after which
there came up from the depths of the
harbor a diver who had been at work
on. a sunken wreck, had discovered
the submarine. and tapped the mes.
a z on her hull with his hammer, on
the chance that there would BE some
sort Of >.sn ship ~at hand to take
| care of ner when she reached the
surface.
There was a lightship in the North
untouched by tacit agreement, since it
was of considerable Use to both sides
the British finding it useful in their
/ navigation and the German sub
marines employing it as q guide to
turn their course from north to west