The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-22

and went out again, as 1t threaded the mine-field. May island was abeam b. $40 It was still dark and the moon was high.
 By 7:0O, the night was thinning to cold gray. The New York was a montrous shape 600 yards astern. The Arkansas and Florida were out of sight still astern. There had been a gale warning the night before and at bedtime the barometer had been dropping like a stone. But in the thin gray of the waning night, the flag ships destroyer was as motionless as If 1t was riding a frogpond. Forward on deck, you could hear the purr of the paravanes, rigged from each bow as an antidote to mines.
 Colors came at 8, just as colors comes in every navy on every sea the world over (except at Plymouth, where for some unaccountable reason, colors come at 9) By 8, the rendezvous had been reached. The Germans were late. The squadrons inverted and steamed east for spell, inverted again and steamed west, inverted still again and steamed east stamping our feet" Ahead and astern were long lines of montsrous ships. The southern column, six miles away were cloaked in the mist
 At 8.45 the destroyer screen picked up the Germans and in moment the wire less had notified every bridge in the fleet. The Texas went to general quarters at once and ran up it's battle flags, the Stars and Stripes at the fore ana main. Officer and men off watch gatn- cred at the starboard rail.
 Shortly afterward, the wireless not1f1ed the fleet that the Germans could only make 10 knots Some speed!'
 It was 9:30 when the Texas foretop reported "a German battle cruiser off the starboard board, sir" The captain sent to the cabin for his silhouettes in order to identify it, and the range went down to the turrets at once; "S0O0 yard In one of the forward turrets, an officer snorted: "Oh, within range" and sighed for a Morris chair to make himself com fortable.
 It was the British light cruiser acting as guide ship to the German battle cruis- CTS and battleships which first appeared through the thin mist that silvered the horizon. High over 1t, it's balloon lay like a hernia in the sky, it's observer observing things the like of which had never been observed before.
 Astern of the guide ship appeared the German battle cruiser Seydlitz. Every eyes was ike. on it. Astern Of 1t, the Moltks, Derffnnger, Hindenburg and Van der Tam followed in meek silence No signals were exchanged. No ensigns were dipped. You couldn't kick them into a fight!''
 Astern of the battle cruisers came the battleships, their flagship the Kaiser F'rededich der Crosse flying a rear ad- miral's flag and a white flag. A fishing trawler nudged through the column of British ships to take a closer look at the long line of German battleships which followed.
 At 10 o'clock the grand fleet inverted course and began moving with the Ger mans pounding along at 10 knots toward the Firth. Abeam of the American bat tleships were the German battleships, Kaiser, Kaiserin and Kronzprnz. At Il the shn had broken through and the bat tleships were bathed in color--the steel gray of the ships, the blue of the sea- the, dazzling white of the feather at the steam, the glittering necktie of a signal hoist and the battle flags at the fore