The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1918-10-17

lisp Of two-months-old water for each
meal. with an extra allowance Of one
wafer when they had to row.
He also told Of the ship that pass
led in the night They heard the
beating Of the propellers and sent up
a rocket, but the ship passed on as
the merchantmen have orders not to
lpiek up craft at sea for submarines
have a habit of hiding behind life
boats. The day following, they were
picked up by Greek ship as already
related.
In a special interview accorded a
representative of the Mercury Her
aid, Mr.. Sproles related many de-
tails of the sinking of the Cudahy,
his subsequent rescue and of his inn
lpressions gained while on the shores
of La Belle France"
He said that the submarine which
sank his ship was about 275 feet
long and carried two guns, one fore
and one aft. After leaving the ship
in the small boats, it was found
that their compass was out Of order.
They supposed they were headed for
Spain, but found later that they were
bound for the coast of ireland and
their boat was leaking badly from a
small hole in the bottom which had
been stove in when launched The
weather was rather rough the first
day, but they managed to make head
way by putting up a small lug sail.
1t was the largest lifeboat of the
ship, but had the smallest sail and
had the most men. five Of them be-.
ing disabled With the aid Of the
wind they made about Is miles the
first day.
The next day was a perfect calm
not a ripple on the sea. The sun was
very hot and the oil with which they
had been saturated before leaving
ship caused their bodies to blister ter
ribly. Added to that the fumes of
the oil made them so sick at stomach
that they threw up the little food
they had to swallow.
They made no Roadway, but simply
drifted farther and farther from land,
and the 100 miles they had made by
sail and rowing were lost. They were
next surrounded by school of whales,
one of the monsters passing directly
under the boat.
The third day they sighted two
ships, one a Greek and one an Eng
lish vessel. These ships had got mix
ed up in a Mediterranean convoy by
mistake and were headed north but
far from the regular lanes of travel.
The English vessel had trained her
guns upon the boat, thinking it a
submarine, and the chief gunner had
orders to fire.
There was ray of doubt in his
mind and he held back for a couple
of minutes before firing. When the
boys lowered their little sail, he knew
il was lifeboat, and withheld his
fire. The Greek ship which picked up
the men was the last one left of
line Of IL vessels belonging to the
owners.
Before the encounter with the u
boat the men were congratulating
themselves with the thought that
the Germans would not waste tor
pedo on the ship. Instead, however,
they were treated to two torpedoes
and 20 shells. The torpedoes were
valued at $4,000 and the shells,
which were large ones, at $4,000. Thus
Germany spent $4,000 to sink ship
a cargo and which had made
enough trips across to pay for her
self five times.
The morning before. the U-boat
had attacked two ships but had not
sunk them, the conveying destroyers
saving them. 1t was thought the
Of the sub was "peeved'
at his i'll luck, and so attacked the
tanker in fit OF vengeance.
"After the attack" said Mr. I
Sproles to the interviewer, "the sub
that sank our ship treated us decent
" enough. We asked the commander
to tow us to the beach. He said that
we were 700 miles away from any
beach, and remarked, 4 am here to
sink you; not to help you. Besides,
am in hurry He then went under
and probably after another ship.
Coming over we sighted sub
marine. He put up dummy peri
scope, which we knocked to pieces,
When we fired a gun they submergA
ed, and we escaped in a bank of fog.
The sub which attacked and sank US
lid not use a periscope. Instead it
lsc9 what is known as a screw sound +
phone, by which they listen for the
beating Of the screw-propeller, and
With the aid Of a sea chart, they
an locate the position Of the vessel.
Fhe tin fish is then fired with math-
smatical precision without coming to
he surface. Where the ships main
ain a 'zig-zag' course this apparatus
S not reliable and the U-boats must
Use a periscope or come to the sur
ace. The underwater sailors are
lressed in heavy porpoise-skin clothes
o prevent pneumonia, for the water
;eeps into the undersea craft through
he bunker plates"