The L'Anse sentinel., 1919-04-04
MINES ENDANCER
OCEAN VESSELS
High Explosives Still Float in
Lanes of Commerce.
NAvIES TO SWEEP the SEAS

ger May Extend for Years, and
Mines. Freed From Moorings. May
Be Swept Miles by Ocean Currents
Many Ships Sunk.
Untold thousands of unexploded
mines, planted In navigable waters
during the four years of war, still lin
ger in the lanes of commerce like seeds
of death, a constant menace to the
tOilers of the deep. Weeks back the
sting of the U-boat was drawn. The
signing of the armistice halted further
ravaging Of the submarine and ship.
ping sailed forth no longer in dread of
the torpedo or the guns of the under.
sea craft. Nevertheless ships are en-.
dangered by other marine agencies of
death, and the mariner cannot be sure
that these hazards won't lie in, his
path for months to come and do him
harm when and where least expected.
Already the navies Of the allied MI
tiOns have undertaken the hazardous
work of clearing the recognized mine
fields In European waters, and by the
use of wire drags propose to remove
every mine that still is held in posi-
ton by its moorings. The chief dam
ger to the mine sweepers and to COM
merce in general lies, however, In the
derelict mine, which has been washed
from its original position and is likely
to be found In the North sea, in the
Gulf stream, on the shores of the Unit
ed States or in any other location to
which the current, tide or winds may
drive the mine with its charge of L N Il,
which is notably inert to the action
of water and will retain its destructive
potentialities until the charge is ex-
ploded.
Many Ships Sunk by Mines.
Early in December the British war
ship Cassandra struck a mine in the
Baltic and went down with the loss of
IL men. In January British freightcr
foundered off Middlesborough after
hitting a mine and her crew was lost.
A few days later the French ship
Chaouia stumbled upon a mine in the
Straits of Messina and went to the bot.
tom in four minutes. Four hundred
and sixty persons on board were lost.
The British sloop Penarth was sunk
by mine % miles from the mouth of
the Tyne. Scarcely day passes, in
fact, that some British, Norwegian,
Swedish or other craft Is not sunk or
crippled by mine in the North sea.
Navigation has become so hazardous
that many craft proceed Only by day,
thus lessening the danger of coming
into contact with the dreaded dcre-
licts.
Official figures issued by the Dutch
and Danish authorities give some idea
of the number of mines that have been
torn from their moorings during The
recent war. At the. close of the first
two years of war more than 500 mines
had been beached along the north coast
of Jutland. BY March 1, 1916, e1S
mines had been washed upon the
shores Of Holland. From 1914 to 1918,
the Dutch picked up along the short
seacoast of the Netherlands no fewer
than $3.50 contact mines.
The belligerents were not the only
European nations which employed
mines. The Dutch, the Danes, the
Norwegians and the Swedes all plant.
ed defensive mine fields, and upon
numerous occasions these weapons got
adrift and added to the perils of ship.
ping.
Sweeping the Seas for Mines.
During the war mine sweepers were
constantly at work. Great Britain had
no fewer than 700 craft to do this
work around the British isles alone.
Each month the mine sweepers combed
100000 square miles of the sea, and to
accomplish this they steamed more
than 1, 100000 mikes. In 1917 they gar
nered $1,000 German mines. In 1918
ND to October 1 they had harvested
14.O00 mines. In this hazardous work
more than $50 British sweepers were
blown to atoms and their crews lost.
Now all the allies are preparing to
sweep the planted areas In an effort to
gather up every possible mine. In.
some sections the removal of mines
has begun. In other areas the fields
will not be touched until after the
signing of peace terms. The task be-
fore the nations is to sweep the seas
free Of the vast army of submarine
weapons, and do 1t, despite the haz-
ards involved, with the least possible
delay. But no matter how rapidly
this work may be prosecuted there still
remains the disquieting likelihood Of
considerable percentage of these mines
breaking loose or being carried, anchor
and all, into areas remote from their
original position.