The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-06-02
GIANT HAWKS REST
|. ON RIVERS BOSOM
Seaplanes Manned by Men
Who Sunk Hun Subs Are
Off Memphis.

A great, dun-colored hawk suddenly
rent the misty fabriA OF cloud half
a mile upward in space Wider it was
from wing-tip to wing-tip than the
fabled roc OF Sinbad the Sailor, and 1t
flew with the roar OF hurricane.
Downward it turned its blunt bill and
Tor thpusand feet rushed toward the
sea with meteoric velocity Then the
Iearlul an5nstnr Of the air suddenly
ceased tts mad plunge through space
and stretching out upon level wing,
5oafed like A gull.
AZ this moment terrific detonation
snainded from the surface of the sea-
and upwgrd a tower of water leaped
hundrkC sceS carrying with IL bits
OF wood and iron and human things
what once must have been vessel and
its crew. Lieut.. j. @. Stanley, of the
United States naval reserve, cruising
10 miles off the west coast of England,
in February. 1918, had just released a
bomb from mammoth American sea-
plane. II had found its mark on the
wooden deck of1a German submarine,
and the cowardly spawn of Deutsch-
land Uttered the surface OF the sea.
Heralding the coming of the anti
tsubmarine. flotila, which win arrive In
Memphis late Tuesday or Wednesday,
this same Lieut. Stanley, in a seaplane,
In Memphis at O'Clock Sunday after
noon from Vicksburg, Miss. An hour
later a third flying boat exactly like
the first two, lit on the Mississippi
just back OF the postoffice and tied
up to the levee beside its sister craft
Lieut. Stanley and Mechanic t. +.
Bohn landed in seaplane No. 2231; En-
sign W. S. Grooch and Mechanic l.. H.
Peacock in No. 2074 Ensign r. w.
Arthur and Mechanic J, ]. O'Brien in
No. 1919.
En- Route to St. Louis.
The squadron, with the remainder Of
the flotilla, will remain in Memphis for
about week, Lieut.. Stanley, In com
mand, stated Monday morning. The
ships of the flotilla will take on sup
plies and will then proceed to St. Louis.
The entire flotilla is in command OF
Lieutenant Commander Berrien, who Is
aboard the destroyer Isabella. The flo-
tilla consists Of the destroyer a sub
marine, submarine ehasers and the
three seaplanes.
The present visit Is not an official
one, Lieut.. Stanley stated, but merely
a stopover en- route North. The trip
out a stopover, in order to complete
1t and get back to Memphis before the
season of low water sets in The flo
tilla should return to Memphis in about
30 days, at which time the crafts will
be open to the inspection Of the public
and maneuvers viii be conducted to
shoa, how the American navy combat
ed The German submarine menace on
the surface of the sea, under the sea
and in the air.
The cruise Of the flotilla Is being
made, Lieut.. Stanley said. to stimu-
late interest in the American navy and
crafty the desire of the Southern and
Middle Western people to know some
thing Of the work of their navy against
the kaisers undersea boats.
All OF the men in the flotilla are
especially picked because of their war
records. Lieut. Stanley has one plane
officially to his record; unofficially
he is credited with two others, and he
has bombed six in all Ensign Grooch
was stationed at st. Trogan with Lieut..
Stanley and, like him, patrolled the
English channel and did convoy work,
destroyed submarine 80 miles out to
sea from his base. Ensign Arthur was
one Of the protectors of the home coast
and searched for submarines off the
American coast near Cuba
He was not fortunate" enough to
have an encounter with the German
air forces while stalking submarines.
Lieut. stanley said Monday, because
"the Huns won't fight you know, un-
less the odds are five to one. Our
bombers were big and slow. and as
they had smaller and swifter crafts
they would run away" Lieut.. Stanley
took pictures Of German Notifications
at Kiel, at Helgoland and along the
Reigian coast.