Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-08

SCIioh SV1ICCtCu dHu SSul OVCT - c0SH
expense. the demand for It in the
starved countries Is such that 1t can
be sold to good advantage where 1t
stands.
Rear Admiral Ralph Earle. chief Of
naval ordnance, when before the
House
The Hearings of the naval
House Naval Committee. mittee
incidentally let out a secret that had
not in Its details been even whispered
before. 1t was in regard to the mine
barrage against submarines In the
North sea. 1t had become public
property that the mines were planted
about 100 feet apart In rows Of vary
ing depth from the floor of the sea
| to within a certain distance of the
surfacei so that German submarines
| could not go under. around or overt
but must In order to pass the bar
rage. go through these serried rows
of mines. The general belief was
| that the mines were detonated by
| contact of the submarines with the
that the mines were SO devised that
an object passing within atty feet OF
any of these cans containing 400
pounds of T. r. I. apiece would In
stently set off the explosive. The rsa.
son the mines were I'd heavily
| was to. insure the destruction Of a
| submarine passing anywhere within
| the prescribed distance Of fifty feet.
| 1t is known that at least one and
probably two of the German subma
rlnes were put out of commission by
| explosions of mines at nearly the ex-
| IRENE distance.
| 1t will, of course. be realized that
| it is not possible to plant mines at
| a depth of several hundred feet at
| would set out trees. but they were
put out with such regularity that
the Germans were practically unable
| to force the barrage. The British
| admiralty refused to report any sub
marine as destroyed unless the proof
| reported ten such cases. and it is
| known that there were at least as
many more probable instances. This
| barrage. together with the loss of
their bases at Ostend and Zeebrugge
| broke the German morale in their
destroyers, armed with the Y-run
hurting the ash can" distance Of
500 feet. made the life of Heinie in
the U-boat in the North sea almost
| ackening of their attacks and the
end Of the submarine menace Not
that the menace did not continue. but
the danger was over as long as alert
ness followed the conveys. In view Of
the successful transportation Of
with what. from the military view
point. was a negligible loss, It IL OBJ
vious that the utmost vigilance on
the part of British. French and
American destroyers was observed
Later in the week. Admiral Earle
laid before the committee the needs
or Navy ordnance for the ensuing
year, and his statement brought
with 1t all the power that comes with
the record OF work well done.
4 4 X
The epidemic of influenza which
swept over the United States in the
fall of
Bureau Acts Quickly 1918 has
on Alaskan Influenza. ., &C
| AS soon as the word arrived of the
plight of the natives and the citi-
| zens Of the territory. the Navy De-
partment took action. Under the
orders of the Secretary the depart
| ment Immediately dispatched the
| Tennessee, which was lying at San
Francisco, and the Marblehead, to
| the coast. These ships carried medi-
cal supplies, medical officers, nurses,
hospital corpsmen with all the Ia
| test known means for the treatment
| of the dreaded epidemic. The Secre-
tary also dispatched the hospital ship
Comfort, which is equipped with all
modern appliances for the treatment
of all kinds of cases. 1t carries the
corps and equipment of a first-class
hospital, and will be available for
any emergency that may arise near
the coast of Alaska
| Although the seat Of this trouble
| was thousands of miles from the
scene Of the world war. the Navy was
ready for immediate action, and there
was no delay whatever in sending
the necessary relief to the stricken
country.