El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-11-23


[ variety OF material gathered By the edito
I OF The Herald "a Europe during the wal
Z and after Excerpts VIII be published %
this column daily during the next severa
I months. Publication OF the '.Notes's be-
Z San October IS. Today's iustalment con
Z tinues the general narrative from tbs
diary with the story OF crossing in sub
marine time
/ DENSE FOG shut in our ship during
I u most Of the day, 20 June. During
a brief lifting of the fog we OBJ.
! served that ell our naval vessels witt
[ the exception of the cruiser up ahead
D had left us, so we were now to be de.
I pendent on the watchfulness Of ou
own navigat0rs and gunners for de.
7 fence against submarines. We counted
our "A ships IN the convoy.
/ Our course Is far to the northward
Of the usual sea lanes. The troops an,
put through regular drills and phvsi.
/ cal exercise and inspection.
; While walking on deck, I observe
smoke arising from inside one Of the
I lifeboats. There Is no one Of the
ships crew near TO report to, so
climb out over the side and into the
boat and extinguish the fire. One
of the main ropes of the lowering
tackle is burned almost through and
another rope, used in the launching. Is
badly charred. Cause, lighted cigaret
thrown into the boat by some officer
or soldier.
Each Of our ships in convoy has its
own whistle signal a letter Of the
Morse code, by which, repeated at IN
tervals- II signals its position in the
fog. Most Of the time the fog is so
dense that no other ship can be seen
from OUrs, yet we know they are near,
one almost in calling distance at our
left, one in our rear.
All night long, at extended intervals.
our ship sends out a whistle signal.
sort of reclcless-lize, but a bit eau
tiously, and quickly stifled; we can
hear our nearest ship answer with her
own letter, the sound scarcely percep-
tible though the ship is so close. II
Is an uncaunv feeling. out on deck al
night, TO be able TO see nothing be-
yOnd a few yards from the shipsidc.
and yet TO know that within a little
space Of the heaving water Is great
ships are pluHging ahead with their
$4,000 humans hunting trouble, and
rather expecting 10 find il.
I am deeply impressed with the
amazing skill in navigating. that en-
ables these seafolk to keep these ships
in close ranked formation all through
the night in the fog so thick it seems
almost solid, and vet they have no
light signals or regular communication
and only the occasional whistle eX-
change between nearest neighbors;
often even in the densest fog an hour
OF two OF three viii 20 by without a
signal Yet we 60 ont in the morn
ing and through a rift we see our ma
jestic phalanX all IN precise position
five in the first rank, five in the
second, and the rest behind, with our
healthy friend the battle cruiser Hunt
ington leading-we feel tOlerablv fond
Of the Huntington.
so June 191s-Sunday, bright and
clear, mild We count only 10 trans
ports including ours, and we learn that
one was sent back to Halifax because
she could not keep up with the aver
age pace Of the convoy. A church serv-
lce Is held on the ships, with allied
flags displayed. Dense fog closes
down again at p. m and we are alone
in the midst Of waters so Tar as we can
see. The fog 81 times Is so dense that
we cannot see one end of the ship
from the other Why these ships don't
bump into one another or lose touch
with one another entirely Is out Of nv
province; ] wonder, but don't worry.
I am not being paid 10 navigate the
@Melita.'
The ships in convoy receive wireless
news either direct from Arlington, Va,
or relayed from the Huntington; We
have a daily news bulletin Of Ameri-
can and European news.
1t is clear in the late afternoon. Nag
nifieeHt sight as TIE fleet Of trans
ports steadily proceeds. Smooth blue
sea, great cruiser far in advance Of
ranked ships. Guuners and lookouts
extra watchful; ships petty officers
cheer everybody up by passing word
around that this Is the kind Of weather
the submarines choose for their at
tacks.
Among troops on board, a New Jer-
seY artillery regiment. All through
the organizations there is lack Of dis
cipline and training, many rather care
less and slack. Effort is being made
to keep up the standards. We have
fire drills and abandon-ship drills. At
the sound Of the bugles, taking all by
surprise without Encouragement, ev-
cry soldier and officer must run to his
appointed place on the various decks,
form and stand awaiting orders.
Quick roll calls or checking by squads
are followed by sending searchers
through the ship TO bring up the
straggIers or report why not.
Each unit and squad has its spot on
deck, and is assigned to certain life
boats. Officers must wear sidearms
at all these formations, and the in
struction is, in case of a genuine call.
10 shoot any man who doesn't play
fair. The shril bugle calls, Fire" and
'4To Arms" abandon shipl VIII not
soon be forgotten. "Recall' brings
welcome relaxation.
The agreed signal for the general
alarm in case Of real and imminent
danger is four long blasts on our
ships whistle. But the code name Of
cur ship is three long blasts and a
fourth one not quite so long. When
that code name interrupts a dream
about g. m. and makes us cock our
cars, the fourth blast is waited for
and its duration measured with inter
est not altogether languid. The water
looks cold and the ocean is big.
This is an English ship with an all
English crew and stewards In the
large comfortable officers cabin fur
nished in gold and tan and old blue,
.--o-r- . fra-mor, a. 3 nfAa-uoo-4 "a, &