The Monmouth inquirer., 1923-04-26

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Washington.-Capt Herbert Hart
lev. the new skipper Of the Leviatnan'
il g typical son Of the sea. he mas
spent most Of his life on ships. mas
seen and served on the cid saiilnk
beauties and remembers the skepti-
cism that greeted new tangled ware
less ideas.
He is the sort Of a sailorman VINO
truly pihss the people Ia the cities
"a wild. stormy nights Ocean wealth
ar to him is divided into two CATE
aoriss: It is either a bit fresh" or
acalm as the palm Of your n Ae
seams TO have heard or read Of hur-
rdcanes or gales, but in his tongue
they are no more than little Squalls
or "kickups." q
His associates on the American
line-he has been with that company
ever ancs he began his nautical
career-say he is lucky; not because
he landed the prize post ia the Ameri-
can merchant marine but because In
all his career he has had an
accident to his ship d any ship on
which he has sailed. 1t 10 partly be-
Of his reputation that he has
advanced through all grades In the
American Line to the bridge Of the
largest ship In the American feet
Hunch Falls Him.
His worst half hour on the high
seas was when during the World war
q giant German submarine came to
the surface within gun range Of his
ship. the Louisville, and opened fire.
,'It was Just after .daybreak," he
said, "and we were about two days
sail from France when a lookout
sighted this sinister black body about
a mile away and slightly astern OF us.
"This object broke one Of my real
lunches, because / had a distinct
feeling on starting thu trip that we
weren't going to have any trouble,
and usually those lunches work out
for me.
Hardly had the sailer given the
alarm when a column of spray raised
by a shell almost showeFed u port
bow. / had feur six-inch guns, two IN
the bow and two in the stern. and I
made up my mind right there that the
only ones to be used were the stern
runs, because I intended to 80 away
from there as fast as / could.
1.-THE Louisville could eutstesm any
submarine that ]. knew OF, but whether
she could get out Of range before she
was MORALLY hit was tho question
most vital to all Of US 1ust then. I
gave every full-speed signal that
could help us and turned tail In the
direction that would taxa us away
frem the menace. which whistled Its
second shot just about where our bow
would have been II we hadn't changed
our course.
"It took us more than t~hirty-nve
minutes to get out Of range. During
that time the submarines other shots,
which were plentiful, did not come as
close as her first two. Ours, 1 am
sorry to say. did her no damage and
did not frighten her enough to make
her submerge."
Wears Navy Cross.
The Louisville, under Captain Hart
ley's command, was this Arst armed
ship to leave an American port after
President Wilson decided that Ameri-
can vessels should carry their own
protection. As the old st.. Louis she
had served with honor in the Spanish
American war, and, while Captain
Hartley doesn't say 50, 1t is evident
that the Leviathan will have a difficult
time replacing her In his affections.
Captain Hartley wears the Navy
cress for efficient command Of his ship
during the war, and 1t Ia the only
honor which he doe net seem to take
lightly. Ths cross. he says, is his
NEST treasured possession and he
wouldn't trade 1t for the Lsvtathan or
any ether craft afieat
He is forty-sight years old and is
the first cadet Of the American line to
rise to the position Of commander. he
took the place Of Capt. John c. Jami-
son as commander of the st. Louis
In 1917 when that skipper was taken
Ill on board, and he brought the ship
in and locked her so skfllfuIly that
his job as a skipper in his own right
was secure. His most recent COM
mand has been the big liner Mongolia
of the American line.
he began his career t~wenty-eight
years ago as a cadet on the training
ship Saratoga with Rear Admiral W.
8 Sims. loaned By the navy, as one
Of his instructors.