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In my flight from state to stai
urad everywhere!
:f0p1:' :m0m I rind M
PROFESSOR STEVENS LECTURES
ON VERY INTERESTING THEMES
"PAUL JONES" AND "THE SUB
MARINE IN THE GREAT
WAR" SUBJECTS
The University had the pleasure last
week of having as its guest Mr. W.
O. Stevens, Professor of English at
the United States Naval Academy,
who delivered two lectures on "The
American "Navy." A charming per
sonality, a forceful and entertaining
speaker, Professor Stevens found a re
sponsive chord in the hearts of all who
were fortunate enough to attend the
lectures.
The first lecture was delivered Fri
day night in Gerrard Hall, the sub
ject of which was "Paul Jones." The
speaker was introduced by Dr. Arcm
bald Henderson. In a few brief sen
tences Dr. Henderson spoke of the
famous North Carolinians who have
held the chair of the Secretary of the
Navy. John Paul Jones received his
start on his brilliant career thru the
generosity of one of these fellow
statesmen. He recalled the tradition
of how John Paul was found in a de
spondent mood by a North Carolinian
named Jones, taken to his home, and
began a new life under the name of
his benefactor. .
"John Paul Jones," said Professor
Stevens, "the dominant figure in naval
warfare' of the Revolution, has well
earned the appellation of 'the father
of the American Navy.' At the out
set of our conflict with the mother
country Paul Jones tendered , his ser
vices to the government and was com
missioned a lieutenant. Thru the
jealousy of his superior officers he
was soon superseded in command. As
a balm to his pride the 'Ranger' was
given him with instructions to ob
struct British commerce in its own
waters. This he effectually did, the
climax of which was the sinking of
the British warship 'Drake', a much
more formidable vessel than his own."
. Soon after this Paul Jones was or
dered to France, where, after many
disappointments and much delay, he
was put in command of a small squad
ron with the "Bon Homme Richard"
as his flag ship. The men and officers
under his command proved insubordi
nate and after putting out to sea
began to desert with their ships. One
who, showed especial animosity to
ward his commander was a French
man named Landais, the captain of
the "Alliance."
After cruising about a bit, Jones
fell in with the British Baltic fleet
convoyed by the "Serapis." On the
very eve of the impending battle the
crew of the "Bon Homme Richard"
mutinied, but Jones, by his wonderful
personality and will-power, induced
them to give battle. Deserted by the
other members of the squadron, Jones
entered the uneven conflict. In one
maneuver when the two ships hung
together, Captain Pearson of the
"Serapis" demanded of Jones, "Has
your ship struck?" To which he re
torted the immortal words, "I have
not yet begun to fight!" The odds
against which he was fighting were
enhanced by the arrival of Landais,
who treacherously fired a broadside
into Jones' ship. Jones seized the
only chance offered him, and grappled
with the "Serapis", which he forced
to strika colors. Removing his forces
from his own ship to the conquered
one he watched the "lion How. me
Richard" sink.
The next striking incident of Paul
Jones' life described by Professor
Stevens was the Black Sea episode.
He received an offer from the Em
press of Russia of a command in her
navy which he accepted. En route to
St. Petersburg he found the Baltic,
which he must cross, ice-bound, but
by indomitable spirit and energy he
crossed the sea and reached the capi
tal. He was commissioned rear ad
miral and sent to the Black Sea to
overthrow the Turkish fleet. Here he
encountered the opposition of Prince
Potempkin and the Prince of Nassau,
then in command. However, his gen
ius soon proved his superiority, the
Turkish fleet being irretrievably de
feated, tho the credit for the victory
unjustly went to the other comman
ders. Soon after Jones left the service of
Empress Catharine and went to Paris
where he died friendless and in po
verty. Later his remains were disin
terred and conveyed to the United
States Naval Academy, where they
now rest enshrined.
Professor Stevens' second lecture
Saturday night was on "The Sub
marine in the Great War." "The domi
nating factor in the warfare of the
last four years has been the sub
marine," declared Professor Stevens.
The submarine is primarily an Ameri
can invention, he stated, tho previous
efforts had been made for the con
struction of an under-sea boat. Dur
ing the reign of James I a Dutch doc
tor invented a sort of crude submarine.
David Boushall's "Turtle" during the
Revolution was the object of much
comment.
In the nineteenth century Fulton's
invention of a submarine proved a
partial success in demonstrations in
French and British waters, but it was
rejected on the grounds that such a
machine for use in warfare was too
brutal to be employed by a civilized
nation. "Fulton's hobby," declared
Professor Stevens, "was his submarine
and not his steamboat."
The Civil War found the South with
fro navy. A man named Hundley
produced an under-sea boat that was
tried out in Charleston harbor. Three
times it sank not to come up, but the
fourth time it proved a success and
sank an enemy blockader. This was
the first submarine to sink an enemy
in time of war until 1914.
"In the present war," Professor
Stevens . said, "the submarine has
proved a failure in battle because it
has developed certain weaknesses.
First, it cannot .mount heavy guns and
cannot carry heavy armor. Second,
nine-tenths of its time must of ne
cessity be spent on top of the water.
Third, the submarine is slow, being
able to run full speed only ten knots
under water and seventeen knots on
top of water."
The monitor type of war ship came
back into being thru the operations
of the submarine. At the outbreak
of the war, England was building
monitors for Brazil. These were com
mandeered and proved effective be
cause of their shallow draft. Torpe
does from a submarine go harmlessly
under the vessel.
The submarine contests the claim
of any nation to the control of the
seas. No nation has ever had so
deadly a power as the submarine. Had
Germany abided by the rules for sub
marine warfare as laid down by Presi
dent Wilson in the "Sussex" case she
would now be victorious. Two years
ago Russia and Roumania were out of
the war as combatants, the French
morale was extremely low, and Italy
was all but defeated.
When unrestricted submarine war
fare was launched the British Ad
miralty was totally unprepared: Great
Britain had far too few destroyers
to protect its commerce. Never be
fore had British force come so close to
disaster as in March, 1917. The min
ute the power of the United States
was felt a marked decrease in sink
ings was noted. The sound detector,
the depth bomb, and the non-richochet-ing
shell have helped as an antidote to
the submarine peril.
"As to the future of the submarine,"
Professor Stevens concluded, "there
must be a combined navy to act as ar
biter of the question. This will neces
sitate a League of Nations. The sub
marine has been the instrument that
has written the word 'finis' to autocracy."
Private
was surprised, as
most of us would have been, to hear
his name mentioned, and listening
further he was still more surprised
as he gathered the purport of the con
versation which was taking place just
outside his door.
In muffled tones the first voice said,
"Whose rifle is that which you're car
rying?" "It was issued to Private
but I have had it all this week."
"I see, but when are you going to
give it back to him?"
"Oh! About Saturday just before in
spection." "Have you succeeded in letting the
gun rust yet?" .
"Well, no, hardly that, but I did
manage to throw several handsful of
sand into the mechanism." K
"Good! But suppose he gets wise
and insists that you help clean the
gun. What then?"
"You make me laugh, my dear fel
low, such a thing is utterly prepos
terous. Do you think for an instant
that the authorities would stand for
anything like that?"
Private listened intently as
the owners of the voices strolled on
down the hall, then just to convince
himself that he had been dreaminsr
he leaned over the side of his bed and
saw with much contentment his rifle,
which he had spent many arduous
hours cleaning, now wrapped in a ras
to keep out any stray particles of
dust. Tomorrow was Saturday but
Private was sleepy and did
not stop to contemplate the matter
but again surrendered to the seduc
tive charm of Morpheus, and was lost
to the world.
A kiss has been denned as nothing
divided by two, which is nothing.
Therefore, when mother hears a pe
culiar sound in the parlor and asks
what you are doing, you are perfectly
iustified in savintr "Nnthinw".
It has also been defined as two
divided by nothing which is infinity
Take your choice.
I wrote a poem entitled snow,
Ye ed. he made short shrift of it.
He sent it back, remarking that
He couldn't catch the drift of it.
Te A. A. KLUTTZ
THE STUDENTS
DURHAM SHOE
OLD HATS MADE NEW
Opposite Paris Theatre
MAIN STREET
TELEPHONE 541
DURHAM, N. C.
WHEN YOU ARE IN GREENSBORO EAT AT
HOTEL HUFF1NE -candisr HENNESSEE CAFE
At tka PuMB(r Station 342-344 South Elm Street
J. R. DONNELL, Manager and Proprietor
HOME OF GOOD COOKING IN GREENSBORO
Sergeant: (On the day of his ap
pointment) What! Forotten your
pencil again? What would you think
of a soldier who went to war without
his gun?"
Rookie: "I would think he was an
officer."
Ed. Note The rookie was on K. P.
during the remainder of the week.)
A certain young lady from Gopher
Went out for a ride with her chauffeur.
They found her remains scattered
over the plains,
But there was nothing to show for the
chauffeur.
A clergyman told from his text,
How Samson was barbered and vext,
And told it so true, ,
That a man in the pew,
Got rattled and shouted out "Next!"
APPROPRIATE
"Revenge is sweet," quoth he; so
he named his wife Revenge.
James "Father, what is the divorce
evil?"
Father "The fact , that a lawyer
charges $200 to undo what a preacher
does for $2.00, my son.
Doughboy: (Passionately) "Darling,
I swear my love is enduring."
She: (Yawning) "She certainly is,"
The Girl .(Innocently) "Do you
think a girl ought to learn to love be
fore twenty?"
Student: (Promptly) "No, too large
an audience.
The Instructor: (After a lengthy
lecture on the mechanism of a rifle)
"And is it true that the harder you
pull the trigger the father the bullet
will go?"
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It Brought Them Over
The other day I
Got to talking
With a fellow.
A big, rough, loud private
He was
Or rather he had been.
You see, he was just back
From France and
He had only one leg
Left to stand on.'
He left the other one
Near a little French
Place they call
Chateau Thierry,
But he didn't seem
To mind it much.
Anyway, we got to talking about the
war and
Some other things; one of
Them was the relative
Size of transport boats;
And I said, "They tell me
This big boat, the Leviathan,
Has carried more soldiers over than
any other
Boat." He looked at
Me a minute and grinned
A funny kind of grin. Then ',
He said, "Naw, buddy, you"re.
All wrong. The Lusitania '
Carried most of them."
It took me a full
Minute to get this and
Then I started, wondering
If I had enough
Money to buy another Thrift Stamp.
Pressing Neatly Done Repairing a Specialty
16 Year in Business
$1.50 a Month
for th Bmt and Quick mt Surviem Cat
"l.nNft RIM" mNF
J
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