Newspapers / The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, … / Nov. 20, 1917, edition 1 / Page 6
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No. 3 A Motor Launch Raid on the Belgian Coast By A SEA SLUG, British Service Name For Crews of Subir.aiine Chasers. Copyright. 1917, by the Bell Syn dicate. Inc. * -"=? PROLOGUE. The author of thin n<ri<* of four arti cle* i* a young A meriean, who ha* gpcnt tiyiHt of hi* time tincc the irar ntaitid irith the llritinli patrol fleet, taking an important part in helping to organize that branch of the tcrvice known a* the Kca Klugs. He ha * ac< utnulat< d a remarkable collection of anecdote! incident to thin cr<iting branch of the tcrvice, and many of time were pertonul adven turer i:i which he took part and which make one of the ttirring narrative! t<: eotm out of the war. lie recently re turned to the United statin to u ni*t Ihe American nary in organizing the tame branch of the tcrvice and nhould be of gnat value bnannc of hi* expert cm < abroad. So far an 1. no ten, he in tin Only American to nirt with the ltritinh patrol prior to the adet nl of tin ? United State* dentroyer flotilla in Uritinh wa ter*. Of course Howe of hi* experience*, of military value to tli< enemy, cannot be related. At the r< <;uent of the nervier publication of hi* name <i withheld. IT Is hotter Mint I <lo not mention tin* mime i f die Hra ftliitf who con ? oivril tin* ldi'U of a motor launch raid on tin* ' "Oil t i f r.ch'inin tliat part of tlic roast lu'ld Ij.v tJoriuany, hor- > There l? No Moon. We Dash Alonf Full Speed Ahead. dered by u maze of minus, girt l>.v a moving bolt of gunboats aiul patro1. craft and freckled with a series of land batteries whic h make the experts Bay it would inutliomatleally iiupos slble t<> Hinii h into the naval bases from t lie sea tilde. The ltrilish government prefers t< keep iiis name secret for tlie present, so it would not be policy for ine t<' divulge It. When lie put the idea up to the commander of the base be said right away: . "I don't want to lose more than six boats. If you can get six crews to volunteer for the service go ahead. 1 won't order nnylxnly on a raid like that." Six times six crews volunteered, but only six were allowed to go. We chug ( hugged out of Dover Just before sundown, every man with a llfebcll strapped under his shoulders, petrol tanks tilled to the last drop, amtmuti tion In every available space and ever* motor thoroughly inspected down ti the last screw. We Were thinking only of what a time we were going to give the Ilo< lies The boys that wigwagged "Good by" us believed they had seen us for t!;c last time, but wished they were with us Just the same. St rnlght for a cer tain selected spi t on the Belgian coast we laid our course, and when night fell we couldn't even see our own boats. There wasn't so much as a pin polut of light showing on any of t'i; craft. Every oiie were dark uniforms and every once in awhile when we'd crowd on a little more speed then would suddenly loom up right ahead the dark hull of the Inwt we were fol lowing and we'd almost be aboard her The men at the wheels had to have their nerve with them. Over the Mine Fields. The chap who luid proposed the raid ? we might as well call him Jones which is not his name -had figured out the tide conditions to a nicety, and ot this particular night we were havlnp the fullest hiirli wa'er of the autumn Just before we ran into the mine field > we passed a l'ritisli monitor, about which I will have more to say later and then bc:?ran the real work of tb> expedition. As every om? knows, some mines arc set so that tli\v rise and fall with the tide and remsin always a certain dis tance l?elow the surface of the water and If we didn't hit one of these It; Would be merely a matter of luck There were thousands of mines al' axound us, and there was no earthl way of telling where any of them were. As for the mines wldch are anchored always the same distanee above tin liottoin of the sea, we were conning on the extra high tide to take us over these. At least Jones bad figured that it would. There Is no moon. We dash alone, full speed ahead, for we must run in. accomplish our task and run out araln before that tide ebbs enough to make It next to Impossible for even our light draft craft to esc;, pc ljeoau.se of tlie anchored inlneM coining to the sur face. The men in each crew have been carefully selected. They are all In the bent physical condition. go<al hwim roers, and the Umax lluta (officers) have even made certain that none of them haa a cold. A sneeze or a cough might betray us. I?es;ilto '..'is, the damp, chilly night air mukcs one of the men in our boat sneeze auddenly. It aounda to Uk like the crash of a mine. I don't ace why It didn't take the top of? I he fellow's !?> ?<1 ofT. Our finely math' motors, of course, were muffled until you could not diatlngulah tTieir purr ten feet away. "A thousand yards or so and we'll be across the fields," says the Rraas lint In our boat. He has It figured down pretty fine. Now we are skimming over a bar, where a heavier boat could not go. Discover Enemy Destroyers. V\ e strain our eyes ahead to catch the white gleam of the wake of our leading .raft and stare behind to make out the white bow wave of the one following us. it la the only way we can ke-'p ourselves in line. Presently 1 pick up out of the black ness of the night a patch of something that la even blacker. A ripple runs down my aplnc. The great moment has arrived. This la not like chasing a submarine which Is trying to hid ? find which you can a lino t run circles around. It Is more like six mostpiltocs tackling a band of giants. If ever they can hit us a slap we will be < rushed to Jelly. I point out the bla k patch to the Brass ll.it. lie strains thr< ugh his nlght glasses, then hands them to me. "Destroyer!" he say s. The term Is well applied, and I real ize fur the fir i time what destructive power one of Hi e slid* ? a i! liter.; has. :-'lie i ; ninn'.n: without lights. We wonder in whi . rs whether the other < i a ft have jilted I rr. Tin re i.s no way f < -i* us to signal tliein. The man (Handing at the wli el throws her o\ er a little* to starboard, following; tlie \\ 1 1 1 1 ?* wake of the Tioat ahead of us. I hey see her," s:t,vs the Itraas Ilat next. "They're circling In." A lance astern shows us that our, followers have o> rved the Chun Re ia our course. 1 do not know how far we are from that destroyer. In the dark she looms so bit? that it seems wo must be going to graze her. Thcn? Is a lurid stab of red in the darkness ahead a deafening roar? the smell <>f battle ia in our nostrils. The leader's three Inciter has barked. Ours barks at almost the same time. Ours has bitten, for we call see tlie flash of the explosion as the shell fulls on board the destroyer. That Is better luck than we had look* d for. The Searchlights Scour the Sea The flashes have shown us other craft? destroyers, patrol .boats and gunboats. No hope of coiiccalmcnf ; now. We wait Just long enough be tween shots to make it hard for the Uerinans to locate us from the flash of the guns. Our engines, with the muf Hers open to give us all possible speed, are roaring almost as loudly as the cannon It seems. The Roches must be confused. They haven't tired on Us yet. Searchlights are darting everywhere across the wa ter and in the sky. Their one object la to find and destroy us, but thev can not figure out what to look for. ' They of course think we have come in through the channel, and their power ful rays sweep the entrance to the harbor and the waters Just inside, while others play over the surface from whence we fired our first shots. They don't expect craft of our size to attempt such a daring raid. How much damage we have done we do not know, but we cease firing The Gunner Fires Into the Source of the Light. and double back, waiting until wc are ' out of the Eone from which we start ed to tight. I do not auppose any of the lluns ever thought of the little motor launch es. They seem jumpy in (heir nerves, judging by the way they handle the searchlights I'robably they think some new engine of warfare Itt attack ing them, like tiie tanks which so sur prised them in the trendies one lino day. Umph! Suddenly I am blinded. I think for a hundredth of a sc end that I arm shot, and my Itead Is split tin :. It is a searchlight, the rays full and square in my eyes. The gunner tires Into the source of the light, it seems to be coining from a gunboat. If he hit* her he will l?e lucky, for It in im possible for ua to see anything. We oaii hear the "woomph- woomphM of ahellfl dropping into the witter around n?. We huve made up our niluds that it is all over, hut two of tiie other l?iats, not I eing blinded by the searchlights, turn their tire on our tormentor. If the (iermanfi hold on lis we are gone, but they seem to lie In a frenzy, and while they sweep round, trvin ?. to pick up the other craft, we cliiin;;.' < ir < rse, and they do not seem able i?) tiiid i:.s a ;aln. They tire on every lick of driftage in d spar tliat darkens the surface of the il luminated watt r. Out Over the Danjers of the Mines. When the rising nun began to streak the sky we were safe. Way off lo port lay the monitor we hud passed the night before, nnd the Brass Hat, In command of the expedition, signaled us to i tin over to tier and take ac count. The monitor was me of a type much in evidence ?iuring the first years of the war, mounting heavy joins forward in un armored turret. Th<? guns were made in Ameilca, anil inest of the monitors were named after American genenfls. They were used on work that took them constantly into the mln ? fields, and for that reason they must have y pedal proic tlon epalnst mines and torpedoes. Just, h w this is accom plished I do not feel at liberty to tell, but because of It an amusing incident occurred. The first motor launch was running nt rather I >w speed in toward the monitor, so as to come alongside. All <>f a sudden we saw her sort of climb out < 1' the water, bow first, heel over and lit' there as though she had run up 011 11 bar. A couple of "mntloes" (sailors) on the <1 '? k of tie monitor ln?an nwcar lng nf the crew, and every man In the M. L, was thrown of his feet by the shock which stopped the boat. The NWeuring was not confined <o the mou itor's men The M. L. had run high and dry :?n to the shelf which forms a part of the more or loss intricate protection ir:ain I torpedoes and mines that modern monitors carry. They had to use a crane to got her oiT. Well, <Ve had roll ??all and found only one n ? ? ii slightly hurt. A bit of shell had struck liini in (ho shoulder. A piece the size of a man's palm was Imbedded in the side of one of the M L.'h. We had got off mighty lucky. 1 might say here that later six oth er boats made the experiment again, and only one got back to England, so If Isn't such a soft assignment." In that singh; craft were all the men from the five launches who had sur vived the hell they ran into. And there was plenty of room, for those who had been lost were many. Under orders the survivors of that raid refrained from telling what ac tually happened, but In general it is true that the Germans must have re alized what occurred on the lirst expe dition. and they were ready. The ele ment of surprise, which saved us nil from going to kingdom come, was ab sent. The officer in command of the one which was not destroyed cruised around in the glare of the searchlights until he had gathered In every living tiling that si ill struggled In the water ? a man's job in that searching glare of light and hail of shells. The Hero. "The sky was ml over liis head." snkl one of the men he picked up, "because" of the vast number of illu minating bombs and rockets the Ilium were using, besides the searchlights and the shells t lint were bursting. There was linht enough to take a mov ing picture <tf" the scene. "Any human being would have ruu, but that chap's a devil or a god. He shouted orders to his men as though he were at maneuvers and tished us out of the water with a boat hcok as coolly as if lie were merely picking up a buoy and couldn't understand what all the racket was about. "After lie get me on board 1 saw him fall with the blood spurting from his leg. lie grabbed a bit of rope, made a tourniquet himself, using the barrel of bis revolver to twist it tight, and directed the work until he had all of us on board. "How we ever penetrated that bar rier of lire and lead and steel I don't know, but we came through and limp ed Into p rt under our own power." As 1 say, I was not on this expedi tion. and what few details other than those I bean. 1 am not at liberty to tell. Well, to go back to the monitor. We all went aboard and were given break fast In the ward room one of the officers told us some Interesting things about their work. "rt lese tubs." lie explained, referring to the monitors, "aiv not armored. We carry heavy Runs forward, ami the bar bette is the i nly part of the craft that is protected by armor plate. "All along the ?oast we have buoys anchored to nurk tire p sitlons. We cruise along, p!ok up one of the buoys and let n few shots. Of course we know tlv range and where the German forts and batteries are. although we can't see them. Sometimes we have hydroplanes observing for lis, so that we can tell whether we're on the tar get. but we have been doing it so long and we have the c< ;'?t so well plotted and the buoys ? ? carefully planted that It's mostly a matter of mathematics. "It's all very impersonal We drop a few shells into a hail >r or foit. then move on to a new positl n and drop a few more. "The Germans i'on't seem to. have any plains dbag the coast bere, and th y aren't nolo to rep'.v with any ac curacy v intev r, for t1 < a t't e?' us, as we always pi?k n day with a slight mist or bare or oj?erate at night "But the other day we dropped down the coast for u little party, when nil of a sudd-n. after our tirst shot, a ehell plunrxd Into the w;:ler Just b< youd us. We let po another, uud th.? second German she. I fe'l just a little short. liolh were in line. "N'e thought it was luck, so we mov ed to a new position. The same thin;; happened, only this time one shell eame on h< ard and did ho me damage and hurt some of our crew. Of course we thought the Huns must have Nome planes up giving the batterie* our ran;;*, hut we -couldn't spot one any where. Thl a t-.ut of thins kept up all morning until t became positively un canny. The day was heavy with fog, making aerial observation difficult. IIow the Germans Get tlie Raage. "Then an ollicer who had been an observer in fhe Russo-Japanese war explained it. The Japanese iiad used a system at Port Arthur to locate gome hidden Russian batteries that this chap said the Germans must be em ploying, and I guess lie was right. In fact, we know now that he was. IIow we confirmed our original opinion I cannot tell. "Every one familiar with the princi ples of artillery lire knows that a shell does not travel in a straight line. It travels In a curve called the trajectory. Klevate a gun of a given caliber to a certain an^le and fire it and tlie tra jectory will always be practically the After Our First Shot a Shell Plumped Into the Water Just Beyond Us. same. The curve varies constantly, becoming steeper as t lie velocity of the shell decreases and it begins to be affected more and more by gravity. The Mathematics of It. "Now, what the Germans bad done was this. They erected a series of gauze screens? at least tbree? between us and a battery which we were ac customed to shell. To hit the target our shells must pass through these screens. Electrical timing devices indi cated the length of time the projectile required to travel betweeh the screens, and of course the distance was trlready known. "This gave the Germans the velocity of the shell when it reached the screen. The holes it made in the screens gave them three or more points in the curve This enabled them to plot a section of the curve. They could tell from tli? explosion the size of the shell approxi matcly. This would enable them tc know the velocity with which the shell would leave the gun. "With these elements? a section ot the trajectory, the velocity of the shell when it reached the screens and a knowledge of the initial velocity of a certain sized shell? they had moretlmn enough data to figure out exactly where the projectile came from. "In fact, they could check themselves on it. because they could plot the whole curve from the section they had with their knowledge of the velocity, ami they could figure the straight distance from the velocity of the shell when it reached the screens and the velocity they knew it must have when it left the muzzle of the cannon on board the monitor. "The best proof that the system worked was the fact that, no matter where we moved to. their shots strad died us, anil besides the one which came on board us one of our other ships got a shell in the boiler room." Well, somebody's always taking the Joy out of life, as we say in America. After mess we loft the monitor, the little damage which had l>een done the M. I j. that ran lip on the shelf having been repaired. Hefore we went down, over the rim of the horizon we saw our friend the monitor steaming as fast as she could go toward some ves sels flying the Dutch flag. "D? all neutrals anyway," said the r.rass Hat. lie didn't mean that there was anything particularly rep rehensible i,n l>elng neutral, but if there! were 110 neutrals we'd always know who to fire 011 and who not to. The , trouble is that a lot of ships are cruisrl Ing around under neutral flags and seatlering mines in their wake. "We're always nervous when we're in waters a neutral has just traversed. Down at Dover? But I'm getting ahead, of myself. I will tell about what bap-, penod at Dover in my i t article. The fourth ami conci: n ,r arlij le of this series will appear soon. It is en titled No- 4. ? The Dancers of Dover. Acrop'nncs 1 . r l tlie b-i : fcs and fown. Oerrnaa suhmarlnrs 1 >vt mine? In the luirlior ? ?? ael. What hap* rtl on n ?>>? r t. <? .lay aft.r I had dinner on her with the ofT.cers whom later 1 saw crushed and toni to d. -.th. ? XXXXXXXXXXXXXXSXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXKXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXSSX VALUABLE FARM FOR SALE? 204 acres, 150 in high state of cultiva tion, suitable for most all crops. Good buildings, good pasture, rea sonable term3. Apply to W. A. Ste phenson, Willow Springs, N. C. IF YOU HAVE TOWN LOTS OH farm L.nd you \vish~to sell for the II-rh Dollar, let the Johnston Coun ty Realty & Auction Co., of Smith | Held sell it. . j TAKEN UP MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12th, ccven head hogs. Owner can get name by paying for this ad and my trouble. JL E. Hill, Smithfield, N. C., No. 2. IF YOU HAVE A FARM, LARGE OR small, or town lots you wish to sell, call, or write, or phone, Johnston County Realty & Auction Company, Smithfield, N. C. SEE l'S FOR LATHS AND PL YS ter. Cotter Hardware Co. X ? X BUSINESS LOCALS ? ? X rOR SALE ? BUILDERS LIME AG ricuKural Burnt Unslack?d, Slacked and Oyster Shell Lime in hulk or hag ;, c^r or cargo shipments. Clyde MaeC; Hum State Agent, Hertford, N. C., for Limestone Products Crop, rnd Chesapeake Shell & Lime Com pany. FOR SALE. TWO GOOI) MULES, j ni new two-horse wagon. Cash or on Urn . Appty at once. B. W. Lee, Smtthficld, N. C. SEE US FOR LATHS AND PL \S ter. Cotter Hardware Co. STRAYED OR STOLEN ONE LIGHT bay mare mule with white spots en hip, six years old, and one s'de spring, stick hack, op?n buggy ? shafts have been repaired -from rear Old Beuhh church, Sunday night. Any information will be ap preciated and expenses paid. Notify T. A. Barham, Clayton, N. C.( R. 2. DON'T BE CLOSE FISTED? BUY ? a Loth. Queen Si-ove. We have them Cotter Hardware Company. NEW TESTA M I NTS UND BIBLES for sale at The Herald Office. ?'HE SMITHF1ELI) BFILDING a Loan Association ha# helped > number of oeopU to huild homes It will help others, and mayrw yor v:u? seripe of ??harp* nov op?r ?mm' Mr J J Rroadhurs1 FOR SALE ONE GOO!) MILCH COW with young calf. P. A. Holland, Smithfield, N. C., R. F. D. No. 2. MONEY TO LOAN ON IMPROVED farm land at 5 per cent interest. Five, seven and ten years time. Amount unlimited. A. M. Noble, Attorney-at-law, Smithfield, N. C. FOR SALE. MODEL 86 OVER land Seven passenger Car with Con tinental Six-Cylinder Motor in excel lent condition. See James A. Wellons, or Robert A. Wellons, Smithfield, N. C. HEART CEDAR SHINGLES CAN be found at Cotter Hardware Co. LAND FOR SALE? EIGHTY-ACRE farm, known as the Cook Place, sit uated two miles East of Clayton, and suited to tobacco and general crops. Lot in Clayton, containing one and three-eights acres. Will sell whole or part. Two lots in "New Colored Town" in Clayton. Lot near depot in Smithfield. D. J. Thurston, Clayton, N. C. FLOYD C. PRICE? PINE LEVEL? is agent for N. C. School Books De positoiy. Go to him for your books. Largo stock on hand to select from. TWO HORSE CROP FOR RENT? Write quick. L. L. Lee, Four Oaks, N. C., Route No. 2. STRAYED AWAY FROM MY HOME Tuesday night, Nov. 13, my Jersey milch cow, horns lean over her eyes. R. P. Oliver, Selma, N. C. JOHNSTON COUNTY REALTY & Auction Company, of Smithfield, conduct Auction Sales of farm lands and town lots for the High Dollar. CARBIDE FOR SALE AT STED man Stores Co., Smithfield, and at my Store. J. W. Smith, Smith field, N. C., Route No. 1. GET YOUR INDIVIDUAL CHRIST mas cards this season. A nice line of samples engraved Christmas cards now at Herald Office. Give your order early and avoid the rush. IF YOU WANT TO BORROW MON eny on your fr.rm at only 5 per cent interest, see A. M. Noble, nttorncy at-law, Smithfield, N. C. SEE ' * S. T. IIONEYCUTT, II. G. CRAY, J. II. ABELL, if the Johnstc n County Realty and \uction Comp iy, Smithfield, N. C., you have farm lands or tov> n lots to 'sell for the High Dollar. NOTICE. By virtue of the powers contained in a certain mcn- ag. d: e l evecuted and delivered to the undersigned by Calvin Richardson and wif ? Si' nchie Richardson on th ? 2(5*b. day of Novem ber, 1910, which mortgage is duly recorded in the R"pistry of Johnston County in Book 1-11, pag^ 273, the terms and conditions ther"in having been broken, I be undersign d will of fer for g.;le r>i the C art li as;> f'uor In the tewn of SrniLhfidd, N. C., on December 22, 1917, at 12 o'clock M., to the highest bidder for cash -he fol lowing described property: Situate in Block "B" in tho plr.n of the town of Selma, N. C., adjoining Noble Street on the north; cn the east by Pollock Street; on the south by Hester Adams' lot; on tho west by Argal property, and known as lot No. 5, in said plan, containing % of an acre. This 19th November, 1917. W. B. ROBERTS, Mortgagee. A. M. Noble, Attorney. NOTICE. ] The undersigned having qualified as j Administrator on the estate of W. H. | Wells, deceased, hereby notifies all persons having claims against said estate to present the same to me duly verified on or before the 20th day of November, 1918, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery; and all persons indebted to said estate will make immdiate payment. This 19th day of Nov., 1917. MRS. H. P. WELLS, Administrator. Sold By Your Grocer Rooks at 60 Cents Each INSIDE THE CUP. by Winston Churchill. TIL. CRISIS, by Winston Churchill. A KAR COUNTRY, by Winston Churchill. CONTRARY MARY, by Temple Bailev. THE EYES OF THE WORLD, bv Harold Bell Wright. THE WOMAN OF MYSTERY, by Maurice LeBlanc. T. TEMRAROM, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. THE DAREDEVIL, by Marie Thompson Daviess. DAVID HARUM. by E. N. Westcott. THE IRON TRAIL, bv Rex Beach. REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM, by Kate Douglas Wiggin. , L \DDfE. by Gene Stratton Porter. MISS BILLIE'S DECISION, by Eleanor H. Porter. THE CI,.\T;ION, by Samuel Hopkins Adams. THE TURMOIL, by Booth Tarkington. HEPSEY BURKE, by F. N. Westcott. RED PFPPER BURNS, bv Grace Richmond. DEAR ENEMY, bv Jean Webster. THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS, bv II. B 11 Wright. PRUDENCE OF THE PARSON A GE, bv Ethel Hu< <!on. THE HOOSIER SCHOOL MASTER, by Edward Eggles ton. BEN HUR. by Lew Wallace. And a Hundred other Titles ? Conie ijnd see for yourself. Her&Jd Book Store Smithfield, N. C. nrtfiPirirtriPipiriFi-:
The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, N.C.)
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Nov. 20, 1917, edition 1
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