Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / Oct. 27, 1918, edition 1 / Page 12
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THE CHARLOTTE NEWS, OCTOBER 27, 1918. : - t FIGHTING FLEET ' WHEN THE BATTLESHIPS MOVE ; out. ! The American battleships, eager for active service and reluctant to be held in reserve, were given the position of honor whenever they maneuvered -with the British divisions at sea or cruised in search of the enemy. This indicates how highly they were re garded by Admiral Beatty. It was no empty compliment. Efficiency was the only test. For their own part, the offi cers and men of the ships that flew the Stars and Stripes- were soon satis fied that Beatty was a proper man to follow into action. He was ready to set the pace for an American navy wh'fo, Tins its hisrh traditions of an ?2Tessive offensive. It was gratifying ! that the Secretary of the Navy could J ropoivo c:ir renorts at this: j "ta t?ti o-Kc'i rnmmand has tne ! highest respect for proficiency of the American shins anu ior me i'eiuuHt. - whi"h is regarded as modest, eager to play its part, and well up in its business. The American Admiral en joys the most cordial relations with , lL. n;;, fnrno nTr! finds the ex change of ideas and practice most raluable." . , It was no small task to send these ! ships across the sea and keep them ' fit, by night and day, for emergency ' orders. Tnev made the passage m the ; winter, beset by gales of extraordin 1 arv x-inlPnce which smashed boats and deck hamper and flooded tne lmng " quarters. Things were put to rights, - the crews made their own repairs, and the ships reported for immediate ser 1 ice, as the destroyer divisions had i done when they steamea imu ." Irish harbor. These vast and complicated, struc- tures, filled with men, from twelve : to fifteen hundred in a ship, had to , adjust themselves to naval condi- tions and an unfamiliar routine. At home it had seemed almost im- ' possible that battleships could be kept ready to dash to sea at from two to - four hours' notice through month af ter month, independent of navy yards . and docks, but when it had to be done the American navy, did it with out grumbling. The work was hard, '. the strain incessant, but the British fleet had endured it for three years and more and showed almost no symp- i toms of staleness or war-weariness. A If John Bull could take his medicine in this fashion, then Uncle Sam pro- posed to grin while he swallowed his I dose of it. And to lighten the load, 5 there was always the bright hope of a fisrht nnt. in chase of tin sardines of submarines, but with the turret 1 guns against a German fleet which trnc said to shoot most internally straight. These American ships had gunnery records of tneir own. .nouiiu, would delight them more than . rhnnpfl to show what they could do. I was lucky enough to be on board f the American flagship when the fleet ' -mnvpri out. It was not a practice nniica hut n menr aiariU. LUC i ca.1 thins- 'a memorable experience, this but immensely difficult to aescnuw with any satisfaction because of the reasonable restrictions of a naval cen sorship. I trust, however, that it is nermitted to say that the earnest an tJcination of every man of thousands i -was to cut the German High Sea Fleet ? off from its base on the other side of . v. w. Coq and cn rnmnel a Dat- tie of big ships. i The signal came long after the decks had piped down for the . night and the watches below were slumber t ing in their hammocks. Many of these ; men were undisturbed until later, i There was almost no stir within these crowded steel walls, orders spoken here and there, groups of men moving alertly toward their particular busi ness. They were as boyish as the lads of the yachts or destroyers, but the navy had already made them its own. 5 The message puased from lip to lip I and was repeated in low tones. ' "Under way at three o'clock the ' whole " -orks, Bill. Get that? Do you Iburelars this time?" You never can tell. This isn t tne j (By RALPH D. PAINE) and the freshening wind brougnt gusts of rain. They passed out iu wuugu feeling their Avay with a blind man s sense of preception, so many hun dred yards apart, steering close to rock-bound islands wnose 'VT touch would have ripped a battleshij s hull. THE MIDNIGHT ALARM. Now the big ships do not move r-T,,r oi-o espnrt.ed as bents tneir aiuuti. iij 7. , ,itvi 1. nnrl era T II 111 . auu i'"" I 1 1 rv ciiiJ ' ' of destroyers, tne tnem su , first hurry-call. The same old story, maybe. But if there's anything doing, we'll be there, old-timer. Say, if the folks at home could see us now!" "Well, sometimes I think I'd rather be in jail than cooped up here at the jumping-off place with nowhere to go, but you can't get real sore on it as long as we go surgin' out like this every now and then." "It's busy bunch of packets all right. These old battle-wagins sure do roll up mileage in a month." At two o'clock in the morning I drifted into the Admiral's quarters and found him sitting at his desk, a ihurly figure is hooded waterproof clothes. He looked like a deep-water sailor, complexion burned brick-red by incesant winter gales, a face broad, ijovial, massive, while his voice rolled strong and resonant from a chest as thick as a barrel. He was drinking Toffee, smoking hot, and appeared to Shave nothing else to do. To play the ipart, as a landsman mignt iancy it, he should have been pacing the floor, hands locked behind him, frowningly absorbed in his weighty responsibili ties. His work had been done. The ships were prepared to move, to go into ac tion. This was why he sat at tne aesK and awaited the word to climb to the ibridee. There was his yarn or the sacred calabash which had been left i unfinished at dinner he proceeded '-to finish it now, reeling oft this won-Vim-ms- tale of the South Seas with the racy gusto of a man who had the Hft of narrative. The caDtain of the flagship came in ia reDort. He too, was in a genial mnnd with no anxieties to parade. As he went out, the young executive offi cer met him in a passageway and erorpd a brief ouestion. There c com pd to be no reason for prolonged if: mssion or instructionse. One of the battleships had joined the others only four days earlier than his, having o straight from her American y. rt. Her captain signalled that he , rpadv to sail with the fleet. as the moment of departure from harbor drew near the DiinKer lignts flashPd from scores of British ships. nn,o inrknpsa k Darkled with these final mpssnerps. Then the bare hill- HrfA roundabout re-echoed to the harsh f!ink of chain cables as the anchors lifted. After that the black night and silence, and great ships stealing siow ly toward the headlands and the fair wav to sea. Most of them were invisi- Jbi for tha sky was densely over-cast stately other craft that screen, scout iuu the mighty squadrons. All these, too were under way at the stroke of the hour, as if a master mind had pressed a key that animated them as one. They fled on their appointed course without confusion, unernus, ate parts of one enormous mechanism barmonious and synchronized. To nav igate this fleet through the cramped roadsteads in broad daylight would have been considered a handsome feat in time of peace. In war they did it at nisht as a matter of course. Whither they were bound and wti) this was known only to their admir als and captains. This trained obedi ence, the flawless co-ordination ot these many thousand men at tne nrnmntitiP nf a few words, was Pro foundly impressive. The fleet had a soul and a purpose. It was human, not so many masses of floating steel, but it had the tenacity of tested metal. This midnight alarm was no more than an incident in the routine which the British ships had maintained ever since that fateful day ot August, xa-t, when they vanished with sealed -orders Their inrlexible vigil had been iept in lonely waters far to tne norm. through oppressive winter aarKnet,&, whe-e the rou?ih winds seldom tea&e and the bleak shores are forlornly inhospitable. And because they were ttere, whether at anchor or in rest less quest of the enemy, the argosies of merchant vessels under many flags were able to steam in safety over oceans ten thousand miles dis tant. The rich Atlantic ports ot tne United States were guarded against attack by- this tireless, unconquera ble fleet, and their millions of people went about their business or made ready for war behind the guns or Brit ish battleships. It was the courteous thing to do Dy way of a small return to send Amer ican fighting ships across tne sea aa soon as it was learned that they could be used to advantage. The specific reason for their employment has not been nublicly disclosed, but it was not because the Grand Fleet had suf fered wastage or dulled its flgntmg edge during the long war. In terms of battle strength, England was never so formidable on blue water as she is todav, nor has Germany been able to shift the ratio of mobilized sea power which is as three to two ciSLinst her. A glimpse of this seapower was dra matically revealed when a dawn, som bre and "angry, slowly drove the dark ness from the melancholy expanse of water. The wind had risen rapidly. It was a shouting gale which tore the shallow lepths into foam-streaked combers huge an dviolent. The con fused fury of the sea was astonishing. This sudden gale which blew with a velocity of seventy miles an hour would have flattened the North At lantic and then rolled it up in long, swinging surges. Here it tumbled the sea this way and that so that a ship was assaulted with unexpected blows and could find no respite. Rain, spray, and mist were whirled along together. The horizon seemed no more than a mile away. From the bridge of a battleship one conjectured what would happen should a Germanu fleet loom out of this rain and spin drift, at pointblank range. "A short and merry scrap, take it from me," said a quartermaster . with his glasses at his eyes. "The lads that got in the first punch would have it all their own way. Wow ! With this rotten visibility? Fairly bumping into each other? Excuse me! Would there be anybody left to tell about It. 1 won- coared to a signal yard and spoke the submarine warning to the ships in. col umn behind. A gun was fired and a shell splashed near the suspicious ob ject which so closely resembled a periscope, xlt served as a reminder that the fleet was cruising in perilous waters. " The admiral was undisturbed by this momentary interruption. His ships had fought off submarine attacks before now. It was one of the annoy ances of the service. He had reason to be in good spirits whenever he gaz ci astprti and watched those other splendid ships of his as they crashed through the towering seas. Faultless ly they maintained their intervals and stations, hour after hour, and there was no reason to fear the critical eyes of the British admirals who looked on from their own divisions of battle-shins. On deck, beyond the forward turret, several sailors in charge of a boat swain's mate were toiling to make things secure. Life-lines had been rig "ah tr safeeuard the men when the bow of the ship went roaring under; and she shook herself clear of the water that streamed aft. One of these have young bluejackets was not quite vigilant enough or perhaps he took a reckless chance and had nothing to cling to when a big sea stamped across the deck and carried him away with it. He Avas gone from his com rades in an instant, swept oft into the chaos of broken water, blotted out with no. warning. The signal of "Man overboard" swiftly pased from ship to ship, but it was impossible to launch a boat. The one hope was to throw him a line or a life belt if he drifted past on the crest of a billow. There was never a glimpse of him. He had given his life for his country, on active service. All he had to give he freely offered while engag ed in a hard and dangerous task which he had not hung back. The sacrifice was as complete as if he had died be hind his gun. There was sorrow in his watch division, for his mates were fond of him, and the loud talk was hushed when they gathered for coffee and hash. One of the British ships towed a.kite balloon which had been sent up before leaving the harbor. Then the gale swept down and in became, impossible to reel in the great gas bag without wrecking it and drowing the observer. He was therefore condemned to sway aloft in his basket, and there he stay ed for twenty hours on end. By com parison the plight of a mariner ma rooned on a desert island would nave seemed luxurious and safe. The ship steamed into the teeth of the gale and dragged the balloon witu it. High above' the deck it swayed and bobbed sergeant of marines. "It seems further from anywhere than any p!ce I ever put the sole of my foot in. What with no towns at all and the natives few and far between, it is excellent for sav- jag money, because you can t spend a shilling, and your moral conduct is a hundred per cent because there are no temptations whatever. It's all to th good as the nroner place to keep the German ships from breaking out, but l can t nand it anytnmg ei&e. "And yet the men are fit and cheer ful' I ventured. "They were never healthier, taking the run of them. They tell me that the British ships have averaged less than one per cent of men on the sick list chored training ships, obsolete three deckers with painted ports, brought to mind the exploits or uodney, BiaKe, and Cloudesley Shovel. On the lawn of the navy yard at Chatham Reacn stood an old wooden figurehead of Nelson overlooking the bit of sloping shore from which the Victory was launched. The red lightship which warns mariners off the Nore eands marks a stretch of water reminiscent of mutinies, of sea-fights, of fleets keeping watch and ward. At the Nore the ships of London River cease to trail in column and turn to go their several ways, the little coastwise craft through ths channels to the northward, the deej. water ships steering east and south That's going some. Cheerful? We're! to join their convoys at the Downs, der? Salvos of big guns at two or three thousand yards? Well, it may break that way some day. You can't pick your weather in this game."- Off to port and starboard moved m dim perspective other lines of battle ships. Dead ahead was the majestic super-dreadnought which a British ad miral had chosen for his flagship. The seas were leaping over her. They pour ed across her decks as a tide swirls over a reef. They reared and broke in white cascades about her turrets from which the great guns grimly showed their hooded snouts. Rolling ponderously, she exposed almost halt her hull then plunged into it with bows clean under. Seas that will toss a thirty-thousand-ton battleship about in this fashion are indurably rough Our own ship was making no better weather of it. The motion was not as erratic as that of a destroyer, but this great citadel of a vessel was by no manner of means comfortable to live in. Meals at the table in ward room or admiral's cabin were out of the question. Chairs were lashed fast. Men moved with care lest they tobog gan across the deck and break a leg. Water swashed in when the gunports rolled under and barelegged bluejack ets were bailing the floors with buck ets. It was damp, gloomy, dismal be low, with the hatches battened, but the ship had bucked through heavier storms than this, and these hundreds of American sailors were salt-water philosophers. It was a heap sight worse in the trenches, said they, and the guy who beefed about staying wet and losing sleep for twenty-four hours or so was a short-card sport. The admiral stolidly propped him self on the bridge and took the wind and spray as it came. He was disap pointed. The course had not been changed and the fleet was still steam ing straight toward the enemy's coast, but the weather would probably spoil the show. The destroyers were having all they could do to live in it at all. They were hanging on and would not quit as long as they floated, but the seas were sweeping clean over them and they would be losing bridges and superstructures before long. The Ger mans had all the luck when it came to weather, afloat or ashore. like an apple on a twig. Beneath it hung the tiny basket whose motions were wild and terrific. It was snapped about lige a game of crack the whip. All day long the basket was flung to and fro, sometimes trailing horizon tally and then swinging off to describe another arc as startling. The lone ob server was invisible. It was to be in ferred that he was busily engaged in sticking fast to the inside of the bas ket with fingers, toes, and teeth. You expected to see satastrophe overtake him, that the balloon would collapse or break free and go rocketing off in the mist, or that this unfortunate cap tive would be shot out of his basket and tumble into the sea. Doubtless he expressed his emotions by telephone to his shipmates who could no more than crane thei rnecks and look on. A junior watch officer of the Ameri can navy gazed with sympathetic con cern and shook his head as he observ ed "That bird is distinctly out of luck. Wind cold enough to freeze your giz zard, and ke can't help being seasick Nobody could. I shall never complain about anything no, never again. And the kite balloon friends of mine want to be transferred to the kite balloon service! They ought to stand here and look at that!" Only the commander-in-chief knew how many war vessels, great and small, were spread out over this region of the sea as a fleet. The mist conceal ed many of them, and their columns moved, for miles beyond the field of vision. Other units might have moved out from their several bases to meet at the appointed rendezvous some where in these clouded waters. They were all mysteriously in touch with one another, unhesitatingly following the course assigned them For twelve hours they held their way, driving the wind and sea at a standard speed of twelve knots, and then reluctantly they turned and stered homeward. The weather had "spoiled the show." Again the enemy had eluded them and the challenge of the Grand Fleet was unavailing. In the pitchy darkness of the second night the great ships picked up their landfills and filed in through the nar row firth where, the tide boiled In whirlpools and the sound of breakers was clamorous to starboard and to port. They dropped anchor or found their mooring-buoys, but not to rest inactive. The fire-room watches were keeping steam in the boilers and, as always, the fleet was preparing to seek the sea if another alarm should call to action. Of this the German High Sea Fleet was well aware. The British bluejackets were build ing a road on an island nlear by and several hundred American marines went ashore from their ships, next day, to help them. They turned to with a will, for this navy game was a part nership and it was not the proper thing to stand by and look on. There were the bone and gristle of real men under the khaki uniforms of these ma rines and they made the dirt fly with pick and snovei. A veteran sergeant who had won his service medals for Haiti and Vera Cruz turned aside from his perspiring detachment to say: "T 'r, V. 1 J.1 r ... . 11 "cdiiuy ior tnem and it mates a hit with the Britishers. They like to see us willing to work as well as fight side by side. And we are making -a pretty nifty little piece of road. Not that we pin bouquets on ourselves, but did you ever see a job that the marines couldn't get away with? It doesn't seem long since I was in the conning tower of a locomotive rattling freight cars over a crazy stretch of Central American railroad, and the lieutenant yonder was temporary mother supe rior o fan orphan asylum until the nurse could be coaxed back into town." SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE BRITISH ERS. There was a sudden diversion a glimpse of something a few hundred yards off the starboard. It might be slender bit of SDay. but a red nag kept too busy to grouch. Ships tnat are cleared for action all the time and kept smart and clean are not clutter ed up with spare moments. Yes, we had one star entertainment, a bull's eye. It was at Christmas and we were in port, somewhere between Land's End and John O'Groats our first lib erty on this side of the pood. Heard about it? "Well. ther was Christmas trees and fake fireplaces all over the ships, and socks hung up for dear old Santa Claus to slide down through a ventila tor And the admiral pulled off his favorite stunt which was to invite a million or so poor kids aboard and give them a party. Counting noses, 1 suppose there was a thousand of them, to get it right. They were war orphans or "their daddies were serving in France. We blew them off to a turkey dinner, and a moving picture show, and clothes and shoes, and ten shil lings in cash per kid, and what they couldn't eat without busting they car ried home ia paper bags. It was no trouble at all to raise the funds. And was it worth it? Say, you forgot to be homesick. "The kids sung Christmas songs and cheered the flag and the Admiral and the crew? and the navy. Then a gang cf minstrels came over in boats from some British ships and serendu fr n and wp. eave them a band con cert and when we turned in that night it didn't seem such a bum Christmas after all." Ruthless submarine warfare has not blockaded the British Isles nor has it daunted British merchant seamen. Hamburg harbor is dead and desolate, but London river is still a crowded road of empire, the turbid thorough fa ra a seanort great and ancient. RppansP. the fairway is so narrow and cr nnn'rp.steri even in war time, the. cencp rf movement, of an incessant coming and going, is enhanced. All day leng spars and funnels are slid ing past, and at night winking lights, red and green and white, are arrayed in shifting constellations. Vessels un der way shove through the press, and a din of whistles, imploring, warning, and scolding, swells the hubbub of winches, derricks, and the creak and whine of running gear which of all sounds is most suggestive of the sea. Tho nalDitant industry of tne river is quiet only when fog smothers it m a gray blanket. . Coastwise and offshore tne uaui nnhesitrinely. regardless ci mim and tomedo. waiting only for the signal from the convoy of the ad miralty assurance tnat tne cnannei swept. Even the Thames oarges auut ciously cross the channel and carry cargoes to Boulogne and Dunkirk, pass ing within sight of the German bases on the Belgian coast. Hoisting a reu mainsail, jibs, topsail, and ygzer, the Thames barge is no longer a ciums hulk of a canal boat, rowed and push ed and scraped among others 01 ner kind, but a watherly vessel snoring along with lee deck awash or working to windward on the tiooo i-i iae Givts her sea room and a bright look out to keep for hostile seaplanes and submarines, and the skipper hecomes instantly nautical, no longer a ploddin bargee. His orders rang out crisply, he strides the bit of a quarter-deck witn the air of a true and seasoned British tar. and his crew of cne or two lumpish lads moves at the trot. To find the British sailormen of Lon- don river, who daily fare seaward, in waters where Germany has slain and drowned ten thousand of their com rades. T chanced to wander first into t-ha oii Hnclfs hidden below Tower Bridge From the landward side it was a puzzle to find them without a guide, csrvmii Mr?n steamers, barges, and shabby old brigs and schooners slid in from the river by a kind of vanish in trirk and were lost to view behind massive brick walls. To wander afoot in this region and happen across tnese acres of vessels was. much as if you cnnnlrl ctlimhlft RCrOSS SUCh a SPCtaCle - tVio npart of - CtT eenwich Village or lower New York. Here were housed the heaps of ivory tusts tho snices of many tropic isi ands, and the good wines, port, sher ry, and maderia, ripened m huge vomits nnri oeiiars underground. The tobacco sheds contained the leaf of the Vuelta Abajo, of Sumatra and Virginia, and beneath other dingy roofs were coffee, teas, silks, and the nnttrip3 of r.hina. Manual labor shift ed these romantic cargoes from the harsres to the rutted pavements Qiariv toners unfit for war, came other alien lium exit; , . . , miarters near by. a swarthy, chatter ing multitude, and among them min- gled manv sailors born m ouiei tr, a tot, it was the England 01 bygone centuries when Drake and Raj ntc-h onH Martin FVobisher were bring- ing home just such cargoes as these fonnri in new. mvsterious lands or looted with clash of boarding pike and smoke of cannonade from the gilded ii v nioto Tieets oi ivia,' niila a-nA Pern. And toreign sauws much like these, were winging it from Vpnice and Genoa and tne canaries and were singing their strange sea songs among the streets and auuu. ings whose aspect is but little chang The maritime England, the, fruition of a thousand years of stuDDorn, un .QoeifKr endeavor' surviving wars al most innumerable, was to be wiped from blue water by Germany in a few months' time, as a", sponge . cleans a slate. There were few signs, in -uon don river! to indicate tnat the er: chant fleets under the red ensign had nopn utterly destroyed. . The miles of larger docks ana basins where the river Tin A pn pd . wprft tenanted- 'with larpfl stearriera sirip. bv side! There was the stir and pageantry pf - shipping all the way to Gravesend, which is the seaward boundary of London port. then vanishing hull down and undei to follow the paths that lead them to all the havens of the charted oceans. It was cheering to linger in a tavern at Gravesend, which some one else has compactly described as "all tea anda shrimps, oilskins, sea-boots arid bloaters." , Off the wharves the red mooring-buoys cheered and twisted in the strong tide, and every vessel passing had to slow down for visits from the customs, the health officers, the Royal Navy, and what not. The causeway held an idling population of bilots, fishermen, bluejackets, and merchant sailors ready with expert criticism of the manoeuvers of the tugs, steamers, and sailing craft The tavern had a snug little parlor with a coal grate. Three master mar iners, a mate, and an engineer had cast anchor in this comfortable refuge while an easterly wind drove the rain against the small-paned windows. They talked nothing but the war and their own trade, of course. Two of them had been recently in torpedoed ships and were on waiting orders. "It seems as though the Huns 'ud get punished for it somehow," eaid the tall captain. A long strip of plas ter over one eye covered a fresh wound. "Do you want to know what gets under my skin?. It's the little mites of babies cn passenger ships wearing tiny little life-preservers 'specially carried for them. To see 'em toddling around this way ajl through the war-zone is about as much as a man can stand." "It's a marvel what the babies can stand," reflectively spoke the engi neer. "Do you know the mate of the Alnwick Castle? An old shipmate of mine. He told me the yarn when he came home. He had thirty-one people in his boat after she was torpedoed, and they were three hundred and twenty miles from land. The weather j was so heavy that he lost touch with the ether boats during the first night. It was frightfully rough, a sea an chor out and all that. The chef of the steamer died first. He couldn't stand the cold, being flabby and used to the heat of the galley. Then the store-keeper went mad and had to be lashed to a thwart. He died soon af ter. A third-class passenger gave up the ghost that same day. "Another night and squalls and sleet, and an able seaman died. All hands were suffering agonies from thirst and most of them were delir ious. Next to go was a fireman who was found dead in the bottom of the boat at daylight, and then the pantry boy curled up and passed away. The mate tried to keep them from drink ing sa t water, but he was standing watch and watch at the tiller and there was a limit. They noisted sail when they could, but had no stars to steer by. . "A cattleman who had been acting very dotty tried, three times , to jump oveerboard and at last succeeded, ine others were too feeble to pull him in again. The last tot of fresh water was served out,-ia mouthful apiece, and then they . tried . to . collect . rain water, but all the clothing and canvas was so saturated with salt that what little they caught was. un drinkable. They licked the oars, the seats, the gunwales in a franfiic effort to gather rain drops, but the flying spray in terfered. At last they smashed the empty water-breaker and licked the inside which was . still damp. The deck-boy, who had been slowly sink ing, died very quietly in tie night. "They sighted land after being 'adrift a week. The mast was carried away and they were nearly lost in the breakers. All hands were too wean to row or help themselves, but two fishing boats came out and towed them into Carino. . The priest mus tered the villagers, and they lifted the people out of the boat. The linen keeper died as he was being carried ashore and two of the crew who had gone mad refused to leave the boat. They had to be dragged out. The vil lage was tremendously kind and the wives paid every attention to the two women and the baoy The audience in the tavern parlor interrupted as one man. As though it were a personal affront, the oldest captain thumped the table ; and pro tested: "Why the devil didn't you mention the women and the baby? It was cursed polite of us to listen to you at all. Do you always spin a yarn sternforemost, young man?" "Of course there was a baby," an swered the mate, quite unruffled. "It was four and half months old. The mother could nurse it, I fancy, but how did she manage to live while so many hearty men died?" The men divided their whack of food and water , with her," said the engineer, as a fact to be taken for granted. "And did this plucky little beggar of an infant pick up again?" "No, it turned up its little toes six days later. The men hung about and demanded bulletins every few min utes. They took it to heart. Some of them wept, I believe. And those who were strong enough went to the fun eral service." "I wish you hadn't told it," blurted the tall captain with the plastered face. He brushed a hand across his eyes. He was a soft-hearted man. Having been with dead men in an open boat he could picture the scenes for himself. BATTLESHIPS ARE "HEALTHY." "Even an orphan asylum would seem entertaining in this lonesome land scape," I suggested. "You said it for me!" exclaimed the MORE HUN ATROCITIES. There was one pudgy master mari ner who had remained silent. From a battered leather wallet he extracted a creased, soiled bit of printed paper. It was one of the little pamphlets pre pared by Havelock Wilson, spokes man of the British Seamen's Union, for circulation in the cabins and fore castles of British and American shir", presenting the case in the simple, so ber language of the sea. These doc uments are more appealing than the imnassioned denunciations of orators, and they drive home, like white hot rivets in a keel plate, the pledge which these seamen have sworn "No peace until the sea is free from Hun outrages." Their union has de clared a boycott on German ships, sailors, and cargoes for a term of five years after peace shall be de clared. The reasons thereof are fairly obvious and the provocations have been written in letters of blood. The grizzled master mariner cock- A v.;- 4- 1 .i , nose and pointed to the title n vT. pamphlet, "The Way of the Brit, and the Way of the Hun." pe o? ed no comment, but cleared his thm and began to read in a rumbhv voice. The others paid attertiv heed, gravely gazing at his bald v,! or into the coal fire : a There was no bad feeling behvpp the British and German seafaring m before the war began. At the om break of the war we British mew of the Seamen's Union were sorrv f the Germans becansp. tbotr 0r longer get employment on our sh'tr and more especially we sympath-' with those whom our Government IS it necessary to intern. 1 With regard to this and the the sympathy came to an end I rt tell you an interesting little storv The British Seamen's and Fremer--Union begged that those Germans were members of the corresponding German union shnnlri ho ir,t , .s UVJ '"i.ciiieQ in a camp which was under the cont-oi of the Union, and greatly to its credi the British Government quickly cc' sented in this evidence of our frater nal feeling. So in a lovely district near North ampton a splendid place for the terned men was established. At cn time it had about a thousand inmate" They had wooden huts to sleep in and four good meals a day. Their only guards were fourteen policempn u-ht were even allowed actually to en'er the camp. They had concert haih cinema shows, and all kinds of ciui' cal entertainments. They had bottles beer three times a week, and each man was given four ounces of tobac co every seven days. It was rnightv polite and fine imprisonment which they were called upon to endure imprisonment- fai more comfortable than any freedom they had ever known. We began to see a great light with regard to the real psychology 0f cur German "brethren" on the "day foj. lowing the sinking of the Lusi'tania. A concert had been organized for the amusement of the interned German members of the Union. After the dreadful news came, I and all the other members of the committee felt that this moment, just after five hun dred of our fellow members had beea dore to death, was not the time for such a celebration, and I went to trt camp. The Germans were called to gether and I explained to them that we would postpone the concert for the time out of respect to the five hundred of our fellow Union members who had perished. There were about a thousand Ger-pot mans in the hall listening to me. and Ire when I stopped there was dead si lence. I . had anticipated that some one of them would say that he was corry for the tragedy. Not a man did. I left the hall, and was scarcely out side the door before the men began to sing "The Watch on the Rhine' and other German patriotic songs. Presently the' singing gave place to cheers. Soon after this the conduct of some cf the interned Germans h came so intolerable that it was impos sible for us to maintain the camp un der Union auspices, and it-s care ani control were handed over to the Gov ernment. Since then, as the Germans have continued their murderous campa& against seamen of all nations, sinkin: ships without warning, 1 nave sent a communication to the lieriin neao Quarters of the International Federa tion. There a committee, consisting of four important labor men, was ap 1 1 I c bl fo he i :1c w: d; be ei at m ai n yc di Ci th be too ;wi de ha Ich for: ian Ito I he he Lai lOE he frit lat he ;av bt 1 1 ihc ell 1 be P 1 t ad Us the ac d at: ioi x ii if ' Via "lhat Three of the AlS values in Durablc-DURHAM Hosiery BIG SISTER A fine, wide elas tic out-size ctockinz with extra wide elastic top. Medi um weight. Made from soft combed lisle finish yarn. Strongly double re inforced heels and toes. Baibtizgan. black and white. Price 40c pir. THE HUN AT HIS WORST.' Along the, shore line Howard . the mouth of the Thames were suggest Ions to recall some of the most high hearted pages of English history. An- BANNER AH year wearing stocking. Medium weight. Soft combed yarn, lisle finish. Wide elas tic tops. Strongly reinforced heels ar.d toes. Black and while. Price 35c pair. ROVERLAD A good medium weight substantial ' stocking for children. Triple reinforced knees. Strongly double reinforced heels and toes. Feet and toes smooth, seamless and even. Black and white. Prica 40c pair "Soles and toes are smooth, seamless and even s coins to mean more coml ?n tries? rni.w times we seem to have SO much more standing and walking to do. . Durable-DURHAM soles and toes are rein forced, too, which makes them give more months of wear no matter how hard you use them. DURABLE DURHAM HOSIERY FOR MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN Made Strongest Where the Wear is Hardest The quality of the yarn is extra good our location in the heart of the cotton belt making it easy for us to obtain the best. Every, pair of Durable-DURHAM Hosiery is strongly reinforced at points of hardest wear. Legs are full length; tops are wide and elastic; sizes are correctly marked; colors will not fade. Durable-DURHAM includes styles for every member of the family, selling at 25, 35, 40 and 50 cents. Your dealer will gladly show you all styles. Look for the Durable DURHAM ticket on every pair. . Write to our Sales Department, 88 Leonard Street, New York, for free catalog showing all styles. DURHAM HOSIERY MILLS Durham, N. C. Nc T nd o ha: he ef N isn cos isrr A d PS on cia ill sir e; ve tpia (ni: lalf Sc Til; tru
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 27, 1918, edition 1
12
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