The Sunday Oregonian., May 11, 1913, SECTION SIX, Page 8, Image 76

THE greatest game in the world
tu played last month, but the
sporting columns, full of base
ball activities, prlse-riug battles and
other classics of sport, carried rot a
line of It. It was a game that stag
gered the Imagination. It was played
In the most unique of stage settings
and on a scale that would dwarf the
combined activities of the big leagues,
the usb- leagues and all the sand-lot
contests of the diamond rolled into one
eleven Inning matcb..
Ob a Glut Field.
The playing ground was at sea and
its boundaries lapped over the circular
rim of ocean that stretched to every
point of the compass when, with the
most powerful glass, you swept he
horizon from a ship in Its centor.
Take the polo grounds of the New
Torlc Giants, the white-ribbed gridiron
of Soldiers" Field at Cambridge, the race
track at Latonla. Ky, the polo field
at Narragansett and the National golf
course at Shinneeoeit Hills. Multiply
them by thousands and toss them into
the center of this deep sea-field. The
resulted ripple would die leagues away
from Its outer rim!
The game was the record battle prac
tice of the Atlantic fleet. The field was
the southern drill grounds of the United
States Navy, 70 miles out to sea. from
tha Virginia Capes. The prize, a modest
bit of bunting. Krom the deafening roar
of the first lz-inch gun. aimed at the
ialf-nbmerged hull of the old Texas
in Tangier Sound, to the last 870-pound
steel projectile that tore with the noisy
rush of a, hundred runaway, freight
trains through a moving target six
miles away, the days piled up to a
total of ten.
There were dozens of ships in this
unique lineup, first-class fighting bat
tlMhlns al 1. and on each day was a
team ranging from 700 to 1000 men. For
the war-worn hickories of Tyrus Cobb
and Hans Wagner thev substituted the
gray steel tubes of 12-lnch guns, and
for the horsehide-covered baseball they
rang In shells weighing .0 pounds.
The base lines were lanes of dark green
sea. fathoms deep and off soundings.
churned Into fury by the quadruple
screws of dreadnoughts steaming at
lively rate.
Along Grers liiaea.
The home plate was .a screen -covered
target the size of the painted sign ad
vertlslntr cigarettes In your local ball
park. The home plate traveled due norm.
nH now due south, dipping and curt
erylng to the lazy swell and at times
careening to the . wind. n was noi
always a well mannered home plate and
It was never still. Between It and the
pitcher's bos 10.000 yards of sea! For
your favorite sport on shore substitute
miles for yards, tons for pounds, tbou
ucdi for each single man at play and
Ton win train some significance of
this ble- B-ame
There were no bleachers and towering
grandstands packed full of straw-hatted,
shirt-sleeved humanity to cheer
th brilliant slays or to urge on the
under dog In this match. Every man of
the 10.000 played his part Deiore. a gai
l.rv of onlv wheeling seagulls and i
hutdful of observers. The ylls of the
bleacherltes were missing, but In their
place was a gigantic roar that would
have drowned the vocal explosions of a
wnrM'f series contest.
Again, there was no division of fat
gats receipts at stake, no hero-worship,
no great Increase of salaries and no
vistas ot Taudevlllo contracts. In their
a plaque ot brouza to bojiu couxaa-ot tracing. Xou will o from.
places
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held for a year, but the incentive ini.
spurred them on was the knowledgs
that. If Waterloo was won on n'""
of Eton, then truly tne next 8nr.i,
American naval victory will ba won by
the annual game that tne wavy pmj.
on the southern drill grounds.
"Play Ball!"
The big game is vastly more scientific
than football. Its thrills are ""'"
even when compared with a nlntn
lnnlng rally. No golf course ever boast
ed so unique a beauty of surroundings.
Racing f tables In tneir pun")
never entailed such expense or repre
sented so much Invested capital. No
other game was ever played on such a
scale or by the United States Govern
ment, and. rinally. mere is """"
gam whose fortunes so directly ect
the 90,000.000 people of this Republic
You have seen the yaie ouuook
the Princeton tiger grapple on iu
gridiron? Substitute the Delaware
the Utah. You piacca your
the Red Sox or the Giants when they
met to fight out the world's seriesT For
the Giants send the Florida to tne Dai.
send the Red Sox to the bench and play
the North Dakota In the field. Then
,.. -rnrA "Plar ball!" and the
"Smoky Joe" of the North Dakota will
serve over a ball traveling 2700 feet per
second. There's another phase of the
big game!
The training season for this contest
Is 12 months long and the Spring traln
in. n-niinris Is at Guantanamo, a few
miles to the eastward of where the
bones of Cervera's gallant fleet were
laid by American gunners. Back of the
training season lies the shadowy bulk
of the Naval Academy and farther back
th. .hades of Hull. Decatur and Farra-
gut. Has any other game greater or
more brilliant traditions or a better list
of past performances? Each year the
training season begins anew, with new
mi.. with Improved weapons and
changed conditions.
A Nerve-Rciig Game
Wnllow one unit, one team, through
tllE SUXDAT OREGOyiAN, PORTLAND.
, r- -
0-
th waters of the Caribbean and its
violet islands, the playground of soft
breezes and flying fish, to tha rock
shores and sharpetched sea of New
England and feel your way Jnto tne
Navy Tarda that range tne cobbi iram
Portsmouth to Key West, you win
steam at top speed in waters that are
dappled by sunlight, or crawl through
dripping fog that hangs over the sea
like a blanket, and tpe nexi oay
clrty weather with a gale that combs
up 40-foot seas.
Th devilish tattoo or the battle gong
will break you out of your bunk In the
night watches and call you to your
place in the line-up. while your search
lights, send their broaa snaiis 10 pun
and starboard to pick up your target
or unmask a torpedo-boat destroyer.
one of the "lean, black devils or me
sea." It's a soul-trying, nerve-racking
game, but all about you are thousands
striving with a single purpose, to be
fit for the big game in April, ana i"-
Is nothing more contagious than the
spirit of such a mass.
When the game Is called there Is
i.ir!r i breathiner snace before the
training period begins again. The ships
sre scattered to weir nome isavy
for overhaul and repair, and you begin
with the monotony of individual prac
tice. It costs several hundred dollars
to fire a 12-lnch gun In war, so the
reanrts to strategy to save
mnnov. The Denny-saving expedients
are. two, the dotter and the sub-caliber
nractlce. The bluejackets can ins nrsi
ping pong" for it came Into vogue
soon after that Insidious recreation
i h American neople In Its thrall.
Tou can play It with a rifle, too. on the
sub-target gun. and there la no better
form of training.
A Mlatmka of u lack.
paralleling the barrels of the big tur
ret g-uns runs a slight framework of
rods. A central rod. by ingenious de
vice, follows every movement of the big
gun as It is elevated or depressed or
t either side. It la always par-
AUel to e ib or. Juat b-i
v t;:-v.
yond the muzzle of the gun is a target,
reduced to scale, moving in any direc
tion. The gun pointer, whose only am
bition In life Is to fire that gun 12
months later vhen the big game begins
in earnest, follows the targ-et with his
gun as a hawk would follow lis prey.
His cross-wires In the telescope inter
sect the center of the bull's-eye. fasten
on the black speck like a leech he
presses his electrical firing key and
from the central rod a needle shoots
out. It punctures the target at the
exact point of aim. If he makes a mis-
take of an lncn me neeuie
of the bull's-eye and registers a miss
that . in actual practice wouia mean
yards off the target. It requires tire
less practice and peneci co-oroinai.un
of brain and sinew to maKe good ai
"ping pong" practice. The elusive tar
get must be kept in front of the wait
ing needle for minutes at a lime.
Green men start in at dotter work,
and if they have in them the real quali
fications of a gun pointer they figure
large in the big game. While the gun
pointer, his eye glued to the rubber
flap of the telescope and his hand on
the firing key, is at work the rest of
the turret crew are equally occupied
with their several duties.
The next stage Is the sub-caliber
practice, and Its steady drill is vital to
the teamwork of the ship and the suc
cess of the fleet. A small-caliber gun
i. mmintAd on a turret gun. Its bore
being- exactly parallel to that of the
big fellow. A target, with dimensions
and range proportionate to the smaller
caliber of gun. is anchored off the ship.
The Tange Is determined with all the
care of actual battle and In every par
ticular the big game is followed, the
guns being fired with the smaller
shells. The training of turret crews
-j f the ahlD's battle efficiency Is
well along In the making.
vhgk Tbgk vbgkqj vbgko, vbg bgk bg
Tho Coveted "K."
ni.ra 1a a middle stage between the
dally rounds of dottex and sub-caliber
nractlce. knosrs V Je fB,ntafy
MAY 11, 1913
nractice. The first two are like the
vhlhltlon crames of a ball team, the
elementary practice. the scheduled
KttlllcOl -
rfes. The elementary prac
n vi n rnn nania uii.iivo
tice is designed chiefly to train gun
pointers and It also counts materially
in the race for the championship ol
the fleet. To tne ranss l
pointers it Is the survival of the fittest.
In this firing the target is anchored
. . . .1 1 ... n , th. ahln it-
a mile ana a nan " - --
self being under way. The ranse be
ing known, the test is up w
.... n,nHM9t and It Is a search-
i tt of his eyesight, coolness mi"
HUIUICU - - . .
Judgment
- .. . . . . i )
n Iiring. me uu .m-w.
nal virtues.
Ttn,..., rx.it von see one of our dread
noughts in her coat of gray war paint
loon lor a uus, " --- ---
ti mov nnt he there, but sou
.,ui' co. . manv as three or four of
i. if it thn Delaware or the Idaho.
. la th Navv's hall-mark of
- tv.. abbreviation for "excellent,
and 'it Is painted In three-foot letters
n the outside OI a lurrei. r. uu. o
pointers have won honors in the ele
t .r nrArticei
There are not many to go around the
fleet, and the men on the unfortunate
shins glare at the big. white "E and
swear by all that Is nautical that the
next year will find at least one on their
... rt Tho American bluejacket would
.br have the "K" than the privileges
.I.- finnr.of Congress, and he le
sires It with an Intensity that makes
ii,iral rjreferment or a diplomatic
.hroad a oale and sickly ambition.
There is another form of elementary
practice the night firing. With , aU
lights masked but the powerful battery
Li r ...n.hilE-hts the ship steams along.
while from the searchlight platforms
the yellow snaiia nasn icruaa " -.
...hiTs- at times for the targets.
at other times for the low-lying hulls
of attacking torpedo-boat destroyers.
Tho three, five and six-Inch guns play
tho leading role In this form of prac
i tnr thev are the ship s defense
ing, once the target is found, the fir
ing is maintained at a tremendous rate
of rapidity.
Obsolete Methods.
Thirteen years ago this blue-ribbon
contest of the seas, which is now fea
tured on the Southern drill grounds at
the time when Spring millinery is fore
most in the minds of landsmen, bore
no more resemblance to tho big game
than a Sunday school baseball league
match does to the final game of the
world's series.. Fifteen years ago the
Spanish fleets at Santiago and Manila
were ' sunk or beached, riddled with
American gunfire, but only after a
prodigious amount of firing. The fleet
today would consider it a prodigal
waste of precious ammunition.
Th. methods Of 18S8 were cruoo m
the extreme as compared with the pol
ish and finish of 1313. xnose were is
sand-lot bush-league days oi Dame
record practice. Quarterly target prac
tice was held, usually, on me msi u
of the quarter. The ranges were snori
and the rules were vague, aim n. a
lucky shot struck the conical target.
drifting at the mercy or wmo ana
wave, the firing was nnisnea ior mo
Native ability or me gunnrr wu men
the chief asset of the Navy in target
nraftirc Telesconlc sights, with their
fields intersected by cross wires, fire
control, all the other refinements that
are now essential to the big game, were
then unknown quantities.
The gunner sighted over a range nar
and fired at his own discretion, une
ship would be hovering just on the
top tou of tne sea, me niacn niui
now trained on the target and now
pointing skyward Just above it. as
the ship began the downward roll the
runner would make a rapid mental
.oiniiaHnn. null the lanyard at tne
Instant he thought the gun wouic near
on the target and trust to the keen
ness of his sight, the grace of Nep-
tn. and his lucRy DUitons lo masc
the hit.
A Marked Improvement.
Except for the development In his
tools gun. sight and ammunition he
had hut little on the red-turbaned
hitoranp.er sauinting over "Long Tom'
at a luckless merchantman. Today the
nrark eun pointer lays nis weapon
on the target when It is within 12.000
yards, and keeps it there like a men-
nf n? Tlntrer oi r aio uiun twwo 1 1
imr" rlncs through the ship. This
marked Improvement Is but one de
tail of the new system that has put
the United States Navy In the lead of
maritime powers.
The radical change in our methods
came In 1900, when three young offi
cers of the Asiatic station figuratively
tore a lear out or me gunnery dook
of the British Navy. At the time the
leaf was fragmentary enough, for our
British sea-going cousins were Just
emeTglntr from the fog.
sir Percy Scott, at that time gun
officer of H. M. S. Powerful, was
the pilot who led the British navy out
of the old-time fog. He devised a
system of fire control, hit on the new
method of sighting, and his first prac
tice showed an astounding increase in
the average of hits. In fact, tne im-...-nv.m.nt
wan so radical, like a Jump
from a velocipede to the winner of the
Vanderbllt cup, that the news was
...niv Rcnuted when it reached the
TO.-itiih admiraltv. In Dlace of offi
cial commendation and unofficial huz
sas there rose a chorus of disbelief,
even of ridicule.
Tint Scott, backed by official results,
carried the day and the old system
.nr intn the discard. along with
"Lone Tom" and the red-turbaned
v...T..r Ttfnr. his success was ea-
.kiichAH. however, even before the
x.OT.rfiii had demonstrated its effi
i,. an AmAriran naval of-
licar. JUeu,tao,ar.t . CogafflaB4or It.
Sims of the United States ship Ken
tucky, had become great friends. heJ
led the attack on the old system and
under the compelling enthusiasm first
came Lieutenants Ridley. McLean and
W. K. Harrison of the Kentucky,
"Fighting; Bob's" Influence.
All five men were of strong per
sonality, and the contagion of their
new religion, for as such they re
garded it. steadily increased the ranks
of their converts. The Kentucky was
the first American ship to prove the
mooted superiority of the system.
Meanwhile the trio were writing to
every ship in the navy, dreaming,
talking and almost eating the new
target practice. They had to break
down the water compartments of con
servatism and lnauierer.ee,
of them was the powerful Influence
of "Fighting Bob" Evans, whose two-
starred flag was iiyms "
tucky. So this, youm ana i.o
of the iventucKy cncu
the United States iavy.
Ping pong" practice
became the
race and the c
-w.ir nf the one-pound-
. -, nHnn,i.A vnR heard
era at suDcaiioei yian
when the feet came to am...". ...
eluded bays. The British w"
modified, improved upon and f'na'IV
the end of a year, our navy -
. i nwn Tpar tv year
weak points have been eleminated. the
good ones strengthened and f""
work of scientifically trained officers
and keen-eyed enlisted men has per
fected a system that will, when th
crucial test nf battle comes, produce
more hits per gun per man tu tn
minute than any otner seagm.iB
In the world. , . - , .
By this time the navies oi mo
have adopted systems Dasea "n
pattern that the guncrews of " 'Brit
ish Powerful and the Yankee Kentucky
wove back In 190S on the Asiatic Stan
tlon. . ...
Rewards mt Merit.
The officer may win distinction in
turret behind his brace of . rarln
twelves, or make an enviable Wttttn
in the fighting tops o t his
ability In spotting the fall of the shot
and estimating the necessary correction,
to bring the next one on the target.
Success above his fellows means detail
as ordnance officer, the ship s whits
hope" for the next big game.
Should he win the coveted bronze
troDhy for his shipmates his. name be
comes a household word In the service
and from the Secretary of . the Navy
comes an official letter that in Itself h.
feels is reward enough. The following
year may find him ordnance officer of
the fleet on the staff of the commander-in-chief,
of holding down a berth In
Washington as head of the division ot
target practice, exercising general su
pervision not only over the practice of
the fleet, but every other fighting craft
In the Navy.
The enlisted men of the Navy reap .
both professional and financial reward. ,
The heavy gun-pointer, to quote deep
sea talk, "draws some water" with his
shipmates, and, if his turret is deco
rated with the big white "E he is in
deed cock of the walk in the fleet. In
addition, he draws down from 15 to tlO
per month extra, each man in a win
ning turret crew sports an embroidered
white "E" on his blue sleeve and thera
are money prizes for the turret crew
and the ship's company.
Compared with the gate money paid
to the victorious Red Sox. tho financial
reward la scant, but the zest of the big
game Is not circumscribed within tha
silver rim of a dollar. The leagues of
deep water that encompass It In a
mighty circle are crowded with thrills .
and ambitions, with thunderous salvo J
and soul-stirring hits that make tha I
historic moments of a. world's series
contest seem relatively flat and nl
,.rotttaMs . ,. v
i