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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1915)
3 R "A St " . " v r- Of"1 BY K. M. WHITE. THEORETICALLY, Portland is bom barded by a battleship regularly twice a week. HuilIings are shat tered, bridges are destroyed, the popu- lace is slain and devastation spreads out in every direction before the huge hells of powerful naval guns. But it is only theoretical. While nearly every motion of a genuine bom bardment is gone through on real guns nd on a real warship and by real Jackies, there is no powder and no real devastation. The devastation takes place only theoretically. It is only znlmlc warfare, but from it about 200 young Portland men are learning the real war game. They are members of the Oregon Naval Militia, with head Quarters on the cruiser Boston, a bat tleship of Spanish-American War fame, which has been turned over to the Ore gon Militia as a training ship. Learning to man a battleship as these young men learn it is extremely Interesting as well as instructive and invigorating. Nothing in the way of naval training ia neglected by the men or by their instructors, who are se lected from the regular United States Naval service. Should occasion arise the Oregon Na tal Militia could take the cruiser Bos ton or almost any other warship down the Columbia, and into the sea to take up an active campaign. A call would find men here trained in every feature of the ship's operation and in every phase of modern sea-fighting. There would be men to fire the bat tery of boilers, operate the engines and lit, maptilnApv t-ci nij ( r orfv nnrt nf t V Pi ship that might get out of order, pilot the ship, operate the powerful wireless, handle the guns of all kinds and, in ehort, do everything that would be nec essary to take the ship through a fight. Men between 18 and 45 years of age -ire permitted to join the militia- En listment is for two years, during which time the men are required to attend drills and to learn the war game by actual operation of the various parts of the ship's machinery, the guns or the other features of the Naval service. The Boston has 14 powerful guns which are used for training. Two are eight-inch guns of the long-range type. Three others shoot six-inch projectiles. one four-inch, six six-pounders pa two automatic " 30-milllmeter guns. All of these are in working order and saw service in the Spanish-American War. The young man who gets into the service has, to be excellent physically, Application of the recruit is made the same as for the regular Navy. An ex- acting physical examination and test js . given by experts in that line of work. and a man must measure up to minute requirements regarding health and phy- 6ique. The recruit upon finishing his examl- nations is taken to the cruiser and ehown every part of the ship. He is then assigned a locker-room in which xo Keep me uniiorm wnicn is given nim. He is instructed in tne marKing,. fold- ins aim -..owing ui uuiue-, in uavai etlauette and customs., and is examined , as to nersonal cleanliness. as to personal cleanliness. His second lesson comprises-a half- hour lecture on organization, routine and drills, salutes and first aid medical work. Then comes the learning of set- ting up drilling without arms and the learning of the semaphor. . He is then given instructions in the types of sail- lng vessels, classes of men-of-war, ven- tllation, drainage, fire mains, flushing system, compartments, double bottoms, fresh water (how carried), water tight doors, hatches, bulkheads, names of docks, fittings, mooring staples, davits, derricks, winches, ladders, bitts, chocks, fair leaders, pin rails, cleats, eye bolts, ring bolts, chain bolts, bollards, camels, leak stoppers. ' He is then drilled in facings, march- h ?i yk iv. ings and manual of arms. This is fol lowed by instructions and lessons in navigation, including: explanations of the use of the compass, marking: by points and degrees, modern method of steering- and bearings, pelorus and theodolite in connection with compass; wheel, where located, reasons for more than one, how connected to rudder, how it controls rudder (hand, steam, elec tric) ; terms used in handling, steering, rudder, reading thermometers, barome ters, records entered in log, wind and sea, force and direction of; clouds, storms, current, tide, set, drift. The recruit then learns the interest ing art of tying knots, splicing, sew ing, parceling, use of palm and needle, standing and running rigging. This is followed by instructions on types of guns, shellrocms, handling-rooms, han-' dllng charges, testing powder, flooding magazines, hoists, parts of guns, shells, powder, primers, fuses and torpedoes. Instructions in -seamanship follow this. These instructions include lessons 00 leads, hand, deep sea, machine, marks, heaving, character of bottom, use for location of ship's position, meas- uring distance, revolutions, ship log and sand glasses, patent log, ground tackle, kinds and uses of anchors, chains, links, 4 ! 1 'IK'-' S- j FIFTY FATHOMS (Continued From Page 3.) T-.- Jl 1. 1 1 I, a foil fin-am nap tha mntn- anil ...... . " " w ... . lay there Years later, as it seemed, he awak- ened in pltchblack darkness with an irritating pungent odor in his nostrils, a burning sensation in his throat, a blattering, rushing, roaring sound in his ears arid a pain in his head such as he had never felt before. . Only one sensation could he place the odor In hls nostrils, the astringent action that he knew so wen. men his position ana piigni came oac io mm Dy oe- He reached out, felt the supporting column of the engine and located him- self; then he crawled to the different parts of his pipe and fan system, in- specting them by the sense of touch, Everything was as he had left it the wires still fed bubbles into the pipe to the upper fan, the laet fan still caught the air as it rose from the acid and sent it over the motor. Perhaps the motor would now work the pump. He . found the switch and controller in the darkness, turned on the current and felt his way back. The armature waa turning just a little faster than before. Shutting off the current he coupled on the pump and ag-ain gave power to the motor, only to find that the pump stopped - It. The solid, inert,' incompressible water in tne induction pipe could not De etirrea. Tot ihr nnwei- i tho rn(.tr,i. - - " - - j .... , 1,,-, V .i - rt vi --, n. -r1 t, ue iia-u uitu io biuii iuo wiiu his hands, but could not. Two men could not nor three by the way it felt. If he could multiply that power? If he could give it purchase. . If the water were more yielding comnrea- . - . sible so that the motor, once started, would go on? Compressible, like air? Ail- compressible air. He had too much air bad air, too. It gave him the pain In his head and the roaring in his ears. Crawling forward as far as he could go, he found a sweeter at- mosphere and thought it out. " There, was little logic or coherency in his thoughts; he only wanted to devise means to get rid of that poisonous flow of gas. which came from he knew not what defect in his apparatus but whici grees. His last light had burned out. and laid it on the motor bed. Then he arose again, supporting himself by the poisoned lungs cut. like myriad knives leea le , Vl . dH no .. k V. a T7h engineer- "I His air plant was still working, but turned on the current, assured himself ladder. The motor, dimly showing in oTlIce. ch "thspks anl SSKat" 32 -.k Breen" though TolTZ new the poisonous gas was escaping. How that the motor was turning over and the gray light, was spinning rapidly. Three members of the board of in- what he risked was the poisoning ef- h it' nrt auite clear " and why? 'crawled forward out of the fumes. -the fans were still buzzing,, the outlet quiry that later exonerated Breen from feet of that free chlorine before , he ,,.', THE NAVAL WAR ?Ht umk ; i 5 shackles, swivels, marks, stoppers, hooks, controllers, engine, capstan, clear hawser gear, sea anchor, use of oil. Then come interesting drills in' the handling of guns.f Instructions include the pointing of the guns, great gun be could only stop by stopping the sup- Ti T ... i v uAjrfi.it. , The air compressor motor was burned out, otherwise he could pump air into any of the tanks and outboard when the pressure was great enough. . Could he turn that rotary bilge pump into an air pump? Could he make an aperture in" the induction pipe above the water. Crawling aft into the stifline: atmos- phere near the motor he found an pl- bow in the induction pine made up of a T-joint and a plug. Securing a wrench that fitted he removed the plug Here he remained and after- a long time when a new sound. as of the clap- ping of an outlet valve came to his bur- dened ears over the uproar he shouted approval and again was happy. . He was pumping bad air out .of the boat, and all was well with him. He was npt even hungry or thirsty, ' but, after .a time, when the clapping: ofthat valve in the outlet pipe had become a fa- miliar sound and his head had stopped aching, he felt somewhat 'sleepy, and as the pile of machinery on which he lay was a hard bed he-crawled aft a little, where the greasy oilcloth flooring was softer. .He went to sleep there, face upward, directly beneath the conning tower hatch. xears; generations, centuries passed vrniie he lay there, and he awakened once or twice in a. uecaae, listened to a f a - nwav mariner Knnnri nunnin.t . , - hv the -la-nninir nf a vulva l . . - a. -.jvc nim went io sleep again. He wasted'no energy in : thinking about- these sounds; they were the only sounds in the universe, and beyond his care and control. But at last a new sensation came to - him, one that affected not his ears or his organs of taste or smell: these were dead, killed long ago by that ter- rible, blistering gas. The sense of touch was lost in the all pervading cain that saturated his whole body. The sense of light was but a memory, lost in'the darkness that had engulfed him with the burning out of the last bulb, But now, as he lay there on his back the sense of ligjit and sight seemed returning. - . Through -his - half-closed yelidaa' 1 ij as-""-"'" , - . v XV- A. drills, stations, loading and firing. Last in the way of instruction is the use of lifeboats. Every phase of this feature of the service is gone into carefully. By the time the recruit finishes his first term ' of enlistment he is well DOWN dim glimmer of yellow and gray come ( . n V. I V. t TJ - . . . . .1 I. . . -1 -ubv iub i .i i. - - .r.tu mew " and took in the details of the conning tower ladder, the circular tower Just above, and an occasional flickering image or the starDoaru ueaangnt mov- inS up and down, back and forth, on' the port inner surface of the tower. Light! Where id ifcome from? He arose painfully to his feet. and 'fe11 down. The boat was." in motion, pitching somewhat and rolling ever so slowly while water still washed arounu among mo o"erj jars. no valve still clapping at regular and more frequent afloat. ' intervals. The boat He slowly climber the ladder, found the hatch unscrewed unconfined from within exactly as he had lert it ages before. ". when ' he ' had fallen. ' half drowned from the ladder. Exerting all his strength he pushed upward; -but could not budge it. The outlook was gray through the deadlights,'' and' only as the craft rolled did .the occasional glimmer of yellow light come in from he f rhft. TH . . .. .v. ,;,-ee v -v. below it - buried. Even had he sue- ceeded in opening the hatch against the slight weignt or water sliding oyer it he would only have swamped the boat ana gone aown again io anotner eter- i i v "M ldd-uH of i mntT-: i.irinc w - - ..o nni tlv o Tir. wnrkin? jl rntnrv nnmn i U a t - '""-' i.i- ; ' Weakly and painfully he descended and crawled aft into the- blistering fumes to wnere ne had lett the Tjoint nine and the .wrench: ' and ; without - waiting to stop the - motor - he turned that aif pump back into a bilge pump, heard the gurgling sound of water In the pipe that acompanied the last few heaves he gave to the wrench and crawled forward to where the' air u " 1 burned and cnoked mm just a little at the bottom, he took a chance that On none of these epoch-marking occa less. Here he waited." listening to the nothing but utter desperation would sions was he visible in the forefront of new cadence and slower rhythm of 'that induce him to take, and make a things He was not on the prow of the clapping outlet valve in the pipe, while the light above grew stronger and the growing hope of life in his heaving breast strove vairUy-to formulate Itself G AHE ? ,-. v. 10 versed In every phase of the business, He has had actual exDerience with every part of the ship from the rigging down to the rudder, omitting nothing in between. The cruiser Boston is the scene of into wr. r -,-- t hi cracked and bleeding lips. Then the buzzing of fans and motor of oxygen and hydrogen, which can be softened, the rhythmic cadence of the breathed for a time but it is an ex clapping valve lessened and -lowered, plosive mixture that would have blown the gurgling sound of water ceased and, though the fans still whirled . , . . , . . siowiy, me pumping came io an. ena. The 3.600 ampere hour batters was ex- hausted. but the work wae done. Breen again climbed the ladder and pushed upward on the hatch. It yielded, and when the gifting spring was paSt the center itVlew upright, rtainintr hl heart ar.,1 shoulder thrnueh the opening, he looked across a dark, heaving sea at a full moon hanging above the horizon. , He hail seen it last a month before. And the air that he took into his .misuse of Government property met at the Army and Navy Club long before he was able to answer . Questions and unofficially discussed him. One was a captain, another a surgeon and a third an -engineer, who was also a naval instructor and an electrical expert, ..0no thiTlg we-n have to findf BUreiy.. said the captain; "that is, that-the course in chemistry at Annapolis ia not thorough. -1 passed in the subject. but what did I know? What do I know now? Who but a specialist like Breen coula savo lne Doal anQ.n,s Jlle ln lnal could save the boat and his life in that How through." .aid the doctor? "Hl8 hair will turn dark again and the wrinkles will go in time, Tinkles will go in time.. Lord. how he looked! 60 years old. errav- haired and emaciated. Shows what an - ... . excess ui oxygen win ao. even aiiuted , with all those poisonous gases. His lungs and throat are just so much raw ,eaf . - - -But it's funny," said the engineer. v one ran- denv Breen'a .u !.-,. -.j-- j . -. vlvu mter . j 1.11 a iiuui a v Lf (in. w ew - i- he was in mv class, you know Breen just pulled through his exams'by the 6kin of his teeth. Chemical symbols were worse than Greek to him. and chemical equations a deeD. dark mv. tery. And yet down there in the dark, discovery in chemical reactions not down in any textbook and never an- nounced by any one that I know of." - VWhat chance? - What discovery?" L'lvelvj Scenes on Crusier BosVon in Port land Harbor, Wnere Young Men Are TaughHhe Complex Derails of Modern Sea Fighting and Seamanship. :-7l 4 much life and activity on drill nights, when the men are at work with the machinery and the guns. Here and there are lines of men going through drills with arms. Other rows are tak- ing exercises. Groups of busy blue- "Well. this. Electrol vsi. of water is easy, as we all know, and the product him to eternity had enough or touched a spark from either of those 4 Vi anu ' " - ... But he had inclosed the communica tors." "Yes, but that was his chance, never theless. Here ia another: He turned both wires Into the pipe leading into his fan system. He was evolving large quantities of chlorine gas from the salt in the water, and this is equally explosive when in contact with hydro &en not on,y from KParks but fro" strong light. Now, he was in . pitch darkness of course. and every pipe niade his discovery. And it did poison him," said the GOETHALS (Continued From Pase 2.) other foremen were doing in building the canal, repeatedly referring to the t iUr. UaM vr U'hAr) ftA Ya r rTnVshed. the other said: "But what doea tne old nlan a8 you call him, do?" he just comes around and look. 'Oh, over what we've done: re Z neer 1" o l!? -I" .I' .f. 1 ve Li? .. . - ..ii.i .k.-. f'" JL! Z .. Z-..:7, h. ti, di The proceedings in Washington and wwTnrk t i . mHM.wu.n.anuu-.w.i.u.. --(.ra medals of honor unon him. caused him an amount of genuine anguish which he described as "awful." He permitted no blare of trumpets. ' ,; , uin h.n . " " - .. r n a i m nia. (iimsb wm ri w n - ii f in in" .h., in 1913 and the water was let into Culebra cut; none when the first vessel passed through the Gatun locks on September 26, 1913; none even when the canal was thrown open on August 15. 1914. to the commerce of the world. first tug that passed the locks, but on and within the lock-walls studying clo'sely the working of the machinery -of the-gates -and-valves. He- was-not r . . - i . i . . -. t . i i .. - T 1 . 1 .mil firr lire IT 0 1 J T . jackets are seen tying knots, splicing rope, parceling, using the palm and needle and standing and running rig ging. About the guns are men bard at work putting in dummy shells, training the guns and firing them. They are fired In different directions and at different ranges. Were they loaded they would plow great holes through the city. In the pilot-house men are at work with the wheel3 and the various com plex instruments used in sterlnti and finding bearings. In other parts of the ship men are at work learning tho wig wag slgnajing and use of the light signals. Down in tli bottom of the ship men are at work keeping the boilers in oper ation and at another point men are flt work with the wireless apparatus. The Boston has a modern radio station aboard and catches messages from grrat distances. The course in the militia includes instructions in wireless. Kach year the Naval Militia takes a cruise in one of the naval vessel in active service. Last year a cruise whs taken to Honolulu. This year the triii will be to San Francisco and Kan Diego. On these trips the militiamen have com plete charge of the Khip, attending to its operation throughout thn cruise. In addition to having all expenses paid on these trips the militiamen re ceive the same salary for their work as is pa.id for men of like class in tho regular Navy. On board they live the sajne a regular sailors, being under strict orders and having their regular work to do. They live the lives of regular sailoie In "Uncle Sam's service. The big guns are actually used thn instead of the ttring being only the oretical. Targets lie set up and shot full of holes. The militiamen are al.o given in structions during their trm of enlist ment in the 'handling of riflps. They go out to the rifle range at Clackamas occasionally and practice on the targets. Many of them become expert marks men. The men who Join the service en joy their work. The drilling 1 not hard and it is extremely interesting. Except upon drill nights the members of the militia are not required to give theli- time, but the cruiser is open to them at a.11 tln'es. Drills are held, on Tuesday and Friday nights, and gen erally there Is an almost complete at tendance of the members. Attendaoe is compulsory, tho officers of the mili tia beine empowered, to force the men to report for duty on drill nights. But those in charge report that tney not have to exercise this power very much. The men, thoy Fay, are o great- ly interested in the work that they do not have to be forced, to report for drills. . surgeon. 'Ttipped his mucous mem- brane to shreds and smithereens. But what did he discover?" "That hydrogen and chlorine gas, mixed in utter darkness and violently it agitated, will combine wtinout explo sion into hydrochloric acid gas. Water takes up 450 volumes of this gas, but only 2 volumes of free chlorine, and less of hydrogen. His discovery saved his life." "But " said the Caotain dryly, "he made a much greater practical demon- stration. He has proved that men may safely be ejected from torpedo tubes, that a Whitehead will support two men in the water and that the man left to die can turn into gas and expel by the bilge pumps the weight of water that holds down the boat. How much (Copyright. 1905. by Harper & Bros.) THE BUILDER on the bridge of the first ship to pass from ocean to ocean, but on the lock walls and along the banks of Gaun Luke and the sides of Culebra cut, watrhln Kth the operating machinery and .he wave-action created by the moving ves- "1 ,.. wflI!M have been capable of this complete self effacement? An lnglish diplomatic of ficial, who was( a passenger on the firtt ship to go through the entire canal from the Atlantic to the Pacilic. wrote of it to a friend: "Colonel Goethal.i did not go through. He saw us off at Cristobal, and then appeared on the ,ocks at Gatu anj pedro Miguel. At the latter point John Barrett made ar rangements to raise three cheers for Colonel Goethals, but. directly it start v-"lu,"' " - ed, the Colonel, who was in .liirt sleeves, turned his back and ran. John was left cheering." (Copyright, 1915, by Charles Scrib ner's Sons. All rights reserved.) avlna- of Time aid Marry. Washington (D. C.) Star. "What is your reason for believing in the nebular hypothesis?" asked the man who is always seeking Information. "1 don't know that I -xuclly believe in it," replied the scientist. "But after a man has gone to the trouble of finding out what It is. It etfems a shame to contra dict it." .