3
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"A
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. " v
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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." .