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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1920)
7.' I By Admiral William Sowden Sims AMERICAN SOLDIERS CONVOYED BY OWN NAVY THE SUNDAY OttEGONIAT. PORTLAND, AUGUST 1, 1920 Victory At Sea TOO much praise cannot be given to the commanders of our troop convoys and the commanding of ficers of the troop transports, as well as the commanders of the cruisers and battleships that escorted them from America to the western edge of the submarine zone. The success of their valuable services Is evidence of a high degree not only of nautical skill, judgment and experience, but of the admirable seamanship displayed under the very unusual conditions of steaming without lights while contin uously maneuvering in close forma tion. Moreover, their cordial co-operation with the escorts sent to meet them was everything that could be desired. On the whole, the safeguarding of American soldiers on the ocean was an achievement of the American navy. Great Britain provided a slightly larg er amount of tonnage for this pur pose than the United States, but about 82 per cent of the escorting was done by our own forces. The cruiser escorts across the ocean to France were al most entirely American, and the de stroyer escort through the danger cone was likewise nearly all our own work. And in performing this great feat the American navy fulfilled its ultimate duty In the war. The trans portation of these American troops brought the great struggle to an end. On the battlefield they acquitted themselves in a way that aroused the admiration of their brothers in thfc naval service. When we read, day b day, the story of their achievements, when we saw the German battle line, draw nearer and nearer to the Rhine and finally when the German govern ment raised its hands in abject sur render, the 18 months' warfare with the German submarines, in which the American navy had been privileged to play its partr appeared in its true light as one of the greatest victories against the organized forces of evil in all history. Besides transporting American troops, the navy, in one detail of its work, actually participated In war fare on the western front. Though this feature of our effort has nothing to do with the main -subject the de feat of the submarine yet any ac count of the American navy in the war which overlooks the achieve ments of our naval batteries on land would certainly be incomplete. The use of naval guns in war operations was not unprecedented; the British used such guns in the Boer war, par ticularly at Ladysmith and Spion Kop; and there were occasions in which such armament rendered excellent service in the Boxer rebellion. All through the world war, British, French and Germans frequently rein forced their army artllley with naval batteries. But, oompared with the American naval guns, which, under the command of Rear-Admiral Charles P. Plunkett, performed such .telling deeds against the retreating Germans In the final phases of the conflict, all previous employment of naval guns on shore had been less efficient. Bis Bertha's Work. For the larger part of the war the Germans had had a great gun sta tioned in Belgium bombarding Dun kirk. The original purpose In send ing American naval batteries to France was to silence this gun. The proposal was made in November, 1917; but rapidly as the preparations pro srressed. the situation had entirely changed before our five 14-inch guns were ready to leave for France. In the spring of 1918 the Germans began the great drive which nearly took them to the channel ports; and under t. air trfts V LA 3. . . : n - v s f -e . area it was Impossible to send our I and of the specially designed cars of guns to the Belgian coast. Meanwhile the supply trains for each gun, was they had stationed a gun having a an engineering feat which reflects range of nearly 75 miles in the forest great credit upon the Baldwin Loco- . I ' ; . . 1 r. V, 1 1 thit mntiva T7 nrt m an tia rtilMll:! rlV UHOH ui v.imujj n , in: , li i o .in s i la . i nil. -" -" weapon, constantly falling upon Par is, were having a more demoralizing effect upon the French populace than was officially admitted. The demand for the silencing of this gun came from all sides; and It was a happy coincidence that, at just about the time when this new peril appeared, the American naval guns were nearly ready to be transported to France. Encouraged by the suc cess of this long-range gun on Paris, the Germans were preparing long range bombardments on several sec tions of the front. They had taken huge guns from the new battle cruiser Hindenburg and mounted them at convenient points in order to bombard Dunkirk, Challons-Sur-Marne and Nancy. In all, our intelli gence department reported that 16 rifles of great caliber had left Kiel in May, 1918, and that they would soon be trained upon important objectives in France. For this reason it was welcome news to the allies, who were deficient in this type of artillery, that five naval 14-inch guns, with mount ings and ammunition and fi.upply trains, were ready to embark for the European field. The navy received an urgent request from General Pershing that these guns be landed at St. Nazaire; it was to be their main mission to -destroy the Blg (Bertha" which was raining shells on Paris, and to attack specific points especially railroad communications and the bridges across the Rhine. The Initiative in the design of these mobile railway batteries was taken by the bureau of ordnance of the navy department, under Rear - Admiral Ralph Earle, and the details of the design were worked out by the offi cers of that, bureau and Adroiral Plunkett. The actual construction of itio gjctri uu juuuuiB uil Lite Utrs, the conditions which prevailed in that from which the guns were to be fired. motive Works and particularly upon Its president, Samuel M. , Vauclain, who undertook the task with the greatest enthusiasm. Advaattace of Mobile Guu, Tne reason why our naval guns represented a greater achievement ' than anything of a similar nature ac complished by the Germans was that they were mobile. Careful observa tions taken of the bombardment of Dunkirk revealed the fact that the gun with which it was being done was steadily losing range. This Indi cated that the weapon was not a movable one, but that It was firmly implanted in a fixed position. The 75-mile gun which was bombarding Paris was similarly emplaced. The answering weapon which our ord nance department now proposed to build was to have the ability to travel from place to place to go to any position to which the railroad system of France could take it. To do this It would be necessary to build a mounting and to supply cars which could carry the crews, their sleeping quarters, their 'food and ammunition; to construct. Indeed, a whole train for each separate gun. The equip ment must be built In the Raited States, shipped over 3000 ralles of ocean, landed at a French port, as sembled there and started on French railroads to the several destinations at the front. IM Baldwin Locomo tive Works accepted the contract for constructing these mountings and at tendant cars; it began work February 13, 1918; two months afterward the first mount had been finished and the gun was being proved at Sandy Hook, N. J.; and by July all five guns had arrived at St. Kazaire and were being prepared to be sent forward to the scene of hostilities. The rapidity furnishes an illustration of American with which this work was completed navy that, when news of this great operation was first noised about more than 30.000 officers and men volun teered for the service. , At first the French, great as wa their admiration for these guns and the astonishingly accurate marks manship which they displayed, be- I lieved that their railroad beds and their bridges could not sustain such a weight; the .trench engineers, in deed, declined at the beginning to approve our request for the use of their rails. The constant rain of German shells on Paris. . however, modified this attitude: the situation was so urgent that such assistance as the American guns promised was welcome. One August morning, therefore-, the first train started for Helles Mouchy, the point from which it was expected to silence the "Big Bertha." - The progress of this "train through France was a triumphant march. Our own confidence in the French roadbed and bridges was not much greater than that of the French themselves; the train therefore went along slowly, climbed the hills at a snail's pae. and took the curvs with the utmost caution. As they crossed certain of the bridges, the crews held their breath and sat tight, expecting almost every moment to crash tlyough. All along the route the French populace greet ed the great battery train with one long cheer, and at the towns and vil lages the girls decorated the long muzzle of the -guns with f lowers. But there were other spectators than the French. Expertly as this unusual train had been camouflaged, the Ger man airplane observers bad detected its approach. As it neared the ob jective the shells that had been falling on Paris ceased before the manufacturing genius at Its best. I lected and trained his crews; it Meanwhile Admiral Plunkett had col-1 speaks well for the morale of the COLUMBIA RIVER IS BEING BRIDLED BY SET OF DIKES AROUND DELTA DISTRICT Slough and Overflow Lands Will Be Drained and Turned Over to Farmers for Cultivation Next Spring, Add ing to State's Agricultural Assets. ' (Continued From First Page. much of it adverse, and even in the face of the last named had the con fidence to go ahead with his -ork and focv the measure to a final con summation. In the summer of 1921 be will be able to point to the drained land and show that his work was suc cessful, or, even yet have to take a. lot of abuse for its failure. Strange ly Elrod does not seem to be worry ing. Just as an illustration of wbat pro duction feats the land is capable of, Elrod cites instances of potato rais ing this year when rand that in the past has produced nothing but lux uriant crops of weeds, this season is yielding 100 sacks of spuds to the acre, enabling the growers to net some $900 for each acre at present market prices, and they are taking their crops from the land before It has a chance to mature in order to help the shortage. Yields of 300 and 400 bushels per acre have been taken from this land and these are what is confidently expected in the future. Diversification of crops Is the main feature that will appeal to the man who Is not familiar with what simUar lands have done in other sections of the country. The diked-in delta lands at the head of San Francisco bay and in the low-lying valleys of Its trib utary rivers give forth yields each year that stagger the imaginat'on Closely cultivated, as each inch is valuable, they return big interest on a valuation that would be considered enormous in the estimation of the owner of ordinary farm property. Agronomist's who have made exhaust ing studies of the land and analyzed nomah district is of close alluvial silt dropped in extra still waters and is not sand. But a few hundred acres s sharp material and even this Is considered well above the average In productive content. Nutriment con tent exceedingly rich in the drift of the Columbia has been added to con siderably by the action of the low lands during their long stay at the present location by the yearly growth of enormous quantities of vegetable matter which has been allowed to dropi and decay where it was raised. This has even given the normally rich silt an added value and richness in the nature of a semi-peat deposit in many locations. One of the astonishing features of the land is the fact of its closeness to the city. A seven-mile circle drawn from the courthouse will touch the property in many places and It Is freely predicted that in a very few years the entire district will be one of hard-suTfaced j-oads traversing tiny farms for suburban city dwellers and all served by a good street-car system. In the development the promoters have not been hampered by having to rush things, so they have had ample time to investigate other loca tions and profit by their mistakes. As an illustration of bow this has worked out in the formation of the district the 'men in charge state that they have been able to obtain crest market prices for their bond issues, this, if nothing else, proving that investing interests, after thorough investigation, have confidence in the future of the districts and the ability of the dikes to restrain the waters. Most of the 8000 acres in the Mult- 1 stamp collecting and he spent un limited time in study before he got his district together. Pnn Unit New Perfection, For instance the pump house, from the outside seemingly a small plant to care for such, a large undertaking. s a marvel of installing genius, judging from the engineering plan and explanations. No force is wasted there in hoisting water to dike heights, as has been the fault in so many other similar undertakings, provision having been made under the plans for the water taking care of itself In many cases, and the pumps only being used when the floods reach a fairly high stage. The Wood pump, a bit of machinery little understood out of highly techn'cal discussions, was designed solely for the handling of large quantities of water at a low head. It is an enor mous unit, the intake and exhaust pipes being some seven feet in cir cumference and easy for a man to stand upright in. This pump works at maximum efficiency when the lift is about six feet. In case (he outside water gets higher than this the sta tion is fitted with a centrifugal unit 36 inches in sise, that will back up the larger machine. Bases have been set for a further centrifugal unit in case it becomes necessary, to place it later. - In the campaign of education that resulted in the formation of the dis trict and the starting of the work there were many forces to be met and this resulted in much mud-throwing. Over three years were spent in this preliminary lesson and numerous skirmishes were had with assorted interests from the federal rorara It uniformly agree that its productive I It was a hobby that Elrod rode as yoaslbUitiea are bat faintly realized. J hard as many dilettante do Jaxs or ment down to me smallest land owner In the district. Now most of these fights seem to be settled satis factorily and with the completion of the city end of the work, now being rushed, the walls will be set and the waters under control. No matter how much may be said of certain interests profiting more than others in the con struction of the dikes and the com pletion of the project, there crops up the all-sufficient side that the work is of incalculable benefit to the city. county and state. The addition of this huge slice of rich agricultural land to productivity should result in an Increase in the prosperity of Portland, Multnomah county and Ore gon. Protection Dp to 30 Feet. It must occur to all when discussing flood control what would result should the waters reach their peak state of 1894. In this case the drain age districts will be flooded. Study of river level tables since their start shows that the 34-foot stage of 1894 has never been reached at any other time in the Columbia or Willamette's history. Since 1894, the river has seven times been to a 24-foot mark and the dike protects to 30 feet. Never in the known history of the floods in this district has it reached the protective peak of the dikings projects with the exception of '1894 when it went four feet higher. There is little likelihood that this extreme stage will ever occur again. What the effect will be on this city In the veritable creation of some 11.000 acres of tillable land right at its doors remains to be seen, but it would hardly seem to be other than beneficial. The addition of some 36,600,000 to the agricultural wealth of Multnomah county is more than likely to give a far-reaching boost to the created wealth right at the city's door. Starting with next spring this will all be demonstrated. gaged in a wriggling and twisting series of maneuvers to get his arms through the sleeve of an undershirt and then get it over his head. After a number of vain attempts he called upon his mother, for assistance, re marking: "Mother, when I get to be an angel and have wings how in the world am I ever to get my shirt on?" Efforts to Save Titles Are Declared Illegal. Austrian Evade Liw by ITstnar Cards Witk "Von" Lightly Lined I'hrouah With Pen or Pencil. TT1ENNA, July 31. former bearers V of Austrian titles, now prohibit ed, are trying to perpetuate them legally by changing their names so that the title, hyphenated to the fam ily name, becomes a legal name. Fo instance, the Count von Grabensteln would become Graf-Grabensteln. But the government has ruled in princjpl that this cannot be done. Some of the old aristocracy still evade the law by using visiting cards, obviously newly printed, with the title and von lightly lined through with pen or pencil. One young Vienn noble, with a sense of humor, has a card-about like this: MR. SMITH. Created Count of the Empire by Hie Imperial Hlighness. the Emperor, ia 171T, Made plain Mr. by Dr. Benner in 1918. Americans could go to work, the Ger mans had removed their mighty weapon, leaving nothing but an em placement as a target for our shells. Though our men were therefore de prived of the privilege of destroying this famous long-range rifle, it is ap parent that their arrival caved Paris from further bombardment, for noth ing was heard of the gun for the rest of the war. The guns proved exceedingly ef fective In attacking German railroad centers, bridges and other essential positions, and if the war had con tinued they would soon have been thundering all along the western front. From the time the naval guns were mounted until the armistice, Admiral Plunkett's men were busy on several points of the allied lines. In this time the five naval funs fired 7S3 shells at distances ranging from 18 to 23 miles. They raised great havoc in the railroad yards at Laon, de stroying large stretches of track that were indispensable to the Germans, and in general making the place practically useless as a railroad cen ter. Probably the greatest service which th'ey rendered the cause of the allies was In the region north of Ver dun. In late October three naval bat teries were brought up to Charny and Thierville and began bombarding the railroad which ran through Mont medy, Longuyon and Conflans. This was the most Important line of com munication on the western front; it was the road over which the German army in the east was supplied and there was practically no oher line by which the great German armies en gaging: the Americans could escape. From October 23d to the hour when the armistice was signed our14-inch guns were raining shells upon this road. So successful was this bom bardment that the German traffic was stopped, not only while the firing was taking place, but for several hours each day after it had ceased. What this meant to the success of the allied armies the world now knows. The result is perfectly summed up in General Pershing's report: "Our large caliber guns," he cays, "had advanced and were skilfully brought Into position to fire upon the important lines at Montmedy, Longuyon and Conflans; the strategi cal goal which was our highest hope was gained. We had cut the enemy's main line of communications and nothing but surrender or an armistice could save his army from complete disaster." These guns were, of course, only one of many contributing factors, but that the navy had its part in this great achievement is but another ex ample of the success with which our two services co-operated with each other throughout the war a co operation which for efficient and har monious devotion to a common cause has seldom. If ever, been equalled. THE ENTX Copyrisht. 1320, by the World's Work. The copyright of those articles In Great Britain Is strictly reserved by Pearson's Magazine. London; without their permis sion no quotation may be made. Pu liFhd by. special arranrement wltto the Slchirft Newspaper Syndicate. WOMEN ARE FINANCIERS OF ALMOST FORGOTTEN KINGDOM Men Never Seen in Market Tlace of Loo Choo, Land Full of the Indescribable Charm and Mystery of the Orient. A Problem to Come, Little Harry, the pride of a Brook Ira household, wu on morning b- Olive Growers Organize. LINDSAY, Cal. The associated olive growers of California, a non-stock co operative organization has now been launched in Tulare county as the suc cessor of the California Associated uiive Growers. The new association has made an agreement with the Ca'ifov:iia Packing corporation where by the latter is to operate the asso ciation' plant and market th prod JWt, - - ASHDJGTON, July 31. Along busy highways of ocean travel, land links between Ja pan and Formosa, not iar irora China's coast-wise routes, yet visited by only two or three white persons a year such are the Loo Choo (Lu chu or Ryukyu) islands. Loo Choo Is a land full or tne in describable charm and mystery of the orient, but replete with tne pa thos of a vanishing race," writes Roy Chapman Andrews to the National Geographic society. "But, although it has Deen u r. wb sounded the death knell of this little hidden kingdom. Loo Choo is not yet Japan. The traveler realizes this even before he lands. The pine-clothed, tomb-dotted hills which form the background of the strange little cities of Naha and Shuri haVe an unfamiliar look ana the pretty tiled roofs of the diminu tive houses, just visible over the sur rounding gray stone walls, give fas cinating hints of what may be found beyond their lacquered gateways. On their entire 900 square miles of land only one white man, an American missionary, is resident. Ko Barsmlnins; In Loo Choo. "With our money changed we be gan to look about to spend it. for Loo Choo is the homo of the red lacquer ware, famous throughout the world. Much of it is exported, and the finest of the boxes, bowls, trays, tables, etc., which are in daily us In Japan and China and sold to tourists through out the orient, come from the little city of Naha. or Shuri, its neighbor across the hills. The lacquer-ware, when first made, is a dull brown, but really first-lass pieces improve with age and soon change to a beautiful vt-mUlion. becoming brighter and clearer the longer they are used. "When we came to buy lacquer we were greatly surprised to find tha,t bargaining had no place In Loo t.noo Without exception, the first price asked for an article was the one for which It was sold. Never In the ori ent had we met with a similar condi tlon. "It was interesting to find, also, that the women of Loo Choo conduct .'i bnainesa and have chars of everything pertaining to money with the single slight exception of spending it. The market, where In the morning trading for vegetables and fruit Is carried on, resemble a suf frage meeting place, for among the crowded mass of humanity not a man is to be seen.' Women Are Level-Headed. "The straight backs and erect car riage of the Loo Choo women are due to the custom of carrying every thing upon their heads. No matter what the object, be It large or "small. It is perched upon their thick, black hair, and off they walk in the most nonchalant manner, apparently pay ing not the slightest attention to keeping the object in place. "The most striking thing about Naha and Shuri are the high stone walls which surround the houses. These walls are generally covered by a small banyan tree, called the goja maru, growing like a great vino and sending out numberless roots which sometimes reach a hundred feet from the original stem. "These also serve as a hidlnsT-plac for a snake, a kind of adder, six feet long, which is the curse of the islands. Their bite is generally fatal in a few hours, and many people ar killed by them each year." A ritallenne. A Boston mother was much exer cised when she discovered that her carefully-reared Reginald had struck up an acquaintance with some Italian laborers and had actually lunched with them. This fearful news was communi cated to her by a friend witnessing the awful sight, and when Reginald arrived home mother was waiting for him. He indignantly denied th allega tions brought against him. "I didn't eat any luncheon with any strange men," he said. "Those men are all my friends. And I didn't eat any meat cooked on a shovel." "What did you eat, then?" "Only some gravy cooked In a shovel by on of the men. But it was clean, all right, mother, for I saw th man wipe off the shovel with hi hat belora he poured ia th grav-
