A WEEK WITH THE MINE= SWEEPERS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 211, 22 September 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

A WEEK WITH THE MINE= SWEEPERS.

EXCITING EXPERIENCES IN THE NORTH SEA.

By GORDON BRUCE

(Special Correspondent .of the New York " Tribune 1 ')

Duty, courage and efficiency—the:* three'words are the summary of mv week's trip in the North Seaaboard a British muie-swwper. It is hazardous work, th : s sweeping the seas for enemy mines laid under cover of darkness b> the small boats of the Germans. Oa my arrival at the naval stati.n I was received cordially by the commodore in command. At mess that night there wore a number of wsrtmg officers from various branches of the sevuee, and during the .evening I got some ftw ideas of what the Britishl Navystand* for These men told of the most Aniline experiences in the most casual runner And each one seemed to corner the other fellow's job most dangerous. They told me much about uiinpsweeping. They expired the me M bv which the seas are kept clear. Ifcij drew diagrams to illustrate the mechanism of the mines, paying due tribute to the ingenuity of the enemy. 1 vyas amazed at the detailed knovte-Jge which they had of German activitiesThev told me when and where the dead. lv explosives would be placed, and certain propheo/es made it that tawe turned out later to be correct IH.t what impressed me was the Brr.c!> and optimism of the. men Fear is »*t in their vocabulary; yet there were present four officers wh-.se rii'|* bad been sunk under them. It was all m the day's work. It was somewhat starting to earn how many hundreds of boats and tl<lisands of men are engaged continuously in harvesting" those murderous tea bombs. "Fishing," they call it So next morning I went " fishing." It was a hopeful start, because as we put out from the quay in the dim light of early morn'ng the captain of the sweeper promised me faithfully to take me where the "fishing" was good—where he was certain the Germans had laid mines. , f . Another boat, a sister to ours, left harbour at the same time. She was our other half-for British mine-sweep-ing operations require two boats, while the Germans employ but one. lhe boats travelled along for many hours side by side. 1 stood on the bridge with the captain, who seemed odways there Presently a deck hand came up the ladder and handed up two pneujnatic lifebelts. The captato silently pased one to me. Then he gave a command, and a signal was flashed to the other boat. The other boat nosed easily alongside There was a clanking of machinery and she made off again, carryin'' one end of a heavy steel cable Several hundred yards away she resumed her course, while the cable sagged far down beneath the surface of the water. That was all—we were" sweeping.

A CATCH. "Now then," said the skipper, "we are on the job. The Germans sneak out every night and spr.nkle mines here, here, and here," indicating the locations on the chart. "They adjust the mooring cables so that the mines w : U be just under the water at low tidd, and a slr'p cannot possibly have anv warning. Devilish thing, isn't it r" So wo ploughed along very slowly, keeping abreast of the other vessel. and with uoth/ng to show that we wero connected cxwpt a few feet of cable where it ran down the side into th-» apparatus which keeps it below the surface. It was late in the afternoon that we nub our first catch. A sudden tighten:ng of the cable made it clear thi.t wo had hit an obstruction. The-e was just a slight tremor all through the boat. Everybody stepped to Wie r.ul and gazed intently into the w;iter. '•'That'll Ik- one," said the comacw-der, as the cable relaxed. Sure it was " one." The Boche mine br ><? the surface of the water, float : ng free, its mooring of one-inch steel cut off as cleanly as if with a mighty jnir >-f shears. As it rolled lazily in the sw»H it reminded mo of a great black tu'tle with spikes on its back. "Now,"' said tho captain, "is whole our fun comes in." Tho bo it manoeuvred unt.l the mine lay aVut eighty yards to starboard. J'ot oi tho men lined up at the rail. As man) Winchester rifles spoke. Then '.he ir.cn bent eagerly forward to see what would bo the'affect of the volley. Lik* w:.s tho'rs that time. The steel ballets had punctured the air chamber of the inne, and slowly, almost reluctantly it seemed, tha ugly tlung sail* from sight. The young commander sinned as"he directed tho renewal of orations. "There goes two b.un-I'.vl pounds of good German T.N.r.,' he chuckled.

GERMAN INFAMY. Then ho told mo an astounding farr. Under The Hague regulations, tv which Germany was a subscriber, a! mine* art fitted with a device whwi renders them harmless when they have broken from their mooring cables. Hut, he sa : d, while the safety attacliinsns may bo found on the German rrncs right enough, somehow it fails to work. Springs and valves may Iv so tampered with that the mine Is quite as deadly when floating free as when properly moored. Xext. morning we caught another one. As tlw shout from the look-out nnounced that the mino had come to the surface, tho commander sent below for two rifles, When they bad been brought lv produced several boxes of cartridges containing leaden bullets "It may take »mo t'nv." lie si'rf. " But we w II try to explode this one. The lead will not penetrate the steel will's of the air chamber, and after a bit '.'.(• may hit one of the horns." It eld take some time—thirty minutes, to be exact. Ar .eighty yards those five tiny horn-, plungers or triggers, :-iS they are < illed, do not present much '',| a target. Hut at last n chance shot from one of our rifles found one ot them. Thee was an explosion that marie our teeth rattle, while a huge volume of black smoi-e belched upward into' *-no still nr. md a -li'nin ■'. ■o'limTi o r wat'T «hot «tr.v<'ht un through :he Mack fK-.J to n l»ei'ohl of fiftr or sixty L o ! ! It was a remark*!)':' msjlil Above tK' ominote- «noko cl .ud the column i*

water glistened in the mornir.j; runbelow .it was dull and grey, an I t,0.,h parts of this perpendicular jet wete visible at one time—just for a fleeting second. Then the water poured back through the smok'-, and the grim cloud drifted over the waste of the North Sea. And wo went on swooping. I looked at those men who g) out day after day; who wear their lifebelts continuously: who take their lea on the decks while they e.vor the rims of their cups for the death that lurks in those sombre waters. I thought how fins was their devotion to their duty; how great a part they are playing iiu the war —out theiv alone, where their deeds are attended with no sounding trumpets, where they give to their work the same quality of bravery as is required by the man in the trenches. And as I glanced at the inscription over the cabin, which read. "England expects every man to do his duty," I knew that England would not be d : sappointed.