THE FOOD SHIPS OF ENGLAND

Taranaki Daily News, 4 January 1918, Page 6

THE FOOD SHIPS OF ENGLAND

, ..DEFYING THE U-BOATS. HOW Till; MERCHANT .SEKVJCE ! WORKS. \\ lion the full and unconsoml history of tin; great, war coines to be chronicled, then only will the people of the Empire realise at its true value the work that lias been carried out silently, effieiently, ami uncomplainingly by the men of the British Merchant Service. Ever s ''! o<i ''l 1 -' August in 1914, the food ships of England have "carried on" (says <1- »*liter in the Post). Their comings and goings remain unchronicled. "Sealed orders" is their destination, but what a multitude of meaning is covered by those simple words? There is ati air of romance over the whole business, Kven the squat, plain grey cargo steamers, lying along-side the lo'ading berths at Wellington, silent and grim, as if brooding over the thoughts of adventures that even the imaginative mind of the landsman cannot conjure up, have an interesting ajr of romance hovering over them. ' And yet it i£ indeed 'problematical if 1 there is any great deal of romance connected with the hourly anticipation of .licing blown sky-high without a second's warning, of being scalded to death when an inrush of sea water strikes the main steam pipe and boiler, or of drowning like rats while the erew of the U-boat en. 1 inly look on from the turtle-back of their vessel. Tli£ ordinary perils of life afloat are very Wa|, but add to this the danger of mine, torpe3o, and internal explosion, and it will readily be seen that the men of the Merchant -Service have to face perils that differ in no very great degree from those of the soldier on shore. Much has been written of the unceasing vigil of the trenches, of men haggard-faced and red-eyed, keeping a constant "look-out" over Xo Mali's Land, but nothing is said of t.he anxious-eved officers of the Mercantile Marine, high' on the bridge of the Homeward-bound ship, passing through the danger zone, their faces smarting from the keen whip of ehc night air, over on the qui vivc for mine or torpedo, with the responsibility of safely landing in London Docks the badly-needed meat, butter and cheese that lie snugly stowed in the throbbin™ steel hull beneath them 3 I BELOW WATER LINE. And what of the men below waterline—the engineers, firemen, trimmers, and greasers who propel the hull through the mine-infested areas? Surely they are none the less heroic, if less spectacular, than tliose on deck. Many and many a merchantman lias been saved from submarine attack in the premt war by the gallantry of the engine-room and stoke-hold crew, who have worked till they were exhausted to add another knot or two to the speed. Almost invariably a German submarine aims its torpedo at the engine® and boilers of the vessel attacked. What chance of escape has an engineer or fireman on duty deep in the bowels of a stricken liner? Most people have glanced at some time or other into the depths of an ocean-going liner's engine-room and stokehold, and will have a good idea of the chances the engine-room staff has if the vessel is torpedoed. A recent letter received in Wellington told of an Alfred Holt liner of which there was absolutely no trace ten seconds after she was torpedoed! In a case of this kind the engine-room becoTnos a mere loath trap. Yet, despite all this, there is not an instance during the present war of the engineers of the British Merchant Service deserting their posts until everything that could be done had been done. Surely a proud record fof any body of men to, bear I "SPARKS." In an article of this kind the work of the little "cherub who sits up aloft"—the radio operator—must come in for his share of well-deserved enconium. .A German submarine on the surface; seeking round for targets for its deck gun, usually picks on the wireless house as a good mark to get the range with. No matter how well concealed it is, the wireless house is always betrayed by the aerial lead-in, an#; if the Hun can blow the whole outfit (and its occupants) out of existence so much the better for his purpose. British destroyers have an annoying habit of turning up on the scene just as the submarine erew is revelling in the sight of a fine, ship being engulfed. If the wireless can be put hofs de combat in the first place the chances of the destroyer coming to the rescue are greatly minimised, and the Hun, with typical Teutonic thoroughness, always believes in turning his early (q.nd unwelcome) attentions to "Sparks." The wireless man in war time must be keen, alert, and courageous, for he carries a big responsibility on his shoulders; but none has failed in his trust. Deeds which made the names of Jack Binns (of the Republic) anjd Jack Phillips (of the Titanic) ring throughout he world, are teing enacted practically every day, but the world never hears of them, and probably never will. I THE MERCHANT SERVICE. Sir Richard Grenville in the gallant little Revenge did not put up a more heroic and hopeless fight against overwhelming odds than did the Otaki and Clan MacTavish, homeward-bound from New Zealand with their solitary 4.7's against the heavily armed and speedy German raiders. Pages might be written of how the Anglo-Californian, her funnel and deck fittings riddled with shellholes, the mangled body of her skipper lying across the wheel, was steered to safety hy the dead man's son. Not only have millions of pounds worth of food been carried to the Old Country from tlit four corners of the globe, but most valuable of all—men. Literally, million? of soldiers—white, brown, black and yellow—have been transported safely and practically without the loss of more than a lmndful of men, from one corner of the earth to another since the war broke out. This marvellous achievement is alone worth a special article to itself, but for the present, all that it is intended to do is to impress upon the people of New Zealand what has been and still is being carried out by the British Merchant Service