Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 228, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 October 1917 — ALLIES PATROL SEAS OF WORLD [ARTICLE]

ALLIES PATROL SEAS OF WORLD

Mightiest of Fighting Vessels Maintain Closest Blockade in History. SCOUT SHIPS EVER ON MOVE Submarines of Central Powers Find Their Most Profitable Hunting Ground in the Mediterranean — —ltaly Hit Heavily.

New York. —On the seas of the world the fighting vessels of the allied nations maintain the most gigantic and effective blockade ever enforced since the triremes of Caesar overran the Mediterranean in the campaign that preceded Pompey’s annihilation. In this sea that Jias swallowed'the hulks of the navies of Carthage, Greece and Rome the “camouflaged” units of the mightiest engines ever set afloat by man meet in a constant test of skill and daring. The Anglo-French-Greek-Italiart fleet maintain a stringent blockade of every mile of Mediterranean coastline. Despite the alertness of the allies in this sea the submarines of the central empires find' here their most profitable hunting ground. The kingdom of Italy is suffering the throes of a serious coal shortage due to the severe losses of Italian shipping, supplemented by neutral and British shipping, in these waters. Indeed, the sinkings are so numerous and vital that a serious Italian offensive may be always forestalled by the undersea power of the German empire. Out of one fleet of coal ships safflng from Genoa to Liverpool and numbering twelve units, on I y fl ve~refuf hedTb~tfieiF’hoffiexport. '

In the eastern Atlantic and the English channel there is in effect the most extensive- and impenetrable blockade of any. During the day, British and -French scout ships nose their precarious ways among the shallows in close proximity to the German coastal waters watching for a sign of enemy forces. These waters are thickly strewn with mines, both nations mining extensively to suit their programs of attack "or TTcTense. Sporadic raids by German light units are occasionally successful hut these are becoming rarer and rarer; Steel nets are also being used by the British navy to combat the submersibles. These, in spite of all reports to the contrary, are still in an experimental stage and are of doubtful effectiveness, especially since a submarine has been evolved with machinery for the destroying of the most powerful nets now in use by the admiralty. ' Altered at Nlqht. With the coming of night and darkness, the schedule is altered somewhat, and merchant fleets which have been forming in sheltered ports during the day are convoyed across the channel in well-defended routes. The convoy consists of no capital ships, but of destroyers and scout boats, which rush along in devious courses and at terrific speeds. With protecting units in front, behind and surrounding them, the fleet usually gains the borders of Dutch territorial waters in safety. Here the naval squadron stops short and the merchants go safely on into their ports of destination. Shortly aft-

erward a returning convoy which has been formed emerges, and, under the protection furnished to it. takes its way westward. Occasionally a straggler is torpedoed, and mine victims are at intervals found. Holland, though a neutfal, has her place in the blockade of the world’s waters. Eliminating Dutch waters of floating mines and anchored mines which have lost their anchorage forces, the Netherlands to maintain an extensive force of trawlers. Her neutrality wopld be frequently violated by either side of the warring nations should she enforce in any lax manner the marine law of the three-mile limit. In the western Atlantic the republics of the United States and Brazil patrol with light vessels practically the entire American continent. Canadian cruisers have their part in this work. Due to the naval policy of the United States every merchant vessel in United States registry forms a portion of the naval forces in so far as blockade antt xlefense against the undersea boats are concerned. These vessels are armed by the United States navy and navflf! gunners sail on every ship.

The principal forces in the Pacific are Japanese cruisers and destroyers. They have taken over the former German Islands of the Marshall and Marianne groups and the east and west Caroline archipelagoes. The capture of Tsingtau was assured through the Japanese naval strategy. They lost by a mine the cruiser Takachido before this fortress. Valuable service was rendered to the British and Australian cruisers operating in this part of the world in the shape of coal and munitions. It is a signal fact that of Japan’s 6,039 miles of coast no foreign enemy has succeeded in forcing an entry since the Peary incident Ln 1853 and before that since the attempted Mongol invasion in 1281 under Kublai Khan. The most recent entrant in this struggle is the kingdom of Siam. The king’s yacht and several antiquated motorhoats form their "navy,” which blockades in its»small way a portion of coast where no danger is ever likely to come, typhoons excepted. British and Portuguese gunboats have the duty of policing the coasts of German East and Southwest Africa. From Port Said to Aden the Red sea is quiet under the control of British gunboats. In the Black sea the upper hand is still a matter of contest. Both contenders seem to be intent on preserving their “fleets in being,” to quote a pet phrase of naval strategists. Only unimportant brushes have occurred, but the addition of the fugitive German units, the Breslau and the Goeben, have undoubtedly materially strengthened the Turkish forces. The Germans seem to be more than able to defend their ports recently captured from the Roumanians, and the Russians exhibit a distasteful temerity about attaeking In fprce. Mines in great quantities have been strewn Tn- these waters. -•» _ In the Baltic the Russian fleet has thus far pursued a policy of shunning any action whatever. At least all attempts of German strategists to lure the Russians from their blanket of mine fields have failed. True, they lost earlier in the war a number of small units and at least one capital ship through ill-considered actions, but since the first few months of the war they seem to have withdrawn and conceded the Germans tacit control of the Baltic, Some small raids are reported, but the German admiralty has failed to comment on them. They do not neglect, however, to plant great numbers of floa ting mines and thus make the Baltic a dangerous sea to navigate. Observers have reported sighting large German fleets protected by innumerable trawlers as mine sweepers steaming through The Russian evacuation of RigA> merely emphasizes the German control of this sea. A sea attack on Petrograd is a possibility of the near future.

A French invention to warn an aviator when he is deviating from his Intended course consists of a form of camera obscura.