Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 129, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1918 — Page 2

British Royal engineers are shown laying a cable along a trench and testing it; the photograph was taken on the French front.

SUBMARINE MENACE IS DWINDLING FAST

Listening Devices, Depth Bombs and Destroyer Fleet Beating Submarines. CONVOY SYSTEM EFFICIENT Wreck* of Tlrpitz’ Terrors Strew Bottom of English Channel and North Sea Mine Sweepers do Good Work. London. —The menace of the Geriinan submarines and mines to the maritime commerce of the allies Is becoming less week by week. The improvement is due chiefly to the development of the listening devices and the depth bombs carried on the swift-mov-ing destroyers. The hydrophone Is the most useful Invention that has been ■discovered by the navy In Its antisubmarine crusade, and it is being Improved upon all the time. When a U-boat is spotted from aloft 'by one of the alert observers In the seaplanes which wing their flight over the North sea and the waters around the British Isles, he signals the position to the nearest destroyer. Dlrectjly he gets this information her commander steams at full speed in the diirection indicated until he can hear the submarine plugging along under water. The destroyer follows .the U-boat for hours, if necessary, until the commander thinks he has got the enemy in ‘the right position for a hit, and then Hets go the bomb/-,- - ,v«* [ While the ntffnber of enemy undersea craft that are sunk or captured each month Is not given out for publication it is known that it equals the construction of submarines in Germany. The greatest blow to German hopes of destroying the commerce of the allies on the ocean lies in the *envoy system, which is rapidly approaching perfection. When the plan of escorting transports and supply ships right across the Atlantic in large fleets was first tried out there was considerable delay on account of difference in speed of the various ships of which it was composed. At the present time convoys are all classified according to speed, and a fast transport can make a round trip in 30 days, while the slower class of supply ships drift across the ocean at a steady six or seven-knot gait. The number of British and American destroyers has increased rapidly and is still growing so that there are plenty of these essential watchdogs of the sea

DIGGING A SAP

Canadian engineers digging a sap while one of their number keeps watch for enemy airplanes.

LAYING AND TESTING A TRENCH CABLE

to make the passage of convoys across the Atlantic and North sea secure. The greatest percentage of losses by submarines since January 1 has been in the Mediterranean, and this is now being reduced by Increasing the number of destroyers in those waters. No submarine commander will risk attack on a convoy which is protected on all four sides by destroyers and frequently accompanied by seaplanes. Naval experts are confident that when there are sufficient destroyers to escort all convoys required to transport troops and munitions from America to England and France the submarine peril will be practically at an end.. This stage should be reached by August. At the present time the U-boats watch and wait for vessels which are alone. * The sinking of vessels in the Irish sea has been due to the fact that the water there is muddy and not too deep, and a submarine can lie on the bottom and come up at night. Quite recently, In two instances, when steamships were torpedoed in the Irish sea, destroyers blew one U-boat to pieces with a depth charge and damaged the other one so seriously before she could submerge that the commander surrendered with his crew. Pilots of seaplane and airplanes who fly over the waters around the British Isles have reported numbers of submarines which were sunk months ago and are lying on the bottom of the channel and North sea. In addition to destroyers and patrol boats which scour the surface in every direction, there are all kinds of traps and obstacles placed under water which make the passage of Dover

Millions entered by that Hospitable Gate which America left open to the strangers from all lands. Millions of the poor, the friendless, the warweary, to whom America offered prosperity. friendship and peace. They came from the ends of the earth. Serbians, Greeks. French. Russians, Italians. Armenians. Poles —a hundred races and more jostled over the threshold. We welcomed them all — too readily stome thought, fearing for our “unguarded gates,” as one poet called them. Many had not, as another poet accused, sufficient faith in the miscalled “scum of the earth.” Many of these became citizens, and ta turn helped to order the affairs of the great government / which had opened its to them. Some remained alien.-*. But all profited by our Cawe and opportunities. There came war! The worst war whsch the world has ever known. A <vf tight against wrong; and presenswjr America was in it. But first fey limn* our friends went back tSwnwigS the Hospitable Gate. Serbians, fcassians, French, Italians—fcovr more? —returned to the they had never renounced, no ftgfet for the freedom of small nationrt against a tyrant foe who threatened the very existence of liberty. Out of mr Hospitable Gate they went, back to the end* of the earth; carrying to the desperately fighting lands the news of what American democracy means. They bore living witness of the American idea to the struggling small nations. In the martyred small nations they are spreading the gospel of American brotherhood, and hope. In the trenches of Belgium 1 , in the hideous German prisons where Russian, Polish, French, Italian, English prisoners are huddled, there is secret talk of what America does for her friends; of her strength, power and generosity. It will not be forgotten. Echoes,will be whispered when their poor lips are dumb. Serbian exiles talk It Over in

The Hospitable Gate

By ABBIE FARWELL BROWN

of The Vigilantes.

THE EVENTNCr REPUBLICAN. RENSHEL A ER. TNT).

straits and exit from Heligoland .bight 5 very complicated profelem for a U-boat commander to solve. Hundreds of mine sweepers, manned by fishermen and sailors from the merchant service, are at work day and night making the ocean lanes safe for steamships belonging to the allies and neutral natlops. Their crews have become adepts in' the art of finding and exploding German mines hidden below the surface. During the year ending in April more than 1,000 mines, which cost SI,OOO each to construct, were exploded or captured by the British mine sweepers. The loss of mine sweepers tfas very small in comparison. In one instance a mine sweeper found a German mine drifting in the North sea, and towed it over well In toward the mouth of Elbe under cover of fog. After pumping it up the crew set the mine 20 feet below the surface, and 12 hours later it was struck by a German steamship bound for Gothenberg from Bremen, and the vessel and her cargo of iron ore went to the bottom. The increasing hazard against submarines ever returning to port is making it difficult for the German admiralty to get crews to man them.

CRAZY BOAR TREES OWNER

Oregon Man Saves His Life by Climbing Up Out of Reach of Enraged Animal. Cottage Grove, Ore.—Jasper Patten had a narrow escape from death when attacked by a boar pig, which had gone amuck. Only by climbing into a tree and calling his dogs to his assistance was he able to escape. One of the dogs was torn to pieces before the hog was run into an inclosure. A horse had been attacked by the pig and Mr. Patten was going to the assistance of the horse when he was attacked. .*

their flight. Armenian refugees live upon the hope of it. The man who once blacked boots in New York gossips secretly about it in the mountains of Greece. The Chicago ex-waiter whispers it in dissatisfied Hungary. The former Philadelphia fruit merchant tells of It in the streets of Rome. The one-time rag-picker of Boston sighs for it in the disorderly streets of Moscow. They have known. They can tell I Everywhere the news is spreading; even in muzzled Austria. In Germany itself, sealed to the truth from outside, there are scared, ■whispered rumors. For Germans and Austrians went home too, to fight against their late neighbors. To fight at last against America, the hostess who had welcomed them kindly. That was tragic; but it was not dishonest. (The dishonesty is in that “Invisible army” of sneaks and spies who remained in our midst, undeclared, to stab their adopted country in the intimacy of a Judas friendship!) Yes, even through Germany seeps the news of democracy, that went back through the Gate, once so hospitable to all! - Those devoted, misguided soldiers, sacrificed by the hundred thousand to' Prussian ambition echo it In their broken-hearted diaries. Those quieted revolutionists, watching the starved children and desperate women in the empty Austrian market places, will remember It. The wounded Hungarians will whisper it in the Red Cross hospitals. Nay, the haughty Prussian officers will meet it at last in the steely eyes of our young American heroes. They will recognize it in their defeat. For out of the Hospitable Gate has gone another vast horde; a dedicated army, a consecrated navy. They are steaming to the very frontiers of autocracy, tyranny and greed. With the invincible sword of liberty they will enforce the principles which that Hospitable Gate has always symbolized, as the entrance to a safe haven of democracy. So this is what our Hospitable Gate has meant, both ways. It is an avenue for the distribution of the American idea. We did not realize that in the old days, did we? We need not have feared! Our free hospitality was part of th* heaven* ordered plan.

OUTFIELDERS BACK IN ’80s WERE STARS

Record Number of Assists Were Made in the Early Days. Statistic* Show That Old Time Fly Chaser* Had a Shade on Present Day Fielder* In Throwing Out ■ Base Runners. During the season of 1898 George Van Haltren of the New York Giants in a game against the Washington club was playing center field. Cy Swain, who was pitching for the Senators, while at bat happened to make what looked like a safe drive to center. Nine times out of ten it would have gone safe, but Van made a mad dash and gathered it in on the second bound and without stopping threw to first, the ball beating the slow-footed Swain by a good six feet, and Cy was sprinting his best all the time. Of course Van didn’t perform this stunt right along. / Statistics show that the outfielders back in the ’Bos and ’9os had a shade on the present day outfielders in making assists. The best record in number of assists made in one season in the majors in recent years, or since 1900, was stacked up by Harry Niles when with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1906. Harry nailed 39 men from the outfield, getting them at different bases. • • Mike Mitchell, while playing with the Cincinnati team, equaled the mark set by Niles, heading off 39 men by his power to shoot a ball from the furthest corner of the outfield with sufficient accuracy and speed to get his man. Ty Cobb, Joe Birmingham, Tris Speaker, Joe Jackson and Milan of Washington all have made especially good records in this direction and lead their respective teams in throwing out base-runners from the remote corners of the outer garden. In his day Fielder Jones was a past master in pegging the ball from the outfield and nipped many runners.

In the National league since 1900 Murray of the Giants has the most consistent record of all the old league outfielders in making assists, he leading the league in four different seasons. Ellis, who used to be with the Cards, was good at making long throws and had an of 25 a season. Titus, Bates, Cravath and Snodgrass have good marks for accurate throwing from the outfield. But the old boys back in the halcyon days of the ’Bos made some astonishing records in throwing out base runners from afar off. Jimmy Fogarty of the Phillies averaged an assist from the outfield every third game he played in. Sam Thompson of the old Detroits and Phillies was a mighty thrower in his day. Jimmy Ryan of the Chicago Nationals, left handed though he was, could shoot a ball from the furthest corner of the outfield with deadly effect. Bill Lange had a wonderful throwing arm and was feared by all base runners in the National league. The great Mike Kelly, back in 1885, when with Chicago Nationals, made the greatest record in .throwing out base runners from the outfield. Mike, by fair means or foul, pegged out 29 men in 67 games.

“KNOT HOLE GANG” FREE

The St. Louis Cardinals announce that the “knot hole gang” feature, free admissions to boy selects who belong to approved organizations, will be continued whether a tax has 4o be paid on the free tickets given the boys or not. On the basis of attendance of the boys last year it is figured the tax, if Imposed, will amount to about $3,600. The club is wiping to pay it out of its treasury if the internal revenue officers will agree to that arrangement.

PITCHER BOB SHAWKEY ENLISTS AS AN AVIATOR

A new service star is about to be added to the American league flag. Bob Shawkey, Yankee pitcher, made application for enlistment in the American army a* an aviator. Shawkey a classification was fixed at 1-A* H* preferred enlistment,

HURDLER TAKING ONE OF HIGH OBSTACLES

This wonderful photograph shows one of Harvard’s hurdlers taking one of the high obstacles. The camera has caught him just as he crossed the hurdle in midair. E. S. Sherman, one of the Crimson crack men, is making the leap in the trial hurdle race. The wonderful jumping and racing form of the athlete can be observed in the photograph.

USED FOLLOW THROUGH

Following through! This has been the slogan in golf, cricket, tennis, billiards, punting and in batting and now Christy Mathewson is shouting it at his recruit pitchers. According to the one-time “Master Moundsman,” all the great pitchers of the e national game who have stretched their careers over 10, so many seasons, have used the “follow through." As vivid examples, Matty names such pitching princes as Cy Young, Eddie Plank, Addie Joss and Bill Donovan, men who perfected a free arm delivery that distributed the strain of twirling over almost all of the muscles of the body. Matty asserts that there is only one prominent exception to the rule and that one is Nap Rucker, who lasted ten years under the big tent despite his jerky delivery. The big Reds’ boss believes the southpaw w.ould have lengthened his career had he developed a smoother motion.

BILL KILLEFER IS PLACED IN CLASS

Catcher William Killefer of the Cubs has been placed in class 1 by the district draft board and is subject to Immediate call. He registered originally in Van Buren county, Michigan. The county board placed Killefer In class 4-A on the ground of having a dependent, as Killefer was married October 8 last. The government contested the case and the district board unanimously overruled the former classification. “Van Buren county is far behind in its quota,” said Chairman William H. Potter. “The population is heavily agricultural, a class always favored in exemptions, so Killefer’s number will be reached early. Any man who can peg to second as he can will be far more valuable in throwing hand grenades into the German lines. He can make his hits count.”

FRANK WALKER WITH TIGERS

Central League Slugger Seems to Have Won Outfield Utility Berth With Detroit Club. Frank Walker, the Central league slugger, whom the Tigers tried to waive out of the big show during the Winter, only to be blocked by the Chicago Cubs, now seems to have won the outfield utility berth with the Detroit dub, which shows that it pays to look over a player well before declaring him no good.

Might Be Right Plan.

Many collegians have been signed by the Cardinals. Perhaps Rickey expects to win the pennant by degrees.

HUGH JENNINGS AS MANAGER

Won Three American League Championships With Detroit Tiger* in 1907, 'OB and 'O9. Hugl? Jennings, manager of the trolt Americans, is forty-seven years

Hugh Jennings.

1902 and the Baltimore Eastern league team 1903-1906. Detroit drafted Jennings from the Baltimore Eastern league team. Hughle finished fourth with the Tigers In 1917. The combination of Jennings-Cobb Is always rated a pennant factor In the American league.

DIAMOND NOTES

Al Waldbauer, rookie pitcher with the Griffs, has been shunted to At-* lanta. * • * Otto Lambeth, pitcher of the Cleveland Indians, has been ordered to report at Camp Funston. ♦ * • Eddie Foster’s poor work this spring is an irritating surprise to his many friends in Washington. * * * Frank Gilhooley’s poor hitting with the Yankees means bench duty fop him soon, says baseball rumor. John Ganzel’s Kansas City team is draft exempt, and the fans of that town are figuring on a pennant * » ♦ The Millers received a pair of classy twirlers when they obtained Musser and Robertson from the White Sox. Cleveland, despite its loss of ten players in the military draft, is moving right along with the Boston Red Sox. » • • The Little Rock club announces that it has secured Herb Moran, former National •« leaguer, who played with Montreal last season. • * * Young Hollocher, playing short for the Cubs, |s holding his own at the bat and in the field. Mitchell looks for him to shine this year. Pitcher Ona Jaynes, given a trial by the Boston Red Sox and found wanting, has been turned over to the Mobile Southern league club.’ * * ‘ Acosta and Schulte, two of Griff’s pinch hitters, are portsided at the plate. Gharrlty is the only pinch hitter who swings from the other side. ♦ * ♦ George Cochrane, the recruit from the Western league, who Is playing third base,for the Kansas City club, has been going like wildfire this spring. President Norton of the St. Paul club is leaving his ball interest entirely in charge of Mike Kelley, and he believes that Mike will have a real ball club all the way. ♦ • * Memphis has two of the tallest pitch- ' era In captivity. Bill Thweatt is six feet six inches high and weighs 219 pounds, while Ed Wilson tips the beam at 205 pounds and is six feet two. • * • George Beall, Toledo first baseman, last year with the Memphis team of ’the Southern league has been ordered by his selective service board to report at Camp Grant, Rockford, IIL

old, and was the shortstop of the famous pennantwinning Baltimore National league champions of 1894, 1895 and 1896. Jennings also won three American league championships with the Detroit Tigers in 1907, 1908 and 1909. “E-Yah,” as he is called, managed the Philadelphia Nationals in 1901,