Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, April 18, 1915, Page 25

[ - 3 R 4 Tar, O Llorrors of Life Otto Weddingen, the Daring German Submarine Commander, Who "ank the British Cruisers Cressy, Hogue and Aboukir in One Attack. HE German heroes of the pregent I war have undoubtedly been the sub- marine crews. The little submarines, manned by twenty- five men aplece, and costing but a small fraction of the warship, have sunk nine British battleships and fighting ships and over one hundred of the merchant ships of the anti-German allies. In order to achleve this remarkable re- sult, however, an extraordinary amount of suffering, self-sacrifice and skill on the part of the submarine crews was required. Life on a submarine must be like that of the infernal regions. When the boat is submerged the oxygen in the air soon be- comes insufficient, and it is also so fouled by the oil and the smell of the machinery that it is nauseating in the extreme. When the boat is on the surface the slightest wave breaks over it and the vessel rolls about as you may have seen a log do on the surface of the sea. In addition to these physical miseries there is the mental strain of not being able to see danger approaching and of not knowing whether you will ever see the light again. The captain of the German submarine boat U-47, which has greatly distinguished itself in these nav xploits, has written a most interesting account of life on the boat and their methods of action. Although the article is written primarily to excite enthusiasm for the submarine war, it does not conceal the great hardships of the life. The article has been published widely in the German newspapers, and here is a translation of it: By the Commander of Submarine U-47. '3 WILL take in provisions l l_47 and clear for sea. Ex- treme economical ra- dius,” is the briet order brought to us by the admiral's staff officer. A first lleutenant, with the acting rank of commander, takes the order in the gray dawn of a February day. The hulk of an old corvette with the Iron Cross of 1870 gn her stubby foremast is his quarters in port, and on the corvette's deck he is presently saluted by his first engineer and the officer of the watch. On the pler the crew of U-47 await him. At their feet the narrow gray submarine lies alongside, straining a little at her cables. “Well, we've our orders at last,” begins the commander, addressing his crew of thirty, and the crew grin. For this is U-47's first experience of active service. She has done nothing save trial trips hitherto, and has just been overhauled for her first fighting cruise. Her commander snaps out a number of orders. Provisions are to be taken in “up to tho neck,” fresh water 1s to be put aboard, and engine-room supplies to be supplemented. A mere plank is the gangway to the little vessel. As the commander, followed by his officers, comes aboard, a sallor hands to each a ball of cotton waste, the sign and symbol of a submarine officer, which never leaves his hand. For the steel walls of his craft, the doors, and the companion-ladder all sweat oil, and at every touch the hands must be wiped dry. The doorways are narrow round holes. Through one of the holes aft the com- mander descends by a breakneck iron lad- der into the black hole lit by electric glowlamps. The air is heavy with the smell of oil, and to the unaccustomed 'long- shoreman it is almost choking, though the hatches are off. Here in the engine-room aft men must live and strain every nerve even if for days at a time every crack whereby the fresh air could get in is hermetically sealed. On their tense watchfulness thirty lives depend. Here, too, are slung some hammocks, and in them one watch tries, and, what is more, succeeds in sleeping though the men moving about bump them with head and elbow at every turn, and the low and parrow vault is full of the hum and purr of machinery. In length the vault is about ten feet, but if a man of normal stands in the middle and raises his a about half shoulder height his hands will touch the cold, moist steel walls on either side, A metwork of wires runs overhead, and there is a juggler’s outfit of handles, levers and instruments. The commander Iinspects everything minutely, then creeps through a hole into the central control station, where the chiet engineer is at his post. With just about enough assistance to run a fairly si machine ashore the chief engineer of snarine is expected to control, correct, and, if necessary, repair at sea an infinitely complex machinery which must not break down for an instant if thirty men are to return alive to the hulk. The commander pays a visit of inspec- tion to the torpedo-chamber and strokes the smooth steel of the deadly “silver fish.” His second-in-command, who is in charge of the armament, joins him here and re- celves final instructions regarding the tor- pedoes and the stowing of explosives. For the torpedo is not only an extremely com- plicated weapon, but also a fine work of art, and it demands a very thorough ap- prenticeship. Forward is another narrow steel vault serving at once as englne-room and crew's quarters. Next to it is a place like a cupboard, where the cook has just room to stand in front of his doll's house galley- stove. It is electrically heated that the already oppressive air may not be further vitiated by smoke or fumes. A German submarine in any case smells perpetually of coffee and cabbage. Two little cabins of the size of a decent clotheschest take the deck and engine-room officers, four of them. Another box-cabin is reserved for the commander—when he has time to oc- cupy it. At daybreak the commander comes on deck in coat and trousers of black leather lined with wool, a protection against ofl, cold and sea water. The crew at thelr stations await the command to cast off. “Machines clear,” calls a voice from the control-station, and “Clear ship,” snaps the order from the bridge. Then “Cast- off!” The cables slap on the landing- stage, the engines begin to purr, and U- 47 slides away into open water. A few cable-lengths away another sub- marine appears homeward bound. She is the U-20 returning from a long cruise in which she succeeded in sinking a ship bound with a cargo of frosen mutton for England. “Good luck, old sheep-butcher,” sings the commanaer of U7 as the sister- ship passes within hail. Diagram Showing the Interior Construction of One of the Newest German Submarines. Daring Commander Describes How It Feels to Grope Under Water Blind and Suffocated in an Atmosphere of Oil, Cabbages and Little Oxygen e e ‘The seas are heavier now, and U-47 rolls unpleasantly as she makes the lightship and answers the last salute from a friendly hand. The two officers on the bridge turn once to look at the lightship already astern, then their eyes look seaward. - It 18 rough, stormy weather. If the egg- shell goes ahead two or three days with- out a stop, the officers in charge will get no sleep for just that long. If it gets any rougher they will be tied to the bridge-rails to aveld belng swept overboard.. If they are hungry, plates of soup will be brought to them on the bridge, and the North Sea will attend to its salting for them. Just as the commander is trying to bal- ance a plate with one hand and use a spoon with the other, the watch calls, “Smoke on the horizon off the port bow.” The commander drops his plate, shouts a short, crisp command, and an electric alarm whirrs inside the egg-shell. The ship buzzes like a hive. Then water beging to gurgle into the ballast-tanks, and U-47 sinks until only her periscope shows. “The steamship is a Dutchman, sir” calls the watch officer. The commander in- spects her with the aid of a periscope. She has no wireless and is bound for the Con- tipent. So he can come up and is glad, bécause moving under the water consumes electricity, and the usefulness of a sub- marine is measured by her electric power. After fifty-four hours of waking nerve tension, sleep becomes a necessity. So the ballast-tanks are filled and the nut- shell sinks to the sandy bottom. This is the time for sleep aboard a submarine, b cause a sleeping man consumes lei ;he precious oxygen than one awake and usy. 80 a submarind man has three principal lessons to learn—to keep every faculty at tension when he is awake, to keep stern silence when he is ashore (there is a warn- ing against talkativeness in all the German railway-carriages now) and to sleep in- stantly when he gets legitimate oppor- tunity. His sleep and the economy of oxygen may save the ship. However, the commander allows half an hour’s grace for music. There i gramaphone, of course, and the “ship’s band” performs on all manner of instruments, At worst, a comb with a bit of tissue paper is pressed into service. If a ship is sunk, three men only -on the submarine will watch her go. The submarine man might hitherto serve all his time like a blind man as far as the out- side world was concerned. Just before the war one of a submarine's crew about to be sent ashore to join the reserve, was asked by his commander if there was anything he would specially llke to celebrate his last trip. “Yes, sir,” he said. “I should like just once to have a glimpse with the peri- scope.” The story went the round and now, during the war, the crew are oc- casionally summoned, one by one, to the periscope. When opportunity offers they are also given a chance to see a merchant ship sunk. 't is considered encouraging! This apparatus invented by Captain Hull and Surgeon Rees of the British Navy, ls designed to save submarine sallors who are now hopelessly trapped and condemned to a horrible death In case the submarine Is held under water. ts of a thin copper helmet and a water-proof er contalning a pocket which Is Ingeniously fitted with a chemical device for purifying the man's breath, The appa- ¥ W X Sy _g e bl Liiowsd A NEWLY INVENTED DEVICE FOR SAVING IMPRISONED SUBMARINE MEN. 80 that he can live and breathe freely for a considerable time 80 successful have been the experiments that these life-saving suits are now fitted to all British boats. Each submarine Is fitted with air locks when a certain quantity of air s Imprisoned. When the boat is trapped or wrecked the men can breathe for a period long enough to allow them to put on the sult. Then they can |ift the hatch, pop out into the water and rise to the surface where they can float until rescued, under water. bmarin b SRR R e ey ¥ sl e s 40 o e SUNDAY BEE MAGAZINE PAGE AGerm an Su e P (i) LeERuR 2N (s 3 Science Explains Your Good Boy’s Sudden “Bad Spell®”’ 80 perplexes and often dis- heartens parents as that which confronts them when their growing son is suddenly transformed from & good boy into what seems to be & bad one. The change seems in- comprehensible. What is to be done about it? Mothers, especially, are apt to be overcome with anxious dread, picturing the future of the erstwhile pride and joy of their ex- istence in the darkest of colors. This boy, who heretofore has been 80 gentle, tractable and considerate, has suddenly developed heart-break- ing tendencies. He is rude in his manners, he lies, he seeks reckless companions, he neglects his lessons, When reprimanded he declares that PROBABLY no domestic problem he is misunderstood and persecuted. When punished he runs away from home, and when he 1s brought back it is quite possible that his parents re.elve the culminating shock—not only does he lie, but he steals. Right here the outraged feelings of the conscientious father may urge him to commit a grievous error—to cause his boy to be publicly treated like a criminal, to be arrested and locked up, to be herded with actual criminals and, perhaps, turmed into 4 criminal in fact, when, om the con- trary, he is the unconscious vietim of a perfectly natural crisis of his development from boyhood into man- hood, through which he only needs to be guided with patient watchful- ness and loving care, Couvright. 1915, by the Star Companv. G Fortunately for such boys, and for their natural guardi: sclence has come to the rescue, diagnosing the case and prescribing the remedy, Such boys are not déveloping crim- Inal tendencies; they are merely sick—passing through a physical and moral sickmess covering a perfod of & year or two, perhaps three years, that is due to the pro- found physical and mental pheno- mena of adolescence In the majority of instances this change s gradual and unaccom- panied by any distressing symptoms. But if the temperament is nervous and excitable, it is quite likely that the results may be as above plc- tured. Such cases are constantly being eat Rritein brought to the notice of experts in juvenile delinquency. Institutes have been organized for their study and treatment, and the results are set forth in medical journals. In one of these—The Psychological Clinie, which speclalizes on this subject— Augusta F. Bronner, Ph D, of the Juvenile Psychopathic Institute, of Chicago, presents an {lluminating discussion of the whole matter, with reports of cases which came under her personal observation. The title of the article, “The Effect of Ado- lescent Instability on Conduct,” al- though dryly professional, is in fit- self reassuring. Here are some de- ductions drawn from her professional experience: “The adolescent varies greatly in his behavior; he is now extremely Hiohts Raserved secretive, then most desirous of con- fession; religious and sacrilegious in turn; going from one extreme to another—a creature utterly unstable, changing from day to day and from mood to mood, This is not surpris- ing; for with new desires and or- ganic cravings there arise new and strong emotions not yet supplied with adequate channels of expres- sion, which nevertheless react in be- havior. “Up to then he has shown no signs of waywardness; he has appeared a normal child, not ditficult to con- trol and exhibiting no unusual ten- dencies. Perhaps his previous rec- ord has been unusually good. Sud- denly his behavior changes; it be- comes contrary to the tenor of his earlier life; he becomes unstable, un- rellably performing acts that are un usual, at least for him, foolish anc erratic. Sometimes this erraticlsw is s0 extreme as to verge on actua peychosis. AN this occurs withoul any marked change in the external conditions under which he lives, “Often the outburst of firregula: and unusual action is brief; a few, weeks or months during which ope sannot anticipate what will occur, after which the boy or girl displays no further tendency to pecullarity or delinquency. In other iustances & 'onger period elapses before the in- lividual reverts to his former stay bility. But when the unusual coms duct s an adolescent phenomenom it terminates during that period ums less other new elements . enter which prolong and alter it.";