KIPLING OUT WITH THE FLEET.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 6, 9 January 1899, Page 5

KIPLING OUT WITH THE FLEET.

In the second article on his experiences at the naval manoeuvres, published in the 'Morning Post,' Mr Rudyard Kipling writes:—'No description will make you realise the almost infernal mobility of a fleet at sea. I have seen ours called, to all appearance, out of the deep; -split in twain at a word, "and at a word sent skimming beyond the horizon; strung out as vultures string out patiently in the hot sky above a dying beast; flung like a lasso;* gathered anew as a riata is coiled at the saddle bow; dealt out card fashion over fifty miles of green table; picked up, shuffled, and redealt as the game changed. , I have seen cruisers flown like hawks, ridden like horses at a close finish, and manoeuvred like bicycles, but the wonder of their appearance and disappearance never failed. The Powerful spoke, and in 10 minutes the cruiser squadron had vanished; each ship taking her own matches and sulphur to make a hell of her own. And what that hell might be if worked at full power I could personally guess as we swung round a headland, and the bugles began A shell had burst short of the mark, and the captain of that gun was asked politely if he supposed Government supplied him with threepound shell for the purpose of shooting makerel. . . . The horror of the thing began to soak into me. What I had seen was a slow peddlingout Admiralty allowance for the' month, and it seemed to me more like squirting death through a hose than any ordinary gun practice. .... In ancient days there was an etiquette in sea battles. No line of battleship fired at a frigate unless the latter deliberately annoyed her. Then she blew the frigate out of the water. What will be the etiquette next time? Suppose a cruiser met a battleship with one set of engines unusable crawling along at eight knots. Would she jackal! the lame thing and tempt her into wasting ammunition? It is a risky game to play with sides no thicker than an average teatray; butunder circumstances it might be lucrative. Would she—and a fast cruiser can do this—try to rush her by night, destroyer fashion?'