WARSPITE’S TAIL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 4405, 24 November 1916, Page 6

WARSPITE’S TAIL.

HEAL FLEET YARNS

Mr. Alfred Noyes, concluding his articles on the Navy, tells some yarns: The captain of the Inflexible explained t-> me that the bridge—«a mere framework oi canvas—had no armorprotection because it was quite the .■vilest piece in the ship, tor "if you ■ .'hinrl armor you get killed by splinters while on the bridge, unless oe-'a direct hit, the shell goes clean'through without hurting you. \ <unior officer looked at him renni’aclii'ullv. "Well,” the captain muttered to himself, almost sheepishly. as it caught in a lie, ‘-perhaps one {•‘ah exaggerate it. The Warrior in the battle oi Jutland was being badly mauled, and the Warspit« came between her and fine enemy, taking all the punishment, caving as much back jas she could, and siowlv revolving like a. great cat ciiasinc its tail, all her guns coming into p!av ir. turn. The Warrior was mved and everyone aboard agreed that this manoeuvre of the Warspite was ( new and a remarkable one, deservMU ,- ~f noicli gratitude. Whereupon a ■ ienutet ion wag sent to the W arspite ~.a r‘ i,v , rifts;—boxes of cigars and Mimli'y 3 l7,tiles—that would in most - V’xusp enthusiasm. "l ake’em, in'ates. Yon saved us;” said tine grate- .;] emi'ca-'cs. 'Takq_’em back, you blighters,’ 1 was the i-eply, roared ■ m a dale of Homeric laughter. “Take vm back. We didn’t try to save you. We was chasing our own damned tail. ’Ow could we ’elp it? Our ’elm was jammed.” . Third is a yarn of an English airman captured by the Germans who was asked by captors to take a German observer over one of our seas in his machine. At first lie refused, but afterwards — strapping himself m a position, consented. The German was armed, but bulky; his straps were not to be depended on. Somewhere over Wo North Sea. in the dusk of that sunset, a trawler saw a- remarkable sight. An English aviator was looping the loop, for sheer joy apparently. somersault after somersault like a tumbler pigeon. He kept it up for half an hour. Then a dark bulk drooped from the machine and rplesiieu into the North Sea. Perhaps it was a German with a revolver in each hand. At any rate, an English aviator arrived on the east coast an hour or two later, and he complained of feeling lonely. In the hottest moment of the Jutland Battle two grimy stokers’ heads arose for a breath of fresh air. What domestic drama they were discussing the world may never know. But the words that were actually heard nassin g between them while the snells whined overhead were these: “What T ses is—’e ought, to ’ave man iod ’or.”