WAITING THE ENEMY.

North Otago Times, Volume C, Issue 13181, 9 October 1914, Page 7

WAITING THE ENEMY.

"CARRY ON' 1 IN THE NAVY. . BOUTINB A CURE TOR NEBVES, "What of tjie, Navy? ~ What pf the men )u the great grey hulls of (the waiting battle squadrons,, away to the north of -wo kuow not where, the silent unseen barrier between Britain iinil her foot l What are they thinking ami doing, while the days pass by ft ml The Hour conies uotf Howhas it fared with Jliem Riueo they swept out of tho ship fourteen days ago all the frippery of peace, ami oust ashore pianos ami furniture, panelling, pictures, curtaim*, and suchlike jetsam that has no place in the grim watch and ward of the Real From the sun-kissed sweeps of Weymouth Bay they went direct to northern latitudes where at tins tune of the year there is no real night, but where there arc cold winds and tumbling, restless seas. And tho word went forth from my Lords of Whitehall, "Begin hostilities."

The Na\'y meu heard the order, and smiled.

After long years of waiting they had reached the sum and aim of their ambition, niiil * their' answer to the order was the Navy 'a invariable rcplyj "Garry on." •■ , THE BOATSWAIN'S .PIPE,' Whatever befall, the Navy always '' parries on,'' When in the full panoply of war the ships swept past their King last month for his inspection, as soon as each ship had cheered and gone on its way the short, sharp notbb of the boatswain's pipe gave the order "Carry on." And the Navy went back to ita routine work.

So it is now with them up in the northern., latitudes. • ■•'..

While the enemy has skulked in his harbours the British Navy has. been going about its work'in'quiet, orderly fashion, conscious that the fate of the world rests,ou the way.it "carries on," but fearless of the.ultimate v| "outcome, and proud that the unseen pressure" of ita power.keeps open the waterways:to British commerce, and. that its Spirit convoys,the food ships which pile.high the dinner tables of'those .who are left at home. ' '

For a day. and night, perhaps,hearts beat a little faster, for the iSavy.had always expected, onslaught, venomous and immediate, as the first move of the. enemy,.' The day and the night wenf by". In the morning watch the navigation lights of every ship.still.twinkled like the merry eye 3 of some marine monster,.and in the silence room the wireless operator still took down the monotonous reports of the outlying scouts: "No enemy ship in sight," So the Navy laughed quietly at its'tremors of the day before, and proceeded to '' carry on, "■■' Divisions; watch fall in; quarter deck 'men of both divisions wipe over the quarter deck. Clear up deck; watch fall in. Cooks ■ clear up mess deck.' Clean guns and polish bright work. Follow daily routine. In a word, "Carry on." DOING ITS DAILY WORK.

All the little detail of life was taken up again after that one brief spell of thrill. Along the starboard side of the quarter-deck the captain strolled, chatting with the torpedo lieutenant, and it is more probable that they \di9cussed rose-growing than, any question of searchlight crews' efficiency or the battle wireless station's immunity from gunfire.

An thfc ship plunged through the waters in the first dog watch, gymnasiums would be rigged, and the waters below would amuse themselves with the ■vaulting horse or Swedish drill. Down in the ward-room, perhaps over tea, some incurable enthusiast would; pate about battle formations and concentration of gun-lire. But he would have done the same it' it had been lmunruvres, anil even now, when any hour might put all his theories to the test, there is a laugh and n shrug of the shoulders for his preaching, . For the Navy- is carrying on, doing the work it is trained to do iii the ordinary, everyday way. Time enough for the theorists when the concentrated gunfive has done its worst, or the enemy's T has been crossed; time enough to' resolve all the problems of the effect,'of speed and the fighting value of the torpedo in a fleet action when the last shot lias been fired, when the Inst turret has been silenced, and, if needs be, the lapping waves roll carelessly over the sunken battered hulk that once was a happy ship. >.

j, IN THE STOKEHOLD. I Such night as there is closes, down; jtlie light cruiser squadron, with its | winking lights, speeds -forth on its swift patrol. The men oil'watch turn into their kipseys (hammocks), unless they are at night defence stations, and on ■ the bridge the oflicer of the watch takes i over command, noting course, speed, and ! revolution of the engines. v ' ■ He sees that his ship is in station With the next ahead, and casts,a glance : at the other division, away to starboard, ' slowly rising and falling on the long 'rollers of the sea that was once grandiloI quently termed the German Oi-ehn'. ; In divisions of line ahead, two | columns in single file, the battle squadrons will'carry on through the hours of midnight gloaining, ever ready for the attack that comes not. What of the men below in the stokehold and the bunkers! They,'too,'carry on in the heat and the ghastly glare of the roaring furnace's, ami the sizzling steam that rises as the hose plays ■ on the slag dragged from, a, fire that is being trimmed. They move about in the fog of coal-dust for four hours at. a stretch, stripped to the waist, in a mingled ooze of dirt and sweat, Theirs is the duty of supplying, the ! motive power that the ships of Kelson took from the clean winds of heaven. Theirs is the life of an inferno. But they, too, though they fire no guns and send noyenemy to the bottom;'though they bu/shovel coal and trim voracious I fire's—they also "carry on,"