OCR Text |
Show AMERICA HAS SUB BASE NOVr IT'S QUEENSLAND Yank City pn Sea Front Complete . Even to Laundry. By Harold E. Bechtol Europe" Manager of Newapapar Enterprise Aaaociation. lX)N'DON. Nov. tl. yueenatown. on I the aouthern nwl of Ireland, ta on of th great American eubmarlne fllthtlnr baaee In Europe. Now that lha fighting 1 ended, aom facta way bo revealed. Down on th, waterfront tha Americana Amer-icana hava morally built their own city an American elty, partly com- I poeed of ahlpa. partly of land atrncturea. Tha Inhabitant! of thla American rtty hava eoma from ovary corner of tho United "itatee keen, eager yonnc man who havo boon havmg planty of eirttement and plenty of hardship, and who revet In both. They havo their own atorea, their PWfl hnai'lHl, llieli own "aeneelei" their own theatre, their own laundry, their own bakery, their own lea plant, their own club. Tho American naval forcea at Queenetown perform a eenrlre the effect of which will only be properly appreciated with the end f the war. FILLED GAPS let DEFENSE dome of the detalle of "the kind of a place It la" may now be told, and thla may be added: Before the Americana came over there wae a "gap" In the defenaea agalnat tha Herman euhmartnea. and the earning of tha Americana filled It. The location tf thla United State, tih hnntlna haae telle Ita own atory of where tha allied ships are dependent de-pendent upon tho Americans for protection pro-tection from t he U-boata. For In -formation more specific than that you'll havo to wait until tho war la over. Ths American base la at one end of the Engl I ah channel and within aaay reach of tho French porta, adjacent adja-cent waters snd tho Atlantic off lower Ireland and Franco, fwtmvara anh rhaear Ml 6-foot- era), motor launch, and other aub hunting craft and Curtle flying boata have eomnrlaed the bulk of tha navy craft at Queenetown. The harbor " la a arena of bnatle and activity. Cloa, In to ahore He . "mnttirH .kin. with lere numbers of "children" (tho destroyer, destroy-er, sub chasers and launchoo) snug-fling snug-fling alon guide. Theae huge "mother" shins mam- motjlStipp1y vessels, fitted up for thla particular purpods fill ill ft good part of tho American city. They hare repair a hope where a broken propellea nan be mended; If any of the "children" need ft new eoat of paint that's supplied; same anpltea to a broken shaft. The motherT ships also restock tho sub hunters with depth char gee and other mlee lies of destruction. The Interiors of theae wonderful easels are like huge department at ores. There ts ft pos toffies, ft bank, a Mrv" canteen, a watch repairing depot. an electric laun dry that clean see 17,000 article weekly, an electric bakery, and Icemaklng plant, a cold storage, ohop for blmckamlths, turners, carpenters, riveters and other skilled workers. On shore there ara tho barracks: comfortable place, too, tho men In blue hava made them; there ara naval schools' for signaling, wireless telegraphy, teleg-raphy, telephonic listening; there are seaplane hangar and workshops for the assembling of torpedo parts that i have corns from American factories. The Naval club, where there's always" al-ways" bunch" ready for any kind of fun, im on shore, close) to the waterfront; water-front; so lo tho navy hospital, built bv the Americana, and ranges of food at ores. THEATRE. OP COURSE. Hero also Is tho "theatre," a bugs entertainment hall, where nightly per-formanceo per-formanceo are staged. Moot of the time tho men furnish their own per-formers per-formers and there's no lack of talent The band, mad up of man from different ehlp com pa nle. Is conducted by an ensign who joined up aa ft vecman There's lots of fun at Queenetown but there haa been lota of bard work of tho moat exacting type. The j hours hava bean long, and the seas j make sub hunting and convoying none too pleasant, for the sub chaser and 0 destroyer are not built for comfort. The two navies get along without a rub hero aa In the grand fleet. Tho naval oorreanondent of the London Lon-don Tlmea recently summed up ths relations between tha two navtee) aa follows: To tho British naval man, hla work la a religion; to tha American. It is a business; which Is just tho oMffereneo between the two. "But, aa a combination, there Is nothing either on or under the sea that can withstand It |