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Show NAimCALNOVELTIES One of the oMe.-t pieces of naval equipment still in use is the boatswain's boat-swain's pipe. Its origin is lost in the annals of time, but interested researchers re-searchers have traced it hack almost seven hundred years. A French writer, Johan, records the practice of using whistles to convey shipboard orders aboard galley? of Genoa in the year 1250. From Genoa its use spread to France, and in 1512 Queen Anne of France presented to the commander of the galleys "un Sifflot DTionnour" (Whistle of Honor). About the same time a golden whistle was the badge of the Lord High Admiral Ad-miral of England. The brig Niagara, the ship which Oliver Hazzard Perry used to cut the line of the British fleet and ride to viqtory in the famous battle of Lake Eria, 120 years ago, soon will float again. The state of Pennsylvania has appropriated S'25,000 to make the old ship seaworthy again. The Niagara was the ship to which Perry removed when his flagship, Lawrence, was disabled dis-abled by the British fleet in the engagement en-gagement off Put-In-Bay, Ohio, September Sep-tember 10, 1813. It was from the Niagara that Perry sent the famous message: "We have met the enemy, and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop." P.ecently navy fliers completed the longest non-stop mass formation flight in history. The flight was a non-stop flight from Norfolk, Virginia, Vir-ginia, to Coco Solo, Canal Zone, a distance of 2059 miles. General Bal-bo's Bal-bo's longest mass flight on his recent trip to the United States was 1677 miles. In 1931, General Balbo made one jump of 1864 miles with his air fleet during a flight to Brazil, All British submarines are to carry tomato plants in the future. The reason rea-son is that a tomato plant is 200 times as sensitive as the human nose and 75 times as sensitive as the canary at detecting the presence of poisonous gases which is one of the main dangers in submarines. These gases are given off by the batteries and are very deadly. Chemical test is not sensitive enough to warn the crew of their presence. The leaves of the tomato plant droop when ex- r po.ed to the gas. Mice, and cunaric were formerly curried to delect it. The airplanes attached to th'' heavy cruiser I'. S. S. "Salt I-ake City" attaint! thu highest merit in their class in aircraft gunnery during dur-ing the year 19:12-1933. During September, llM'ty-Kig'ht yonug men from the intermountuin region (known as th" Suit I.ahc Navy Kecruiting district) joined the navy as apprentice HeatneiL These young m'n came from the various Htutes as follows: L'tah, 5; Iduho, 15; Montana, Hi; Wyoming, 2. The weight of a abell used in the naval gun is approximately in pounds one-half the cubo of the inside diameter di-ameter of the gun barrel. For example, ex-ample, a 10-inch shell will weigh -alxiut one-half of 16 cubed or 204H pound. |
