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Show i . Defensive Work of the American Coast Guard I fs l(fr . ' -ill (C ,.., ..-, ( - r-i .. ' :r " , -tr 11 I CW WATCH m the COAST b& ) --: '-' '. If 111 'K'-"'A-'r:m ' WSM$&m wtW!S&-l ":' its H mac? HE nows that tho Coast Guard - has been Increased In num- hers and urged to keep con- stant watch for untoward C -- Incidents at sea calls altcn- I Hon to this devoted but Ut- V s m tic understood line of defense y- j for tho nation. ; Night and day the vigil of the Coaat Guard goes on Wo read of the rescue of "the crew of a stranded ship at night and some attention Is called to tho work of the beach patrol, bu: sufficient credit Is not given to tho sleepless watch that tho men of tho guard maintain ovor tho vast stretches of aca that wash our great coast line. I Now that war has come, tho alertness of tho Coast Guard lc trebly valuable to the country, for they will bo called upon to keep their powerful pow-erful telescopes and binoculars constantly turned on tho surface of tho seas, from Maine S. to tho canal and from Alaska to tho lowest f wlld3 of the Western coast line. No one knowi ' what to oxpect If the war cloud breaks In Tull storm fury, A resourceful and alert foe maj ! strike without warning, and this makes It lnv perativo that tho Coast Guard sentinels kcci ; wldo awake. They are amply provided wltl ; means to sound Instant warning to tho defend' f crs of the coast. By night the beach patrol watchoa the Bca: from points distant from the contral station They havo to1 keep alert eyc3 on lonely lnloti where undorsaa boats could sneak In undci cover of darkncBs; they must search by daj for Elgns of caches made by sympathizer; ashoro who may be In touch with tho officer; of tho hostile craft by secret wlroless appi ratus, for. stores of oil or war material aceu mulatcd at spots known to tho foreign foe, fo ' wireless stations In remote and Uttlo frcqucntei sections of the long coast line, on unlnhabltci 337' Islands oft the rocky Maine coast, or the sand; r desert coast line of tho South The watch must be constant and slceple?j. for It would not bo difficult for a submarine lo land a parly unseen In the wild stretches of almost uninhabited country. The system of signaling In use by the Coast Guard Is tho wig-wag method, by day. This can easily be seen from tho central station bv tho sentinel, who kcep3 his telcscopo or binoculars binoc-ulars constantly roving around tho beach on tho lookout for Just such signs. But at night only a flashlight signal can bo seen. The Coast Guard carries with them a. ; blinker" light, a small electric light. This blinker light throws out a small Illumination that is used by tho dot and dash method, and can bo read for a considerable distance by a , man with a telescope. By the blinker light tho members of tho beach patrol aro constantly in touch with the central . "body at night. Should one of them be suddenly . overpowered by a hostilo party, tho faot that ; something was wrong would soon become known i to tho scntlnol In tho watch tower, for tho I patrol Is required to signal at stated intervals r that all is well. The absence of such a signal . would put tho watcher In the tower on hla gurrd. i .But the blinker light would be useless In tho - hand3 of a coast guardsman whoso beat carried him miles away from tho central station to a 3 lonely headland far from any populated section. In an emergency tho patrolman who finds s himself confronted with a threatening sltua-r sltua-r tlon far from tho watch tower would use tho ,' Hare light, a torch that each man carries with 9 him when on patrol and which makes a. light a that can be seen for miles without tho aid of J1. - telescope. The sudden flaming of this torch would warn r the coast for leagues along and prompt an In-d In-d stant springing to arms. il Tho Instant a warning Is received at tho con. y tral sUlion the watcher there will' spring to &ho government telephone and wound a. uolo of J TAe OLD LGHTrtOU&f s? atlawtc orrv. alarm to the nearest military Matlon, and so It v.'ould travel up and down tho coast and reach tho hear! of tho defenso system of tho country. This Is tho rogular round of duty of tho Coast Guard. But in peaco times they merely watch tho sea for Indications of loss of llfo by shipwreck and Jump to save whero It can ho done. In war tlmo the work of tho guard .Is vastly moro Important. Their eyes havo bco-i trained for years to catch tho nmallcst Indication Indica-tion of the unusual on the surfaco of tho sea, and no landsman could be so well equipped lo do thin all-Important lino of defenso work. But It Is probablo that tho government will call for volunteer Coast Guards to supplement tho efforts of tho rogular patrolmen, whoso numbers num-bers arn all too small for the mammoth worlc that will be shouldered upon them. These wlll be selected from amateur sailors whoso' oyes have been trained to somo extent to know the signs of iho sea, from tho members of yacht clubs who havo offered their services In such gratifying numbers to tho government and from tho rankG of Gcafarlng men who aro accustomed ac-customed to watch tho waves and know what surfaco Indications mean. Ail patriotic citizens living along tho coast lino are depended upon to keep on the alert and report any suspicious signs on tho water. Every coast resident is looked upon as a coast griards-man. griards-man. But upon tho old guard that forms tho thin line along our beaches depends tho discovery discov-ery and warning of attack from tho sea or treachery ashoro. Tho Coast Guard service hunts trouble both In limes of peaco and in seasons of war, tho lattor contingency being in tho way of addition addi-tion of duty, as storms over aro with those men of tho first sea trenches. As soon as a state of war was doclared to exist tha Coast Guard servlco automatically became subject to tho orders of the Navy Department De-partment and the more than 4000 offlcors and men bocamo a part of the actual fightlnu forces m : ,'; Ml I &GYALLYG Jby f??e rLAPJf TOPCti H of tho country. In thl3 service aro somo half hundred cutters, which aro effective a3 tho nucleus nu-cleus for an offectlvo antisubmarine fighting force Nowhere, with our land or our oca forces, will bo found a corps of trained mon who will bravo greater dangers or who tako the casting of their lives Into tho balance of service so lightly. Theso men of tho Coast Guard aro men who havo takon tho matter of individual risk as a matter of courso In tho day's work. It Is the portion of excitement noccasary to keep alive tho spark of Interest In tho breasts of somo mon. Yos, they aro hunters of trouble. Long night vigils aro spent on tho lonely stretches of the beach, looking for opportunity to risk llfo and limb, and tho samo individual point of vlow may be expected from th030 mon now that they feel the safoty of tho nation is In their keeping, just as much as was, and still Is, tho lives of the unlucky passenger or seaman blown to their shores on tho wings of somo furious storm. No less spectacular deeds of bravery and daring dar-ing need bo expected from tho man of tho Coaat Guard cutter service than from their brothers of tho land patrol. Theso mon really will bo moro In tho way of lighting than tho man who walks his boat along the rocky shores of tho land. Tho llttlo vessels, oven in times of peace, go armed in their work of policing tho waters, which aro under the Jurisdiction of tlio .United States, and now that uttack is no: t an Imposslblo thing, they aro better proparod H to combat some foolish submarine commander H who gets too lntlmato with tho affairs of tht'J ll No one knows Just what activities those Mile H patrolmen of the home wntcrs may bo going 1 through, but no doubt they may bo found val- M uablo not only In seeing to it that dark schemes H aro put at naught, but probably will bo of valuo 1 in laying mines and In other forma of national 1 defenso. M After all, tho Coast Guard servlco Is an omcr- M gency service, and in tho hands of intrepid H workers who aro never at loss how to do a M thing nor when. Called on for service, these H men act. and usually In tho right dlroctlon. H They havo little tlmo to think out linos of cam- H palgn and aro not of tho kind tbat Is given to H making serious blunders, In a calling whero to M blundor is to risk life, not only of tho blunderer H but of tho ones for whoso safoty thoy aro re H sponsible. H When the nations of tho world aro brought to M peaceful ways no doubt many of tho old Coast H Guard will havo thrilling stories to add to their H talcs of daring in Uio garnering of wrecks from H tho maw of tho ocean in days of tho past. H Should war come closer to tho shoros of the jH United States than now seems probable, it Is M certain that the great military departments at H Washington will keep ono car pretty closelv H glued to the wires which connect with tho Const H .Guard stations of tho country, 1 |