as long as three months. Its crews number
often as many as fifty and the day is in sight when accommodations
will have to be made for the housing of at least eighty men in such
comparative comfort that they can stand a six months' voyage without
loss of morale or decrease in physical vigour.

It is, of course, very rare that a civilian has the chance to be
present on a submarine when the latter is making either a real or a
feigned attack. Fred B. Pitney, a correspondent of the New York
_Tribune_, was fortunate enough to have this experience, fortunate
especially because it was all a game arranged for his special
benefit by a French admiral. He writes of this interesting
experience in the _Tribune_ of Sunday, May 27, 1917, and at the same
time gives a vivid description of a French submarine.

It appears that Mr. Pitney was on a small vessel put at his disposal
by the French Ministry of Marine to view the defences of a French
naval base. This boat was attacked by what seemed to be an enemy
submarine, but later turned out to be a French one which was giving
this special performance for Mr. Pitney's information. We read:

Our officers were experts at watching for submarines, and though
the little white wave made by the periscope disappeared, they
caught the white wake of the torpedo coming toward the port
quarter and sheered off to escape it. The torpedo passed
harmlessly by our stern, but the adventure was not ended, for
hardly a minute later we heard a shot from off the starboard
quarter and, turning in that direction, saw that the submarine
had come to the surface and was busily firing at us to bring us
to.

We stopped without any foolish waste of time in argument. I asked
if a boat would be sent to us, or if we would have to get out our
boat.

"They carry a small folding boat," said the officer to whom I had
been talking, "but we will have to send our boat."

While we were getting our boat over the side, the submarine
moved closer in, keeping her gun bearing on us all the time, most
uncomfortably. The gun stood uncovered on the deck, just abaft
the turret. It was thickly coated with grease to protect it when
the vessel submerged. It is only the very latest type of
submarines that have disappearing guns which go under cover when
the vessel submerges and are fired from within the ship, which
makes all the