Henceforth
the officer in command sees to it that the shutter is so operated as
to keep the image of the battleship always upon the white screen map.
Thus the course of the battleship is followed--absolutely. At any
second the exact position of that battleship in the harbor is known.
Let us suppose that the officer in command at the white, map-covered
table finds that the battleship is gradually approaching the position
indicated in the harbor as mine number nineteen; as the officer watches
the moving image of the battleship, he sees it going closer and closer
to the exact spot numbered nineteen or the white map.
"Be ready, Sergeant," calls the officer, warningly, to a non-commissioned
officer who stands before a board on the wall on which are several
electric push-buttons, each numbered.
"Yes, sir," replies the sergeant.
At this moment the officer sees the image of the battleship passing
fairly over the dot on the white map that is numbered nineteen.
"Fire nineteen, Sergeant," calls the Army officer in charge.
The non-commissioned officer quickly presses electric button numbered
nineteen. As he does so the electric current is sent flashing, perhaps
along four or five miles of insulated wire on the bottom of the harbor.
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