The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-08-25

the executive officer on the upper deck. The positions assumed at this time are identical to those required in time of ac- ton. Serious indisposition is the only plea which will be accepted for failure to be present at quarters, and the luck less young officer who by some mischance is detained on shore all night and fails to reach his ship before that hour is seriously reprimanded by being relieved of. his duty for certain length of time. 4 rep eti,ion of the offence is reported at Washington.
 From halfpast nine until quarter be- fore twelve (,he dinner hour the time is passed in studious exercises and drills. The boys are all taught the three R's- reading, writing and 'rithmetic-with geography and the other branches taught in the common schools The chaplain and .he officer. of the ship act as in- structors. The afternoon is passed in studies and drills as in the morning, the hours being whiled away by the excellent music provided by the band of the New
 Hampshire. At six o'clock supper is served, and in the evening there is sing ing and dancing. Wednesday and Sat urday afternoons are holiday times, and great frolics the boys have on Coasters Island, where games of hase bal and other sports are induiged n. During the sum-
 ner months of the year, the boys have long swimming bouts, bathing in squads from the island or swimming abou, the ship like a swarm of young porpoises. Some of the youths have fine athletic bodies, and they soon learn 10 excute all the fancy styles of swimming the back and on the side, on the top of the waves, or under their cres;s.
 In their leisure hours. d well-sioeked library is at the disposal of all those who
 incline to literature. The librarians books show that the few novels included Tn the catalogue are more often called for than any of the other volumes the library contains. Books in the French and German tongues are here to be had also.
 An erroneous impression concerning the class of boys received on board the recruiting and training ships is current in public opinion. l, Is generally supposed that bad boys are sent 10 be straigh,ened into good sailors in the navy, and that the training-ships are nothing more or less than marine reform schools. This is not the case, and the experiments tried some years ago in Boston, of a school ship for youthful criminals, has been abandoned. Commodore Luce in ex- blaming this. said to the writer. We do do no, want bad boys. The other day stout Irish woman came on board with a timid stripling, whom she half dragged up the companion way. The boy was in great terror, and when being asked if he wished to remain on board the ship, pro- fessed the most genuine horror of the idea. When he was told that he should not be obliged to remain against his will, he dropped his mothers hand, and in a second was over the side of the ship and out of reach"
 The tedium of the lives of the officers IS relieved by their expeditions to New port, and the frequent visits of their friends. The launch of the New Hamp- shire often conveys merry parties of maids and matrons to the great ship for an afternoon cup of tea with the hospita- ble commander, and a dance to the ex- cellent music with the officers. There is a pleturesqueness about dancing on smooth-soraped decks, beneath high tapering masts, to say nothing of t.e charms which the gold buttons of their partners hold. Between the waltzes the great guns are examined curiously, and the mysteries of signalling are impar,ed to the fair guests, one or other of whom. learns 10 box the compass and stumble from f' nor to nor west all round the ihir,y-two points. Another bcgs ,o be initiated into the comp!iea- lions of tying ! true-lovers knot, while more sedate ones are content ,o bend the rope ends into the lesS-complca a,ed " ,rannes." Bu, pleasan, afternoons are rate interruptions, and in the long winter months. with their shor, days and end less evenings. visitors are few. l; Is !; this time that the ennuI hend tries to take possession of the officers, bu, they light bravely with him, and. on the whole, usually ge, the better of him.
 The lack of courtesy shown by many of the most prominent members of society to the men whose lives are devoted to their country is q painful feature in American society. In the war time all officers were heroes, and honored in every fashion. but in times of peace they are comparatively unnoticed. It is in the long and uneventful periods of history, fortunately for us the most common in our country, that consideration and marks of esteem are most valuable to the officers of the army and navy. It is in the monotony of the quiet waiting and guarding the national honor that social attentions are dear 10 them. In time of war they care little whether fetes are made Tn their honor or not; there is metal more attractive to usurp their thoughts