Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-06-13
NAVY MECHANICS.
ACE WHERE DIGNITY IsNor VERY
MUCH INJURED.
How Many Familiar Appsliations OF om'
GERS Have Been Esrned-sems
Peculiar Traits, &C.

s;ar;s.a Class Of men ss navy officers.
men who observe the closest discipline
ON hoard Of ship and In the navy'yard,
whs,hsr on duty or in the ward-room,
10 salute each other and command the
s.,oe official courtesy from their asso-
s,.,,s IN the service, could address their
fsIlous in any other way than by the
utle Of their rank, or "Mr." Yet it is
,he fact tba, while each corps in the
,,Iyice has i,s specifically created title,
many Of the officers are familiarity
krosn by their nicknsmes. And yet
this does not deirsct from the esprit du
eoyps Of the service, for, although an
officer may address his brother-officer
bv his nickname, il is never done when
they meet officially. The custom Of
pieknames is almost limited to the older
officers, those who entered the service
p,ior to the civil war, although some
are dubbed with nicknames at the Naval
Academy when plebes, which cling to
them through life. The line-ofhcers
are generally spoken Of as " deck-trod-
ders," the engineers as "gressers,
the surgeons as "saw-bones," pay
masters as buttons" carpenters as
chips" and sailmskers as " sails"
Midshipmen are spoken of as mid
dies" or pretty little boys"
The nicknames given to officers arise
from some peculiar Characteristic in
their nature, but the senior officer in
the navy Admiral Porter, was never
addressed by anything more inelegant
than "Dave." Vice-Admiral 5. ii.
Rowan, is known throughout the ser
vice as PADDY" Rowan, probably
from the fact that be was born in Ire
land. A story Is told Of him which got
its birth when he was young COM
mander, and which will live longer than
be. II is said that be wanted one Of
the doors in his quarters repaired so
that it would not continually be swing
ing open. lie summoned the carpen-
ter's mate and said 4" ! want you to
out a button on that door" and, it is
said gave the order with an Irish brogue.
The one strict rule Of the service is to
obey, and the carpenters mate COM
plied with the order TO the letter, al
though he knew that the place for the
button was on the doOr-jamb. The
button vas put on the door, but as it
did not keep the door closed Command
or Rowan called the man to account,
who answered
Weren't ye afther tellin' me to put
tie button on the door, sir an isn't
II On the door" At this Commander
Rowan Strengthened out his tall, digui-
fed bearing form and said
What does it matter what told
YOU: film a fol, is that any reason
why YOU should lie one " The mis-
take Was correcte and the door was
kept shut.
Rear-Admiral A. L. Case is known
as " Pumphandle " Case, and he has
reason TO feel proud Of the title that
was thrust upon him. During the civil
war in all Government departments
the civil employees were wont to idle
away greas deal Of their time IN the
New York navy-yard. and one of the
places where they collected in groups
of score or more was at the pump
near the Lyceum. Case was then
commander, and was ordered as execu-
tive officer Of the yard. One Of his first
orders was that the men should not go
10 the pump for water, but that 1t
should be supplied to all the depart
ments in coolers. The men simply
pooh. poohed the order, and then Com
mander Case had the pump-handle re-
moved. After that the men dubbed
him with the undigifed title Of " Pump
handle Case" One day, when passing
one of the shops, piece Of oil-satu-
rated waste was thrown at him from o
window Of one Of the shops, and it
struck him in the neck. Observing
whence it came be turned on his heel
and walked into the shop. Then he re-
moved his uniform cap and coat and
said MEN, I'm not an officer Of the
navy for the time being, but am simply
ciIizen, and can whip the scoundrel
who hit me with that lump Of waste.
Now let the blank dirty coward come
out like a man." After waiting few
moments, no response being made to
his challenge, he said L" / see that the
dirty thief don't dare TO assert his man
hood" Then he put on his coat and
cap and walked out. From that time
the men not only respected him, but
would do anything in the world for
him. The title of "Pump-handle "
hangs to him to this day.
Captain Colyocoresses, whose mystic
rious murder occurred in Bridgeport
several years ago, was known as
"Crawl-over-crosstrees," which was a
play upon his name. He was Of Greek
birth. Rear Admiral j. NJ. b. ClitZ
was known throughout the service as
Handsome Clitz, because ofhis tall,
well.built form and fiuely-cut features.
Rear-Ad miral j. II. Upshur was known
as Pony" Upshur, because OF his
build, his graceful manners, etc. Rear
Admiral c. r. p. Rodgers was dubbed
"pombey" when a comparatively
wong officer. Commodore James IL.
ellis is always mentioned as Jim "
ellis, as Commodore Richard L. Law
is spoken OF as Dick " Law. Com
nodore Daniel L. Braine, who is close
follower Of the regulations requiring
officers to keep the Department informed
of all matters Of public Importance Is
known as Correspondence Braine.
Commodore A. L. X. Benham is AL
phabetical Benham.
Captain Henry Erben is known
throughout the service as Bully "
Irben. The title is certainly q mis-
nomer since be has an entirely different
nature from that of bullying, and is one
Of the most popular officers in the navy
10 serve under. Captain Joseph Fyfi
is known as " Forgetful Joe." 1t is
said Of him that his memory was so
ueacherous that he could not remen'
Der bis own pane, and when meeting
one who did not know him and 1t be-
came neces sary to introduce himself,
he always took off his cap first to recall
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