, 1886-02-04
LlFE IN A MAn-oF-wAR.


jected-systematic subordination.
In order to understand a man-of-war II
is primarily necessary 10 consider her "a
formed of many parts, all arranged to-
gether under the predominant law of
subordination. Thus one may speak cor
rectly OF the captain and officers, Oh OF
he seamen and marines of a man-of-
war. But all such broad divisions re-
quire to be subdivided, and in reality the
whole body is made up of small parts,
each OF which resembles the other, MS far
as the principles on which it acts are con
cerned, and zach of which, though with
functions of its own, is related to all the
other parts. Taking the crew, for ex-
ample-the men, as they are called,
when spoken of as distinct from the Of
fcers-we find them divided by grades
not less important than those which di-
vide the officers themselves. There are
able bodied seamen and ordinary sea-
men. The able seaman is a finished
sailor, not only able to do all the usual
work, below and aloft, but to take the
helm and the lead. The ordinary sea
man is a less qualified man, receiving less
pay, but viii probably rise from that to
tne nlButI IdtinB ny anu ny
But il the mere term seaman" would
imperfectly describe one of the men, so
the mere term officer would equally i'm
perfectly describe one of the officers.
Not only are there the officers proper,
from captain 10 naval cadet; there are
different classes below these. There are
the warrant officers, boatswain, gunner
and carpenter, and the petty officers,
quartermaster, b~oatswain's mate, master
at arms, etc, These, however, are not
all the grades in the scheme. There is a
captain to each top, a coxswain to each
boat, a captain of the forward, captain
of the after guard. Subordination, there
fore, undergraduates the whole body
social Of a man Of war; it does not only
act broadly, but infinitely; nor generally
only, but in detail. Subordination and
classification are, in fact, the two great
principles which regulate everything
afloat. Subordination teaches a man
that he must obey-and whom. Classifi.
cation teaches him how he must obey
and where. The corner stone of naval
subordination, then, is the authority of
the captain. He commands the ship,
even though there should be a real
admiral on board in command of the
feet.
Though essentially n living unity, a
coherent individual whole, yet a man-of
war attains TO be this by dint of a care
full division and adjustment Of parts.
Her crew is classified in several distinct
ways, according to the different classes
of duty that develops upon them in diff
ferent parts of the ships daily life. Thus
a ship has to be sailed. For that purpose
her crew are divided and appointed to
particular stations where they go when
nautical operations are on hand. There
are forecastlemen, ~foretopmen, maintop-
men, and an afterguard which works on
deck and does not go aloft. Each of thest
sets of men has its captain and second
captain; each top its midshipman, and al
the summons, Hands reef topsails, OF
what not, everybody knows where to be-
take himself and where his work is.
Again, a man-of-war has to be fought.
For that purpose her crew are divided
and appointed to particular stations at
quarters" There are the forward main
deck quarters, and after ~upperdeck quar-
tiers; forward upperdeck quarters,
after maindeck quarters and 80 on.
Each man belong to a particu-
lar division and a particular gun
in the division and a particular number
in the gun; 80 when the drum and fife
call him to quarters he knows just as
well where to go as he knew where to go
when the b~oatswain's pipe called him to
make or shorten sail.
Once more. ship has n social as well
as a naval or military life, and men eat,
drink and sleep there, rs in a village or
a barrack. Accordingly, the men are
divided into messes-each mess having
its own table at a certain place on the
lower deck, and one member of the mess
being cook, and going for its share OF
provisions to the galley each day. So,
too, every man has his bag for his clothes
and his hammock to sleep in. and has
prescribed hours and places for the use
Of both. And since a ship, as a whole,
e sleeps, there being no such com
plete suspension of life possible in a ship
as in n country mansion, all the officers
are divided into three watches, and all
the crew into two. The public opinion
of n man-of-war is as definitely known
and felt as that Of a town. The men
nave their ~favorite officers and their I'M
popular officers-just as the officers them
selves give n certain well understood
status to each of their own body, and
have n tendency TO split their messes into
cliques, according to taste and inclina-
tion.-Brooklyn Eagle.