The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1889-08-03
SCENES IN THE wARDsooM.
How Naval officers Spend Their Spare
rime on Long Cruise.

How Naval officers spend Their Spare I
Time on a Long Cruise.
New York STAR
The wardroom is an oddl little world,
where the riRors of red tape and off,
ciaiism are tempered by good fellow
ship or rendered we'll nigh unendurable
bv pe.ty tyranny. Each ship has
from ten 10 twenty officers in the
wardroom. Here, often within smaller
space than Is accorded to. as many con-
victs in a well-reguln,ed prison, these
men eat, dlink aud sleep. opening
off the vardroom saloon are the oh-
GERS private rooms-in most sn'ps uoy
apar,ments, barely high enough for
tall man to stand up in aud just ABOUT
long enough for him 10 lie down In.
Sitting at the wardroom table you may
snake hands with mas in the near
est bunk. Some of the new ships nave
larger wardroolns, and, again some OF
them haven't. a voyage OF tnree
mon,hs in these cramped quarters is
crucial test of mans social quah.les.
II the executive officer, who Is In ensct
the captain Of the wardroom, ne a
martinez or blackguard, which latter
| he seldom is, the ship IL hoa'ihe
hadee. Two or three evil spirits among
subordinate officers may make dozen
brother officers uncomfortable. Some
times a ship goes half round the world
with the Nardroom's occupants IN
state of mutual. hatred. Perhaps the
executive officer is unpopular, ano
three. fou.ths of his subordinates never
address him except in the course ol
duty. Perhaps the perennial war OF
line and staff ia such that the right side
of The dinner table finds it difficult to
be civil 10 the left side: These condi-
tions. however, seem to be compare
lively rare, and now and then the
wardroom is the scene OF absolute
peace aud good will. or course nearly
every wardroom has it's bore. Perhaps
he makes bad puns, perhaps he tells
long stories, perhaps lie talks about
himself, perhaps he rides q hobby.
He is soon found out. Indeed he is
often known beforehand, for there are
bores who have fame throughout the
navy. They have marred whole
generation of wardrooms in the China
Seas. going down Mediterranean, on
the home station, in the frozen north
In the tropics. Brother officers study
the register and rejoice to discover tha
! some old familiar bore will be retired
before another cruise.
What of WardroOm talk: First, anC
always chaff. The DOCTORS filtration
at Cape Town, the lieutenant's little s
at Zanzibar, one mans luck at card
in an English garrison, another's com
! ing examination for the next grade
: The little vanities, the personal habits
the petty likes aud dislikes OF each ar
known and hiuted at. Then there ar
stories to be told. One may tell tn
same story twice in cruise withot
- incurripg serious penalty, but ii tn
= cruise be long every inau is likely
haye spun his yarns until they al
g. known by heart. One man on an ar
tic cruise maddened by the "damnab
iteration" of long days In a solid ic
- pack. actually started to walk sou
over the froz IN ocean. He, hoWeve
was civilian, undisciplined by 9th
voyages. -,
A dczsu clever, wel!-educatcd, 60
natured men together find 1t inpos:
BILE to keep themselves up to genel
discussion of literary, social or poll
cal topics. The magazines, from one
three months old, are on board, a
the ship can muster some hundreds
readable books. These arc a resou'
when a shipmate is ill-tempered
tiresome. You shake for everythit
smith shakes. Jones for bottle
beer, and Robinson beas to be let
for cigar. Everybody looks on W
- interest, and all eagerly comment
z combinations of dice that has come
a hundred times before.
Monotonous, isn't it? What is
compensation? Moderate pay for ii
IS. slow, but sure promotion; unq'
toned social standing; the site
strange lands the world over
whatever moral reward comes OF la
yo' ful service to the Stars and stripe:
Great Orators Differ.