St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-07-13

looks TO his knives. In five minute.
the line officers return to the ward
room with the announcement that the
country is saved once more. Drill
follows quarters. It may be with
small arms. with muskets or whal
not One thing is assured, and that i.
that no seaman shall long remain in
the possession of leisure. II nothing
needs to be done. employment is in
vented. There is painting. mending,
washing. splicing aud a dozen other
more or less useful things of which .
landsman would not dream.
At half past eleven the officers. who
have had coffee and eggs some hours
before. are served with regular break
fast As it is paid for by themselves
It may be as good or bad as they
choose. At the same hour the ships
cook solemnly approached the officer
Of the deck. and presents for his ex-
animation samples OF tho seamen's
dinner. The officer with equal So
lemnity tastes each dish, and mayhap
makes . hearty meal The dinner
consists of excellent soup. some sort
of fresh or salt meat. two or three
vegetables, perhaps coffee and bread.
The meal is served at noon and fol-
lowed by pipes and tobacco. At p
m. the seamen are again ready for
work. More drill follows, and the af-
ternoon is filed up with whatever
needs to be done or can be invented.
At four o'clock the men take q slight
supper. and from five to six they
''stand by to do whatever work is
provided. At six the boatswain pipes
down hammocks. and the men take
the hammocks from the place on deck
where they have been airing all day
long. Pipes. music and yarn spin
ming follow until nine o'clock. when
all lights in the forecastle are extin-
guished and the men are supposed to
have turned in. After that all must be
quiet
At ten o'clock the ships corporal
enters the wardroom, or officers quar-
ters, and, turning out the lights. says:
Ten o'clock. gentlemen" He then
asks each officer whether he wishes
permission to keep q light for some
time longer in his room. An extern
sion of two hours may be granted.
The corporal reports the wishes Of tho
officers to the officer Of the deck. the
officer Of the deck reports them to the
the orderly reports them to
the Captain. ard the Captain. il he ap-
PROVE says: "very good" The orderly
says to the officer of the deck: '.Very
good. sir" tho officer Of. the deck says
to the corporal: 'Very good" and tho
says to each officer who has
asked for III extension: ''Very good,
SIR" This occurs three hundred and
sixty-five times in each ordinary year
and three hundred and sixty-six times
in leap year. No officer dares to keep
his light burning after ten o'clock
without the corporars VERY good.
SIR"
The story Of naval red tape would
ill a volume. and q very amusing vol
ume it would be to the civilian. Dick
ems circumlOcution Office was expedi-
tious compared with the conduct Of the
United States navy. Hoary customs
that have long outlived their useful
ness are continued. apparently for no
better reason than that they were
once necessary. Trifes arc magnified
into thing. Of moment, and there aro
petty regulations that, dis
obeyed. may bring down u reprimand
or cOurt-martial. Tho rules of the
precedence are cast iron. and no Euro
pean court is more jealous of etiquette
than is the American navy. The COM
mander of man-0f-war no longer has
power Of life and death over his sub
ordinates. though it is less than . gem
Grafton since the son of q Cabinet Of
ficer was hanged to the yardarm after
4 drumhead court martial. The Cap
tain is still a tremendous parsonage. He
lives alone in quarters that are COM
modius and sumptuous. compared with
those of his subordinate officers He
is surrounded by ceremonious observ-
ance. He has . boat's crew ut his beck
to carry him whittier he will. whether
on public or private business. His
quarter deck is sacred precinct, 50
that no officer save those on duty ther.
,lares to loiter upon its surface. His
the officer Of the
deck, though he be mere
ensign, receives the salute Of every sea-
man and officer in the ship. It has not
been guessed what would happen
any one smoke on . quarter
deck, and 50 much is the spot held in
awe that an officer passing touches
his hat. even though neither the Cap
tain nor the officer OF the deck y in
sight
One of the oldest examples Of formal
tiles and red tape is given 1t quarters
on the first Sunday Of the month. when
the muster takes place. Every one
comes to quarters that morning in full
dress. When silence has been COM
manded the First Lieutenant informs
the Captain. through the orderly. that
tho officers and crew are ready to mus
ter. The Captain then comes on deck
and bids the First Lieutenant read the
articles Of war. Thereupou the First
Lieutenant reads in his loudest voice
the said articles with their dreadful
fulminations against drunkenness.
gambling, profane swearing. treason
and other like crimes. He also reads
such general orders Is may have como
to the Navy Department The read
ing finished. he reports that the