Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1890-12-27
In THE NAVY.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME AZ
TER ALL ON CHRISTMAS DAY.

TER ALL ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
Dong dongl Dong-dong Four
bellsl Six o'clock on q winters
morning and Christmas day has fair,
" begun for Jack far out at sea.
On the bridge the quartermaster
at the wheel has no thought appar-
emily beyond the compass in the
lighted pinnacle before him; the off,
Ger of the deck in rubber coat and
boots stands beside him on the bridge,
looking of through the gloom across
the waste of heaving water, or giving
a glance aloft now and then at the
bellying sails, and again ahead at the
lookouts by the bow-sprit. The
green and red lights in the star board
and port rigging shine bravsly, and
the masthead light sends glimmer
down to the deck, where the men on
watch lie about IN sheltered hooks
and the sergeant Of the guard walks
two and fro with q semi-military swing
that accommodates itself wonderful
~ well to the motion of the ship.
1t is cold gray morning ; sky
dark with hurrying clouds, and the
wind blowing in sharp gusts from
the northeast, with wicked promise
of more before long, driving sleet
and frozen spray full in your face
and coating the staunch cruiser with
ice from stem to stern.
The sound of the bell has scarcely
died away when the clear notes of
the bugIe come swelling after, sound
ing the reveille. Then the gruff voices
of the boatswain's mates call: "A-all
ha-a-ndsl Up all hammocks |" Ev-
erybody turns out-marines, appren-
tice boys, firemen. cooks, sailors
each man jumps into his trousers
and shoes, then folds his hammock
and carries it up through the matches
to the netting in the bulwarks.
Fifteen minutes are allowed for
this duty and fifteen more for coffee
and a smoke. Then all hands turn
to and work until broadcast time, for
ships routine never varies for
holiday. There are decks to scrub
as usal. and before it is light enough
even to turn off the electric circuit
on the spar deck the pumps are
working, and Jack with bucket and
broom is making his ship tidy for
the day.
! But it is heathful exercise after
all and when the bos'n's pipe whistles
"mess gear" at 1850 . NJ, the sailor
man has an appetite for his break
fast. This meal, which is eaten at
eight O'Clock, consists ordinarily OF
beacon, beans or mush, hard tack
and black coffee. For Christmas
fare the men have probably set apart
some of their wages before leaving
the last port, and if they have not
been long out the mess may provide
bacon and eggs this morning, con-
densed milk tor the coffee and can
ned fruit of some kind.
At S:45 .ssick CALL" Men who are
under the surgeons care report at
the dispensary, and any case of sick
ness that has developed in the past
twenty-four hours is accommodated
in the sick bay. All hands turn to
now and work during the morning
watch. The shining of guns, the
hand rails and brass fittings all over
the ship, must be polished, and there
is many jobs beside for a seaman's
hands before the drum beats guar
ters,n at $50. If the call were ''gen-
eral quarters" the ship would be put
into lighting trim. The MARINES,
fully armed and equipped, would
fall in, tackle would be rugged over
the ammunition matches for passing
cartridges and shell up to the gun
deck each gun crew would cast
loose its piece, open the port and
prepare the gun for action. Mean
while rifles, revolvers and cutlasses
would be seized from the racks and
squads of men would be drilling in
different parts Of the deck.
The modern navy, with it's scien-
tific electrical and steam appliances,
the breech-loading rihed cannon and
revolving machine-guns requires
much more intelligence in its per-
sonnet than did the wooden frigates
and line of battle ships thirty years
ago. The men of our "white squad
ron" are young in years, but they are
vastly superior in knowledge to the
"grim sea dogs" who pulled rope
or stopped ball in the days when
ships fought yard arm to yard arm.
Jack to-day has learned that the steel
projectile is superior to the board
ing pike. He has been taught to
use his head as well as his hands,
and he understands that in war eff
cheney in handling q Hotchkiss gun
would be more valuable than skill
with the cutlass. Apprentice boys
on any of our cruisers can give a sur
prisingly accurate description of the
armament. In the engine and fur
mace rooms there is some familiarity
with the dynamo, distilling apparat-
US forced draught and other improve
ments in steam navigation and the
sailor on the gun deck shows in ex-
planning the hydraulic recoil buffer
Of the gravity gun carriage.
But this is Christmas morning, and
at "quarters" the officers may substi
tute for the arm Of fire drills the
simple service Of the church. The
men are mustered aft on the gun
deck, and the chaplain, standing
little apart from the officers, at the
foot of the companion hatch, reads
the impressive ritual. Then he prays
for the safety of the good ship and
her crew and for the dear ones at
home. The sermon is short one,
but it goes home to every man be-
fore him; for he tells the simple
story of the cross, of the Christ
child, borne earth-ward on that won
drous Christmas-tide, that has ebbed
and flowed through two thousand
years. The church service never
seems more solemn than at sea. Jack
may be rough and ready, aye, reck-
less, too; he deliberately breaks the
rule of the ship and is punished by
week in irons in the 'brig,n but his
heart is simple as q child's and the