New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-21

songs sung, games played. and letters written TO
parents and fair ones.
In these days steam has suppanted sails in the
Navy, hence the sailors calling has changed, and
there Is not the same dangerous charncter Of the
to the steam vessels as there used 10 be 10 the
sailing ships. The sailor used to take more note Of
the appearance Of the sky, the clouds and the planets
the guides to him TO the coming weather; but
the following proverb has not the significant mean
ing to him that 1t once had:
The evening sn red a. ana moi morn d,S gray
But tho evening gray and the morning red
Makes the sailor shake his head.
The sailors life on cruising ship has much i'm
proved in the last few years. and many Of the stories
told Of the unhappy lot Of the men on the new ships
are pure fabricatons one Of the improvements is the
food The old ration with all its repusvc features
is entirely done away with. The "weevily7 biscuit
and the putrd salt horse' longer served out
on board the warshps; there such things now
wormy dried apples rotten butter, "bootes coffee,
and the vile soup and bully" the term applied by
sailors to bouillOn, the making Of which be usually
described as "two buckets Of water and 0ngyon,
makes &c good sOupe de bOuilOn.' The Navy rations
to-day include good coffee roasted in the beam pilot
bread. -four, tea, oatmeal hominy. timed ham, deslc-
Gated vegetables, sucootash, etc. In former years a
sailor rarely got liberty shore Oftener than once
In three months, and was sometimes kept on board
a whole year without being permitted 10 tread the
sand But he is permitted TO 90 ashore two or
three times a month for periods Of from twelve to
twenty-fOur hours. providing he j. out Of debt and
does not get drunk and becmc rlotoas shore Most
OF the sailors of to-day read and write; in fact
il is in rare instances that sailors Of the Navy have
both Of these requirements The ships the methods
Of discipline the pay and the general conduct Of the
service have undergone complete transformation.
Each ship has its library. and its Interest and value
are enhanced when it IS added by phanthropic
Citizen as. for instance the gift Of entire library
by well-knOwn citizen OF this State to the cruiser
NcwYork. The books OF library of "A Navy ship
will be found at the end Of three years cruise 10
have been wethumbed over. The natural instinct
OF the enlisted whether they be Of the engineers
department. the marine the sailor-is toward fiction.
As they have strong love Of life of adventure they
have strong love for tales Of adventure. The
stories Of young sailors whose lives saved by the
little Testaments which their mothers gave to them
not attractive reading to hem but they like sr scnsa
tional tales such Marryatts. Jules Verne's and
Edgar Fawoett's Pickwlck Papers," Oliver Twist
sold Curiosity Shop in fact, any Of Dckens's writ
ings. will be found to be absolutely grimy from the
thumblng received during the cruise
If Jack Is a good boy mot necessarily leader IN n
Sunday school; but good In the that sailor ought
to be good, and is not saucy to his superior officer
not refuse to do duty, does not ince his fellows
to mutlnous conduct and from leave in a fairly
punishments provided for the rccacitnts by regula
ton but II he IS inclined TO be bad fellow he may
as well succumb to the incvl,ableand submit to Navy
regulations
An old Naval "chesnut" wiped OF It's mould
short time ago and told new thing and. although
old Navy officers recognized It's condition
there many citizens no doubt an Over-cIcdulous
many who thought 1t morsel and easy Of dlges
ton. 1t was the effect that commander of one OF
had Sted IN hat ho h.d
just left his ship the happest crew that was
got together and I'm explanation he boosted al have
just logged Onehalf Of the crew, and they were glad
II over; and the other half glad they didn't
get in it," II is safe to make affidavit that the state
ment was simply and cmphaticaly untrue, without
scintlla OF fact to build such structure upon.
Flogging In in the Navy before 1851, but
Ii abolished by the efforts Of senator Robert +.
stockton. Of NewJersey. who had been officer in the
Navy and something OF this baTbarous OF
punishment. One of these methods OF nogging
called marrying the gunners daughter" and In
0ctcd for minor offence The offender seized
the back Of the neck and held firmly of the
big guns. while the merry boaswans mate wou.d give
him "A warming dozen with colt" As a rule. It was
n week before the punished offender coud sit down
lie his back without being reminded Of the painful
ceremony. The colt was piece Of rope with
Turks head Ia fancy braided knott at one end. and
carried about BY the boatswan's mate. by skilful
handling Of the colt the logger could make the blows
hard or easy his prejudice might suggest. Floggng
was usually punishment by sentence Of court
martial and then inflicted in the presence OF all
the officers and crew assembled the quarterback
fo- that purpose. The number Of strokes was
always stated In the sentence. and the surgeon
of the ship always ordered to be present to
see how the couId stand the severe punish
ment. The man TO be logged was stripped TO the
waist his hands were secured TO the rigging his
bls feet upcd IL,
platform upon the deck. Two dozen lashts was not
an infrcquent number. but II the offence were grave
one the sentence would be "ashing round the feet
that is taking the prisoner TO each vessel in the
feet 10 receive dozen lashes upon each. To
"colt' was also always Pill In the exercising OF
spars and sails aoft. The last man up the rigging
and the last man down always received stroke Of