St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-09-09
LIEUTENANT OF THE LINE.


4
When the civilian thinks Of the United
States navy the vision that arises be.
fore his minds eye Is the lieutenant;
this because the genuine lieutenant is
. line officer, and because there are
more lieutenants than there are line
officers Of all the higher grades com.
bined. To the civilian the line officer
is the only sure enough military sailor,
and all others are mere civilians with
make-believe titles The lieutenunt is
the type Of the American line officer.
He has i,een q cadet midshipman: he
may become a rcar-admiral. He has
been long enough in the service to have
acquired its characteristics tastes and
habits. He is long enough out Of civil
life to have forgotten many of the
things that interest mere shore folk.
lie Is a decpsea sailor. with love for
blue water. and the flush or bronze of
q dozen tropic climcs upon his cheek.
There are three hundred and twen-
| ty-five licutenants on the active lists
of Uncle Sans navy, sevcnty-five be-
ing of the junior grade, or one step
above the ensign. The slang term in
the navy for q senior lieutenant il
"bull' lieutenant. The bull lieuten.
| ant has been from nine TO thirty years
out Of the naval academy, and he NAV
reasonably hope to nc captain. il
ever in from twenty to twenty-five
| years. All things considered. the three
hundred and twenty-five lientenants
include the flower of the navy. They
have whatever education and discipline
come of passing successfully, through
the naval academy and weathering
many . cruise. They are neither boys
nor dotards, and certainly, il one were
to search the navy for the best
equipped men physically, one would
find them among the licutcnants.
When the civilian first finds himself
guest at the wardroom table he is
struck with the fine physique, military
bearing. courtesy. and aplomb of the
lieutena4ss. They are broad-should-
cred, fulf-chested, good-looking men.
between thirty and forty-five wears Of
age. The executive officer, who sits at
the head of the wardroom table and
represents the majesty Of the captain.
is as often ms not a lieutenant. So is
the navigator. Many of the men who
this grade. The specialists of the navy
are in large part lieutcnants Half
the scientific work done by the navy
falls upon the lieutcnants. So does
half the exploring. A lieutenant fig-
ures in every dangerous quest as a
man of responsibility, il not of author
ity. Naval neutenants are in all parts
of the country doing all sorts of special
duty. One is with the. e.interccntincntal
railway commission, one commands a
naval station in the far northwest. one
is studying electric lights at Norfolk.
others are inspecting ordnance. COM
manding survey vessels, and testing
stecl.s 80
The naval lieutenant is. perhaps, of
all men in the navy, the strongest par
tisan of line against staff. From his
place in the ward-room he has peculiar
opportunities for seeing the inequality
of the shares of work falling upon the
two arms of the service. lie is, above
all other officers, a man with gricv-
ance. He knows, perhaps, that he
mast be retired a grizzlcd veteran be-
fore he shall have attained the rank of
commander. He has married, possibly
as ensign. ten or fifteen years before.
and has a wife and family living in
some little city Of village upon a share
of the husba ndis modest pay. His old
est hoy, a STRIPPING already above his
fathers shoulder. visits the ship in
| l~-,~ Hh~r m ch;ou< -
well-brcd curiosity and Of some gcnu-
inc interest to the other inmates Of the
wartlroom. There is a touch of the pa
thetic in the fact. however, that the
boy might pass through the naval
academy. obtain his commission as en-
sign. and stand watch on the same deck
with his father, separated from him.
indeed, by grade and rank, but his
equal in authority.
The civilian, seeing the lieutenant
aboard ship in that simple and beauti-
ful undress uniform which suits 50 well
= stalwart masculine figure. finds II
difficult to believe that the man before
him is quite ready to recognize the
mere landsman as IN equal. The
civilian is not likely to discover the con-
trary as long as he is = guest of the
wardroom, since courtesy is the rule
there, and every visitor is made to feel
himself welcome. Lieutenants are made
Of much the same stuff as civilians.
There are some thousands of persons in
this country who grow mp 70 believe
themselves properly separated from the
rest of their fellow citizens by birth or
some other distinction. and some of
these. entering the navy, come in time
to be licutcnantA In doing this they
usually do not lose the prejudices Of
their early bringing up. There are
other thousands who are snobbish
enough to envy any sort of distinction
in others, whether Of birth. rank or
title. and some of these enter the navy.
When such men reach the rank Of
lieutenant they are prone TO make
civilians uncomfortably conscious of
the fact that lieutenant
nav in time become IN admiral,
and the companion Of presidents. or
even of kings But in spite of the es-
sent;ally aristocratic structure of the
navy. so broadly popular is now its
basis. that the democracy Of the coun-
try makes itself felt even in the ward
room. There are snobs who feel that
the military man is far above the mere
civilian, and occasionally the landsman
who comes aboard ship Is the guest OF
Z Junior Is made 70 feel the existence Of
this sentiment, a Goldfish rudeness that
excites shame and indignation at the
ward-room table. Perhaps every lieu
tenant has . shade Of regret in pres
ence of the fact that while his rank
and uniform would obtain for him in