Arizona republican., 1893-06-21
CHANGES AT SEA.
,,tle of Romance Left in Jack Tar's Life.
,. Introduction of New Customs rrouGht About by the Use of Steam and Electricity on War
 Vessels.

The advent of steam and steel, en- .ires and electricity, to the navy has s,bbcd the life of . man-o'-war's man ,i much of the romance which clung o it for centuries, and, according to .Sc Boston Herald, scarcely month .ov rasscs without the introduction .t souc new custom or tho nodifica- s,n or abolition of some old ono, for ,h, purpose of adapting the routine of ,var ship to altered conditions. The Y,,c.t change is one of the most radi- ,,l of all, and calculated to give n .,5, blow to the conservative old salts rbo have maintained that the service ,o, been going steadily to the dogs since the removal of sails, smooth horc, and boarding bikes. 1t is no less , reform than the abolition of the ,;mc.honorcd custom of dividing tho ,bips company into two equal watch ., the starboard and the port, one of which had always, in the past, to be m deck at sea, pursuant to the watch and watch" system, which gave the acl tar four hours of rest alternating ,rith four of watch. In the old days of sails it was quite necessary to have half the crew standing by at all times n readiness to lay aft the braces, to ref topSail, to shorten or make sail. Brt we have changed all that, and the navy department now proposes another Nstcm.
 The huge machinery, with its pom 5erous boilers and powerful engines, {, now the motive power, and the deck force has little to do when under way beyond the hoisting out of ashes, keeping a lookout and preserving ceanlincss. Were it not for the man. rjnr of guns, the deck force required of modern war ship would hardly exceed onc-tcnth of the number for ncrly maintained. The ancient slcop- prcvcnting practice of keeping . hun ircd or more men on deck at all times is accordingly an anachronism.
 So it is now proposed to divide tho crew into four instead of two parts, and but one of these quarter watches, perhaps but half n quarter watch, will bc kept on deck under ordinary condi- tons at sea. These four equal divisions will be based upon the disposition of the battery with reference to sections ot the ahip the latter occupies. The sr,tcm of giving every man number will algo be changed. Heretofore the lu2b-r correspondcd to the part of ,h, ship" wherein a man was stationed, inc number from ono hundred and one ,3 two hundred inclusive, for instance, bciur asgigrcd to the forstopEcn, two hundred and ono to three hundred to t5e ulatutoprIcn, etc, odd rUnbCr1 be- i1ria t2c Gt2rboard watch and . n oa- il tLc port Int forCC@~.lc and ioreto7, r2aintop. rlia2cntop and after cuarl have disappeared with the part of the ship from which they t.l., their Eamc. Accordingly, each zan will be designated by fo-r rC:l- cral each having some Giguilcc2cc. Tan. .uppoGc q man's number should b.l..). The first numcral, "l," would signify his class of corps, ''2' his gun divi ion end .'20" his individual nun Der ia the class and division to which h. I.lo2gsL. Tho change, together with that above referred to of aboliGh- inr parts of ship" is indeed radical, and many q veteran of the oil navy, as he reads of it, will doubtless con- silcr it revolutionary and removing him and his own naval experience still further back in q past epoch, The beautiful old song: "Larboard Watch, Ahov." received it's first blow when the word port" was substituted for "larboard," in view of the confusion likely to arise from the latter wOrd'G similarity to ''starboari." Tine second blow has now come in the abolition of the watches" altogether.
 Another marked change is the new cap salute. The old naval salute, easy but unmilitary, was q simple raislE' 0tthc cap, almost identical with that commonly used between civilians Tn czcLanring greetings. Instead of this, M,saIuting officer or man who stands rgiIv at attention" brings his hand .1.r.ly and with precision to the viSor ottl, cap. and holds it there pIactlll, mry, with military accuracy ana asadincss, until the salute is rcturncd Tho oli style was, to say the least aou.1r. Tho new fashion i3 5r12rt .r -. ccrcmonious and military Thu thc changes 0uccccl each other Ara ly tho representative of the "ol. navy" feels constrained on the Gtoc hll. of the new, surrounded with un familiar weapons and in5trumonts g,ari1y and machaai5m generally cwjII soon feel considerably out ol