The record-union., 1893-08-16
HERMIT ABOARD SHIP.
Events in the Life of Naval Com
mander.
Usage and Necessity Demand that the
Captain of a Warship Hold Aloof
From Subordinates.

When a British Admiral and a mid
shipmite of 10 or thereabouts hipped a
coin to see who should take an odd place
in game OF tennis at Norfolk, L nited
States naval officers look on with some
astonishment. When another British
midshipmite plucked the sleeve of his
Captain in this city and said: "We're
going to see the town; don't you want to
go along? Nobody will know you," and
the Captain declined, good-naturedly
adding to a bystander, "D'ye hear the
youngster?" American naval officers
wondered how soon a naval cadet would
attempt such familiarity with the COM
mander of a United States man-of-war.
If the Lieutenant is the type of the line
officer, the Captain may be esteemed a
type of himself. The Lieutenant is essen
tally and necessarily gregarious. He
must live at close quarters with other men
of varying ranks above and below him,
and must accept the discipline that such
life implies if he is to continue in the
navy with any degree of comfort to nim-
sell 1t Is regarded by the New \ ork
Sun as a fortunate thing that the Captain,
as Lieutenant and Ensign, must have en-
countered this discipline, else the life that
naval regulations impose upon him must
develop the Captain into peculiarly un-
pleasant person.
AS soon as United States naval officer
steps from the wardroom to the cabin a
whole sci OF habits, The growth of thirty
years III the service, drop from him as a
cast-on garment. From the social being,
penned between four narrow walls with
a dozen OF his kind, and dining always
IN company with his fellows from the
subordinate, looking to some higher
power Tor instructions as to the very coat
he shall put on, he becomes a lonely auto
craI, forbidden by naval regulations TO
share his mind with his shipmates, re-
CURED to make the line OF demarkation
between himself and all else on board un-
Unstable and mpassable.
y LONELY AUToCRAT OF THE SEA.
The American commanding officer is
The hermit OF the sea. Ills cabin Is some
times nearly as large as the wardroom
that shelters q dozen Subaltern officers.
lie has his own cook, his own steward,
his own orderlies, his own boats crew to
take him whlthersoever he will. His
power is absolute and autocratic, and he
Is intended to be just what he is, an awe
inspiring creature, conspIcuousIy lifted
above his fellows, and OstentauouSiy sur
rounded by all the marks of form and
rank. 1t matters not what man may
have been in the wardrOom, he must be
in the cabin a selt-centered autocraU, and
the commander who should seek by IA
miliarities to change the outward aspect
OF his relations to subordinates would be
guilty OF an improperly, and might en-
counter the disapproVal of his SuperiOrS.
Individual Captains diner in the degree
OF strictness with which they carry out
the autocratic theory. Every Captain
now and then accepts an invitation To
N a II * TalaeA thar :
at the right of the executive officer, who
sits at the head OF the table. This invita-
ton is always given when new Captain
comes aboard the ship, and 1t Is repeated
from time TO time during the cruise. The
Captain unbendS on Such occasions, and
the wardroOm does not greatly alter its
routine. Most Captains, from time to
time. invite one subordinate or another to
a meal in the cabin. If Lhe meal is lunch
con, the otficer comes in the dress OF the
day, which has been prescribed TO all on
board by the Captain early in the morn
ing. If the meal be dinner, the guest or
dinarily presents himself in full dress
uniform. With some Captains these in
Vitations are frequent, but with many
they are comparatively rare. a naval
officer who has seen nearly ten years Of
sea service. says that he has not taken
three meals in the cabin during that
whole period, and he has served under at
least half dozen commanding officers.
Some Captains now and then go ashore
with subalterns, but tins is a rare case OF
unbending.
This ceremony of a Captains going
ashore is really one of considerable in
terest, especially if he is a Captain that
lives up TO all his privileges. He has four
side boys" which mean that four sailors
stand at the gang plank to see him safe
into his boat. This practice is not alto
8 i,t
came down from time when the con-
veniences for getting off and on man
Of-War were less comfortable than they
now are. The four boys were intended
TO see that the Captain caught rope at
the right movement and went over the
side without risk to bump or impairment
OF dignity. Even a Lieutenant is en-
titled to two boys. The Captains gig is
usually manned by enough sailormen to
insure speed and confer dignity. AT ordi-
nary times no commissioned officer ac-
companies the boats crew and the Cap
tain always acts as his own steersman.
There is a vast amount of whistling as
the Captain goes and comes and any
body who happens to be about makes the
proper military salute The Captain
must be saluted at all times. Even more
the quarter deck must be saluted though
the Captain be nowhere visible. That
sacred precinct is place to be held in
awe Dy every man on DOarQ. NO one
may loiter on the starboard side when in
port or To windward when at sea. An
officer has been reprimanded for reading
a letter even on the port side. 1t does
not comport with discipline that a sub
ordinate come betwixt the wind and the
Captains nobility.
WEIGHED DOWN BY RESPONSIBILITY.
1t is the Captains business to be re-
sponsible to higher powers for all that
happens aboard ship. He is held re-
sponsible for the safety .of the craft and
the lives OF all on board. That, in naut-
ical phrase, is what be ships tor. He has
an executive officer TO police the ship, a
navigator TO sail her, engineers to tend
her machinery, and Junior officer to at
tend his official writing. Ifthese men do
we'll the Captains is the glory. Ii they
do i'll the blame falls Immediately upon
him. With ship and stores, with per-
haps millions and the safety of hundreds
committed to his care, the Captain lives
under strong sense of responsibility
If the weather be bad he may pass most
of the day and night upon the bridge.
Captains crossing the Pacific in stormy
weather sometimes have not so much as
two hours unbroken sleep in a fortnight.
Many Captains insist that they shall be
called at any hoar of the night when a
light is made, whether ahoaI or ashore.
Waiting Lieutenants are fond of saying