Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-11-04

the navy. the marine
corps and the engineer corps.
During this two years. cruise which NAV
embrace almost any portion of the known
world the naval cadets are expected to be-
come familiar with the practical duties Of a
naVai oincer. for while the four years the
oreueai course at Annapolis is an ideal one
rum theoretical standpoint, there seems
" De no other way to learn the practical
WORKING OF modern man-of-war than to
serve upon one under all the varying condi-
lions of active service.
The difficult problem of obtainine srfH-
eieh' space for everything and every one
ABOARD a ship is constant source of trou-
BILE to the naval architect. As to room for
'ne ofncers-the captains and admirals must
never be stinted. and the ward room Off.
GERS long service entities him to enough
room to live comfortably-but some one
must be cramped, and generally 1t is the
junior officer: SO often eight or ten of them
are crowded in a room not larger than eigh-
teen by ten feet. And in this limited space
they sleep. eat and live: but youth is buoy
ant and the young gentlemen are generally
happy In spite of their restricted room. This
apartment in the days Of the old sailing
rrlgates was given the name "steerage."
ana IN spite of the fact that it Is now Off
ciaily known as tie Junior officers quar-
ters' the old name ci.ugs to it and is al
most universally used.
An Economy of Space.
In such small apartment every inch of
space must be used. so all around the sides
are rows Of little cupboards. or lockers as
they are called aboard ship, and In these
the young officers stow a wardrobe consist
ing OF six or eight complete suits of uni
FORM. and a complete outfit of citizens
cIothlhS, DOCKS for a course of study In
seamanship and navigation, and inuurner-
aoie trophies from the foreign lands visited
on the cruise How they do it no one knows
and after two years Of life witt such a
wardrobe 1 found it took two large trunks
70 hoid the contents of a couple of lockers
that looked too small for any practical use
OFTEN the locker doors are covered witI,
photographs of fair beauties from every
corner of the globe and remember one
where beautiful picture of an American
girl In evening dress. and the natural mic
ture of Patagonian squaw in almost no
dress at all were side by side vet the djf-
ference was only one Of degree Threa or
Iour Httie round portfolios. that must be
closed at sea to keep out the water, give
nght anu air 70 the steerage during the day
While at night all is Respondent with cleo.
trlc lights. The problem Of fresh air often
becomes serious one, especially in the
tropics. where the exhaust fans of he arti-
nclal ventilators fail to keep the tempera-
tUre down when eight or ten people occunv
such a restricted space. 1t is a standing
sea, as sudden squall might come up and
careen the ship over before the ports could
De closed. which might admit enough water
10 endanger the ship. and in fact this was
.ne reason assigned for the capsizing of
the English ship Eurydice Off the Irish
coast. But in spite of the danger when
the thermometer ranges around one hun
dred and several days out have made the
decks almaCf OF
Will surreptitiously open a port for a few
minutes. One day last winter while a
Ihlted states man-of-war was steaming
through the tropical Caribbean a ioIIy
crowd of dozen junior officers were anus
ing themselves as best they could in the
stirling heat. Two lay on the hunks that
stretched along the outer side under the
ports which were closed, another was care
fully drawing an elaborate chart that was
to go into his journal of the cruise and
others read or played cards on the mess
table in the center.
An UnlOOked-fOr Catastrophe.
The scene was peaceful, but a disturber
came in the person of one Of the Young
officers, who had been on deck and said the
sea was like glass and advised .some
one to open the ports, as not a drop of
water could come in on such a smooth
Gay ga Accordingly a port over one of the
sleepers was opened. All went well for a
rev minutes and the breeze of fresh sea
air was welcome. indeed, but suddenly the
course was changed on deck and the shin
gave a roll that put the open port under
water. perfect torrent poured in, delug-
ing the sleeping pay clerk who awoke with
sudden thoughts of collisions and capsiz-
ing, running the patient work of the chart
draughtsman and wetting clothing in the
drawers and lockers. The ill-timed adj
wiser escaped on deck, but the poor fellow
VINO bit at the joker's bait and opened the
port got the brunt of the pay clerks artjs-
tically profane remarks and the equally
appropriate expostulations of the chart
maker.
All the Junior officers sleep in the steer
age, two or three in narrow hunks and
the rest in hammocks hung close together
from the beams overhead. During the day
the hammocks are made up and slowed
away, and when meal time comes the ex-
tension tables are stretched out and the
meals served from the little pantry where
the steward presides The young officers are
well supplied with servants-a mess of
ten officers generally having a steward,
cook, and three servants-an of whom are
paid by the government, and regularly en-
listed In the service, but all the provisions
are purchased by the members OF the mess
and the table linen. dishes. and cutlery are
also the property of the members. One of
the young officers Is elected Caterer of the
Mess. rather doubtful honor, since his
duties consist in a general supervision of
the servants and meals, and he is also
treasurer Of the mess funds, which are Of
LADIES' GOODS