The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-09-15

doubtless came down from a time
when the conveniences for getting
off and on a an-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 of bump or
impairment Of dignity. Even a
lieutenant is entitled to two boys.
The captains gig is usually
manned by enough sailors to in
sure speed and confer dignity. At
ordinary times no commissioned
officer accompanies the boats crew
and the captain always acts as his
own steersman. There is a vast
amount of whistling as the captain
goes and comes and anybody who
happens to be about makes the
proper military salute. The cap
tain must be saluted at all times.
Even more, the quarter deck must
be saluted though the captain Is
nowhere visible. That sacred
precinct is place to be held In
awe by every man on board. 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 sub
ordinate come betwixt the wind
aud the captains nobility.
WEIGHED DOWN BY RESPONSE
It is the captains business to be
responsible to higher powers for
all that happens aboard ship. He
is held responsible for the safety of
the craft and the lives of all on
board. That, in nautical phrase,
is what he ships for. He has an
executive officer to police the ship,
Il navigator to sail her, engineers
to tend her machinery and jun
ior officer to attend his official
writing. If these men do well the
captain 10 the glory. If they do
i'll the blame falls Immediately
upon him. With ship and stores,
with perhaps 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 some
times have not so much as two
hours unbroken sleep in a fort
night. Many captains insist that
they shall be called at any hour of
the night when a light is made,
whether ahoat or ashore. Waiting
lieutenants are fond of saying that
captains too commonly take their
responsibilities with something Of
nervous dread because they reach
command when past their prime
and after passing their best years
as subordinates. The youngest of
the forty-fve captains, the ink on
his new commission scarcely dry,
cannot be many months short OF
fifty. The oldest was acting mid
shipman fortythree years ago.
Even the commanders who were
captains by courtesy when in COM
mand of ships are from As to so
years of age.
Ten years of command hardens
most men into dictatorial atti-
tude that is not altogether aban-
doned even ashore and in domestic
life. When captain and ensign
meet ashore and III civilians dress,
the guests of a civilian, they are
both merely gentlemen, but the
thoughtful civilian would be care
full to ascertain the captains feel
ing upon the subject of meeting
the ensign before inviting them to-
gether 1t would be a caddish cap
tain and a snobbish ensign WHO
should, on finding themselves by
acc dent guests at the same table,
permit anything in their conduct
to betray the consciousness of d
| difference in rank. A few of the
genuine old sea dogs with the rank
of captain or commodore, still re-
tain the early nautical belief that
it becomes the commanding officer
to damn the eyes or any other
offending feature of persons about
them, and the habit asserts itself
sometimes ashore even in the do
nestle circle. These are the men
who recall time when a captain
may inhict the penalty of death
upon a mutineer, a power that dis
appeared after a mutinous son of a
cabinet officer swung one morning
from the yard arm of an American
man-of-war.-L Sacramento Union.