The St. Johns herald., 1893-06-29
CHANGES AT SEA.
Little of Romance Left in Jack
 Tar'S Life.
The Introduction of New Customs Brought About by the Use of Steam and Electricity on War
 Vessels.

The advent of steam and steel, en- zines and electricity, to the navy has robbed the life of man-o'-war's man of much of the romance which clung to it for centuries, and, according to the Boston Herald, scarcely month now passes without the introduction of some new custom or the modifica- tion or abolition of some old one, for the purpose of adapting the routine of a war ship to altered conditions. The latest change is one of the most radi- cal of all, and calculated to give a rude blow to the conservative old salts who have maintained that the service has been going steadily to the dogs since the removal of sails, smooth bores and boarding bikes. It is no less a reform than the abolition of the time-honored custom of dividing the ships company into two equal watch es. the starboard and the port, one of which had always, in the past, to be on deck at sea, pursuant to the watch and watch system, which gave the jack tar four hours of rest alternating with four of watch. In the old days of sails it was quite necessary to have half the crew standing by at all times in readiness to lay aft the braces, to reef topsail, to shorten or make sail. But we have changed all that, and the navy department now proposes another system.
 The huge machinery, with it's pom derous boilers and powerful engines, is now the motive power, and the deck force has little to do when under way beyond the hoisting out of aches, keeping a lookout and preserving cleanliness Were it not for the man. ming of guns, the deck force required of modern war ship would hardly exceed one-tenth of the number for merly maintained. The ancient sleep preventing practice of keeping hun dred or more men on deck at all times is accordingly an anachronism.
 So it is now proposed to divide the crew into four instead of two parts, and but one of these quarter watches, perhaps but half a quarter watch, will be kept on deck under ordinary condi- tions at sea. These four equal divisions will be based upon the disposition of the battery with reference to sections of the ship the latter occupies. The system of giving every man number will also be changed. Heretofore the number corresponded to the part of the ship wherein man was stationed, the number from one hundred and one to two hundred inclusive, for instance, being assigned to the foretopmen, two hundred and one to three hundred to the maintopmen, etc., odd numbers be- ing in the starboard watch and oVcn ones in the port. But forecastle and foretop, maintop, mizzentop and after guard have disappeared with the ''parts of the ship from which they take their name. Accordingly, each man will be designated by four num- erals, each having some significance. Thus, suppose a mans number should be 1929. The first numeral, q" would signify his class of corps, ''2'' his gun division and "29' his individual num- Der in the class and division to which he belonged. The change, together with that above referred to of abolish ing ''parts of ship" is indeed radical, and many a veteran of the old navy, as he reads of it, will doubtless con- sider it revolutionary and removing him and his own naval experience still further back in past epoch. The beautiful old song: "Larboard Watch, Ahoy," received its first blow when the word port was substituted for ''larboard, in view of the confusion likely to arise from the latter words similarity to ''starboard." The 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 simple raising of the cap, almost identical with that commonly used between civilians Tn exchanging greetings. Instead of this, the saluting officer or man who stands rigidly at attention" brings his hand smartly and with precision to the visor of the cap. and holds it there punctili- ously, with military accuracy and steadiness, until the salute is returned. The old style was, to say the least, slouchy. The new fashion is smart, dressy, ceremonious and military. Thus the changes succeed each other. Already the representative of the ''old navy feels constrained on the steel hulls of the new, surrounded with un- familiar weapons and instruments, gearing and mechanism generally. He will soon feel considerably out of place.