The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-17
ON A MAN-o,-wAR IN WINTER.
Some Of the DiscomfOrts of Sailor
men in Cold Weather.

New York Evening Sun.
Since the recent cold spell set in the Of
fcers of the Bureau of Navigation, knowing
the discomfort and inconvience of a winter
on ShipbOard in a cold climate, have Or
regions. But there are still number of
ships left in the Brooklyn navy-yard, and
the crews of these ships have probably
suffered as much from the cold wave as
anybody else in the vicinity
Jack Tar. however,sis so used to cold win
ters that he regards, them as matter OF
course, and never does any complaining,
and SO people on shore think that the per-
son who has the most cold to bear is the
poor individual who has boarding house
hall room without gas or fire.
But, though the latter place is very cold,
q modern man-of-war is second only to the
frigid zone in lowneSS of tempature. The
daily routine must be carried out no matter
how intense the cold, and at $50 o'clock
every morning the bugle calls the sailors
deck men Aa''''0'As - INC oo'0 spar
Then comes the lashing and slowing of
the hammocks, and the barefooted sailors
run on the ice-covered spar deck to the net
tings where the hammocks must be slowed.
Hot coffee is afterward served to- the crew,
SWANS whistle is heard, followed by the
cry turn to-
Then each sailor whether he be an ap-
prentice boy of one years service or a
fo'c'sle captain of thirty years experience.
who can tell stories of the glories of the
his boots, put out his pipe and stand by
for the next order, which is: "All hands
scrub deck!''
The thin coating of ice which generally
covers the deck of a man-of-war on a jan
uary morning is quickly washed away by
the hot water which is pumped up from
brushes and holystones-so called probably,
because they cause SO much un-holy lang
uage-and then the dirt of the day before
is washed off of the deck.
1t is very near seven bells, nautical time,
and 1880 o'clock according to the landsman's
watch, before the scrubbng is finished, and
nothing n
warm until 7:4O when the boatswain's
whistle plays the mess gear call.
as cooks run to the gun deck, put their
mess tables in position, put out the bowls
and dishes, and at o'clock breakfast is
ready and all hands go below to their
messes.
Breakfast over and the pipes came out
a And smoking ne is in order until o'clock.
clad, and it is only at certain times that
it can be INDUCED in.
These times are called smoking lamp
hours. Sailors not allowed to carry
matches, and so, when smoking is allowed,
lamp is lighted and hung on the foc'sle,
but the taking down of the lamp is a
signal. for all pipes out.
Unlike the civilian the sailor does not per-
form his additions until after breakfast,
for no fresh water can be obtained until
that time. and around this season of the
year there is generally a coating of ice in
The sailors must then discard their dirty
working suits, put on clean suits, polish
their rifles and clean the big guns before
$50 o'clock, and at that time they are
called to quarters by the bugle.
AT. At quarters the men stand in a row in
vlslonal officers pass along the line and in
spect their clothing and equipments.
II shoe is unshined, strap unbuckled
brass work the owner of that particular
shoe, buckle or piece of brass must stand
four-hour watch on the quarter deck
with the chill wind from the lower bay
whistling around his ears.
Generally a. little bit of work can be
found in the double bottoms or water-tight
compartments to occupy Jack until dinner
time. The bottoms are below the water
line: 1t is generally VERY cold down there.
After dinner is over and pipes have been
stored away, a little infantry drill is held
on the spar deck. Jack does not wear
gloves, and the cold steel of a gun barrel
Will sometimes make his fingers as stiff
as a poker.
Drill is over at $3.50 O'Clock and then Jack
thawfng time, for 1t is then that the
blue jackets cluster around the galley fire
and and, get warmed up for the setting up
Grill, which comes next on the programme
Settlng-up Grill is system of dumb bell
exercise that the regulations require to be
gone through once day by the sailors.
supper over, and the coolest and meanest
drill Of the day is held. That is the night
signalling Companies of twenty men go up
which are flashed out from the masthead
by an officer who sits in a nice warm con-
Then the hammocks are taken below,
swung. and the sailors turn in at 8
is in his hammock, for Jack has a trick
of taking one end of his blanket between
his teeth and the other between his feet
then he lies down and rolls into it until
1T is wrapped around him several times
and through that covering no cold can
penetrate.
Though the winter days are the shortest
they seem longest to the sailor, who with
out gloves and with no neck covering,
works in the water and wind
An old sailor who was speaking of the
cold weather several days ago said that
the only reason why sailors did not freeze
to death was that the government always
held back two months pay from them.
And" said he, mo sailor would die and
leave money to the government no matter
how cold he was"