Birmingham age-herald., 1895-07-20
RED, WHITE AND BLUE
THE OCEAN WAVE M...AayyE iS 4 VERY PA TRlOTlC NEWSPAPER.
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Cruiser New York-The Office Cat Is a Goat-A Poem of Passion Next to the Religious Corner.
 A blucjacket loves to sec himself in print. and it has been said of him that Inc generally succeeds in getting there even if he has to thrash policeman. Every flag ship of tho American navy has little printing establishment on board. It gen orally consists of a dozen fonts of type and a press All tho fleet printing is done by the men attached to Inc slip. Tho crew, or the portion of 1t that is capable, is al- lowed to publish newspaper on tho ship. These men of war papcrs arc often very at- tractivc little sheets, and one wonders how tho bluejackets manage to do so well with their limited printing facilities and iho ship rolling and tossing on the ocean. Tho reporter a few days ago received copy of The Ocean Wave, which is issued by tho crew of tho crack cruiser Now York, now at Kicl Most of tho issue is devoted to the crliisy in tho West Indies made be fore tho vessel went to Europe to ph.tici- pate in tho festivities.
 Tho Ocean Wave contains very few dull l 'ns It is printed on white paper in red, l .c black and green inks, tho colorcd inks being intended to represent the American and Irish colors. Tho heading of the paper is ornamonted with the coat of arms of New York state. The leading article or main story in the number ut hand relates to tho island of St. Thomas, where tho New York remained Tor several weeks. Tic cruiser was anchored oif tho town of Charlotte-Amalia, which The Ocean Wave declares is the only town on |. ~-s,t. f.a anchor the nativo colicrs began to coal her up The Wave tells part of the story in theso words:
 When n steamer is about to coal tho warning shrink of Il steam whistle summons the coal brigade from their retreat The coaling IS soon under way amid the chanting of weird song, now slow and trcnulous, HOW stronger, until it swells into one mighty chorus, not ,in- lko that of tho sailors shantee when yielding tho capstan bar. Tho pay is cent per basket of coal some carrying as many as 200 or 300 during tue coaling of steamer. When not thus employed, their pay is from d0 to 70 cents a day for discharging coal from the vessels which bring it here. Tho women are tho best workers, and those past middle ago moro so, for the younger ones, upon accommodating sufficient sum, will don their Sunday out and sally forth with some dusky swain, she inak- ing, he spending inc money.
 Among tho many things which attracted Editor Quinlan's attention at St. Thomas were tho coin divers, who loated around tho Now York, and he detailed ono of his best young men to write them mp. This is what The Ocean Wave reporter wrote about the coin divers;
 The natives who dive for coins never fail to put in an appearance upon the arrival of one of our men-of-war. ready to dive for any loose change that one might care to throw in the water Tho attention of the men on the fo'cstle being attracted by their incessant jabbering invariably ends in number of coins being tossed overheard and amid the happy shouts of the Thomians the divers plunge into the dopths quickly reappcarng with tho captured trophy, which they exhibit with every evi- donco of pride. It matters little whether tho proving sharks be uncomfortably near or not.
 Editor Quinlan went ashore himself, and in his walks came across n copy of q proclamation issued by King Christian TX of Denmark in 1867. The Ocean Wave prints it in full and humorously explains the situation that called it forth. Mean time the religious editor had been busying himself, and in corner of tho paper he advises his shipmates to "get in heavenly stores. .' The concluding paragraph of his article is couched in these impressive and eloquent terms:
 The dawn Of new century is approaching, likewise many stately shps hence many men. Therefore let sincerely hope that while the wise men of our country are fathcring our glorious navy, that "the man behind the gun" will be found surging to the front in his spir- itual welfare by zcalously perusing the hoav- enly chart and finally cast anchor in that har- Dor where there are neither storms nor sor- rows.
 But immediately alongside of this plea -tNx, t.N. ltAfr which must have sncaked into the paper during tho goats absence. It is poem of passion, dedicated to ladies, champagne and song and winds up with a glowing tribute to tho fair lasscs who assemble nightly at Johnnie McGuirk's on the Bowery" The personal column which jostles tho religious editors department, contains the following insinuating refer ence to one James O Brien of the New York crew:
 If you want to hear of very interesting narrative, would advise my shipmates to ask J. OBrion, oiler, to relate his experience in the Tenderloin district and Essex Market po- lice court. The Lexow committee don't figure in it in the least. Tabeau-Captain Price, judge and James show up very clever in a farcical comedy. Red light Don't go again, James, dear boy. Ever yours, $l5.
 Tho Hibernian department is printed in rcd and green ink, with the green above the rcd. It is made up of personals prin- cipally, and these arc q few examples:
 E. S. Porter-If but a mug were here.
 Nj J. Hessian-A Revolutionary relic.
 John Bond-'Tis good for three years.
 ". II. Christan-The only one aboard.
 w. J. ONeil-To me, ye cooks, O hneel!
 J. r. Furlong-A good target at 220 yards
 L. Il. Potts-A handy utensil in tho second div.
 Walter Boon-Wc crave your subscription.
 The carpenters gang calking good set of fellows.
 Anthony Murphy, cold air manufacturer aboard informed Wave reporter the other day that ice wasn't what t's cracked up to be-
 James Hart the originator of the scheme to make fast rope to Ireland and tow it to America, is ever the same old hearty James.
 The business end of Tho Ocean Wave is not neglected. The paper contains num- ber of advertisements, of which two are as follows:
 GIUSSEPPI BONATI
 tAlias 'tShocmake'D.
 The Man O war Cobblcr,
 Musical Barracks,
 Near Ocean Wave, New York
 Mcnding and repairing neatly done.
 JOHN GRIFFIN.