Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-03-21
FRIENDSHIPS IN THE NAVY.
"A Long Cruise n Severe Test of the Social
Qualities of Shipmates

when you ask anyone of the twelve
hundred commissioned officers of the
navy If he knows this or that brother
officer, the reply is likely to be YES.
with qualification. Il met him in
the Mediterranean ten years ago and
= once since at the New York navy ward p"
may be the answer, or '.We were shin
mates on the Asiatic station, and after
ward met at Montevideo," or s.He was
IN my class at the academy, but we
didn't hitch, and I've seen him ONLY
Twice since we received our commits
sions."
There are warm friendships in the
navy, as elsewhere, and friends some
times have the luck to serve together
on two long cruises in the course of ten
years, but classmates at the academy
seldom see as much of one another in
their whole subsequent careers as they
did during their pupilage. Some of
the warmest< friendships are be-
tween men in different arms of the
service and of different ranks, but
friendships are likely to originate, if
at all, in the great body of lieutenants,
junior and senior. When a man passes
out of the ward-room to the cabin he
is lost to his old companions of lower
rank. and the higher a man rises the
fewer his friends in the service. An
executive officer, if of the right stamp,
is likely to make and keep friends. He
can make the ward-room unpleasant.
If he is of surly temper, and he can
bring comfort to every one of twenty
subordinates If he have genial, kind
ly nature.
hoe
In the service he is likely to be known
Dy reputation to a majority of the
whole body of commissioned officers
He has done, in that time, between sea
and shore duty. the equivalent of three
full cruises, and perhaps little more.
He has served in imme diate personal
contact with fully one hundred fell
low officers, and he has met,
Z casually and otherwise, perhaps
twice as many more. If he
be man of marked peculiarities his
fame rapidly travels throughout the
navy. The best whist players are
known as such in many ward-rooms.
The man of general information has
the reputation of an encyclopedia
wherever the ships of the navy go.
The man of dangerous temper is adver-
tised even more widely than the pleas
ant man. One officer, now of high
rank, is SO dreaded throughout the
service that men hear with genuine
uneasiness of his assignment to the
ship on which they serve. Some such
men are as effectually marked as
though they wore a placard labeled
Beware the dog" The nagging
executive officer and the nervous cap
tain are objects of peculiar detestation.
Perhaps an officer is valued by his
fellows above all things for the quail
ties that give him the reputation of
being good shipmate. BriIliancy.
courage. industry and faithfulness to
duty are all admired, and the man
with a notable record for any of these
things is an object of generous
pride to his fellows, but he is not loved
as is the good shipmate. The latter
must be man of patience, reticence.
> self-control and good temper. He need
not be lacking in self-assertion or we'll
knit character, but he must, above all
things. have savoir faire, and he must
be as far as possible from bore.
Such man goes from ship to ship
heralded with congratulations from
those he is leaving to those about to be
blessed with his genial presence. The
man that carries such a reputation
from one ship to another after a three
years cruise must, however, be in some
degree angelic. A long cruise is the
grave of many friendships. 1t tests
temper and breeding as only marriage
can in the case of ordinary NOR
tails. The daily attritions of a
business Office are sufficiently trying,
but they cease once day for at
least twelve hours, and once a week
for thirty-six hours, while those of the
ward room take only short respites. 1t
is fortunate that the exigencies and
accidents of the service seldom leave
the personnel of the ward room alto
gether unchanged for full three
years cruise. The new man that comes
in, if he bring the right reputation, is
as welcome as a we'll in the desert.
There are many odd regulations
throughout the navy. Some men are
famous as dandies; a few as beauties
One is known as concealing unusual
tenergy of character beneath peculiar
ly-listless exterior. A few have the
perilous repute of being good story
tellers. One marine officer is said to
be able to give shrewd advice as to
shopping in all the maritime capitals
of the world. One line officer of high
repute in peculiar speciality is known
in half a dozen ward rooms as
a man whose temperament lays him
open to chaff. The bores are chalked
in large letters, and suppressed in the
first month of their joining any ward
room. These poor fellows are even
more dreaded ashore than aboard ship.
and an officer celebrated for his cool
ness in all social circumstances won
the good will of his shipmates by a
peremptory refusal to be accompanied
in a short shore leave by gentleman
of tedious reputation. No great play
wright has pictured the virtues and
frailties of the little world enclosed in
the sides of every man-of-war, but the
human comedy that goes on there
would have high dramatic value had it
the feminine element; but then the |
presence of women might transform
The whole scene.-N. Y. Sun.
Decisive Step.
1--WE can't go on like this forever"
.-ol,;,,ad tho youno man deeply api. |