The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-03
SWEETHEARTS AND WIVES.
Fr0m the New York Press.

From the New York Press
The social side of life in the navy CEN
ters chiefly around the wardroom mess
Around that table the senior officers sit
IL Is there that guests are oftenest en-
tertained. 1t is there that the social ETH
quette OF ship life is observed most strict
ly. Punctilious and more or less formal
as the social intercourse of men must be
who stand in the relation Of superior and
subordinate, it is recognized that the best
discipline on ship board comes through
a spirit Of genuine courtesy. This spirit
OF courtesy gives a man d touch OF happy
informally to life in the wardroom and
makes men who are crowded together on
a long cruise endurable to each other. The
social side Of their life reaches a climax
every Saturday night at dinner when the
presiding officer of the mess rises in his
place, glass in hand, and If he is a strict
observer Of ceremony, says:
Gentlemen, l pledge you the health of
our sweethearts and wives May the
wives all be sweehearts and the sweet
hearts all be wives"
If the presiding officer is a man of few
WORDS, ne says, none the less heartily:
Let us drink to our sweethearts and
wives. God bless EN-"
With this new social week has begun.
II Will end on the next Saturday niRht
Wnetner in port or on the sea, with
''Sweathearts and Wives" Meantime the
%Sard roc chaft VIII 60 on from day to
the table where the younger officers of the
mess SIT which is at the foot, will be the
n nc ,il night after night and the steward
OF lne mess, who sits in the center of the
Fourth warders, directly opposite the
executive oihoer of the ship, who presides
by virtue of his rank, will cast a look of
concern and helplessness toward the more
dlgnlned end of the table, in the hope that
his brother officers will never elect him
chosen to that post of duty may refuse to
serve, and he must serve at least two
months; This rotation in the duty of
stewards is what makes naval officers cpl
curean IN their tastes and skilled in the
dishes. 1t is as much a part of their edu-
cation and as necessary to their accom-
plishments as a knowledge Of navigafi0n
or OF naval strategy. 1t is what makes
them probably the most agreeable enter
tainers in the world.
The wardroom mess is never filed until
dinner time. The first meal of the day
by force of circumstances, is a most in
formal sort of affair. Breakfast at noon
finds only part of the mess there because
| OF the many duties of the officers. At din
ner all are present with the exception OF
one or two, and frequently these find a
way TO get down to dinner. The ward
/ room country" that open space outside
| the state rooms of the wardroom officers,
/ Is absent in many of the new naval YES
| sells, sacrificed to the need of economy in
/ space in modern warships and the ward
/ room mess IS where the officers lnger al
/ night after dinner when the daily routine
| is done, to tell their stories. listen TO the
| songs and discuss tri1es. For be it under
! stood no serious topic is ever discussed in
| the wardroom. Banter and persiflage rule
! there If serious topics were discussed the
! Wardroom would be at skies and sevens
/ the whole time. Men who are required 10
| dine together would not be able to endure
| the sight of each other. II would be easy
! Tor quarrels TO spring up and their exist
| ence and results would be detrimental 10
/ discipline. A WarShip without discipline is
! like church without religion. Hence the
! ~ 70 rNTN fnHNr
| wardroom life.
There is always some member who saw
! service in the civil war. ami when oc-
| cassion rises, and the circumstances are
! Just right, he can spin yarn that
| causes Pushes of eXhilaration to spread
! over the faces of the younger set, as
! they wonder whether they will ever have
! a chance to display valor and their love
! of country in actual war. There is nearly
| always some one who plays the guitar
| or banjo or piano well, and a times every
| one can sing, one-half Of them only a
| little bit and the other fairly well, with
/ one or two good voices to help out the
| sionally when two ships lie in port to-
! gether one gives a "sing-song" to the
! chorus boat rings with an extra vol
| ume of song that makes such a night
| memorable ''Sing-songs" on the old
! Kearsarge were always notable, especially
! if they occurred on the night of the
| 18th of June, the anniversary of the
| battle when the Kearsarge sunk the Ala
! anniversary was always gala day on
| the Kearsarge, and there was never a
"Sing-song' or other celebration on board
] when the ''Kearsarge song the one that
| told of the memorable fight, was not
! sung in the wardroom and steerage, be-
/ tween decks and even on deck. The rare
| old spirit Of the song sunk with the Kear-
/ sarge on Roncador reef and the super
stitious among the Saiormen say that
/ the waves and the ghosts of the ship
| sing ii among its bones as they rot on
/ the reef, and that not until the new Kear-
/ sarge is built and afioat will the spirit
| of the old song come back to inspire
| the sailormen and revive the memories
| of a glorious contest.
on ship board the social grades are
mess. The captain dimes by himself. Then
/ comes the wardroom mess where the
| senior officers dine. Then there is the
steerage mess where the junior officers
| the cadets, ensigns, assistant engineers
! and assistant surgeons dine. Then there
! rant officers, those men belonging neither
among the officers nor among the crew
/ They are gunner "bos'n." carpenter and
sailmaker, appointed by warrant and not
confirmed by the Senate. Sometimes each
| has a separate staterOom, but there are
some of the new vessels there are only
two, for there is little need of sailm6keT
or hos n Then there is a mess of the
chief petty officers and finally there are
the berth deck messes for the crew, where
there are ten or a dozen men to a ia
Bile.
II the ship is a flagship the admiral
dimes alone. unleS he and the captain are
OF congenial tastes. The admirars chief
Of staff also dimes with the admiral if if
supposed to have small choice in the mat
ter. The social relations of the captain