Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1896-06-19
SOCIAL LIFE ON CRUISERS.
Etiquette at Mess, Stock TOasts and
Songs and Stories.
New York sun.

CenteIS CEleuy aTOunu tne WdTuTooiil
mess. Around that table the senior
officers sit. 1t is there that guests are
oftenest entertained. 1t is there that
the social etiquette Of ship life is oh.
served most strictly. Punctilious, and
more or less formal as the social inter
course OF men must be who stand in
the relation OF superior and subordinate,
it is recognized that the best discipline
comes through spirit OF genuine
courtesy. This spirit OF courtesy gives
a touch OF happy informality to life
in the wardroom, and makes men who
are crowded together on long cruise
endurable by one another. The
social side of their life reaches a
climax every Saturday night at dinner,
when the presiding officer of the mess
rises, glass in hand, and il he is strict
observer Of ceremony, says:
"Gentlemen, 1 pledge you the health
OF our sweethearts and wives. May
the wives all be sweethearts and the
sweethearts all be wives"
II the presiding officer is a man OF
few words he says, but none the less
heartily:
"Let us drink to our sweethearts and
wives. God bless 'em."
With this, new social week has be-
gun. 1t will end on the next Saturday
night, whether in port or on the sea,
with "Sweethearts and Wives"
Meantime the wardroom chaff will 60
on from day to day and the Fourth
Ward" that part of the table where
the younger officers of the mess sit,
which is at the foot, will be the
noisiest night after night and the
steward OF the mess who sits in the
ceuter of the Fourth Warders, directly
opposite the executive officer of the
ship, who presides by virtue of his
rank, will cast look Of concern and
helplessness toward the more dignified
end OF the table, in the hope that his
brother officers will never elect him
steward of the mess again. No man
chosen TO that post of duty may refuse
to serve, and he must serve at least
two months. This rotation in the
duty of steward is what makes naval
officers epicurcan in their tastes and
skilled in the knowledge OF the pre-
paration of choice dishes. 1t is as
much a part of their education and as
necessary to their accomplishments as
a knowledge of navigation or of naval
strategy. 1t is what makes them
probably the most agreeable enter
tainers in the world.
The ward room mess is never filled
until dinner time. The first meal ol
the day, by force OF circumstances, is
most informal sort of affair. Break
fast at noon finds only part OF the
mess there, because OF the many duties
of the officers. At dinner all are
present except one or two, and ire
quently these find a way to get down
to dinner. The "Wardroom Country
that open space outside the staterooms
OF the wardrOom officers, is absent in
many Of the new naval vessels, sacri
feed to the need OF economy in space
in modern war ships, and the ward
room mess is where the officers lingel
at night, to tell their stories, listen te
the songs, and discuss trifies. For, be
it understood, no serious topic is evel
discussed in the wardroom. Banter
and persiAage rule there. II serious
topics were discussed the wardroom
would be at sixes-and-sevens the whole
time. Men who are required TO dine
together would not be able to endure
the sight of one another. 1t would be
easy for quarrels to spring up, and
their existence and results would be
detrimental to discipline. A war ship
without discipline Is like a church
without religion. Hence the rule
never to touch Oh serious topics iu
wardroom.
There is always some member who
saw service in the civil war, and when
occasion arises, and the circumstances
are just right, he can spin yarn that
causes flushes of exhilaration to
spread over the faces OF the younger
set, as they wonder whether they will
ever have q chance to display valoI
and their love of country in actual
war. There is nearly always some one
who plays the guitar or banjo or piano
we'll, and at times every one can sing
one.half OF them only little bit, and
the other fairly well, with one or two
good voices to help out the rest and
| give zest to the whole. Occasionally
when two ships lie in port togethe,
one gives a" sing-song" to the other
and then the wardroom OF the chorus
boats rings with an extra volume ol
song that makes such night memor-
able. "Sing-songs" on the old Kear'
sarge were always notable, especially
if they occurred on the night Of the
10Th of June, the anniversary of the
battle when the Kearsarge sank the
Alabama off the haIbor Of Cherbourg
That anniversary was always 8 gala
day on the Kearsarge, and there was
| never a "sing-song" or other celebra'