The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-05

Men,
From the Washington Star.
Among the regulations of the United
states navy is one which says that no
,-toxicating liquor of any kind shall be
allowed on board ship This. of course,
is absolute prohibitions; but another reg
plation says "only beer and light wines
shall be allowed on board" and this
might be called an excise law.
These opposing regulations are carried
out. as all regulations are, on board
United States ships. with a patriotic en-
deavor to follow the intention of the
department. regulations, both in letter and
spirits. The prohibitory regulation is ap-
Piled most vigorously to the forward part
of the ship, and it becomes a matter of
i utter condemnation for an enlisted man
to have liquor of any kind, or even to
/ be suspected of having had a drink.
The regulation relative to beer and
light wines" is applied to the after part
of the ship. and, no license being re-
CURED, and there being no police, the Of
i fcers' messes interpret it rather literally.
/ Thus everybody is happy. Each end Of
the ship has its own law, and all require
ments are satisfied.
This state of affairs would seem to a
ldl-t9AAAtNA ~ 10 AAAANtApuSs Jul there - a
cause for it.
In the "old navy" that is, the navy as
il existed before and during the civil war;
the officers, as a class, were ''Old-timers"
Among them could be found plenty of
three, four and fiye-bottle men. 1t was
then the custom to drink often and drink
deep, and a little drunkenness was not
thought to be more than a gentlemanly
weakness. The men forward We're not al
lowed to have liquor on board ship for
their own use, as the officers were, but the
difference was made up by issuing grOg
twice a day, morning and evening, when
each man got drink, called tot" of a
half gill of the best whisky or rum.
The civil war changed al this During
It's continuance the use of liquor, both fore
and aft, was found to be a nuisance and
was condemned by the department Since
then there has been a wonderful change
The 'old-timers," the three, four and five
bottle men among the officers and the old
snellbaeks." 'barnacles'' and ''grog
drinkers among the men, are about gone
being either dead or pensioned off for
age or disability. In the old days a man
VINO mad been on liberty coming on
board drunk was not punished, but was
taken care of like a child and regarded as
a hero, but the poor devil who had some
Il sense of personal dignity and came on
board sober was jeered at fiouted and
called molly COD by his shipmates.
After the war the navy department took
up the drinking business. The Views of the
commanding officers of all squadrons ana
Of individual ships We're asked for, and
they We're also directed to submit the
the same time Offering to nav each indi-
Wdual two and half cents for each drink
ne uld not get, which, making five cents a
day, would increase his pay $3.50 a month
ln addition to this, as the grog had been
gwen out IN the early morning, before
breakfast as a stimulant, the men We're
onered an extra ration of coffee to take
its place.
Singular as it may seem, the officers and
men We're unanimous to abolish the groe
ana take the extra money and coffee This
S onIInues untll the present day, though
Ior some years the pay list has shown
an extra nifty cents a month only for
each man, most of the extra pay having
oeeh lost IN general increase. The men
accepted prohibition with the compensat-
I4s money and coffee because they knew
Jney gained by it, they getting something
Ior nothing. And, besides, prohibition
uld not prohibit" From that day to this
no liquor of any kind has been supposed
Y allowed on the forward part of a
United States ship, and those who come
rom liberty drunk or showing signs
of liquor are severely punished The
SOBER man is no longer laughed at, not
t5Snea a molly cod, but he is paid by
the crew to keep sober and pass inspec-
drink.
Now the prohibition that does not pro-
Ilo;t is the Ife-curse of the officer of the
geek. 1t is his business to see that no
1quor comes on board ship, and yet ii
eoes come on board in spite of him. the
mas ter-ot-arms and all the marine guard
mere was United States ship once al
ahcnor in the Ray of Algeciras when there
90 IU,VJV lndlan troops on the rock of
1i0faltar, brought there for purpose
when does not concern this. article. The
presence of these troops, however pre-
l S't t our men having any liberty. We
taS mere week, and not a man had been
Ss5ore except the commanding officer,
lu certainly he would not bring liquor to
drlnIto,," out there We're number OF
auIheh men on board every day, all the
raHle, and no one could tell where the
f IN came from. A bumboat came along
SIqe every morning and sold fresh bread
fttilDl pdllN. our first Lieutenant who
ffy look the morning watch, was a man
use observation He noticed that the
LioL9 went down to the boat to buy
fedd an4 were so anxious to get it that
MY almost fought to see who should
n alsg ~. l.his led the lieutenant to make
FTEsunIal investigation.
dra.aaty one morning he came on deck
N fSeo as a sailor man and went down
fresh 5iG Dumboat with the others to buy
naf5H bread: He bought three loaves, and
not d smiling each for them, but he did
bs ouJecJ TO the price, and got back to
cred W. AZ quarters without being discov-
loaf 80 examination showed that each
coorn VI bread contained half a pint of
go9 "d a. and then he knew how tho men
~ ther liqour. That particular boat
~aS not allowed to come alongside any
in +, out no man would ever confess hay
aivvsS,.er bought bread out of it. Same as
diI 70, every sailor, when asked, where
Sou get your rum?" replied, why.
SaIped the foremastr'
coTr conn., on the great South sea, once, the
in handing officer was or whose equal
Ha ms rank does not exist in the service
nos was teetotaler, and, of course op-
Tbe 10 anything like liquor on board.
esTi, men men got it, however. During the
sidS morning hours, the regular gang of
cjas e'eahers were sent over the side to
mar man the copper They used the cata-
eaiiea11i and had on this craft a big five
Of ',on mess can full of oil and a bucket
Ssm o@ad. This all took place at Apia,
oil nsky or rum looks very much like
esn b@Iueularly when, incased in tin, it
t6st ue seen only from the top SO it was
prosot p2at came from the shore and APP
excIbaea that of the side cleaners and an
tbol@iLse took place then and there
tbe al so rapid that no one saw it. When
ana uue cleaners had finished their work
tbe an the copper was properly polished,
hea 0alalnaran was hosted to the cat
coir ana the men came aboard. OF
wbil they brought their unused oil,
the1n amounted to some gallons, with
Ho9,a out 1t was not oil, it was whisky
thar ter no questions were asked, but
dr11I evening some of the men were
cd. IN ana the usual question was ask
. wv mere IN Sam Hill did they get it?'
age the "Salma" made her first voy-
lions3 lie Wenb to Europe, and was sta
Sda : or time at Leghorn, Italy. Out
Il bre.iol this harbor there is an extensive
A. u 10 f,r,.s