The Hawaiian gazette., 1896-12-25

Mare Island Navy Yard. Within the
boundaries OF this station there are
probably more square leagues Of sea
E than in 2ny two Of the other stations.
{ Il extends from the Behring sea on the
north to Chile on the south and to the
Z Hawaiian Islands on the west Gen
orally. however. nearly all the vessels
assigned 10 this station keep pretty
closely 70 that stretch Of the Pacific
coast which lies between Puget sound
on the north and MagdalenS bSy. in
E Lower California On the south. In
T fact there Is comparatively so little
service 10 be performed by ships Of
var on this station that many vessels
often remain for exceedingly long Pc
RODS ST the navy yard at Mare island
under waiting orders This is. OF
course. delightful for the naval officer
who vesrns not for the Sea
For very Obvious reasons the blood
Of the Ensign or OF the Junior LieuIe-
nsnt IingleS n his veins when the Bu-
rszn OF Navigation decides 10 send him
10 g ship on the Pacific station In
within hitting distance Of the city Of
san Francisco during his entire three
years cruise, and. as 8 good many Of
the younger naval officers have strong
IL developed bohemian instincts, they
discover in the sppy-go-lueky Snd
OCCASIONALLY somewhat lurid club life
OF the Golden City s peculiarly con-
genial field for working on their exu-
bsrant spirits.
Moreover. the festival OF the Latin
European countries has been 6eyel-
oped recently and carried out with
high degree Of skill and msgnihcence
II the coast cities OF Southern Cali
foruis- The people OF the East have
scarcely any conception Of the SPLEEN
dor which attends these BEAUTIFUL fsastS
Of the flowers All Of the festivals. de-
vise6- and for the most part managed
hy committees Of the pre-tiest women
OF the festival cities, who have been
elected by popular vote 10 so serve
chiefly on account Of their beauty. re-
celVe sn Official tone from the presence
in The hsrhors Of all the vessels on the
Pacific station thar are available for
such pleasant duty. Old officers OF the
Navy say that one winter spent in
Southern California IN this loSus-eat-
ing fashion is sufficient 10 destroy for
life Young officers estimate OF any
other part OF the world Lastly. and
perhaps most important OF all. the
marvelouSly beautiful islands OF Ea-
wall are included within the limits OF
this station Once having tasted the
JOYS Of shore leave in the city Of Homo
lulu the naval officer. whether he has
one OF four stripes 10 his sleeve. finds
himself spoiled for the delights OF most
other cities
The chief and perhaps the only draw
hack Of this station is that one. and
sometimes several OF the vessels Of
the squadron is often detailed 10 patrol
The coasts Of Mexico and Central and
South America Naval duty OF the
coast Of Central America is g thing 10
be dreaded for many reasons. the first
among which is that the particular
brand Of fever produced down there IS
both dangerous and difficult 10 shake
of once the system has been inOeulated
with il Then war vessels cruising on
The west coast south Of Mexico exper-
ienos great difficulty in getting pala-
table. fresh provisions for the officers
and men Finally, the social conditions
that prevail in the ports of Mexico and
Central and South America are not Of
& sort 70 inspire naval officers with
ple2surable expectations
OF the foreign stations. the officers
OF all ages and degrees are pretty even
" divided in their estimates as 70 the
relative advantages Of cruise among
The ports OF the Mediterranean and the
comparatively slumbrous ease Of three
OF more years yOysging on what Is
known as the China station In that
.consi6erabi class officers IN the United
States Navy whose official salaries are
eked ont by private incomes the Nedi-
tsTTanezn station Is nearly always the
first selection II requires good deal
OF money for E naval officer. whether
he be Admiral or Ensign, 10 keep up
his end on that station II is q most
undesirable station for officers who
have families 20 support in the States
and are obliged 10 depend solely upon
their paymaster's checks. But for the
unmarried officer who has 2 few thou
sand z year aside from his Government
pay, there is z prodigious amount OF
JOY 10 be extracted from Mediterra-
mean cruise The commanders Of war
vessels on this station generally man
age 70 steam their ships 10 the scenes
OF the celebrations and fetes, which are
50 frequent IN the ports OF Southern
Europe Even under ordinary eircum-