The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-12-23
CAY NAVAL LIFE.
Depends on the Officers
Age and Finances.
Duty on the Pacific, North Atlantic
and Mediterranean Greatly
Coveted.


the time an officer has reached the rank
Of Lieutenant-Co Commander he has seen
enough Of the world 10 have become
tired of the major portion Of it. The
enthusiasm Of the cadet and of the
Ensign has long since died within him.
Ordinarily the chief wish of the older
naval officer is that ne be permitted to
remain ashore for the longest time pos
sible in conformity with the regula-
tons IT, at the end of his three years
of shore duty at the Navy Department,
navy yard or on special service, he
contrives to capture a berth on re-
ceiving or store ship, he is superlatiye-
~ happy, for the three years thus spent
is accounted a sea cruise by the de-
partment, and at the expiration of such
a cruise, all of which is practically put
in ashore, he is regularly detached pre-
cisely as are officers who have been
performing regular sea service during
the same period. and is detailed to that
job ashore for which he may be avail
able. He thus gets what is practically
six years of shore duty in lump.
The differences of opinion among
naval officers as to the relative desira
bility of the various stations are both
peculiar and interesting Those who
have families. of course, prefer the
North Atlantic or home station to all
the others, for during the greater pOr-
ton of the year, generally from early
spring to late autumn, the war ships on
this station either cruise about among
the fashionable summer resorts that
line the Northern Atlantic seabOard or
are snugly tied up either at the Brook
Ign or Norfolk Navy Yard undergoing
minor repairs, the prOtraction of which
to the greatest possible length of time
is one of the fine achievements of naval
engineers and equipment and cOnstruc-
ton officers. Even among many I'M
married officers there is a pretty gen
eral scramble to be assigned to this
station, whose boundaries embrace so
many neighborhoods of pretty girls.
Besides the North Atlantice there is
another home station, which is first
choice for a considerable number of
officers and the second choice for many
more. This is known as the Pacific
station. and it's headquarters are at the
Mare Island Navy Yard. Within the
boundaries of this station there are
probably more square leagues of sea
than in any two of the other stations.
Tt extends from the Behring sea on the
north to Chile on the south and to the
Hawaiian islands on the west. Gen
orally however, nearly all the vessels
assigned to this station keep pretty
closely to that stretch of the Pacific
coast which lies between Puget sound
on the north and Magdalena bay, in
Lower California, on the south. In
fact, there is comparatively so little
service to be performed by ships of
war on this station that many vessels
often remain for exceedingly long pc
riodS at the navy yard at Mare island
under waiting orders. This is, of
course, delightful for the naval officer
who yearns not for the sea.
For very obvious reasons the blood
of the Ensign or of the Junior Lieute-
nant tingles in his veins when the Blu
reau of Navigation decides to send him
to a ship on the Pacific station. In
the first place he has a chance to be
within hitting distance of the city of
San Francisco during his entire three
years cruise, and, as q good many of
the younger naval officers have strong
~ developed bohemian instincts. they
discover in the happy gO-lucky and
occasionally somewhat lurid club life
of the Golden City a peculiarly con-
genial field for working off their eXu-
berant spirits.
Moreover the festival of the Latin
European countries has been devel-
oped recently and carried out with
high degree of skill and magnificence
in the coast cities of Southern Cali
fOrnia. The people of the East have
scarcely any conception of the splen-
dor which attends these BEAUTIFUL feasts
of the flowers. All of the festivals, de-
vised. and for the most part managed,
by committees of the prettiest women
of the festival cities, who have been
elected by popular vote to so serve
chiefly on account of their beauty. re-
ceive an official tone from the presence
in the harbOrS of all the vessels on the
Pacific station that are available for
such pleasant duty. Old officers of the
Navy say that one winter spent in
Southern California in this lotus-eat-
ing fashion is sufficient to destroy for
life a young officers estimate of any
other part of the world. Lastly, and
perhaps most important of all. the
narvelously beautiful islands of Ha-
wall are included within the limits of
this station. Once having tasted the
ioys of shore leave in the city of Homo
lulu. the naval officer. whether he has
one of four stripes to 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 to patrol
the coasts of Mexico and Central and
South America Naval duty off the
coast of Central America is thing to
he dreaded for many reasons, the first
among which is that the particular
brand of fever produced down there is
both dangerous and difficult to shake