The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-05
JACK TARs AT CHRISTMAS.
The Day is One Most Dear to the
Sailors Heart.
From the Philadelphia Times.

Sailors Heart.
From the Philadelphia Times.
The average sailor may forget his birth
day. work on Sundays and on other holi
days observed on shore, but Christmas is
always dear to his heart. with the many
pleasant recOllections of bygone days. If
the vessel is a flagship, with chaplain
on board, service is held in the morning
a little more solemn than the usual Sun
day observance, and after muster and
inspection no more work or drill is given
to the crew. II is when in port that the
DAY Is spent as ii should be. After clean
ing the ship early in the morning, and the
sand has been cleared out of the Soup
pers. the usual breakfast of baked beans,
or "burgOo," is partaken of the same as
any other morning, the holiday not begin
nlng Tor a sailor until the ensign mas been
hauled out to the gam end and masts and
spars decorated in whatever manner the
crew may have decided. At o'clock Of
hcers in full uniform inspect the decks
and MEETINGS, Vainly cndeaVoring to hnd
the slightest speck or dirt or grease, or
perhaps a shoe brush out of its place.
Each division then forms up in double
ranks, bright cutlasses presented, and is
inspected by the commanding officer, who
If the man-of-war is on the home sta
ton the "bumboat" man has made ar
engagements on the previous day with the
caterers of the messes to furnish them
grand dinner at so much per head. This
costs each man about one dollar, Tor
which an elaborate meal can be provi-
ded. Every imaginable delicacy within
their means is brought on board before
six bells, and fruits in abundance are
piled up in the ports and gun sponsors.
Every mess table is garlanded with ever
green's, according to the taste of it's men,
bers, and the petty officers make them
selves more private by means of flag
screens and plenty of bunting.
A lucky mess is the one whose invita-
ton has been accepted by the bumboat
woman. Promptly at eight bells she Is
30 Wnln@ rrs4
end of the swinging boards, and, after a
little speech, all hands are set to and
vie with each other in attending to the
only female on the deck. The tin and
cracked enamel ware has been dispensed
with as crockery is furnished by the
same party providing the eatables. The
only draw back is that the plates cannot
be changed with every course, as our
men-of-war, however modern they may
be, are not perfect in the way of pantries
forward.
But Jack enjoys it as he jumps from
sweetbread patties to roast turkey skips
to boiled ham and helps himself generously
to all the vegetables a steward can pro-
cure. The plum pudding, however, is his
delight, as the officers are not so strict
on this day in regard to the bringing on
board of liquor, and sauce without brandy
would be to the man-of-war's man no
sauce at all.
1t would be useless to try to prevent the
use of liquor on this or any other day,
and / have know cases where ships had
enough liquor on board to float a dingy,
and the use of it was abused simply be-
cause the officers had started to put their
feet down on the smuggling of strong
drink. One captain ordered stop to lib
erty, and would not allow shore boats
to come alongside. One of the caterers
ordered a dozen loaves of bread which
were brought off in the market boat on
Christmas morning, Each one of these
loaveS contained pint bottle of three
star brandy. Another ordered the baker
to make a huge cake surmounted by a
candied ship. The whole affair when OPP
ened up at dinner consisted of a thin
shell of crust over a tin mold filled with
something more exciting than mere flour,
eggs and sugar. Mince pies have been
known to come from the shore to the
mess table strong enough to knock the
| whole mess silly.
When the sailors gather about one of
these extensively laden tables on Christ
mas day they do not seem to appreciate
the various goodisS-sas the landsman
would imagine. n the older men had
their way the nicely Drowned turkey
would have little chance when placed
side by side with their favorite salt
boss" and plum pudding would not be
! lin it, with good ''cracker hash" which
is dish understood only by seafarng
men. To tell the truth, they do not be-
! lieve in these stomach disturbers, and for
this reason dyspepsia is almost unknown
| to them.