Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-01-08
ON A MANOR WAR.
AN ORDINARY DAY SPENT IN THE
wARD-RooM.
Uncle SANS omcers at work and
ut Esse-varieA Duties of the Men
Aboard q Big warship-Thc For
nal visits-Routine DrilIs.
New York Tribune.)

her decks a mass OF upper-works, such
as turrets. stumpy mssts with howitzers
on top of them. platforms. bridges. boats
and numberless other objects-all crowd
ed together and painted white.
But there is one set OF objects In
striking contrast with the general white
namely. the row Of slender, black
"great-guns" that protrude from both OF
the ships sides and from her bow and
stern. To one who does not know them
these guns have a quiet, innocent look;
but II you have once seen the careless
way in which they demolish target
about four miles away there 10 something
pitiless in the glitter OF their long and
tapering barrels. Those in the bow.
with the downward aim, have q saucy air.
They make you think OF a cigar In the
mouth Of a man who Is staggering about
with a chip on his shoulder. and look
ing for a fight. Or, II you be fanciful.
the careless way In which they Turk.
half-hidden in the ship. reminds you OF
a bulldog pretending 10 be asleep. Great
guns are curious monsters. and their
expressions change from day to day. ac-
cording to their position. and to the way
IN which the ahch@ S~N'~
times they look as IL they wanted you to
stroke them; at other times as II their
only object was to get at you. tooth and
nail. But on the man-of-war all Is peace
Nothing could be further from the
mind OF her commanding officer than
desire to get his ship into q Tight The
sea-gulls that are lowering near the snip
In the sunrise seem to know that. for
the present at least. she is harmless.
A solitary officer. a young ensign, Is
pacing bridge that overlooks the ship.
His dark-blue figure is outlined against
the morning sky. Except for one sailor
and marine sentry, dinly seen on the
deck below, he is the only person NOV
ing, and his slim and soidierly frame
looks very slight amid the big works OF
the great ship. He stops his pacing
at the end of the bridge and looks at
the sun-rising He does IL with an air
of a connoisseur How many sunrises
be has seem both at sea and In port!
Other people see sunsets, but he Is often
compelled by his duties as a watch-of-
ficer to get UP at o'clock In the morn
ing and stand watch until 5. Accord
ing TO him and to other watch-ofhcers,
the tints OF the waking day are OF a more
delicate and vanishing beauty than those
of the dying light. At least. that Is the
story that he always tells at breakfast
to the paymaster and the surgeon.
for these gentlemen are sybarites.. ana
are said to lie in their beds until So'clock
in tho morning.
The lone sailor on the deck strikes the
bell three times. which signifies that II
Is $50 The ensign on the bridge turns
and gives a short order below him. and
Immediately two buglers seem to spring
from the deck. like harlequins through
20 Ufo0
that we hear the rapid taran-tara OF the
reveille. Awake. ye 500 warriors, The sun
Is up, and the complicated mechanism
of the great ships life must be set In
motion. In less than minute the yawn-
ings and shouts and greetings OF the big
crew and the clatter Of hundreds OF
tin coffee-cups I'LL the ship with a sub
dued roar and the recently empty decks
are now swsrming with life. The duties
OF the day begin. and the washing down
Of the decks is the first of them. The
hubbub that attends this Is tremendous
A torrent OF water from several big
hoses sweeps around the ankles o. the
men. who stand-hundreds OF them
armed with buckets and swabs on sticks
and smear the decks with sand. and thsr
scour them with big stones. called holy
stones.
SLEEP sOUNDLY.
1t Is incredible that other people near
by should be asleep while this Is COINS
on: nevertheless In the after part or the
ship. and not three feet beneath these
decks, roaring with men and holystones
lie the officers OF the ward-room. al
sleeping as peacefully as babies ir
cradles 1t is habit which has dullec
their senses. for certainly racket Ike
| that Just above them would drive a land
lubber wild. But then an officer has beer
known TO take nap In the ward-roon
while the great guns OF a ship were
laundering away at a target. and yet &c
the same man a whispering voice or
heavy tread near by might have brought
a sense OF being disturbed. For some sucf
reason the colored attendants In the
wa I'd room Of the ship which We are In
terested In are tresding lightly amid the
sleeping warriors whom they serve.
Meanwhile the table in the centre OF
the ward-room Is set for breakfast ana
the sixteen surrounding staterooms De-
gin 10 discover signs OF occupancy. With
in the next half hour the splashinss OF
sixteen individual bath-tubs may DC
heard behind as many curtains. pitchers
! NJ hot water, uniforms, and other neces-
saries of an officers toilet are hurried
| 10 and fro by anxious attendants. The
vard-room does duty not only as
| dining-room, but also as a sort OF nall
way at the same time. The presence OF
me breakfast table cannot interfere with
the flight OF bath-tubs through the same
room. 1t means 70 require good deal OF
fuss and trouble to get these omcers
properly groomed. but they 40 emerse
AZ last. one by one. and each one the
very embodiment Of that first OF mat
toes on every man-of-war, that cleanll-
ness is next to goodness.
At this meal, known as the early
breakfast" not more than half the mess
are present at one time. ana the repas'
Is a slight AFFAIR, consisting cnieny
| NJ eggs and the morning newspapers. A
shirt OF jocosity pervades this early
breakfast making one believe that nava
| oficers must be better tempered tnai
other men In the morning. certainly
| one would think SO from the persihase-
respectful yet pointed-wnIch greets y
MANY of the newcomers. Yet II 10 Cd
servsb,e that these pleasantries grow lesl
| .atlrlcal as the rank OF the person q
whom they are aimed increases.
| Besides their good nature, another no
t,ceable feature of these ward-room ON
GERS il their youthfulness OF expression
| Not a few of them have sprinkint
az gray hairs, for their ages range IRON
* "a 20 years but they certainly 1901
| fresher than a group of land-lubbers o
similar ages. Perhaps this Is In par
due 10 their health; perhaps u may o.
equally attributable to that habit OF con
troll OF temper which is one OF the dutie'
Of ali men who wear their uniform.
Breakfast Is over and the table cleared
II is o'clock. and again the bugi
sounds. Every hour OF the day has ~
appointed duties on man-of-war' I'M
time the bugle calls the surgeon OF IN
ward-room to go to what is called IN
"sick-bay," in the forward part OF In
shin. where are assembled all those
the crew who need mis- services.
Twentx minutes later sailor enter