The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-04-19

copyright, 1896, by S. S. Mcclure, Ltd.)
The social side of life in the navy
centers chiefly around The wardroom
mess. Around that table the senior
Z officers sit. 1t is there that guests are
oftenest entertained. 1t is there that
the social etiquette of ship life is OBJ
served most strictly. Punctiilious and
more or less formal as the social inter
course of men must be who stand in
the relation Of superior and subordi-
nate, it is recognized that the best dis
cipline on ship board comes through a
spirit of genuine courtesy. This spirit
CT courtesy gives a touch of hapnv in
formality to life in the wardroom and
makes men who are crowded together
on long cruise endurable to each 9th
er. The social side of their life reaches
a climax every Saturday night at din
ner when the presiding officer of the
mess rises in his place. glass in hand,
ano II ne IS strict observer of cere-
mony says:
Gentlemen, I pledge You the health
OF our sweetheaTts and wives. May
the wives all be sweethearts, and the
Sweethearts all wives
IL the presiding officer is a man of
lew words he says, but none the less
heartily:
Let Us drink to our sweethearts and
wives. God bless EN-
With this a new social week has be-
gun. 1t will end on the next Saturday
night, whether in port or on the sea,
with ''Sweethearts and Wives" Mean
time the wardroom chaff will go on
from day to day and the Fourth
Ward that part of the table where
dhe younger officers of the mess sit
which is at the foot, will be the nois-
dest night after night, and the steward
of the mess, who sits in the center of
the Fourth Warders, directly opposite
The executive officer of the ship, who
presides by virtue of his rank, will
cast look of concern and helplessness
toward the more dignified end of the
table in the hope that his brother Of
fcers Will never elect him steward of
the mess again. No man chosen to
that post of duty may refuse to serve,
anu he must serve at least two
months. This rotation in the duty of
steward is what makes naval officers
epicuNean in their tastes and skilled
in the knowledge of the preparation of
choice dishes. 1t is as much a part of
their education and as necessary to
their complishments as a knowledge
of navigation or of naval strategy. It
is what makes them probably the
most agreeable entertainers in the
world
ETIQUETTE AT MESS.
The wardroom mess is never filed
until dinner time. The first meal of
the day, by force of circumstances, iss.
most informal sort of affair. Breakfast
at noon finds only part of the mess
there because of the many duties of
the officers. At dinner all are present
with the exception of one or two. and
frequently these find i way to get
down to dinner. The "Wardroom
Country" that open space outside the
Stateroom of tbs wardro0m officers is
absent in many of the new naval yes
sells, sacrificed to the need of economy
iii space in modern warships, and the
wardroom mess is where the officers
Finger at night after dinner when the
daily routine is DONE to tell their stor-
les. listen to the songs and discuss
trif1es For be it understood no SER
iouS topic is ever discussed in the
wardroom. Banter and persiflage rule
there. If serious topics were discussed
the wardroom would be at skies and
sevens the whole time. Men who are
required to dine together would not
be able to endure the sight of each
other. It would be easy for quarrels
no spring up and their existence and
results would be detrimental to disci-
pine. A warShip without discipline is
like a church without religion. Hence
the rule never TO touch on serious top
les in wardroom life.
There is always some member who
saw service in the civil war, and when
occasion arises and the circumstances
are just right he can spin a yarn that
causes Pushes of eXileration to spread
over the faces Of the younger set, as
alhey wonder whether they will ever
have chance to display valor and
their love of country in actual war.
There is nearly always someone who
plays the guitar or banjo or piano well