The Portland daily press., 1896-04-24
JIMMIE LEGS.
A Good Fellow but the Bane Of Jack
Tar's Existence.

The Part He Plays in the Daily Life on q
| Man-of- War-How the Jolly Tars Spend
Their Time-Work and Play on Ship
board.
'tJimmie Legs" is the bane of the
sailors life when the ship is in port.
"Jimmie Legs" is the orderly W hose
duty it is to keep the sailor boys moving
and see that they do their work proper.
ly. The boys, as a rule, do not object to
doing their work at the regular times
and in the proper manner, but what they
do object to is the ipcsssant orders of
"Clear tho decks for quarters" "Stow
away your dirty boxes.'' These orders
are issued every time visitors, in the
company of comm issioned officer, come
on board. When anyone of the ships of
the White Squadron is in home port
there is sure to be a continuous invasion
OF visitors, except on certain hours of
certain days when the sailors are engaged
house cleaning, or, to be more correct,
ship cleaning. At these times all visitors
ished their routine work and are resting
that the voice of the terrible Jimmie
Legs is heard warning them of the ap-
proach of visitors and commanding them
to arise and salute the accompanying Off
Ger or exhibit the working of the guns.
A sailor may be engaged writing home
to his parents or his hest girl, or a few of
them may be in the throes of close
game OF checkers, when the voice of jim
mic Legs comes upon them like storm
out OF a cloudless sky. The orderly
known as Jimmie Legs'' is usually an
old and trusted sailor who has seen long
service and is intrnsted with the under
command OF the men. Personally he Is
popular with the boys, but officially he is
the bane of their lives.
The daily life aboard is pretty much
the same throughout the entire navy, no
matter what part OF the world the ship
may happen to be. Longitude and lati-
tude may call for a slight variation OF
the rules. The reveille is sounded by
bugle at $50 O'Clock on winter mornings,
ard half an hour earlier during summer.
The first voice that greeus the sleepers
after the sounds of the bugle have died
out is that of Jimmie Legs, yelling:
Turn out there; turn out p and then
some happy sailor continues to slumber
on oblivious to the hustle and noise
about him, and Jimmie Legs shouts
What's the matter with 1884? Is ha
deadT' The men are oftener known by
their hammock numbers than by their
names, and the question about 1884 Is
purely sarcastic. Half q dozen willing
hands demonstrate that 1884 is very much
alive by yanking him summarily from
hry1 mo n, vi0 nj
together pleasant manner. The next or
der is Lash and carry" and refers to
the folding up and putting away of the
hammocks in their proper reoeptacles.
Ten or twelve minutes is allowed for
this work. Then follows hot coffee; if
teen to eighteen minutes are allowed for
a cup of coffee and a smoke from the
sailors faithful friend, his pipe. Then
the voice of the boatswain's mate orders
them to "Tnrn to- whereon pipes are
put away, and the officer of the deck
gives the orders for the day. This may
include anything from washing clothing
to target practice. Sundry cleaning and
polishing keeps the men busy until s
| O'Clock, when breakfast "Mess gear" is
piped. Tables are laid, and half an hour
later it is served. For the ensuing three
quarters of an hour the men are compare
lively happy, but the inevitable Jimmi Q
Legs is heard again shouting Turn to, :"
and then the work of the day begins in
deadly earnest.
Monday is wash day aboard ship. The
! men like it about as we'll as the woman
with :. large family who arises Monday
morning confronted with a big wash,
but the men get through this disagreea-
BILE work In o happy manner. There is a
continual crossire of badinage among
the men as they scrub their clothing.
Then they "stop" or fasten them to the
lines. White clothes are put on one line
and blue on another. The clothes lines
the masthead to the deck. After the
washing is finished the decks are
swabbed.
On Tuesdays the decks are holly stoned
and scrubbed. On alternate Tuesdays
the canvas hammocks are cleaned and
scrubbed. On alternate Wednesdays
the mattress covers aud canvas bags in
which the men stow their clothing are
cleaned. On Thursdays the small boats
and all their parts are scrubbed Inside
and ont On Fridays the windsails and
| the different pieces of canvas used for
coverings on the ship are scrubbed.
Saturday is the great house cleaning
| day. On other days the decks are swept
or swabbed. but on Saturday a stranger
OH board would almost think there was
as much water on the ship as there was
under it. On every deck above and be-
low barofooted sal lors-if the weather
happens to be warm, otherwise they are
rubber shod, clothed in Shite duck suits
are swishing and smashing here and
there and everywhere, and they manage
to get a good deal of fun out Of the work.
If man con a lower sdeck is drenched
with water from bucket or If an alb
sent minded sailor turns the hose on a
| friend, the only explanation is that it
was an unavoidable accident.
All this cleaning work is done in the
morning. The afternoons are given up
to drills and brass polishing, and the
night is the sailors own time, when be
smokes and spins yarns in the foreoastle.
Power of Mind.
/ a.... .-.... ....11 xzza11o,l