The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-11
UNCLE SANS REER LINE.
, NavnI Institution That Worries
TeetOtRIcrs,
From the New York Sun,

TeetofGtcrss
From the New York Sun,
-,zbington.-Probably very few persons
1, read the atrocious murder recently
- vaster-at-Arms Kenney of the battle
hin Indiana by one of his shipmates who,
-,-ss5v drunk. fell into further frenzy
,..a,se the master-at-arms cut off his
iasr ration, knew previousiyspf the serving
of beer on American men-of-war
-..,t many temperance reformers through
the country learned apparently all
once. a few years ago, of the existence
,e the beer-nne institution of the United
states navy. and they attacked it in a body
t,y means of urgent petitions to the Presi-
don't and. representations by committees to
the Secretary of the Navy asking for the
entire cessation of beer-serving on Amerl-
can warships. The request was not grant
Ell for the reason that when the Secretary
of The Navy referred the matter by cir
omar TO A large number of experienced
naval officers for their opinion, they were
practically a unit in declaring that,
when properly conducted, there
ia nothing essentially bad about the beer
line system. Naval officers here, since the
rhine of Wednesday, have been looking
for a renewal Of the agitation by the tenn
nerance people for the wiping out of the
The beer line is so called because the
men who want beer have to fall into line
10 get it. II is served out only in bottles.
No social cognizance is taken of the beer
line except that the chief master-at-arms
serves the beer out. The beer is supplied
to the ships by bumboat men, who obtain
from commanders the privilege of purVey-
ing it to crews. They have not to serve
Good article of beer or suffer displacement
by bumboat men who will Although com
handing officers are not supposed to know
the details of the beer business on their
ships in an official way, they are pretty
certain to hear of it if the men are getting
a poor qauty of beer for their money,
and they usually rectify such impositions
by seeing that another bumboat man gets
the contract for providing the enlisted men
with mat liquor
1t is discretionary with the commanding
officers of American WarshipS whether
there shall be beer lines on the vessels
under their command or not There are
quite a few American naval commanders
Of a strong religious turn of mind, and
these will not permit the serving out of
beer on their ships. Such ships are care
fully avoided by old-timers in the service
Whether he drinks or not, the old man
of-war's man does not like to catch a ship
on which there is no beer line. Damn
these here missionary frigates"' he says,
for ne has reason TO fear that the beer
less ship has other rigidit!es.
The beer is served out twice a day, when
the bo'suns mate at the gangway pipes
mess gear for dinner and supper. 1t is
not served out on Sundays. The bumboat
man with mis- assistants brings the beer
off to the ship in cases in his boat when
the vessel is lying in the stream When
the man-of-war is tied UP at the dock he
drives up alongside her with his beer in
"A wagon a little while before mess gear
Tor the noon and evening meals is piped
lie IS not allowed to take the beer aboard
,le ship a second before the DO suns
mates whistle goes. KNOCK off work"
IS shrilled by the gangway whistler about
half an hour before meals, to give the
1aen a chance to wash up before eating.
q ne beer line begins to form generally
4ooat ten minutes before the piping of
mess gear. 1t is generally formed in less
Than a minute.
Waen the bumboat man with the beer
q comes alongside the ship, the men who
& want to be first in the line-they are gem
81 rally men who have come off shore lib
rty IN the morning with heads and
n'r7rs which they are anxious to reduce
no assuage at the earliest possible mo-
r1ent-scramble for the head of the file
20 kylark and cuff one another about
Dr precedence. Then the line takes shape
fpl| y. The beer drinkers who are usu-
ay bout three-fourths of the ships com
l.1As are never far from the mainmast
'e headquarters of the beer bumboat
2'-h when mess gear is imminent.
bumboat man stands by with his
poo. and pencil, keeping account, while
mel master-at-arms sitting on a
he 1.1stN1 - ~.
N line The rule is that no man shall
more than two bottles, but it is easy
Ign for the bluejackets whose capac-
Vt Deer Is large to get half a dozen
~ more bottles If they so elect. The
HdS'er-at-arms is so busy at his
OF handing out the beer that he has
ne 10 look up at the faces of the men
lie sees only the hands present.
el tickets, and has all he can attend
SWING out bottles in exchange for
mus the man who wants to accu-
suhcient supply of beer for a
'elnoon OF 1t can get into the line
~ as ne wishes, stufiing the bottles
gets them into the junper Of his
Iees or working suit or passing
W d nessmate, who makes his wav
lockers with them
' 70 do this, however he has got
"s Hlnself IN advance with beer
II would not do for him to offer
OF Deer for the beer line Is CON
IN Sl,Host entirely on the credit sys-
me tickets are bought from The
90 ' ma man in lots of dozen. In the
t Ins United States the price of a
n no Is usually a dollar. Else
n9'aoIy on the South American STA
line the China station, the beer costs
u more money. quarter hot
,a %'.ery beer is paid Commonly nv
al naval sailormen in the bot Cen,
1r u south American ports, After
l-tque, saki rnescal. ana Other
al splitting compounds tbe,,
f5,, get hold of a liquid at an
may leminds them Of this co,,r f.,y
az an Jack never kicks over ~
er turntables in any part Of he
Ts5 got from the bumbost MAJ, a..
non. s sIl az the end Of the month
MI money is served our 10 ~
~ 'he men are not comnelled ~
NV. peer they thus get on 'r credi, 10 ~
1esl ~ C' ,ss q The bumboa, NAV
.t d. ~ enc skipper at the y,.s, 80