Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1897-09-28
MISS SMITHS HATBAND.
The United States Navy Loses a
Recruit Suddenly.

stunning SlTl UT udSIlluS VI SVil'
thing of the sort, and she has quite
got used to having men turn when
they see her in the street and stare
after her, so that she no longer feel:
indignation or embarrassment when
such things happen. 1t all means sim
ply that she is fair to look upon anc
brimful of health and spirit, besides
knowing how to make the best use oi
Disadvantages lIernameisn Smith
Not to describe her place of abode
with too great particularly, it may
be said that she could find her way
home unassisted if set down in any
part of the shopping district in New
York.
1t may be that this popularity OF
residence was the real cause OF the
story. 1t is certain, anyway, that
Young women in other parts of the
country had been wearing ships rib
bons-if that is the name of the
things-for years before it happened,
and that many of them who are given
to making collections of tender
trophies had gathered complete sets
of all the craft on the Naval Register
and deserted the navy for fresh fields
Therefore, byrights, the thing should
have happened years ago instead of
DAYS ago, or else it shouldn't have
happened at all Certainly it seems
fair to infer that she would not have
brought such an experience upon her
self had she known that there was no
especial novelty about the sight of
one of the bands about a girls hat,
and that knowledge ought surely to
have been hers had she lived any
where else on the Atlantic seaboard.
However all that may be, the fact
remains that it was less than a fort
night ago that she paid her first visit
to man-of-war, and when she got
home again she wore about her sailor
hat a black ribbon with the words
"U. S. S. Plymouth Rock, or some
such name, on it in gold letters And
she was proud OF it, Pride may
spring from variou. causes In this
case it was partially vicarious A
young man had taken her over the
ship and had displayed its wonders
to her. lie had shown her big guns
and bigger admirals and biggest wa
tercight bulkhcads till her head
whirlcd. Then when she was in this
state of mind he had said, with SIM
ple-hcarted earnestncss:
"Why, we could whip anything of
CIr class aAoat"
He was only midshipman or an
ensign, or something Of that sort, al
though he spoke with proprietary
accent; but youth does not draw
these fine distinctions, and the words
were uttered in a manner so sincere
and ardent that it was almost as good
as a declaration of love. So sympa-
thetic pride and interest in the ship
were reused in her. Then she saw
the colored sailors among the white
"Do you mean to say that you have
white and colored on the same ship"
she exclaimed.
"Why, certainly" was the reply.
"And how do you make them get
along together, and how do you
make them stay? Now, with us, We
have to have either all colored serv-
ants or all white. How ever do you
do?" and she went on to relate cpl
sodes of domestic history
Naval discipline is a large subject
as anybody knows who has looked
upon the gorgeousness Of a court
martial, and at the best there was lit
tie enough time, so the young man in
troduced the subject of ships rib
bons instead Of the relations Of the
white and the colored seaman. ]
is as certain that a regular formula il
employed in the navy in giving thes'
ribbons away as it is that there is {
factory somewhere in the United
States where the ribbons are turned
out in wholesale quantities for jus
this purpose The government
could never afford to supply tn,
thousands upon thousands that ar,
lavished upon young women annual
w, and with so many different mel
giving them to so many dilferen
young women some form OF word
must have arisen or been developed
by experience that has been found t
be the most fetching Whateve
the formula may be, this young won
ans owes sparkled and her cheek
/. glowed when the band with ~ 5. 5
Plymouth Rock" had been duly adj
iusted on her hat
She didn't happen to be living a
her home then, but at summer
boarding house, where there resided
also, several inconsequential maid
-. Thooo viaxUad with hioh dis