Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-20

~ u of,oar 80 g. 80,
recently. The clipper.sh little gunboat on
which was then a ward room officer hal
been on the Mediterranean station for over
two years. During that period the terms
OF enlistment of large number of the men
forward expired. Few of them reshipped,
most of them returning to the United
States to ship the home station. Our
ship was, therefore, very short handed at
the end of two years. We PICKED up a man
here and there al the Mediterranean ports
for the regulations permit our men-of-war
to ship men on foreign stations when crews
are very scant.
while we were lying in the harbor of
Nice young Amer can--the lad was some
where in the neighborhood of twenty-five.
1 suppose-came aboard. He was dressed
Up to the main-top. well educated. fluent
and handled himself like a young fellow
who had The bfouct in him He reminded
me of a young college man. just released
from his alma mater for the continental
jaunt-which surmise happened to be cor
rect, as II afterward came out. L was Off
Ger OF the deck when he came off 10 the
gangway ladder like a man used to 'em.
walked up to me on the quarterback, made
his little salaam and said:
i want to ship
II sized up the boy and his makeup for
half minute.
No. you don't: my boy said 1: not Oh
this line Of boats
Yes. do, honest he said earnestly.
Got to. Nothing else I'm sight. Made my
mind up to 1t. Three years in the navy
won't hurt me. anyhow
We'll. no, it won't hurt YOU said ]. but
Ii won't add any extra smoothness to those
hands of yours, either. You'd stay aboard
one of these ships about three months.
Then you'd either go over the side, or your
people would be bombarding the depart
::1ent to get you out
Nope. honor bright said the young fe,-
low. Snip me. won't you?
Victim Of Monte Carlo.
We'll. 1 went to work and pulled some of
the young fellows story out of him, al
though he was pretty reticent. He had
been up against the Monaco tables, and had
gone fiat broke. He had too much nerve
or too little Of it, as you please-to perform
the great cabling act to his folks in New
York. and so he had resolved upon seeing
Us lying in the harbor, to try a whirl in the
navy. He gave me some sort of d name
the first one that came into his head.
took him to the executive officer, stated the
case, and the executive officer also sized
the young man up and asked him why he
didn't try a swim for it to New York.
Because l want to ship in the navy
said the lad. and he said it convincingly.
ION looking over the ships writer's
books. the executive officer found that.
while there were any number of vacancies
in the crew for ordinary seaman, seamcn
and coal passers, there was only one
cancy for landsnian. and all new men who
ship on deck, and nos below in the fire
room, have to ship as landsmen. This one
Iandsman vacancy was for a ward room at
tendant-that is. the man who shipped as
landsman would have to wait on the ward
room officers-polish their shoes, make up
their beds. wait on the mess room table.
nd NJ fhof cnrf nf trey ntol IL
that most landsmen balk at. The execu-
tive officer put tine situation to the young
man who didn't break the bank at Monte
Carlo.
As Ward Room Attendant.
well, inside of an hour the young chap
had dotted his swell clothing, and was
hustling aroung the ward room. down on
the berth deck, in the uni ,orm of a ward
room attendant-which is iot bluejacket
uniform, you know. but blue sack suit uni
form, like that of a chief petty officer
without the brass buttons or rating badge.
AS soon as he got into that uniform, of
course, he could no longer talk with the
officers. except on matters appertaining to
his duties, and his business consisted I'm
the receiving of peremptory orders and at
tending to them. L watched him narrowly
when he waited on. the mess room table
at dinner that evening. He did his work
we'll and without grimace. alongside Of
the otner mess room attendants, and
seemed as cheerful as you please. He had
been waited upon so long himself. you see
that he knew how the thing ought to be
done. l told the other ward room officers
about the young fellows case, and they, of
course. treated him with little extra con-
s'deration: but he had to polish our shoes
ard perform all sorts of other valet-like
services for US, all the same.
The very next day after shipped
this mess room attendant We got orders
TO OrOceed immQ1iafel n New
orr mudhook was up and we were on our
way the following afternoon. Before We
Rad got half way to New York new
ward room attendant was not quite so
cheerful. but ne kept Up q brave front and
did his work up to the handle A lands
man is paid SIC a month, and. in my opn-
lon. a lsndsman earns that much in day.
by the time We hauled into New York
tarbor the young fellow was bit depress-
ed. as We could all see. and when he went
ashore the next day after We dropped an
Choir at the Brooklyn navy yard, l, for one.
didn't expect him to return. He did
though, right on time, too, and went to
work. But the next day his very fine-look-
ing old father and his very swell-looking
middle-aged mother came aboard to see
the commanding officers, and then il came
out that the lad belonged to one of the
Oldest and wealthiest families on Manhat-
tan Island. No, won't mention his name
and is doing well.
Hard to Get Out.
"Of course. the visit aboard. of the boys
parents had reference to getting him out
Of the service instantey. That is not so
easily done nowadays. though, as it used
to be. 1t almost requires an act of Con-
gIess to get enlisted man out of the
service now before his enlistment Is up
At the end Of his first year I'm the service |
he can be bought out or buy himself out
hut, you see. this young fellow had only |
Eeen in the navy a matter Of two weeks |
and SO he couldn't be legally bought out |
The captain put the matter in this light |
to the boys parents, and they were great
ly distressed. But the captain couldn't do |
anything for them. and they left the ship |
very greatly grieved. The father of the |
boy then went to work to exercise pressure |
with the Navy Department. and he might |
have succeeded in getting the lad out IL |
he had had time. But week after we
hauled alongside the Cob dock at the |
Brooklyn navy yard our ship was ordered |
to proceed at once to San Francisco |
through Smiths straits. and thence TO |
Honolulu. where there was some revolu- |
tionary trouble going on at the time. Now,
that's about one OF the longest trips q /
man-of-war can make on the globe and Il
made US all pretty gloomy. as we had /
settled ourselves for year at any rate.