Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-10

on the ship, fore and aft. from the cat head to the after cabin, he Immediately finds himself in a peck of trouble.
 Nowhere can a man who is hunting for fight find it so quickly as on the spar deck of d man-of-war. Marines. who have no manual work to do on ship, like an occasional stunt of violent exer- else. and they gloat over a chance like this. The drunken sailorman. who may be biting strips off stanchions andmoan- ing for blood, is man-handled with a swiftness that makes his head swim, al- though he will often stay with the game until he has knocked out the whole first attacking party of marines. A few welts over the head with the shank of bayonet do the work for him, however and he is carried, bowling and struggling, to the brig, up in the eyes of the ship on the berth deck If he is particularly violent he Is chained to a stanchion. A
 Summary courts martial are not fre- quent aboard the ships of the navy. The commanding officer of the ship Is permit tedo to condemn a misdemeanor to ten days in double irons without summary court-martialing him, and this punish ment is generally deemed adequate as it most certainly is, even for offenses against discipline a. little worse than the ordinary. A man thu spunished is first brought to the mast ("going up to the stick" the men call liD for a little one sided interview with the commanding officerI who comes from his cabin aft to the mainrnast for the purposeS The of fender is brought to the mast by the chief masterat-arms. A sailor will make even fewer remarks than a soldier under these circumstances. The commanding offi- cer and the executive officer" who stands beside him, do all of the talking.
 My man. says the commanding offi- cer, ponderously,. you came aboard your ship last night fighting drunk and want ed to lick the ships company. Is this not right, lieutenant?'' to the executive officer.
 Exactly right, sir, replies the -execu- tive officer. 4 .-lt llI f4 .1
 Now, my man." continues the com manding officer, addressing the offender again, what do you mean by it?"
 No answer. EEEr-
 Your language, understand. was out rageous, and you announced that you could eat your weight in 13-inch rifles. Is there any truth in this ?" s9ti
 Still no reply.
 ''I have been personally watching your course for some time and you have been acting, sir, like a ruffian-just like ruff fan. What have you to say for your self?"
 Silence. 5a
 DO you propose pursuing this course of conduct?"
 'For if you do, you will learn before you get through that the United States 1dNy uUtSI WdIl IuliletffS anu LII ards, and that there is also such a thing as a dishonorable discharge from the ser vice. besides naval prisons. Do you un- derstand this?"
 No answer. -tf- -5s .r.
 q shall not give you a court-martiai this time, but if you ever come to this mast again while I am on this ship you will find yourself in bad scrape. You understand?"
 Moreasilence.
 ''This time 1 shall only sentence you to ten days in double irons, but have care, my man, have care. Master-at- arms, ccnflne this man..
 The man is taken below to the brig, grinnir1g, kicking up his heels and con graduating himself that the eold man let him off so easy.
 That is the way the to-the-mast' ceremony is usually carried on. A sum- mary court-martial aboard ship, which may sentence a man to as much as three months confinement in double irons, with loss of pay, subject to the approval of the secretary of the navy, or to thirty days. solitary confinement in double irons is made up of several officers, with re- corder and judge-advocate, similar on a smaller scale to the general court-mar- tial of the army The navy general court martial is very grand and solemn af- fair, the members of which are detailed from several ships in squadron, and usually infiicts upon offenders from six months to three years in naval prisons.