Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-11

4 u
| .H@ security has caused
x & hi m to overreach
himself and his ex-
actions b C o m e so
| neaVy and fnsistent that they can't he
longer omcially ignored. but he ALWAYS
bobs up serenely and openly. after pursu-
| ing his Shylock-like business on the ouiat
| for time.
Inc enlisted banker is a soldier. sailor
or marine who wakes opulent on the prodi-
| gaiity OF his fellows-not infreouently. in
deed, upon the recklessness of his superior
omcers. He is money-lender who often
gets rich at the expense OF the spendtnrifts
IN ooth services. In the navy he is called
sfx-for-five man. the difference of one
IN the figures Of the term indicating the in
terest ne charges for the loan of e for a
MONTH He could as well be called a
| t"eiVe-Icr-ten or a "twenty-four-for-
| twenty man, for on all of the ships of the
navy ms interest charges are the same In
the army he is known as the screw" or
| the Snyiock, and the degree of his usurv
Is variable. depending altogether unon the
! SomParaIve solvency Of the men who have
permitted themselves to become enmeshed
i ~, ms net; and upon their rank and stand
ing As Wen. There is not a single shin in
| the United states navy that has not amonp,
1 us crew one or more bankers There is
| scarSeiy a company, troop or battery in
| sne oni.eo states army whose muster roll
ooes not contain the names of one or mora
bankers. VI A'oie
In the Navy.
Inc navy banker is in most cases the
paymaster's yeoman of a Ship The nav
| masters yeoman is a chief petty officer.
VINO acts as clerk and all-around assistant
| to the paymaster and pay clerk, the latter
oeins an officer appointed for single
cruises. who attends to about seyen-eiphtbs
. tne psymaster's duties The pay
| masters yeoman is the actual custodian
OF a warship's money. He attends to the
pulk OF the paymasters clerical work. is
paio $6o a month, and has to be a man of
pretty good education as an accountant. in
order to make out the innumerable paw
masters reports of money and stores
served out demanded by the Navy DEPART
ment.
In general the paymasters' yeomen who
are bankers, lend out their own money The
paymasters yeoman OF a gunboat now on
the Pacific station is said to have made
nearly 1900 as banker in the course of
two cruises, during which he has worn the
chief petty officers uniform as a paymas-
ters striker" He is a cautious Welsh
nan. an ex-Jack-of-the-dust "a Jack-of-the-
Gust Is a paymasters yeoman's under
strapper, who attends to the labor of serv-
ing OK stores), and every time he has been
called to the mast by the commanding
ofhcer to clear himself of the charge of
| esoiy hS las uOHe IL, ne mas never under
gone days punishment for his Shylock
work. and he will coon retire from the navy
to enjoy very fair fortune at a home
which he has purchased in BROOKLYN And
yet the sort of business by which he has
gathered his hoard is expressly forbidden
In the regulations Of the navy.
This man Is type Of the navy money
maker He not only engages in money
lending at GLORIOUS interest, but he is a
Ships purveyor. He has charge of the pay
masters storerooms. as all paymasters'
yeomen do and, when his ship is about to
start on on a cruise, he loads these store
rooms up with canned es tables. scores of
boxes OF them, and then stands by until the
ship puts In at starvation port" like
coast. for instance. where decent food for
the enlisted mems messes cannot be had for
love or money. Then comes this yeoman's
opportunity He breaks out his canned
goods and sells them to the blueiackets
and marines for from 25 to so cents per can
STUFF for which he has paid on the aver
age about cents per can. There is a
great amount Of money In this business
Tor the hungry sailorman is bound to feed
himself II he can. especially IL he may do
It on credit-and the yeoman only collects
ior ms canned goods when monthly money
Is served out For very obvious reasons.
TINS paymasters yeoman suffers great
wretchedness Of mind and soul when his
snip is ordered to ports where good food is
cheap.
Following Shore Liberty.
AhiS Suip q, however, which Is,
of course. strictly forbidden, and " hich the
officers rarely know anything about, is
only side issue Of the paymesters yeo-
mans regular business of money lending.
No matter how much money man-of-war's
men draw from the paymaster each month.
about three-fifths of them are pretty GER
tam to go broke within a week after pay-
day One shore liberty suffices to empty
the pockets Of most Of them Then for a
while, when the ship is in a port where
JOY Is to be found, these spendthrifts watch
the more saving men go over the gangway
on liberty and become restless. They want
TO go, too. but they have no money and
shore liberty without at least one piece of
gold in his pocket is something the blue
Jacket can't see through. Finally his long
ing for the delights of the beach takes COM
plete possession OF him. and there is then
nothing for him to do but to make a visit
10 the pay office, aft, for negotiations with
tne snips banker II he abides in the
cankers good graces he comes away hap-
Ply, the little bag around his neck under
his shirt, a-clink; but If, on the contrary.
ms time Is nearly out, or IT, at any time in
ms whole naval career, he has ever been
guilty OF a little backwardness in settling
ms accounts with shipmates, he is likely
TO come away g1owering. The bankers
won iend money to men whose terms of
enlistment are drawing to a close nor will
they lend to men whose financial histories
Che details of which they know thor
ougnly, are clouded by the least stigma of
Nouut. II Is IOf reasons such these that
The bankers seldom get left.
Enormous Profits.
The bluejacket who gets a ten-dollar gold
piece from the banker pays the latter
twelve dollars at the time monthly money
Ii served out The bankers collecting
time. after the men have all drawn their
money, is a business period during which
an immense amount of work is accomplish
ed with no noise Whatsoever TIL. h.,lar
coesnt go after the men on the ship who
owe him money. They come to him at his
omce-the paymaster's Office. They come
furtfvely. with glances around for officers
for they don't want to give away the ma.
tnre Of their business. They have the
money In their hands. and they pass it into
the hand Of the banker without a word.
They stand by for q minute while the
banker checks their names on his books
and then they 20 forward. The transaction
Ii over. Thus the banker takes In hum
dreds. and, ON large hagships, often thous-
ands Of dollars each month.
Tf1ov.c fo <>R