Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-13
THRIFTY BLUE COATS
Continued from Eleventh Page)

seribed as deliriousiy happy. In general.
ABOUT three-Quarters of the men of the
outht require a shave for muster. and they
are perfectly well aware that II they sho.y
Up IN line with unshorn countenances at
naT. .ney are liable to receive a severe
Gaining down at the hands of the commani-
ing ofhcer. IL. indeed. their neglect OF their
De ards does not procure them a term in
the guard house for siovenliness
A Flouri.hing Bu.tne...
Therefore. on the night before muster
the men who need things to be done TO
their hair and boards assemble in force
In the BARRIERS little detached hut ana
proceed to make him wish he had died
when he was quite young. The growing
is perpetual and terrific As each man
turns up the barber hands him a checl,
with a number on IL indicating HIS place
IN tne next column. but these checks
make mighty poor balm for the alleviate
OF the soldiers wrath whose individual
procrastination has contributed to the
crush. AT Ill o'clock, when the trumpeter
sounds taps. and all lights in the pos.
have to go out, there is still a Jam of mad
soldiers in the BARRIERS wickiup, waiting
10 De shaven or Shorn. These, of course
nave TO be turned out to wait until MORN
nsS 10 nave their heads or boards srrucci
up. BY dint of terrific effort the barber
generally coEtrives to attend to all of his
patrons by the time first call for muster
goes. But il oftens happens that he hasn't
nad TINE TO shave himself by that same
tme an, humoroUsly enough no soldier
is more commonly jumped upon by both
adJutant and commanding officer for ne
glecting his beard than the company bar
Der himself.
The man-of-war barber goes through
much the same ordeal on the day before
muster on shipboard the only difference
in the two situations being that the navy
man, having a great many more patrons
TO attend TO than the army barber IN
Variably fails to get his men fixed IN i'm
Tune. SO that at every muster inspection a
large number OF them are severely ioltei
Tor showing UP in line with week-old
boards that give them a savage and muir
derous aspect. Such men, who were I'M
abie TO make the BARRIERS chair Oh the
previous day. in reply to the skipper's
sharp question. What do you mean sir
by appearing at muster with that Disgrace
ful growth Of beard?" either state that
their faces are sore from excessive shaw
ing, or that they are growing fun boards
II a man makes the latter assertion even
II he has never had the remotest inten-
ton OF permitting the hair on his face TO
grow, he has got to stick to il and allow
ms beard to sprout at least for a few
weeks, for commanding officers of shirs
take especial note of such matters. and
IL at the next inspection the tar should
show up with clean shaven countenance.
ne would certainly be dosed by his skipper
In manner not to his liking for previous
untruthfulness.
TonsOrfal Artists in the Navy.
On the big ships carrying crews OF 800 or
GOO men there are always several BARRIERS
to care for the hair and boards of the men.
In the old days there was a rate OF ships
barber, the holder of which drew $50 a
month from the government, in addition to
the money he collected from the men for
his work. That rate was abolished several
years ago. however. for il was asy to per-
ceive that the money the ships shaver
drew from the government was purely I'M
necessary velvet Nearly all of the man-of-
war BARRIERS of the present day are lands
men or ordinary seamen. They are not
given the rating badges of petty officers
for the reason that their barbering work
conssmeS so much of their time that they
could not possibly serve as petty officers.
On the smaller cruisers. carrying crews of
something like 80 men, only one man Is
detailed for barbering work, and. although
by charging 81 a month per head he makes
a big pay day at the end of his three-year
cruise. he does not often have the job of
serving more than quarter of the ships
company.
The ships barber earns every centirne he
works for. There is nothing particularly
soothing or delightful in the job of shaving,
say, an average of forty men a day at sea,
in choppy weather or a long swell. The
sailor who undergoes the BARRIERS opera
tionS under these conditions does not neceS-
sarily enter into this story. but a good dea
might be written with regard to his scnsa-
tions while his face is being scrape9, to
say nothing of the holy show he often looks
after the barber has got through with him.
Under the best circumstances. when 4 ship
is lying at anchor in quiet harbor the
ships BARRIERS shave is no laughing mat
ter but at sea it is unspeakably agonizing,
both during its progress and afterwarl
Sewing on Board ship.
Any sailor or marine on a man-of-war
may 'tailorize'' for his shipmates' money
if he has the skill, and on every ship there
are always a dozen or so of men, usually
bluejackets, making extra money in the
devisng of uniforms and caps. The blue
jacket clothes served out to new sailors are
quite as atrocious in the matter of fit as
the government straight uniforms OF the
army. and all the unofficial tailors have
generally all the work they can attend to
in the manufacturing of mastering shirts
and trousers. These men do their work on
small, unmounted sewing machines-which
suggests the recollection, by the way, that
when the great disaster occurred at Samoa,
about ten years ago. about three-quarters
of the ships companies of the Nandalia and
Nipsc, the men-of-war wrecked at Apia.
put in claims for sewing machines as
among the articles lost with their other
personal effects! AS to whether all the
claims were allowed or not is another story.