The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-05

tween pair of bluejackets under the fore
castle They have learned that it is better
the thing should be fought out and done
with than that dozens of men should be
drawn into quarrel that testers and grows
unless the head Of it is broken by de-
ciSiVe battle between the two men who
have been snarling at each other. People
who have made ocean voyages often dwell
upon the WEAKNESS which has overcome
them at the sight of their felloW-VOya gers
countenances toward the end of a pas
sage. This is a feeling which is aggra-
waited a thousand-fold amid the uncomfort-
able surroundings of q war vessels fore
castle, the hundreds Of occupants of which
are obliged to be constantly together for
from one to three years. Each man be-
comes thoroughly aware of all his mate S
little characteristics, and after awhile,
whether these characteristics are good or
bad they jar upon him, If only on account
of their monotony. Thus friction is gem
Grated, and it is for this reason that the
crew of a man-of-war just returned TO the
United States after a three years cruise
in foreign waters is generally such sour
looking lot, even as concerns the officers
aft, who become quite as sick Of each other
as do the men forward.
Hardly day passes that there is not at
least one scrap on board most men-of-war,
with the promise of a heavier battle to
follow. A bluejacket seats himself on an
others ditty bex, and, on being roughly
ordered by the box's owner to vacate, he
refuses, and consignS the owner to a much
less moist place than Davy Jones's locker.
The men come together. two or three blows
are exchanged, and then, as by common
consent each man draws away, both feel
ing that the Jimmy Legs ii. e.. the mas
ter-at-arms) is not far distant. and neither
caring for trick in the brig" Having
thus become involved in the minor hstic
argument of the deck, the two bluejackets
are looked to by the entire ships company
to bring their affair to a satisfactory con-
clusion. The mere exchange of growls be-
tween the two men doesn't go. Pipe
down there We men-of-War chaws. and set
tie the thing right" is the general remark
hurled at them by all hands when they
meet in mere contests of cuss words, and
the sailor who is considered to be the ag
grieved man is watched carefully to see IL
he makes any preliminary moves toward
arranging a regular fight He almost al
ways does
Nearly all the regular fights between
bluejackets aboard ship are pulled off down
below in one of the fire rooms or in an
empty bunker The empty bunker IS pre-
ferred on account of its greater isolation.
When a fight is to come off between two
blueiacketS below all hands know all about
it, often including the maSter-at-armS him.
self, but very few of the men, unless they
are intimates of the combatants expect in
a bunker for more than half g. dozen
friends of each man, and even with this
number the space IS rather contracted.
With a second each. and a referee agreed
upon by both, the men, stripped naked to
the waist, go at it, The fights are not OF
the rough-and-tumble order. The men fight
according to regular priZe-ring rules, and
their shipmates are present to see that the
rules are complied with. AS many as fifty
ROUNDS are sometimes. IOuRnl. OTulHdFlly
one Of the men goes under by the time the
tenth round is called. If the men are I'M
equally matched, and one of them IS get
ting palpably the worst Of it, all hands in
the bunker agree that the thing should
stop, and it does stop If the contestants
are about of sort. the fight is carried on
to the end until knockout blow is plant
ed by one of them or both are too weak
to go on. At the conclusion of the fight
the onlookers quietly depart from. the
bunker and ascend to the deck by different
engine-room ladders. so as not to attract
the attention of the officer of the deck.
Both men generally get pretty thoroughly
mauled and bruised up IN these bunker
fights, and when the. battle Is, over they
Jump into their uniforms and repair to
the sick bay to get themselves patched up
with arnica. court plaster. etc. The sur
geon knows at glance what ails them,
but for the sake of form. he asks them
what the trouble is. They have both fallen
down a ladder. Both at the same time?
No. sir. they fell down different ladders.
That's curious" murmurs the surgeon.
with a smile and faraway look in his
eyes. scribbling an account of their in
iuries in his record, and then he orders
the apothecary 10 dress their wounds