Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-11


| day, that is-until he has no money left
for washerwolnen or for anybody else to
whom he may be indebted. To the credit
OF the soldiers 1t should be said. however,
that very great majority Of them are
careful to keep entirely out of sight Of the
canteen until they have made themselves
financially four-sQuare SO far the post
Is concerned.
Invariably Makes Trouble.
The payday excitement around a post
generally lasts three or four days after
the men have got their money The off,
GERS don't like pay day, for it nearly al
| ways brings trouble upon a good many
soldiers. often upon men with excellent
re cords. For several days after pay day
the canteen is filled to Overlooking, and
the sergeant of the guard Is often called
upon by the officer of the day to sup
| Is invariably Of the most vociferous sort
or to clear the canteen out altogether and
lock 1t up when, as often happens, the
men get to fighting among themselves The
guardhouse Of large post is pretty well
hlfed after each pay day. There is an un-
written regulation in the army to the
effect that if a soldier gets drunk in the
eanteen after nightfall, and all of his mill
tary work is finished he is not to be
poInced upon by member. of the guard if
ne quietly seeks his bunk in quarters
only when he exhibits a fighting or other
mischievous inclination is he to be hauled
be1ore the officer of the day. Unfortu-
nately, most soldiers of the regular army
Mnen they become canteen sodden, find
nShtne the most entertaining business
Immediately at hand and that is the rea-
sen the guardhouse gets SO many of the
soidlers after pay day Few soldiers have
a cen. OF their pay left week after pay
uay, ana during the remainder of the
month most of them are greatly put to If
10 get mold OF postage stamps to mail their
letters. $4,000 'ieii
In the Navy.
In the navy there is even more uncer.
tainty over pay day than there used to he
IN the army under the Old system. The
Jack-of-the-dust, who is the paymaster's
yeonlan's striker al general dog robber
becomes bluejacket of considerable i'm
portance wnen serving out" day as ii is
ca'led IN the navy, impends. His aupear-
ances up forward tc smoke a peaceful pipe
Always assemble a knot of shore-crayine.
men around him. and these men irnpcrtune
MIN eagerly to tell them when money is to
be served out The Jack-of- the-dust doesn't
seheraiiy know any more about it than
the coaipassers on watch down below not
oelne on exactly Intimate terms with the
paymaster OF the ship, but because his
station is aft the door of the paymaster's
once the men figure it that he ought to
know all about it, and he does not dlsabuse
their minds on the matter, relishing the at
tention that is paid to him.
There Is lot of preliminary business in
the paymaSter'S office on man-of-War be-
fore the enlisted men get their money a
function that takes place two or three
Gays before the men are paid off is the
serving out of small stores-tobacco. Ian
yards. cloth for uniforms, all sorts of gar
ments and small gear required ~ sailors.
The men put down. for the stuff they
need OF this sort about a week before it is
served out TO them. When the JACKPOT
the-dust, after tuning around in the pay
masters store rooms for a few days, has
got the gear out and ready for distribution,
ia aft Inv
divisions They LAY aft to the paymas-
tiers office. get the stuff they have put
down for. and carry it of to their ditty
bags in their arms. The next day they are
called aft again, in ships divisions, as be-
fore, to Sign" Cor what they have drawn.
They step into the paymaster's Office. one
by one. and inscribe their signatures on
the dotted lines Indicated by the paymas-
ter's clerk, and some of the signatures
thus pu. down curiosities of penman-
ship An occasional Chinese Japanese
or Arabic signature adds a picturesque
break to the row of names set down in Oc-
cidental script.
Signing for RatiOns.
Perhaps on the day following all hands
Of the enlisted men are again ordered aft
to sign for ratiors." Every man in the
navy is entitled to 50 a month in rations,
and he eats it up at his mess table But
if he chose to live on rice of his own pur-
chasing ashore, or oatmeal, any other
sort of provender with which he chose to
provide himself independently Of his mess,
and if he declined to eat any of the meals
set before him at Lis mess table, the regu-
lations entitle him to draw his 50 in cash.
This is very rarely done. however. in these
days. and in putting their signatures to
the paymaster's ration list the men simply
sign for what they have already eaten at
their mess tables.
All these preliminary ceremonies indicate
to the men forward that pay day is draw
,;rh bod lr,,.
actly when the day is to be. 1t is reserved
for the boatswains mate at the gangway
to spring the big surprise. The officer of
the deck moves up to him and exchanges
q word with him. The boatswain's mate
gives a long, shrill blast on his pipe, and
then sings out:
'All the men of the first division. lay aft
to the pay office to draw monthly money"
The yell that goes up all over the ship
when this announcement is made is like
the "cheer ship given by sailors at a navy
yard to man-of-war bound for a foreign
station. The men do not have to doff their
working clothes and get into uniform to
get their monthly money. They make for
the paymasters Office just they are
when they are ordered aft by the boats
wain's mate, and they get into line down
the alley ways leading to the office in ac-
cordance with their ships numbers. The
yeoman calls out the mans number, and
the man steps from, the line into the pay
office, where the paymaster stands merely
in a supervisory capacity, the pay clerk
and the yeoman attending to the actual
serving out of the money. The officer of
the division being paid off always has his
station in the pay office. acting as sort
of sponsor for his division.
Getting Their Money.
When the man whose number has been
called out steps into the pay office he doffs
his cap and puts it between his knees gen.
orally. The yeoman hands him an linked
pen with which to receipt for his money.
If the man goes through very many pain
full contortions in getting his signature to
paper, and lets his tongue hang from his
mouth, and looks at the paper very much
slantwise. as good many of the blue
jackets do before they succeed in their I'M
dertaking of signing, their shipmates out
in the alleyways gibe them in unison, and
have to be sat down upon by a master-at-
arms. one of whom is always around when
monthly money is being served out. On ac-
Count of this signing the money is paid out
to the men much slower in the navy than
1t is in the army, and the best part of a
day is generally taken up in paying a ships
&C mpany their monthly wages. The men do
not mind the slowness of the task, for 1t re-
heves them of the necessity of working,
all 10 IL