Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-07-17

| xcL-thf- could without muCH
| loss have foregone
! the visit below; for on the spar deck alone
of the old man-of-wa he could have seen
all that was worth seeing The propul-
sion of the old ships was practically alto
gether in the hands of the nimble rigging
| scramblers of the deck force-the blue
| Jackets when the ship visitor of other
days studied as they sat tailor-wise on
togallant fo'csle corking mats, sewing
! sillxen stars and anchors on shore sweet
| hearts imitation sailor caps. True, there
! may have been compound engine or SO
! below, installed there chiefly for the pur-
| pose of turning over propeller to shove
| the ship in and out of ports; once out Of
| port and in the open sea, the propeller be-
| ing hoisted out of the water and Graded in
| the we'll that 1t might not Qhe engines
| being "dead') have TO be dragged through
| the sea and retard the propulsion of the
| slrouds. For steam was then a make-shift
| or men-of-war, of the relative Importance
| of the secondary battery the warship
| of today. The sails were the thing; and
| the black gang formed an inconsidera-
| Bile number of the old man-ofwars en-
| listed ships company-men who worked
| below when the engines were being turned
over. but who had also to be able to lend
hand TO go aloft on sea watches when
| the ship was under sail alone, as it was
| ninety days in a hundred.
With the Coming of Steam.
But now, since the animatng power of
the ship has been transferred from spar
| deck to fire and engine rooms, the black
| garg-otherwi:e, the crew of the engin-
| GERS departments a body of men to be
considered on the modern man-of-war.
| While a deck officer of the line could
| scarcely be expected to admit 1t, the black
gang are the men who do most of the work
| on tceay's ships of war. Theirs is not
fancy sailoring. Only on Sundays and
| holidays do they break out" their mus
| tering shirts and caps. Except at quarters,
| they are uniformed in dungarees, and,
| seen during working hours, they are a
| grimy-looking lot, from chief machinist
down to coal HEAVIER No ship visitor,
| seeing them at work, would feel melted
| to quicker his lips for the whistlng of "A
! Lie on the Ocean Wave for the man of
| the black gang has nothing heavy
weatherlsh in his gait. manner, or looks
When the man below knocks off work for
the day, he is generally too tired to do any,
ming except TO smoke. He earns his pay
use for the deck hand" whom he con-
siders no sailor since the passing of the old
sailing men-of-war, but the merest paint
| scrubber and bright work polisher' In
| fact the mutual jealousy that is so we'll
known, through recent exploitation to ex-
ISL between engineer officers and officers
OF the line OF the American navy, has ex-
teioeo, during the past few years, to the
enlisted men of the two main parts of the
ship-the deck force and the engineers
gang The individual man of each force
ma i,ains that he is more essential than
tle otner TO the porking of the Ship The
INTRODUCTION or the steel ships has caused
TINS question to be unremittingly argued
Win neat ne and fisticufrs by the men for
ward or the two forces. 1t will pnobahIv
never be decided to the Satisfaction of ~
Two contending gangs -o
What Would Hnnuar
If there weren't no men on deck tn vvort
the guns says the gunner's mate to the
fireman. where in blazes 'ud this bloom
ing hooker be If a sea war 'ud happen tn
break out?"
Shed be standin' on her nose in
thousand fathom of salt water, II there
wasn't no hands down below to shake up
some steam to lug her out o. the way
that's where she'd be!' retorts the fireman
and thus 1t goes on forever, world without
endIWhence the term, ''man-o-war chaw."
q, WINE IN numbers the engineers gang of
the modern American man-of-war only
comprises about one-fifth of the ships
connpahy OF enlisted men, the engineers
gang certainly does quite as much work
as the whole deck force when the shin is in
port. At sea, the man of the black gang
does about. five times the amount of work
performed by the man on deck. Executive
gel their brains to find work enough to
keep deck forces going from turn to- till
knock off," but no chief engineer ever
=. mas 10 ne awake nights to study up work
10 De done by the men Of his department
He Is more likely to lose rest wondering
now ne 1s going to get all of the necessary
work he has mapped out done by his COM
paratfvely small force. Scarcely ever does
chief engineer descend an engine or fire
room ladder that he does not chance upon
dozen or so of urgently necessary Jobs
machinery and boilers Of the shin The
propelling gear Of a big ship of war, strong
and perfect as 1t looks and is, when in
operation. and every trif1ing detail has
been attended to, is in need of constant
tinkering on the part Of the machinists of
the black gang, in order to keep 1t in
proper shape The machinery becomes
tired" or CRAZY" at the most unexpected
times, and the members Of the black gang
whose work is directly in connection with
for periods of "engine- sulking." There is
always a piston rod or stuffing box, of a
pump to be packed. valve chamber to be
examined and cleaned, a cylinder head to
be removed and replaced, an air and circu-
lating pump rod to be renewed. A modern
man-of-war rarely makes a days running
that score of minor things, to be attend
ed to as soon as the "mud-hook" is let 20.
are not developed.
A Prodigious Task.
The amount of station cleaning the MEM
bers of the black gang have to attend to is
prodigious-several times as much as that
done by the whole deck force. The preser-
walton of man-of-wars machinery from
the injury wrought by oil and rust is a
mammoth job. Every man below, except
the machinists. who are chief petty off,
GERS, has what is called cleaning station,
which he must keep in the pink of condi-
ton or stand the consequences of a charge
of Sinking duty. A list of these stations
is hung in the upper engine room, and each
station is numbered. The man Of the black
gang regularly cleans the station the num-
Der of which corresponds with his own
ships number. Thus, Jack Robinson, oiler
ships number 10, does his rubbing and
scrubbing and painting and polishing on
cleaning station number 10. which may be
a dozen boiler manhole plates, the disks
and bright work of half dozen steam in
dicators, or the complicated mechanism OF
a steam pump. Whatever it may be- Jack
Robinson, oiler. ships number 10, has got
to keep 1t a-glistening. unless he wishes to
knuckle his forehead Eat the mast In ex-
planning why he hasn't. A quarter of q ton
OF cotton waste Is used every month on a
large man-of-war for engine and IRE room
cleaning.
The Enlisted Men.
The enlisted men Of the man-of-war's
black gang are. in the order OF their I'm
portance. machinists, water tenders, oilers,