The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-15
JACK TAR,S LETTERS HOME
ONE or THE DUTIES OF THE SHIPS
WRITER ON 4 MAN-OT-WAR

Hsestic Matters Calling for
scenes ON tho Arrival or the Home well.
WASHINGTON, Aug. l4.-Another point OF diff
ference between the enlisted men Of the army
and navy y Is that while the average soldier IL .
persistent and fairly capable letter writer. the
oiuejacket and the sea soldier will travel any
length TO wrigglo out OF the necessity OF hand
ing n pen. This difference il OF course almost
entirely n matter OF environment. Tho soldier
mas MS ample bunk, his gear chest, the tables IN
the day room of his quarters, and the well-fur-
nished desks Of tho post library to pick from for
lettcr-writing purposes tho sailor or the ma
rihe mas only his Sx12-inch ditty box, held per
torco between tho knees, and therefore no very
stable atuir FOR the exercise Of penn,anship' VI
course there arc some sailors and some marines
VINO write letters home or elsewhere, but these
are mostly the landsmcn, recently shipped, ana
the recruits, suffering from the lonesomeness
and the ISOLATION OF early uniform wearing. A
seaman with n rating badge on his arm, or q sea
soldier with IN enlistment stripe or two on his
sleeve, Ia not often seen on a man-of.war with O
pen IN hiH fist. Yet tho old.timers, especially
when they are on remote foreign stations, are
exceedingly fond Of receiving mail when the
mail steamers arrive at tho ports In which their
ships lie and, oddly enough, those among them
who are the rarcst writers often receive the
heaviest mail.
The ships writer does the absolutely ncces-
sary writing for the blucjackets and marines,
who despisc the manipulation of the pen. Some
times, IL he is "A newly rated ships writer, he
docs the work for nothing; but the ships writer
who has been in the service long enough to have
worn out several eagles on the sleeve OF his
mastering shirt is not so amiable. He estab-
fishes a set OF charges for his ink-slinging labors,
and thereby fattens his income considerably In
the course OF n crnise. Nor does IL seem unrea-
sonablo that the ships writer should ex-
net fees for this sort of work, for he has to
snatch intervals between his really heavy labors
OF an Official character to perform 1t, and 1t Is
the mercst Incidence. after oil, that prompts
man.of-wnr's men TO employ another man to
write their letters Tor them. The three yeomen
OF a warship-all OF them ixty-dollars-a.Inonth
chief petty Enthusiastically write letters
for particular chums among their %shipmates
who feel their incapacity for pen work. but they
are not appealed to by the crew in general for
farors OF this sort, as Is the ships writer.
There is some excuse for the genuine old
timers among tho bluejackets for not doing
their own letter writing, for their hands. after
many years OF man.ot.war deck labor, or toll
down below in engine and fire rooms. become
stiffencd and their myers bent and rigid. thus
making pen work out OF the question Tor them.
But Tor the old.timc marine, who during his en-
tire service has never been called upon to do any
harder work than pipc-claying his belt. and
whose hands remain as flexible as n wOman's
there is 10 excuse sufficient TO warrant his not
paying the ships writer for doing his letters for
him. while he himself puts in all his leisure time
playing p~inochlc on the spar deck.
A ship's writer often has queer jobs on his
hands in the way of writing shipmatos' letters.
He writes letters 10 sweethearts, wives. moth
ers, sisters. brothers, uncles. ana aunts, ,li sorts
man for whom h does the Job. The sweetheart
letters propondcrnte. Letters to wives come
next. Almost every return letter that n man
oi.war's man gets from wife or sweetheart con-
tains a repro 'cn tor his Indifference or callous-
ness in permitting another man 10 write his let
tCrs tor him; rcproachcs which are OF course
ignored when the ships writer indites the next
Cptstie to them.
The extent OF the Instructions which the ships
writer usually gels from the man for whom he
writes a letter IS. Tell her this and tell her
that so that with hardly any, proper sort of
which he Is making reply the writer must shape
his cpistolary fabric. Once in a while, II he
comes within a mile or SO Of really answer
ing the questions submitted in the let
nee necessari Mienh he j w rfts irr %Sre pIye"' Quite %he
Dcsiuc the main points of the corresponds nee.
narily Ignores tho most salient matters that the
inan.oi-wars mans correspondent wants to
know about in detail. Occasionally, when. a
sailor receives "a letter from a sweetheart in the
States that he wants the ships writer to make
reply TO for HIM. no steals sheopisLly aft TO the
that petty officer. with the remark:
Sec here, mate, ! want you TO answer this
strong; pile 1t on thick. but don't make i too
fourisiy. or sho'll know it's not me; tell her
I'm Just telling you what TO say, and am not
writing myself, because my hand Is sore: tell
her I've been sober for six months. and haven't
been ashore al! that time; and. say. If you shoot
of a b!ouinin' word about this up for'ard III
break your head"
Now, Instructions such as these give a ships
range is wide: TO do the. JOB successfully he
must adopt the mental charactc~ ristics OF his
client: and to write in the style, or Inc lack OF II,
of another man is n thing thar has puzzled
some eminent heads. However. the writer
plungcs, into the Job. Ships writer's are an OK.
cccdingly intelligent class OF men as n rule
generally clerks whose inhiscrctions ashore
have got them into maE'of.war's mems uni
forms. So. his client having boliol and gone up
forward. he sets to work to reply to the sweet
hearts letter. lie must carefully repress the
heart OF his own, for otherwise he would ex-
hiblt, probably. a fOrldntss or diction and an
cpistolary enthusiasm that would be utterly in
and intelligence OF tho man Tor whom the work
is performed. He must har" recourse 10 short.
ndds realism to the thins by falling into gross
slovenliness us to grammar. Under these con-
snii"rnS even; e R,ngs m "a Of Ss GxpFs is, , Snd the
may be piled on thick; hut the work is nice, and
worth the ships writer's fec.
Not infrequently when the ships writerin do
Ing a Job OF this sort inadvertently steps over
the limit and indites rhetoric to his clients girl.
which she, of all other human beings. knows is
OF II higher flight than her Jack IS capable OF,
nc writer hnds himself in peck OF trouble.
W hen the next mail from The United States mr.
rives aboard the ship Jack races out to the
writers Office, ilourishing II letter in the air, and
hoarscly inquiries:
Say, what tho dcvil did you put into that
letter. anu what kind OF IA limcJuice monkey
this"
Tho writer takes the letter from Jacks sweet
heart and tlnds simply that tho girl has COM
mented rnlhusiastlcnllI, and perhaps sarcas-
tically. on jacks manifest Improvement in
Literary style. But lie has a Job to appease
Jack, all tho same.
The letters which the ships writer's execute
Tor the married men among their clients aboard
snip are, usually OF Il much more iepid cllarac-
trr, beginning and ending IN COmnlunplnccs.
ship got here lat week; start tomorrow night
for rangier; hope The kids arc aii riHht;, Why
dOnl You send mo some more papers this Is
q sort OF sketch OF Tho style Oi dorumon the
writer gets up for shipment to the wives In
nome ports, Worry often, however, these matri-
moniul cpistles relate chiefly 10 the mat
Ter OF money, and then there y a whole rl
wife writes TO her husband on tho China
station inquiring. why no is not sending her
regularly through the paymasier her share
OF ms pay; or, perhaps. demanding, an in
crease In the allowance. Hero is where the
1 Ill wrltlI'a II .t,A nm nNhiHii IAalE