Natchitoches populist. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1898-1899, 1898-10-21
SPANISH SAILORS LIFE.
1t Is Made Up Of Mental Tasks ard Sieve,
Punishment

W VI iHSm2i EdSkS AfQ SPVp
Punishment.
THE Spaniards do not know how
night their ships" said a naval office
I am perfectly confident that Geors
Dewey could have exchanged fee
with the Spanards in Manila harh,
ana then have given them almost =
sound drubbing as he did with h
own fleet"
The same opinion has been expresse
by large number of American NAYS
officers who are familiar with tn
principles upon which the SPANS
navy is run.
1t Is asserted that majority of tn
Spanish sailors are from inland Spain
The Spanish merchant sailors, the mel
nYing aboard warships, know too wei
the cruelties and hardships inflicted
upon men forward in their country
naval service to put themselves in tn,
way OF being trapped into it.
spanish petty officers, even within
tile last five years, have been ambus
caded ashore and killed by shipmatei
that they have thus shanghaied.
Spanish sailors forward are i'll treat
ed habituallyy by their officers. Thi
is not a prejudiced or an exaggerated
statement 1t is literally true Tn,
ofhcers of the Spanish navy are for tn,
most part younger sons of good famI
lies who have gained their billets no
by ability or through competition, bur
through the intercessi0n of their peo
pie at the court.
The incapacity of many of them is
laughable; their cruelty is notorious
From the very day that Spaniard il
enlisted in the ships company of on,
OF his country's warships-enlisted vol
UNFAIRLY or involuntarily-he is made
to feel that he is no better than
beast.
For the slightest infraction of the
regulations he is punished in fash
ION that makes his fellow bluejacketi
IN nayies like our own and that OF
Great Britain flush with anger. Thu
central and consuming idea of the
Spanish naval officer is that all hands
forward are his servants.
In the Spanish navy every man for
ward, from The chief petty officers
Gown to the unrated landsman. stand
oy Tor a trick as Wallets for all the off,
GERS aft. They are not asked to wash |
the officers linen: they are not re-
Quested TO blacken the officers shoes
or pipeclay their belts-they are com
nanded to do those things, and tasks
more mental, more repugnant to mer
d SELF respect; and the slightest indi.
cation of hesitancy on the part of
'luc1acket is visited by heavy punish.
nCnt.
When Spanish officer gets it in TO,
Chief petty officer for any real O,
ancled cause he does not Immediately
indertaKe to secure the petty officers
IlSfatlng. Instead. he begins syste.
natlcally to humiliate the petty off.
err
lie calls him vile names in the hear.
ls OIL the unrated bluejackets and moi
frequently kicks him.
He calls him aft-especially when
ie petty officer is showingg a party
women visitors about the shin-and
rders him to blacken his shoes, right
sight OF all hands and all the visi.
rs on the main deck.
The Spanish bluejacket, standing At | Z
-tehtion during the progress of a
Ill may never know when he is IA
It the Hat, or even the edge of
word across his back welded by an
Iicer OF somewhat 'fmpulsive'' dispo q
ton. q
Inc staunchion punishment is EN-. v
Dyed Tor the most trivial offenses G
the spanish navy, The bluejacket S
40 breaks his liberty by a few hours G
ows that he is in for the staunchiop G
N when he returns aboard. C
the rule o thumb is another com s
N punishment in the Spanish navy c
he suspending of offenders by thf b
o thumbs so that their feet barely
lch the ground, from overhead graf. e
IS. l.
Another feature of the punitive sys. 81
q IS the Solitary and fish" infic. IL
n. O.
ms consists in locking up a minor n
ander in an unlighted and practical a
unVentilated compartment and in W
ding him upon salt fish and no wa.
whatsoever for couple of DAYS n
q stretch. Boston Advertiser