Evening star., 1898-07-16

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| ouil and uninViting to the last degree-on
| the Pacific side. that is-and the hospitality
| OF the people has been greatly eNagger-
| ated. TN the South American coast, Pa
| cific side. there are some good ports but
none OF them as good as the least Divert
| iEg of the pnrts. say. on the Asiatle sta
| uon. No cruising coast line can be pOD-
| Clar with an American man-o wars crow
| where good, fresh provisions cannot bo
! had. and good, fresh provisions OF tho sort
| that people raised in the temperate zopo
| Ike to eat are not easily procurable on the
west coast, south OF Los Angeles. A small
| cruiser sent down that coast to mako
| souhalngs Tor example, on the coast and
IN the bays Of oliver California, IL de.
clueoly out of luck. The gunboats hold
| up the passing Pacific Mail liners when
| they can hail them. and grab month-oli
| prisoners, and the school-boy fashion with
| which they enjoy the delights OF San Fren-
cisco when their release and suroroone
nome finally comes is worth watching.
| Ihere is not an officer in the American
navy, moreover, who does not rejoice with
| IN MS soul that the patrolling OF the Berlng
sea sealing waters by warships is now a
| thlhg OF the past A sealing season up off
| the Aleutfans is more likely to cause a
| naval orhcer to expire OF sheer dry rot than
| any other cruising experience in store for
MN IN any part OF the world. His ship
simply wallows around in a heavy sea and
| through heavier fog for months at a time
| ana the officers who were attached to the
seallng patrol fleet were even glad when they
had to put into a dismal Alaskan port TO
coal ship. There was one little Alaska
| billet that caused several officers assigned
| 10 1t to quilt the service rather than take IT.
| This was the Pinta store ship billet That
was the worst Botany Bay in the whole
american naval service. and several young
| officers, ordered to the Pinta simply would
not stand for ii, and got out of the navy
rather than go there.
Mediterranean fs Expensive
The Mediterranean station has alway.
been an alluring proposition, as said. in the
eyes of the younger men aft on American
warships, and it has also been popular with
married officers who desired to educate
their children in European countries. It
| Is picturesque "sailorizng" this cruising
| on the Mediterranean station but the offi
| GERS who have clamored for service thereon
nave generally been men with private
means. 1t surely costs a naval officer all
| OF MS pay, and more IL he has it, to cruise
| on a ship attached to the Mediterranean
| squadron. The United States government
does not, Ike all Of the other countries
possessing sizable navies. make any pro-
vision whatsoever for the cost of the enter
tainments the fleet captains commanders
ana even the ward room officers are COM
PEELED to give in return for frequent and ex
pensiVely ordered hospitality extended to
them by foreign man-o'-war officers as
well as by American coonists ashore and
the American naval officers have to bear
thls expense themselves. An English ad-
miral, at the head of British feet cruising
in the Mediterranean, is privileged and. in
fact, desired, to spend whatever amount of
money ne considers necessary and right in
entertaining on the swell stations and the
British government cheerfuly foots the
bills. Lord Beresford has been known TO
blow in" as high as s10o.oO0 in a single
year In extending the hospitality of the
British Mediterranean fleet to man-of-war
officers Of other nations, as well as 10 howl
Ing somebodies in the big ports and the
admiralty Office never called him down for
4 Z. md mi ha
without murmur. The American admiral
does not get q cent from his government
for this sort Of work, but he has to do q
deal OF inviting, all the same and SO do
all OF his commanders and officers in gen.
eral.
Must Pay the Freight.
When, for example, the yacht OF a rich
American pulls into the harbor OF Nice or
Naples, where two or three American war
ships are anchored, and the yachts pro-
prietor invites all hands among the officers
to take possession of his craft, and gives
dances and dinners, and ell that sort of
thing to them, It is, OF course, up to the
1eet's officers to make some sort of return
Tor such hospitality, They DO, too, but
they do it out Of their own pockets, and
naval officers with private means are by
no means as thick as huckleberries in july
There are American colonies in nearly all
Of the important Mediterranean ports and
the members OF these colonies Invariably
Hdho MUCH their country 6 naval Ot1l-
GERS. and wine. and dine and dance them to
a standstil and these are courtesies that
must be reciprocated. If the American off,
GERS, feeling their inability to make proper
return, declined all such courtesies, they
would lay themselves open to the charge OF
boorshness, SO that they have to take the
entertaining proposition as IL comes along,
and pay the freight. After three-years'
cruise on the Mediterranean station the
officers of an American feet always de.
clare, upon their return to this country,
that they've had enough of being perpetu-
ally broke. and that they are through with
the Mediterranean so long they can help
themselves, but there are few of them who
do not put in at least three or four appli-
| cations for Mediterranean service during
their naval careers, so pleasurabIe and in
viung is man-of-war life in those waters
Cruising Around China.
There is a very large contingent Of off,
GERS and men in the American navy who
prefer the China station to any other cruis-
ing waters in the world. There is a good
deal Of sense in their estimate of the Ash
alto station, tco. In the first place, life on
many parts Of that station is of a
dreamy" lotus-eating character, that 10
peculiarly enticing to men who have been
plunged in the swir!ing stream of action in
the western world during most OF their
lives, and when the dolce far niente OF
japan, for example, once gets into an occi-
dentafs blood 1t is not easily worked out
of his system. The headquarters of the
Asiatic station is Japan, and most Of the
cruisers sent to that station by the United
States wander lazily among the japanese
ports during the greater portion of the year.
In every one Of the best of the Japanese
ports there is a prosperous and hospitable
American colony. and officers and men OF
the United States warshps are treated #
these colonies with notable generosI n
Most officers who have spent a cruise or
two in running about between Yokohama,
Hakodate, Kooe and Nagasaki will confess
themselves entirely useless for sallorizing
in any other part Of the world, and they
declare that in japanese ports, so great is
the influence of the beautiful surroundings,
they can't even study an hour or so a day
for their future examinations for promo
tion. The officers Of Dewsys Manila fleet,
IL may be said in passing, seemed 10 shake
themselves together in pretty lively fash
ion, and to arouse themselves from thu
Japanese trance, when they went into a4s
ton, but some of them probably did a
with an effort, all the same.
Big Ships I'm Luck.
The big ships on the Asiatic station havS
all the best of the cruising like the big