, 1898-08-06
IN A WANDROOM
TIE OFFICERS QUARTERS ON sOARD
A MaN-OF-WAR.

Others on EOaru Must OBEY.
Thr warGroOm on Il man-Of-war is the
living place of all tho older officers Of
the ship, with one exception. the com
manding officer. He lives by himself,
has his own cabins, his own mess, Ills
own servants. Naval etiquette and Gus
tom have established this habit of isoia-
ton for the man Oh the ship who has
command of all the rest. The reason is
undoubtedly to be found in the very
fact that he represents extraordinary
power. Under these circumstance any
attempt to forget the superiority Of his
rank by means of q common cabin or
messroom for him and his subordinate
would only result i'll embarrassment on
both sides.
This does not mean that he may aOt
be sociablc. for much depends upon tho
man. But it is safe to say that any show
If cffusivencss among those who live
abaft the mast must come from his side,
if lie wishes it to be general. The sltUa-
ton is Il delicate one.
In the frccr air of the warlrOom VIC
find from 10 to 90 officers living t1gcth-
cr, the number varying with the siZn Of
the ship Their ages may range from q
to so, and they are Of all ranks above
that of naval cadet, and Of all coTIus.
Engineer officers, line O~t.icCrs, medical
officers, marine officers, one pay officer
and one chaplain, may all be included
in the wardrOOm of Il large snip. These
men live in statcrnOuIs arranged about I
common space, which is known as the
''wardroOm country " This assumption
of a space OF prairiclikc Dimensions l.
comparatively truthful i'll the cramT..
quarters of a ship. In this ~''cuuurry
exists the social life Of the wuT.rauaa
Here these mon of varied calling, yet
all of the seas following, live. move
and have their social beng.
a day spent i'll Il wardrOOm by II land
lubbcr would reveal many interesting
differences between naval officers aud
their brethren on shore. To begin with,
they are more cosmopolitan in their
speech. The men i'll wardrOOIGs are
gathered together from all parts OF the
Union. Local discussions find but NJ
unintcrcstcd audience, or even Il deTisivo
one, so that II naval officer gets acCus
toned to speak and think of all the -
states as belonging equally to him. O..t-
side of his own country he is sc great n
traveller that very few civilians Il keep
up with the way he skips in ~convCrsa-
ton from China to Peru or to Tasma-
MIA. Other characteristics that are
| quickly noticeable are his simplicity,
his chccrfulncss and his h]eartincss. The
wardroom is constantly resembling with
laughter. The men in i: are hcalthiCr
than men who live in houses. They get
up earlier in the morning and go to bed
earlier at night. Most of our wardrooms
are bustling with officers at 7 o'clock in
the morning.
A glance at the breakfast table shows
the senior line officer presiding, and the
other officers placed near him according
to rank. At the other end Of the table
is the man who has been elected Iy bis
messmatcs to direct the catering OF the
mess. Between this early meal and the
breakfast proper. which comes at half
past IL or II o'clock, there is not much
life in the wardroom, for the daily mil.
itary routine is full of drills and CXor,
cises which keep most of the officers on
deck. There are drills with great guns
and with small arms, drills i'll cloarin.
ship for action, drills in handling am.
munition and many others-all of them
rooted in the N idea that you must
preserve you OWE life by destroying
that of your enemy.
AS soon as an officer returns to the
wardroom from II drill and begins a
conversation or perhaps huns a song he
is interrupted by the bugles on deck and
must buckle on his sword and returu tC
another drill.
At every call to quarters all officer.
must report themselves ready for duty
The chaplain and paymaster, having
much less to do with drills than the
other officers, arc usually the first to b
back in the w~ardrooin, where there is
other work for them. The medical OH.
Ger has gone forward to the sick bay to
look after his patients.
When the midday breakfast comes,
there is the first breathing space for a
little leisure and relaxation. But the
drills for the day are not yet over, and
at / o'clock the hustle is rCsumcj
throughout the ship. a sudden call may
come for collision drill, Or fire drill, OF
battalion drill. If at sea, a floating tar
get may be dropped overheard, and for
III hour the ship be shaken from stem
to stern by tho discharge of guns. From
3 to 8 O'Clock III the afternoon there is
generally Il respite from work. and the
| WON ri room, la,t.,4 tn lI,-,r an.,, - L.
ing q home. Some in it are reading or
writing, others are smoking or playing
games or loafng Still others are in
their rooms taking the seaman's after
noon nap But at . o'clock the drills
II exercises come again.
By 6 80 O'Clock there is a feeling that
one can sit down and dine without fear
of interruption. The mess as n whole is
o gathered together. and the meal is
generally a thoroughly enjoyable aud
delightful affair. After it is over there
are cigars, games. music, or the right to
withdraw within oneself without en-
citing remark. By 10 o'clock most of
these sailors are in bed. but even now
the drills may not be over. At midnight
the bugles may sound, and in two min
utes all the ships company be rapidly
making ready for an enemy New
York Post.
1t is strange to notice how many old
classical expressions still survive in
Tuscany. The people still swear by
Bacchus!' and by Diana!" just as we
do "By .love!' but when they talk OF