The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-12-25
WHITE PAINT ON OUR WARsHIps.
1t Gets Dirty Quickly, but That Gives jackie
Some Work to Do.

1t Gets Dirty Quickly, but That Gives Jackie
Some Work to Do.
Look out for the wet paint" exclaimed tho
naval officer warningly to a visitor to the ship.
i've lodged it a thousand times already"
replied the latter. Il should think your uni
forms would become motley in a day or So"
"Oh. no. there's so much painting aboard
ship that we acquire n sort Of instinct against
brushing up against things. The odor? We
get used to that-in fact. I've got SO 1 rather
like it. When I'm on shore a sniff Of good wet
paint always brings mo In Imagination back to
the ship and to some Of the ~pleasantest lays Of
my life. And yet l will admit that there are
times when we get too much of even a good
thing like fresh paint, And one of the times
has been since the department ordered that
the slate-colored war paint be scraped of the
ships and they again be painted white. the hue
Of peace.
Still, we don't complain. for white is the best
possible color for warships in peaceful times,
despite thefnct that some Of the officers wanted
them painted black, like the English and most
OF the other naval vessels OF the world. The
British paint their troopships white. with a
big band of some other color. different on each.
TO distinguish them at sea, but for their fight
Ing ships black Is the color. When the White
Squadron was in the English Channel tho last
time the people over there laughed at the APP
pearance OF the ships. and made remarks TO
the effect that they looked more like pleasure
yachts than men-of-war. and their experts
pointed out the greater cost of white paint and
the fact that it shows dirt more quickly than
black and requires more attention.
=, All OF which Is not exactly true. II the Eng
fish had ever made as careful q study OF the
paint question as we have. they would under
stand that tho advantages OF black paint arc
much outweighed by the advantages of white
for warships in times of peace. The white
does not blister nearly as quickly under a hot
sun as does the black. and does not absorb the
heat as readily, In a torrid climate the ship
that is painted white Is cooler, other things be-
Ing, equal, than the one that is painted Black.
and 10 a cold climate y Is certainly no colder.
THAT white paint brings out the dirt In strong
relief and requires n good deal OF washing Is
true enough, but that is really a point in its
favor. why Well. what do You suppose there is
ior a crew OF four or five hundredt to do aboard
Not much OF. anything. You know the old
adage about Satan finding jobs for idle hands,
We don't let the, hands be idle any more than
we can help, When work 10 scarce we set the
every coallng the sides must. Of course. be
well scrubbed and dahS OF fresh paint put
on here and there, and there are plenty OF
other occasions Tor the use of the scrubbing
and paint brushes.
Once every six months every shin in COM
mission is put into dry dock If possible. andis
scrhped and rcpaintcd from top to bottom, or.
MI say; rom bottom to top, Tor the bottom is by
nacles grow big enough. If a ship lies for much
more than SIX months in Cuban harbors, for
instance. TO retard her speed by 20 per cent,
,whicni as you can see. might easily he sufficient
close, engagement. Therefore. the matter OF
ury-uocklhg the vessels 70 scrape and apply to
thelr bottoms the coats Of anti-foulinR andanti-
corroslEe paint Is OF much moment, and here
ai'eF Will DO o. even more importance. for the