Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1898-07-30
LIFE IN A WARDROOM
THE OFFICERS QUARTERS ON BOARD
A MAN-OF-WAR.

Where All Except the Commander Eat.
Live and Have Their Social Being-Naval
Etiquette Isolates the Man Whom All
Others on Board Must Obey.
The wardroom on man of-war is the
living place of all the older officers Of
the ship, with one exception, the COM
handing officer. He lives by himself
has his own cabins, his own mess his
own servants. Naval etiquette and Gus
tom have established this habit of isola-
ton for the man on 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 circumstances any
attempt to forget the superiority Of his
rank by means of a common cabin Or
messroom for him and his subordinates
would only result in embarrassment on
both Sides
This does not mean that he may not
be sociable, for much depends upon the
man. But it is safe to say that any show
Iof effusiveness among those who live
abaft the mast must come from his side,
if he wishes it to be general. The situa-
ton is a delicate one.
In the freer air of the wardroom we
find from 10 to 2Qofficers living togeth-
er, the number varying with the size of
the ship. Their ages may range from 25
to so, and they are of all ranks above
that of naval cadet, and of all corps
Engineer officers, line officers, medical
officers, marine officers, one pay officer
and one chaplain, may all be included
in the wardroom of large ship. These
men live in staterooms arranged about a
common space, which is known as the
twardroom country" This assumption
of space of prairielike dimensions is
comparatively truthful in the cramped
quarters of ship. In this Country"
exists the social life of the wardroom.
Here these men of varied callings, yet
all of the seas following, live, move
and have their social being.
A day spent in wardroom by land
1ubber would reveal many interesting
differences between naval officers and
their brethren ON shore. To begin with,
| they are more cosmopolitan in their
speech. The men in our wardrooms are
gathered together from all parts of the
| Union. Local discussions find but an
uninterested audience, or even derisive
one, so that a naval officer gets accus-
toned to speak and think of all the 40
states as belonging equally to him. Out
side of his own country he is so great a
traveller that very few civilians can keep
up with the way he skips in converse
| ton from China to Peru or to Tasma-
| mia. Other characteristics that are
| quickly noticeable are his simplicity,
his cheerfulness and his heartiness. The
wardroom is constantly resounding with
laughter. The men in it are healthier
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 o'clock in
the morning
A glance at the breakfast table shows
the senior line officer presiding, and the
to rank. At the other end of the table
Is the man who has been elected by his
| messmates to direct the catering of the
mess Between this early meal and the
breakfast proper, which comes at half
past II or IL o'clock, there is not much
life in the wardroom, for the daily mil
itary routine is full of drills and exer-
cises which keep most of the officers on
deck. There are drills with great guns
and with small arms, drills in clearing
ship for action. drills in handling am