Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-18
the STRAIN OF BLOCKADING.
\ Is a Hard Service, Especially in
Southern Waters.
,:.comforls Of the Enlisted Men-What the
$3.50 Engineers and Stokcrs Suffer.

"RInckading is hafu SelNict' sdtu
n,qut writing from his post with
~ Gulf squadron. Unless we nave
'"e s,bt occasionally, We shall spoil
n,,ckading under any conditions, Is
lad hard service. and nowhere hard
~ ar more irksome than i'll southern
.nrs where every distinctive feature
V the situation tends to discomfort.
asnecially to the discomfort of the
,;stad men. The weary monotony
- heir life aboard ship. tethered, as
=. were. TO the shore. yet denied all
nsneft of shore leave, is in itself a
~ fax upon their tempers; and
-'.han in addition to this. our full-
,,nodod Northern-bo born sailors must
Sna,re indefinitely the pitiless glare OF
w. +ronicaI sun. the enervating intiu-
,, of the tropical climate, and the
Law stiffness of the tropical air,
D.,a1i wonder If their patience stretch
- With some effort TO meet the emer-
gency r,-
.oyar dreamed of complaining of ms
",,orters. circumscribed though they
4aan to the landsman's eye. But now,
"n;nd--as the heat. the stagnation. and
tho everlasting roll of the sea-sW@il
.adle his brain. he begins to indulge III
yarious troublesome fancies. He teelS
himself cramped. "cribbed, cablned,
nrd confined" The first fortnight past,
hn has spun all his yarns, exhausted all
bis resources of amusement, learned
tho daily routine to the depths OF Its
abysnal sameness. and. finally, ar
rived at that stage where nothing re-
Mains TO him but to mathematics the
rotions and the government, and to
keAn the chip oH his shoulder we'll in
Wow of his mates. Fortunate it is for
tho common weaf,if the spirit of dis
cord spends ltsel N small broils; naval
history records lfet few instances OF
whole crews turaing unruly and even
mutinous under me demoralizinS eff
feets Of a protracted blockade.
Moreover. every soul aboard ship is
living in a tense strain. From highest
to lowest. each man sleeps, wakes. and
has his being with his senses ever alert
for summons to instant duty, and is
only the less easy when such summons
fails to arise Not one of the ships
company regards a midnight routing
,,,+ far tho chase of a quarry other
.;sa than favnrablv: for. even if, as
,,,,,o1l, ooc,,rs tha first blank shot
60 'oross thar o,arrv's bow heaves
har "a and reveals her for a meek and
,eprecatory American merchantmen,
the disguised warrior can, at least.
comfort himself with the memory of
TOW hannv moments of excitement and
do,,ht
Tha sbins toxic blockade work as illv
&c do tho mon Constantly under
,,,.;ob +,rni,,r and tnrnino AGAIN on
tboiy short natrol hears now darling
in toward shore in n,,rsrit of some
snsnicions ohiact now whining about
+, ,,,n a I..a~te ar so on fine onDosite
o,,,,.o tI,o,, a,o subjected IA n SORT nf
,,a,, and tor +, which thav arc INF
1ittIo euitod r-bair arginas INV raa
ca. of tbis boovv ueaqe Mood freouen-
ronairs and tho furnaces and hoi1ars
s,,,fo, f,, I,c,, Of care tbat tbev cannot
ha,.o n,,+.iIo ~ d, ,,o,.,, ,..rd
pooauca tho hloclkade,, il rororallv n
oons+,n+ n,ntian a,5 tona,,sa in tbo
yory ma ,,rn. If th;,@s Che is always liz
blo "a he callad ,,non fo, sudden man
,,.n... 49,, o,ssillo r,, ,.aef ,,,,,|,-
hold themselves mOmentariy at
stand by" and. in consequence. they
feel the strain of service severely. A
humber class of men, who now rise to
great and unusual prominence, are the
stokers; for on their skilled and faith
ful labors depends in an extraordinary
degree the usefulness or even the life
OF the ship. AT night, for example,
lhey must be unfailingly vigilant -
Keep their fires at the nice point OF eX-
acttude. Should the furnaces be going
a. iuii pi"SI "heh 'he engines answer
ny some demand OF stlil chase, SUIT