Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-07-28


Decorations Worn by Uncle Sans OF
hcers on Land Aboard ship-Grant,s
Joke on His Buttons.
In military service throughout tho
| world, both upon land and water, there is
! wide distinction between the different
| canks held by tho officers. Usually the
| rank OF II military or naval man is OBJ
| tanned by long service or by appointment
| by congress or tho prcsident. Sometimes.
however, rank is given to an officer be.
cause he has done something which at
tracts the attention of his supcriors.
| In order to distinguish an officer from a
| common soldier, tho government has
adopted various marks of rank. which nro
worn by tho officers, both in time of war
ana peace. During the former these signs
arc less conspicuous for during u battle
the sharpshooters always try to pick Oft
! the officers, so that tho soldiers will have
| no ono to command them
| II any one who reads this article should
| lii tilne Of peace go aboard q man-o war
| or in Il gathering of naval officers, he
| would notice u great amount Of gold luce
| upon their uniforms and SEQ the insignia
| of rank upon their shoulders. But in war
time each officer puts away his gnuGy uni
| form. Instead of the shoulder straps tho
mark OF rank is worn upon the collar of
| the coat. An admiral, the highest officer
| i'll tho navy, wears four silver stars and
| two anchors upon his shoulder straps or
| collar; vice admiral, three stars and one
| anchor; Il rear admiral, IN anchor with u
| star on either side; Il commodore, /. star
With An anchor Oh either side; Il captain
| IL silver eagle and two anchors, and a
lieutenant an anchor with two silver bnrs
! OH ouch side. There are also many pctty
and noncommissonud officers who wear
| tho insignia of their rank on their sleeves
above tho elbow. Tho higher officers also
wear gold bands upon their sleeves, run
ming about tho wrists. Tho shoulder
straps aro y inches long and TX inches
| wido. They are minlo OF dark blue cloth.
with q border of dead gold ~ quarter of
an inch wide, the device being embruid-
| cred inside tho border
! The lowest commissioned officer in the
navy is an ensign. He wears single sill
Yer anchor Oh his shoulder strap 1t is the
| ambition OF each ensign to change his
stripes for those OF lieutenant There
arc many cases on record where nn ensign
showed great bravery during battle, and
MS nalno was sent to Washington with u
recommendation from his commander that
no DO promoted. Often IN ensign was sent
| on Il dangerous mission and got his lieu
| tenants stripes that way. Usually, how
ever he hns to wait till some officer above
! him is promoted or dies or rctircs, and
| then no moves up in rank
| Every sailor and soldier knows TINT in
tlme or war his Supporters arc watching
him and that il he shows himself u brave
man he stands u good chance Of being pro-
NOTED. 1t is u matter of great pride to
| add an extra bar to his shoulder straps OF
| TO have one OF the many nsignias Of rank
| put Oh his uniform. There are besides tho
honor Of hair,tr ,,4fs
each additional rise i'll rank, moro com
Portable quarters and more personal lib
erty. All these things nuke the soldiers
more ambitious to gain promotion
| In the army tho insignia of rank is
somewhat similar to that Of the navy, but
| even in active service an army officer still
wears his shoulder straps. The general is
! the highest officer of the army. His rank
Is shown by an caglo with star on each
slue a lieutenant general wears three
| Stars on his shoulder straps, a major gen
erui two, q brigadicr general one, a colonel
| silver eagle, u lieutenant colonel two sill
Vcr leaves, Is major two gold leaves, a cap
tain tour silver bars and a lieutenant two
h1rs. Tho noncommissioned officers wear
thelr devices of rank upon their sleeves A
general may also he distinguished by the
arrangement of tho buttons on his coat.
ono OF the jokes credited to General Grant
was one about the buttons on his coat. A
| major general wears two rows Of buttons:
| nlne III ouch row and each row divided in
to groups of three. Ono day Grant was
clad in military coat much the worse for
wear and from which all but three buttons
had been torn. An officer brought him
Word that he had just been promoted to
tie rank OF major general.
We'll, said Grant, pointing to the
group of three buttons, you sec, have
| anticipated tho order and h,lve my gen
erals uniform
Besides the chance which a soldier or
sailor has of becoming an officer und wear
ing an insignia of rank there is another
| thing which he works for during war
time, but this is confined principally to
tho navy. 1t is tho matter of prize money
| Ii Is the rule of tho United States navy
| That when the crew of u vessel captures
announcer snip the prize Ia to be sold and q
| part OF the proceeds divided among the
| officers and sailors. If the captured shin
was equal In lighting strength to the cap
Tor, ali tho prlZo money goes to the victors,
n'l5 II the prize was weaker half goes to
t.e government, and the remaining half is
divided among this crew and officers,
In such Il division the commissioned
officers como i'll for u larger share, so it is
Well to be us high an officer as possible.
Inc comllir.nder of fleet receives one
twentieth OF all the prize money awarded
50 any ship i'll his command. The captain
| oil single vessel receives one tenth Of the
money awarded to his vessel but gets
nothing from the prizes of any Of the 9th
el' ships Of the fleet to which he belongs.
The remaining officers and members OF
tie crew of the vessel which has made the
| capture receive prizo money in accord
! ance with their rank and pay. The lower
a man is in the navy the less prize money
no gets. A common sailor may get 5000
as his share where IL he were lieutenant
no might receive twice that sun.-Cin-
cinnati Commercial Tribune.
Valuable Guideboard.
At crossroads in New Hampshire
township there is sign which recalls
former joys to many old inhabitants and
ro'lses curiosity in the minds of travellers.