The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-03

In Irons Wh0n ne deaorVou IT, our hutnoE
says that no might mention many other points
OF resemblance, which, indeed. were 40 strik-
ing that, but for the nag and the crown on the
one and tho nag and the eagle on tho other. one
might haya imagined himself. ~ his eyes had
been suddenly unbandaged, to be on board q
ship OF either nation. There TaH, howevor,
moro homogenoity In the crew of q British
ship; with rare exceptions, they belonged 10 the
same nation. whereas, in those days, IL was
rarely the case that tho majority Of the crew In
an American msn-ot.war were nAtiTe-born
| Americana. The characteristic fact 10 noted
that the ships OF Great Britain and the United
States, in this respect differing from the vessels
OF other nAViss, carried q guard OF infantry
| called marinoA They were looked upon some
what In tho light Of the old Swish auArdA The
expodisncy OF dispensing with them Ia now.
from time to time. discussed, but, In Admiral
ErAnklin's opinion, they are 30 useful for tina
protection OF oonsulatos, and service OF a kin
dred nature, that he doubts the wisdom OF
withdrawing them from our mcn-ut.uar' We
md, In the same chapter, q reference to the
uniform worn in tho American Navy whom our
author Grst entered It. 1t ia pointed out that,
although epaulets originated from something
that WAS once used to protect the shoulders
from sabre cuts, rot q Lieutenant In the navy
wore but one. and this was upon tho right
shoulder. There was no such thing 40 q srock
coat known to the service ct that time; IL was
long before tho conservative feeling about the
"swallowtAii" could be overcome. There was
no objection either to the wearing of silk high
hats in uniform. but tho custom was rapidly
dying out Gray trousers might DO worn with
blue jackets; in fact, there was an Indifference
about uniforms which 10 now hard to under
stand.
Continuing his "reminiscences Of the state Of
things in our navy atty years ego, Admiral
Franklin mentions another circumstance.
namely. that IN those days duolling wos not
| punished by dismissal, as It IL now. He tells No
| that ono morning, whilo the frlRato United
States was ut Rio. n party OF midshipmen went
out to witness q fight between two youngsters,
one belonging to his mess and one to tho star
board mesa The distance was ten PAGES, and the
weapons small pocket pistols. Tho bullet OF one
of tho two principals pnasod unpleasantly near
tho head of the other, and after two or three
rounds were fred. the seconds made tho matter
up. This pocket-pistol affair resulted in putting
q etop to that method of settling quarrels, 80
far as tho Pacific squadron was concerned,
every midshipmAn being called upon to sign q
pledeo against d%uellinE. upon pain OF being de-
tainod indefinitely on board ship. In some of
! tho vessels OF the squadron the pledge met with
great opposition. and 1t appears that all the
midshipmen OF the Yorktown refused to sign.
Another characteristic OF the navy fifty years
ago was tho amount OF liquo: consumed on
board. Not only was \ spirits ration served out
regularly, but tho men oontrived most in
Genious methods of supplying themselves with
liquor. The author tells OF one ship in which ho
served during tho civil war, in which the
men OF the engineer department were In tho habit
of EettinR drank In the most unaccountable
manor. As there was no way. at tho time, of
procuring liquor from the shore. an examina-
ton of the spirits room was made, when 1t was
discovered that O large cask filled with whisiey
abutted against an iron bulkhead which sop
arated the spirits room from the engine room.
The men in tho last mentioned place. having nc.
auainted themselves with this fact. had drilled
a hole through the iron and then through tho
cask, and then inserted a faucet into the cask.
Another amusing incident is related which took
place at Norfolk, while whiskey was being
placed on board q frigate for an outward bound
cruise. At such times, svery precaution was
takon to prevent the men from getting posses
sion of any of the liquor. Strange as it
may seem. although unusual vigilance was
practiced, some of the Jackies managed to roll
u barrel forward. 1t was late In the day. and no
results appeared until after dark. Then Bedlam
broke loose. Nearly every man forward ap.
peared to be drunk; 1t must be remembered that
the friRate had q crew of 500 mon. Tho execu-
tive ofhcer, and indeed, all the officers, were
obliged to rush forward and knock down and
drag out until tho outburst OF debauchery could
be controlled. As it was. the contents OF the
barrel had not all been consumed. Under the
guns and on the berth deck were found quaint
ties of whiskey in buckets and tin pots. The
next morning. when the day of reckoning came
there were 30 many prisoners that it was
thought better to condone the whole affair.
HI.
Young franklin remained with tho Pacific
squadron until the war with Mexico had begun
He took parti in the first temporary occupation o
Monterey by ommodo Jones in 1912. and hi
Witnessed the defnitive seizure of that place By
Commodore SIoat in 1916. He was. indeed. ont
Of the landing party that took possession o
Monterey. When young Franklin returned t
the Atlantic coast in 1S47 he prepared for exam
nation at the Naval School which recently hat
been established at Annapolis. After cramminl
nine months he passed and was detailed for thu
const survey. from which he was presently do
tached and ordered to the Independence. which
was to be the flagship OF the Mediterranear
squadron. During tho two or three following
years no saw a great deal OF the cities Dor
derinR tho Mediterranean and tho Adriatic
Tho account of his experiences will b.
found extremely entertaining. Here We shall
motto only q reference to Louis Kossuth
1t will be remembered that tho Government
of tho United States had placed at tho dis
posal Of the Hungarian patriot a ship of war t.
convey him and his followers across the Atlantic
The steam friRate Mississippi had been sent I
Constantinople for tho purpose. and subsequent
ly appeared at spezzia. while tho flagship O
the Mediterranean squadron was there. Com
modore Morgan had an interview with Kossut
. at which / was present, and which l found OF
trsnely interesting. Kossuth had learned Eng
lish from . dictionary and from a copy @