The sun., 1898-05-29

we were obliged 10 do without heat.
Some warships, improved from merchant
vessels, had steam plants, but most OF
our ships were entirely destitute ofall
heating apparatus.
This often involved hardships, some-
times positive suffering. The men used
to beat themselves and each other to keep
up circulation In extreme weather a
thirty-two pound shot would be heated
to redness in the engine room and
brought up in bucket Of sand that the
men might warm their hands. The
rolling Of the ship would frequently over
turn the bucket, and men with wet
swabs were kept at hand to prevent fire.
"Ofiicers and men are and always have
been we'll fed. The officers have cooks,
Usually trained Japanese, who are almost
without rivals. In my day, in the ward
room, where the officers lived, an officer
was elected each month to act as caterer,
purchase supplies when occasion af-
forded, and make up the bill OF fare.
Once, while acting in that capacity, |
purchased from merchantmen quaint.
ity Of apples and barrel of sugar, with
a good store OF butter and for week
we had apple dumplings for dinner.
When my successor was chosen, he ex-
claimed, to the decided merriment OF
the ness
Thank God for my election! Well
drop apples now and have few onions
for change
"The men are divided into messes of
sixteen. These choose their own bill of
fare, a majority ruling, though the man
acting as mess cook generally takes the
liberty of doing the catering. Fully
three times as many articles OF food are
issued on man-ofwar at present as were
supplied during the last war. The hard
tack is of the finest quality and very
palatable. Flour is issued to make duff
or pudding, a dish much relished by the
men. Fresh bread, or soft tack is
issued, particularly when III port, and
fresh meat quite frequently. AS a rule
most sailors soon tire OF this and call for
pork and beans. Good coffee, vege-
tables, canned and fresh pickles, mo-
lasses, vinegar, peas, rice, dried fruit
and many other articles of food are
issued, either regularly or as a substitu-
ton. Those joining our navy for this
war with Spain need not give thought
to the question OF food.
Gas rule, meals are served as fol-
lows: Breakfast at s, dinner at II and
supper at 5. From in the evening
until in the morning no food is served,
even to men who are on hard duty, yet
in all my years of service never heard
a complaint on this account. The spirit
ration was discontinued in 1862 and has
never been restored, though the officers
are permitted to purchase wine for their
mess.
"a wonderful discipline prevails on
board a man-of-war and, during actual
war, except in far distant ports, leaves
of absence are almost unknown. But
the men are not without rccreations.
During the dog watch, after supper,
sky-larking' is permitted. Then the
men play and gambol like so many
children, cutting up all sorts of capers.
They are much given to singing and
dancing, in which many of them are
extremely clever. In their hours OF
leisure they play such games as checkers,
chess, dominoes and backgammon,
though cards are tabooed.
Most vessels OF war have small
library and the officers and men possess
books of their own, which they exchange,
some OF them being great readers Many
sailors are men Of considerable ability
and well educated. have now in my
possession books written by common
seamcn that would be credit to a
gifted author. Sailors are superstitlOus,
but this applies to man-olwarsmen only
to limited extent They are very fond
of pets and no ship Of war is without
mascot in the form OF some animal. Cats
are prime favoritcs. and no sailor will
ever injuIe one. | have known men to
spend hours catching Il small fish for
their cat Monkeys are common, while
pigs, dogs and even raccoOns are to be
seen on warships.
"Many amusing things occur on ship
board. | have seen a cat hold at bay a
dog, pig and raccoon all eager for a
mouthful while she devoured fish.
Commander David Jones Of Chicago,
now on the retired list, tells Il story that
| illustrates the sailors devotion to pets.
Long before he reached the rank OF a
commander he was on warship that
calleu III an ltallan port. Inc crew pos
sessed tom cat of which every man
was proud and would back in II fight
with his last cent. IN Italian came on
board one day with large monkey that
he offered to sell.
"'WiI he fight" asked the young
officer i don't want him ii lie won't
lie tighta good, strong replied the
Italian.
Can he whip the ships cat?
'The son Of Italy allowed that he
could, and Il ring was formed, from with
in which cries and fur soon filled the
air. The executive officer finally stopped
the combat, but not until the monkey
was almost hors du comoat."