The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-04-09
MONTAUK'S RECORD
What Has Been Done by the
Old Monitor Jersey Re.
serves Will Man.
Is A BATTLE-sGARRED VETERAN.
Turret Dented With Shots Re-
ceiyed During the War Of
the Rebellion.

An old sailor, who did duty on many q
warship from the early nfties until the
close of the Rebellion, says the Newark
Sunday Call talked with a Cali re-
porter the other day about the kin OF
life the members of the Naval Reserve
will lead on their trip from Philadelphia
to Portland on the old monitor Montauk.
This man served on the monitor Tunxas
near the close of the war. and as monitors
are move or less alike, he may be said
to have a pretty clear idea of what the
life is aboard such craft.
Sc far as he could remember the moni-
tors are not the most comfortable boats
in the world. As every one knows, they
sit low in the water, those monitors, and
in a heavy or choppy sea they roll fright
fully. They are enough to make a lands
man turn pale just to.see them roll. When
the wind is blowing and the deck of the
monitor is awash there IS nothing to do
but batten the matches down, and then
Won have 70 get your air through the key
hole. as the saving is. This is not partlcu-
larly conducive to convalescence from sea-
sickness, for q man in that Conullion neeus
air. There Is no help for i, noWeyer,
and STAY there. But the old sailor says
the boys will probably have a COMPARE
lively easy time of it, after all. Sprins
is coming on. and the chances are lnat
they will get more or less mild weather.
When the weather is in the least degree
pleasant all hands. but those kept pusy
below, can go on deck. where they VIII
find it reasonably comfortable, once they
have accustomed themselves to the roinng
of the ship. When the sun comes out they
can spread their warnings and pc deeiueo-
AS for the work down below, it will not
always be of the pleasantest sort. AS
the old sailor the
dations for the men are none OF the pest,
as the quarters are cramped. The oni-
GERS quarters are none of the best. eltner.
AS the Reserves are to run the ship. they
viii have to be told on INTO gahgs OF
squads as coal passers. oilers. etc. Inere
Is not much else TO do on a monitor but
to run the engines, for that matter, SO
that all of the work is done below decks!
The men nave. to come up for ar con-
asantly. and when an attempt is MADE 10
push the boat the atmosphere OF the en-
gine-room is likely to get sitting. But
high ate of speed. The Reserves. not be
ing used to such work, would not be able
to stand it, and there will be no reason
for great haste. probably. The Montauk
will make from six TO eight knots an
hour under favorable conditions A larger
crew than might seem to be necessary
is to be taken, as there Will be close upon
a hundred men on the vessel, ana no
doubt the principal reason for this IS
that the men may be told off into short
shifts so that no one will have more tnan
half the ordinary time at coal passing.
Tho Naval Reserves will find in the sail
ing of the Montauk a decidedly new eN-
p~erience. Mosl of the boys nave h2d at
least one season on the old ship Forts
mouth and they will have a good know,
ledge of. the routine aboard ship as wen
as affair understanding of the ~ent
Of good aeamanship. nj They S,y.f all a 9d t fbsR
know. from their summer cruise that the
life Of a sailor is by no means a perpetual
picnic. They know what 1t Is to man q
boat in a heavy sea and to come alongside
of a ship or deck with wave beating about
fierce and ceaselessly threatening to dash
their craft to pieces every instant lney
know what hard work it is to have four
hours duty On the wet slippery deck Of a
raw. cold night, wrapped IN oilsklhs.When
everything seems to ooze moisture TO the
touch and the chilliness penetraLes 70 me
what hard work is like in the way of
hauling on ropes until the hands are sore
and raw and the muscles acne from n tnd
all the ordinary details that go to make
up the day of the sailor, the Naval Ike.
serves of the battalion of the East OF
New Jersey are familiar with and they
have taken part in them all without COM
plant. 1t is to. be questioned + any
company in any regiment of the National
Guard of the State would have endured
any more and have made as little fuss
about it. 1t is scarcely within the
realm Of possibility that the old Montauk
on her cruise from Philadelphia to Port
land will be called upon to fght: such a
contingency has hardly entered in
to the minds of any one connect
ed with the enterprss IRON ffhhee
common seamen in the detail which is to
man the ship. The monitor carries two
ffteen-inch guns of the old smooth-Dofe
type in her turret. and throws solid shot
two or three miles with a fair degree of
accuracy and considerable velocity. The
general impression is that she would
make but a sorry show against any moa.
protect her for a time against the rapid
fire guns of a warshlp's secondary bat
terry. the main battery would play havoc
with her antiquated plates, while the
smooth-bore guns of the monitor, al
though ofstremendous size. would lack the
execution of the thirteen-ineh rlfled thun,
ders of the warships. It IS TO pc doubted
if TIE monitor carries much ammunl
| ton with her on this, cruise. No one seems
| to think that she will ever hight, not even
the people to whom she is going at Port
land. The .Montauk is intended as more
Of d moral protection than anything else
| and the trip will, after all, be excellent
| experience for the reserves n whicn
may fit them for more serious service
The Jersey Naval Reserves are proud
| of the fact that they have been the first
to be called, the first of any militia or
| ganization in The entire country. The
III III <I1
in the United States&that has practical
| engineers among its members. The Third
Division is made UP largely OF students
or graduates of Stevens Institute and
| they are the ones who are to run the
| engines. The greater part of last week:
Senior Lieutenant B. Franklin Hart, OF
| the Hoboken Division. was at League
| Island -overhauling the engines and get
| ting everything IN shape. # the reserves
succeed in getting the Montauk into
| Portland harbor in reasonable time and
| without a serious mishap it will be a
proud day for them and for the Naval
| Reserve movement throughout the coun-
| try. 1t will prove beyond further per-
| adventure THAT the Naval Reserve OF the
country are ready at a moments call for
active and efficient service. and 1t viii
show thousands who v for years been
| skeptical as TO the use of the amateur
sailor organizations, that in case of war
with a foreign power, it is the Naval
| Reserve. before the National Guard even,
| that the country must look to for aid.