The record-union., 1898-04-11
WITH OUR WARSHIPS.
DAILY ROUTINE ON BOARD AT
DRY TORTUGAS.
Jack Of the Navy and His Officers
Busy With New Drills and
MaueuverS.

!
than Tortugas it has not been discov-
cred by man. Fortunately fer our gal
/ liant tars who are at present stationed
there, they are not compelled to HVe
ashore Life on shipboard may have its
! discomforts, but they are as nothing
compared with existence on Tortugas.
Nothing grows on the reef. 1t is
an arid waste Fort Jefferson and the
barracks are about the only objects
that greet the vision. Aside from the
garrison. the only inhabitants are
few fishermen, who exc out miserable
existence. 1t is not pretty place to
! look at.
But our gulf fleet is not anchored at
Tortugas. The reef is a sort of cruising
center. but the vessels are constantly
being moved about One day a ship
may be at Tortugas and the next day
at Key West. So the awful monotony
that hangs over the barren reef is
somewhat relieved
THE FLEET AT TORTUGAS.
We have quite a fleet in these waters
! Cruising about are the New York, the
] Massachusetts, the Indiana, the Iowa
| the Texas the Marblehead, the De-
! troit, the Nashville, the Vesuvius and
| the Fern, while the two torpedo boats,
| Cushing and Ericsson, are also here.
And the crews are taking life quite Sc
roiusly. The decks in evening hours
( no longer echo to the slap of feet in
hornpipe dances, and the tattoo call,
! sounded at 9 o'clock o nights, gener-
ally finds all of the men who are not
on duty ensconced in hammocks and
| asleep.
No, the men in blue have no heart
| for mirth these days. They are all
serious now, and have been since their
lost consort of the fleet, the gallant
| Maine
Hove up her battered sides,
! And carried her million pounds in steel
! To the shark and the corpse-fed eel.
The men here are busy thinking of
that horror, and they are thinking too,
of what might have caused that wreck
in Havana harbor. They are doing
much else besides thinking, as a visit
to any of the vessels any day except
Sunday will show.
CHANGES IN ROUTINE.
The even tenor of navy life has un-
dergone a striking change. Long es-
tablished routines have been flung
aside and new ones substituted Pre-
/
navy jack and his officers had consider
able time to call their own, with now
and then jaunt ashore, but now they
have found a period when it's always
double drill and no canteen.'
The new order of things is accepted
as a matter of course, and crews that
few weeks ago might have comment
ed on any such abrupt change with
Oh nd int
about their multiplied tasks with never
a word of marvel or murmur of COM
plant Old timers, who would have
been scandalized at the idea of clear
ing ship for action for drill purposes
at shorter intervals than once month
find no astonishment in being ordered
to clear ship for action" three and
four times a week and sometimes Oft
ener.
And you may believe that in these
exercises of preparing for battle moth
ing is neglected that will tend to in
sure victory over a foe, and very little
is left undone that would be done in
case the vessels were being prepared for
actual conflict. That little mainly con-
sists in the throwing overheard of ar
ticles and such pieces of deck furniture
ing and sending adrift of all boats, as
it is believed that these in action would
soon be knocked into splinters
This disposition of the boats adds the
danger of being drowned to that Of be-
ing shot, but as Lieutenant-C Commander
Wainwright, the Names valiant execu-
tive, has tersely expressed it, fighting
cannot be made a safe business"
A DAY WITH JACK
In this somewhat weary iteration OF
shipboard life, as it is here at present
most all days look alike to Jack. AT
the behest of the boatswains mate he
tumbles out of his hammock at half
past in the morning. and after dis
posing of his cup of hot coffee splashes
water along the deck and on the wet
planking stretches out such pieces of
his wearing apparel as are in need OF
scrubbing and attacks them with brush
and soap. His clothing placed on the
line to dry, his next duty is to scrub
the deckand generally clean ship
After the decks have been dried down
and every blemish removed from the
paintwork, the call to breakfast is
sounded and the meal pennant is sent
aloft to notify all concerned that the
crew is at breakfast and not to be
disturbed without good reason. During
; this breakfast hour the crew array
|, themselves in the uniform prescribed
for the day, and then when pipes are
finished the brass work Of the ship is
polished until a myriad little suns wink
from the gistening metal. Gun crews
in the meantime, clean and oil the vari-
Gus parts Of their pieces, and the in
spection call, sounded at half-past 6
o'clock, finds the ship, her battery and
her crew ready for the eyes of the in
! specting officers. Then follows a muster
OF the various divisions and this com
pleted, the drill set for the day is on
AS I have said, ''clear the ship for
, action" has become a favorite exercise
of late. This is followed by an exercise
of the men at the guns-loading and
firing, dummy charges, training the
guns from one point to another, col
lision drill and all the rest that goes
, with modern warfare afloat.
: NO .CHILD'S PLAY, THIS.
Well nigh breathless from exertion
are the men when the drill is over, foI
celerity in every movement is insisted
upon. If, for instance, the guns are
trained ahead and the order is giver
to train abeam or astern, the heavy
: rifles must be swung around on the
! instant and SO it goes throughout.
: Dinner comes with the noon hour
, and at / O'Clock drill recommences
Some of the divisions are exercised ir
signals, some in small arms. others al
boat drill and some at target practice
This target practice is largely Of the
sub-caliber sort and is intended tc