Evening star., 1898-06-11


How the d. did 1 get brigged?" asks
a man who came over the side last night
in a bo'sun's chair because he couldn't
walk over the gangway.
.'Oh, bit too much of the red-eye." re-
plies the Legs. If the same brigged man
We're to ask the same question of any
other of his shipmates, they would relate
horrible tales of the things the brigged
man did when he reached the ship from
shore last njght-how he Slugged the off,
Ger of the deck, hammered the sergeant of
marines, kicked the Legs the shins.
Climbed into one of the fighting tops and
yelled dehance to heaven, and finally made
for the skipper's cabin with his jack-knife
in his teeth. The Legs, generous man be-
cause he is nervy and courageous man.
never depresses his little flock of brigged
some of the Legses are tender-hearted fell
lows enough. There are memories of a
big, stern-faced bruiser of an Irish Legs
a man who wouldn't say ten words a day
unless he was spoken to-who used to stink
into a man-o'-wdr brig at midnight and
unlock the irons clasping the wrists of the
prisoners so that they could sleep in COM
tort, asking them only to snap-lock the
WrlSt-irons themselves early in the morn
ing, in order that the officer of the deck
might not discover the lenience.
An Important Tour
1t is the business of the Legs to tour the
ship dozens of times day, to see what
he can see. A very important tour is the
one he makes just before quarters and in
spection in the morning. The ship is then
supposed to be in shape for the skipper's S
approval, and the mems wearing gear is
required to be all slowed in ditty bags
1t never is. There is always to be found a
shirt hastily thrown here, a shoe lying
loose there, a neckerchief and LANYARD
hanging over a ditty box. This gear the
Legs gathers in imDartally, no matter to
whom 1t belongs, and thrusts it into the
bag he keeps for the purpose. The only
way the owners of the gear may get it
back is by reporting themselves at the
stick-i.e., to the commanding officer-for
dilatoriness in slowing their stuff, which
means. generally, looping off of liberty
privileges. One man. say, in twenty does
this. The others, discovering their losses,
make a hopeless effort to induce the Legs
to give their gear up. The Legs never does
thlS-vell, ne never does it unless he has
inadvertently gathered in an article of
gear belonging to man he particularly
likes Every month the contents of the
Legs bag of gear thus accumulated are
sold aboard at auction to the highest bid
6ers among the bluejackets.
After quarters. the stick" The brigged
prisoners are brought before the command
ing officer by the chief master-at-arms.
Usually, the Legs is the complainant. 1t is
to be said for him that. matter how
essential he may find it to take fighters
and other disorderly characters to the mast
" nave tIleiii DliSStu, awaiting dctlOI, H6
almost invariably goes very light on the
men when they are hailed to the stick for
punishment.
Was this man very abusive. master-at-
arns?' inquiries the skipper melting out
justice.
At the Stick.
"Oh. a word-a word here and there, sir;
nothing very bad / found him easy enough
to handle. He had been ashore-and the
Sjr 10 ND h,
grins the skipper has to turn his head to
the hammock nettings for moment. The
man thus taken up for by the Legs is in
for nothing but mild roast at The hands
of the commanding officer. Were the chief
to tell the full story of the
prisoners mlsbehavior, the latter would
probably have q ten-day trick in irons to go
through. For the Legs surely has the
age at the stick. He can be either the
attorney CT the attorney for
the defense. No other fact needs to be set
down to illustrate the value Of the chief
good will.
The stick ordeal passed through, the Legs
returns the sentenced prisoners to the brig,
and has a look IN on the solitary man.
There is nearly always at least one nan
confined in the ships solitary-an offender
on somewhat heavy scale usually await
ing trial by general court-martial. The
solitary is easy one. L is
about black dark, and no more In length
Legs himself attends TO the wants of the
solitary or solitaries. No other man of the
SHIPS company is permitted to have any
thing to do with the solitary. The solitary
Is, of course, not permitted to smoke. But
he has smoke occasionally. The Legs a.
ways has an extra pipe or and . bit of
tobacco on hand, and it is no great job for
him TO stand before the solitary CELL look
Ing blank and at ease, while the solitary is
having his little smoke-for the officer of
the deck must not know tnat the solitary
Is In the enjoyment of tobacco.
Hunting Up DereIicts.
There is hardly a day in port that the
Legs is not sent ashore, along toward noon,
to hunt up derelicts. Derelicts are the lib
erty breakers, carousing ION the beach,"
of the fact that their services
aboard are needed and that punishment
awaits them when they return aboard for
overstaying their leaves. The Legs is
called for by the commanding officer and
handed a list of the liberty breakers who
must be returned aboard, willy nilly. The
Legs hops into the steam cutter and goes
after The derelictS. He always returns
with them. He may be gone for hours, he
nay be gone for a day-but when he comes
off to the ship, in shoreboat or cutter he
has his men along with him. Usually he
knows just where 10 put his hand on them
A man who is sufficiently experienced to
be rated a master-at-arms knows about
every port IN the world that men-Of- war
visit. Also. he knows the haunts in these
ports OF the men-o'war's men. He has
visited them all himself before he became
a Legs. So he makes his tour unerrlngly,
In Shanghai Tangier.
Jim, says he TO d seaman whom he
finds on the outskirts of town, say, on the
china station-a seaman who has been alb
sent for days, and is now sodden and reck-
I've got ye."
If Jim is a wise man, he sees that his
jamporee IL all over, and ups with his
hands. If he is unwise he starts to poke
the master-at-arms.
Big Man Ashore.
When Jim comes to, he is likely to find
himself huddled at the bottom of rick
sha, taking a free ride down to the steam
cutter of his ship. For the Legs is Just
as big man ashore, SO far as the blue
jackets of his ship are concerned as he is
abe ard. There was that Legs of one of
the ships now with Dewey-the Legs who
seventeen of his dereict mates
all rum-had and fightey. and marched them
through the streets of Kobe, Japan-where
Hub Smith is going-to the waiting steam
cutter. This Legs die the job with the aid
Of two guns, and he did not use them for
cubs. either.
He gathered his men together in pairs
and trios and quartats-they had nearly
plunged their country into a row with Japan
-.