The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1898-09-02
THE SAILORS MENTOR
Duties That Bring Him in Contact With
the Crey.

his cap or so torn his trousers OF any
of his other garments that in order TO
pass the next inspection he must have
new ones, he goes below to little Of
fee way down in the hold of the ship,
and through a grated window tells the
nature of his troubles to the yeoman,
who sits at the desk inside busy with
his account books. If it is suit or
cap or shoes that he wants, Jack nrst
deposits his money, and when MS
measure for whatever article he wants
is found in the record book OF the
crew, it is turned over to him then and
there.
With all Of his virtues, Jack is an
improvident fellow, and the govern
ment, which pays and feeds him,
knows his weaknesses and essays to
take care of him. First, it has him
keep himself neat at all times, or else
gives him a chance to sample the ships
bread and water in little cubby hole
called cell, and this being an estab-
lished regulation, the government tur-
nishes to him the means OF keeping
himself neat.
Jack must sew and wash and darn
his clothes when they need it, besides
he can and keeping his shoes always
clean and shiny. That the means
might always be at the sailors COM
mand, years ago necessity created
naval storekeeper on board every ship,
and tradition gave him the name OF
yeoman.
BY and by, when the warships of all
nations became the homes of several
hundred men each instead Of hand
full and steam became an auxiliary
motive power and finally superseded
sails entirely, the work became too
varied for one man to perform. With
this progress in naval affairs has come
into existence a corps of yeomen, COM
prising three grades, entirely lnde-
pendent of each other and each with
it's own department.
1t is to the pay yeoman, who gets his
title merely because his desk is beside
that of the paymaster's clerk, that Jack,
goes for clothes, needles, thread, soap
and other small articles. When his
needs are of a nature not so purely
personal, if, for instance, he Is to paint
the ship, mend piece of rigging or
perform any one of the hundred orr
more odd jobs necessary to keep the,
ship in trim, he goes to the equipment
yeoman, the keeper of the stores need
ed for the ship only, and gets what he
wants But first he must have an Or
der for the articles, and then must sign
a receipt for them, for the government,
though not stingy, wants to know
where every penny goes and for what
it is spent.
m oY.tT q
yeoman also, and to him the engineers,
though they are commissioned officers,
have to go for every article necessary
for running the engines, even to the
oil used on bearings and cranks. This
yeoman has his office next to the en-
CINE rooms, and there the same form
has to be gone through with, no mat
ter what is wanted. Oils, metal for re-
pairs, tools, parts of the machinery are
kept in these storerooms, and the en-
gineers' yeoman is keeper of them all.
The pay yeoman has the duty also Of
dispensing the daily rations to the
crew, in order that the sailors may get
neither too much nor too little. The
sailor does not have to give a receipt
for his food, but all that Jack eats 10
charged against him, not to be paid
for by him, but as part of his earn
ings.
In addition to the duty of dispensing
the many articles used on shipboard,
the yeoman has to make out all re-,
QUESTIONS for them when needed, and
woe be unto him if he makes mis-.
take and the ship leaves port short Of
a supply in any particular. He stands
as a sort of mentor over the sailor,
and while there is no rule giving HIM
authority over the sailors morals, yet;
Jack stands in awe of him. Many a.
time he refrains from some prank orl
other that would end in his having
to go to the yeoman and explain whyl
certain things had happened to him orr
to his clothes or to part of the ship'sI
outfit. He would have to tell thei
truth, and he knows that he would be
soundly and roundly lectured. If the
matter was anything serious, the yeo-
man would have to report him to the
captain, and then the sailor would be
in trouble This moral right of the
yeoman comes with the fact that he is
a petty officer, and one of Jacks first
lessons, and it is often a hard one but
always well learned, is to use respect
IN MS actions toward man with
rank
While supplying TIE sa!lorman with
the necessaries of life, Uncle Sam doesl
not forget the Injuries, and, thought
Jack af1oat nowadays does not get hisI
grog, he has his tobacco if he is OIL
the mind to buy it, and gets it FRONT
the window where he obtains hist
clothes. He pays few cents a poundl
for it; just enough to pay the cost Of,
manufacture. 1t is the juicy, highly
favored plug, hated by the averaged
Iandsman, but loved by the sailor.l
From the same man the sailor buys hisl
pipes, too, and all the odds and ends
that he may need. |
Didn't Go Far Enough.
Mrs. Proudile, the wife of the Bishop
of Copeminster, in England, does adj