Evening star., 1898-03-05

are lIi4ulil.fdDte men lust lIIrnOrOuSIy
cevltlsh. ii gcniously m:schievious and op-
p6ftunely diSobedient az the members of
kiplilgs characteristic trio of Tommy At
kinseS, Mulvaney. Learoyd and Ortheris
We read all that l care to read about
their drills and their work and their dis
cfpline- said Washington man the Other.
Gay. in talking about American naval sail
Crs. but what l want to find out is what
tne Ioar or hve hundred enlisted men on a
Dig ship-of-war do when they're not work.
ing or drilling or disciplining? How do
thsy put in their time? When they're NOT
permitted 10 go ashore, a. was the case
with the men of the Maine. how do they
get Monotony win big NJ. by the throat
and throttle it? How do they keep from
going crazy, anyhow"
The Break the Nonotony.
TIE main idea of most persons who are
unfamiliar with the life of the man for
ward on man-of-war is that the tedium
OF such an existence can hardly be little
snort OF unbearable. They can understand
now the officers might find il possible to
put IN their sea service cOmfortabl and
en]oyably, but as rule they can see moth
Ing FOR IL but a general twiGdlins of thumbs
on the part of the whole ships company
forward of Il man-of-war when the men are
not actually engaged in earning their
monthly money by the sweat of their
brows There are frequent intervals during
the progress of the routine Of the naval day
%nen the smoking lamp at the break of the
10 sic l. alight, and when The re is a GLOW
IN the smoking lamp that means that there
- Hohlns Tor any man forward to do but
TO loaf and invite his soul OF 10 seek
amusement IT any way ne elects to seek it,
so long as he does not bump into reeuIa-
llonS. The bo'Suns mates ..knock k-ofT'5 pjne
ss shfllied at about the hour in the after
nooE when the government clerks in the
aShlhSton departments are closing their
desks. and from that hour until pipe-down
az 9;3o o'clock at night the time of the blue
Jdth'l the marine Is practically
The men forward have as MANY Ways Of
putting III this sizable period of recreation
as haFc comfortably-situated men ashore
For example. American men-ofw,r,s
Men are fond of mock serapping Their
penc nant for serious scrappins on occa-
sion was written about in The Star some
months ago) The man forward who knows
now now TO use his hands effectively is gener-
any regarded with a good leaI more re-
spect by the ships company than the en-
hSted man who has an overpIus of brains
or information to fit his ships rating-the
Ia''er indeed. being always in grave danger
OF acquiring the name of ..rnan-o'-War
Shaw Most American men-of-war's men
Know how to box well, and those thar do
not imagine that they do.
Boxing Bouts
When "knOck-off'' goes in the afternoon
there Is general breaking out of boxing
gloves on the main deck and the blue
jackets and marines go at each other for
points Nor is 1t to be ina gined that the
Ten only dish out love-taps to each other.
The work is perfectly good-natnred and
harmless. but none the less they bang each
other about for fair, siuggingIy or scien-
t.hcahy, In accordance with the measure
or their skill. The writer has witnessed
some friendly bouts of this character in
Which the eventual Knockout Of one of
The mixers has been as pretty and COM
Piete as any that happen in the regular