The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-02-23
MISCELLANY.
Tars with a Grievance.


ed men as phylloxera among vines. A
man-of- wars ships company with q
grievance means trouble for the officers
aft, while an army post in which the
enlisted men are dissatisfied requires
very careful handling. Officers in both
services know these things, and take
care not to put the enlisted men out of
humor.
Such acts as heaving missiles at dis
liked officers are not done in the navy
of today, but the bluejackets adopt
other methods of getting back at Sc
we're or imperious superiors. For in
stance, they STAY down" on them.
The amount of work that a disaffected
ships company can't do in given
space of time is prodigious. In coal
ing ship, for example, the men forward
seize the opportunity to make the dis
liked officer an object of derision
among his brother officers and to put
him in very embarrassing predica-
ment before his commanding officer.
They wait until the officer who has in
Cured their displeasure takes the deck
and assumes command Of the work OF
coaling and then they proceed to give
an exhibition of how frantically gang
of sailor men can work without doing
anything. They shovel away furiously
but, somehow or other, very little coal
seems to find it's way over the side and
into the bunkers. The bluejackets in
the coal lighters pant and perspire I'M
der the strain of labor that looks quite
terrific, but there is lack of Roadway
in the coaling of the ship. The dislik-
ed officer of the deck may chafe and
mutter deep, dark things under his
breath, but this doesn't get the coal in
TO the bunkers. When he makes his
the amount of coal that has been got
aboard during his watch, it is found by
comparison that it is only about one
third the amount that was hoisted over
the side during the watch of the pre-
ceding officer of the deck, who happen
ed to be popular with the men. A
matter of this sort always sets a COM
manding officer to thinking; for men
who are old enough to be commanders
of men -of-war have learned by expert
ence that it is as easy as launching
dipgey for naval officer to acquire and
hold the good will of enlisted men, and
that the usefulness aboard ship OF an
officer who has sacrificed the conf
dence and respect of the men is serious
ly impaired.
A deck officer who by reason of an
unfortunate manner had gained the ex-
IRENE ill will of most of the old-time
enlisted men in the navy was attached
~ chip on the China station few
years ago. He Was :. ING oFiAmaster
aud it became his duty to take landing
parties of the ships company ashore at
Chemulpo for drill instruction. When
the men heard of the order the word
clay down" went around among all
hands. 1t was slouchily accoutred
gang of 200 bluejackets that appeared
on deck to compose the first landing
party. There seemed nothing particu-
lar the matter with the mems military
makeup, except that there was a gen.
eral look of slovenliness about them.
Each man had all his gear on according
to regulations, but somehow every man
looked seedy, awkward, unframed and
unmilitary-this. despite the fact that
the 200 men were part of what was
then considered the crack crew in the
United States navy.
The unpopular officer got the men
ashore and began to drill them. They
fell down in body at the simplest or
ders. Half of them came to present
arms while The other half came TO an
order. The officer berated them and
tried again. The men did worse than
before. The officer began to march
them. Apparently not ten men in the
landing party knew the difference be-
tween tours right and left oblique.
The movements were bowling farce
and the foreign officers ashore stood by
laughing. The unpopular officer flew
into a rage and began to drill the men
one by one. Every man went through
the individual drill, manual and move
ments like major, and when the Off
Ger had drilled about half of them in
this way he started again to give them
orders in body. Again they were
like pack of recruits. The inextric-
able tumble into which the men plunged
themselves warranted the glee of the
foreign officers. The disliked officer
decided to punish the men and he
marched them nine miles into the
country. The men struggled along
like flock of sheep, with no order
whatever, and all as solemn as owls
about it. The officer marched the men
back to the landing after the eighteen
miles had been covered and got them
aboard the ship. Then he reported to
the commanding officer that it was the
stupidest pack of bluejackets he had
ever commanded.
"Stupid?" said the commanding Of
icer, who is now on duty at Washing
ton. "You must be dreaming. Those
men you had ashore to-day form the
crack battalion of bluejackets in the
American Navy. | shall take them
ashore myself tomorrow and find out
what's the matter. You shall accom-
pany the landing party"
The commanding officer, an extreme
ly popular man among the bluejackets,
did take the landing party ashore on
the following day. Every man appear
ed on deck spick and span, alert and
and on his mettle. The commanding
officer put them through the manual.
The bluejackets were as one man with
their pieces. The skipper then put
them through the movements on the
public square of Chemulpo, and the
clean, practiced fashion with which the
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