Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-16

other gear have been replaced, and the
ships company b in a fair way to get to
all the same. no man whose ears are greet
cd by that call In the MIDDLE of the night
mas any right to assume that his ship IL
not really about to be forsaken.
occasionally a crew that shows a hit
OF rustiness In fire drill is called TO fire
quarters around about midnight for a
couple OF weeks running when the shin
:, at sea This causes growing among the
o,u-ume s. VINO do not appreciate the fact
that their proficiency I'm drills il something
'hat mas got to be drummed into the new
men as well Fire drill is mighty import
ant on man-of-war. anyhow. and the ex-
ceiieEce OF crew In this drill is bound TO
count In a naval engagement. when fires
gre nkeiy 10 break out all over a ship I'm
the thick of a fight. The men of the en-
ginecrs gang bear the brunt OF the drill
tachinS hose to pumps and valves all over
snip Is worth seeing. IL is jump iump
perpefuelly when q man-of-war il going
through a series OF drills of this sort. and
.ne men forward. IS well as the watch and
division officers aft. figure on patching
cut their regular amount of sleep by cat
maps during the hours Of the day when
their ship Is on a practice cruise.
Needs a Quick Ear.
All OF thu time. however, practice cruise
or in port the men forward have got to be
on the alert for the o'sun's mates vicious
little pipe. There are so many ways in
which they can be caught mapping. Even
In the simple matter of taking in their
washed clothes from the lines they are
liable to fall afoul of The master-at-arms.
When the washed duds OF the men for
ward have been hanging aloft on the lines
long enough TO dry. the bosun's mate
makes his scrape to the officer of the deck
ana gets permission to pass the word-pre-
ceoed oy long BLAST on the pipe-"All
and IL
means that the scrubbed and washed
clothes are TO be taken in. and taken in in
a hurry. too. The men who have clothes
on the Inc make scramble for the main
deck, IL they nave any sense. and stand by
TO grab their wearing gear as the lines
are Drawn in Often, however men whose
ears are not cooked don't hear the pass
ing or the word with the result that their
gear remains hanging on the collapsed
hne The master-at-arms is always stand
ing by to spot remissness of this kind and
ne simply takes possession of the clothes
thus unclaimed. In the course of an hour
or SO the man whose buds have thus been
seized wakes up to a realization of his loss.
he goes with poor mouth to the Jimmy
Legs. otherwise the master-at-arms Poor
mouths don't have any effect upon the
snip chiei OF police. however. and the only
way the derelict may gain possession Of
his seized gear Is to report himself a. the
mast as a SLOUGH with no ears on his head
Some of the blue Jackets do this but not
many IL report themselves thus mean8
loss, usually. of short privileges. and
most men forward would rather lose every
stitch In their ditty bags than to be held
aboard ship when their mates are given
permission to hit the beach.
Burytng the Dead.
or all the words passed by the bo'sun's
mate, that which has the strangest ef-
feet upon crew is this: "All hands bury
the dead" This word, however, is a set
affair, and is, of course. never sprung as a
surprise upon the men. When there is a
dead man aboard a ship too far at sea and
away from port to permit of shore sepul-
ture. the men forward. as well as the off,
GERS aft, are always notified in advance of
TIE time of the burial. for all hands are
required 10 show UP at this ceremony in
their good Uniforms. The men forward are
pretty quiet and restrained when there is a
DEAD man aboard, and the officers aft talk
no more than necessary until the body is
over TIE side If the dead man was an
enlisted man, and a good shipmate and
popular among the men, the bluejackets
all have a word or so with each other over
their pipes about the good points of the
jackie the 'sailmaker's mate is fixin' I'D
below for tine locker cruise If the dead
man happened to have been surly and I'M
popular in life, the bluejackets IN general
have good word for him. anyhow and
relate to each other various little Incidents
going to show that he wasn't such a bad
lot. after all, only he wanted to be let
alone, and be id to all hands, and
that was nobody's business but his own"
NO dead man is ever spoken of in an iii
way aboard an American man-of-war BY
general consent. the men forward Delay in
their little amusements of the deck while
the 0ead man still remains unburied in the
deep. Occasionally a young fellow. under
such circumstances. will forget himself
and execute Jig step or two. until the
sharp but subdued command, knock or"
from a group of the old-timers puts the
shame In his eyes. The sailmaker's mate
Is treated pretty deferentially by all hands
while he is in charge OF the body that he
has sewed up In the hammock for the toss
over the side. Saimakers mates are all
old-timers, and they get used to this
word that they regard II merely rou-
tine work. When all is in readiness all Of
the bo'suns mates on the ship assemble at
the gangway and sound three OF four loud
blasts on the graduated pipes in unison.
II en-, In chorus, they pass the really NOV
ing word. 'All hands bury the dead" This
is the call to quarters, and when the men
are in line and have answered to their
names. the chaplain, or in the absence Of
q chaplain the commanding officer reads
a short burial service. and over the side
gees the dead man. When the men in line
are dismissed from quarters. they are quite
themselves again. By general consent.
the last of the dead man is heard when his
and harmonica music are not cur
tailed on the same evening. Jacks gone
on his long liberty" some of the men may
remark. as they break away from burial
quarters. land he's done his last trick in
the brig. He's all right"
When an American naval sailor dies
aboard ship In a foreign port, he is always
buried ashore in the public cemetery. The
dead mans shipmates chip In and buy a
fine headstone for his grave and then they
have the headstone photographed and send
copies OF the photograph to the dead mans
relatives. There In hardly important
pert in the world the cemetery Of which
does not contain the grave Of an American
man. o'-war's man.
Kate-"He seems extremely devoted. He
talks Of going to the Klondfke for my