The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1898-05-22
CHAPLAVNs IN THE NAVY.

One of the first regulations OF the
United States navy recommends, in
enect. that Officers and men shall.
whenever possible. participate In the
worship Of Almighty God" aboard
their ships. While this regulation is
mot mandatory, being simply inserted
IN the form Of a recommendation, on
fcers and men are much more sincere
in their respect for and observance OF
this clause, which is read out on the
quarter deck by the executive officer
at every monthly muster, together
with short abstract of the navy reg
ulations, than If attendance on relig
ious services aboard ship were COM
pulsory, as it Is in several of the
worlds navies. While there are chap
lains in the United States navy who
are fayorites among the men. just as
there are commanders of ships for
whom the men would fight better than
for others, all of the Sky pilots" gain
and hold the respect and confidence of
the enlisted men. Chaplain Chidwick
OF the Maine was not second even to
the gallant. coOi-headed Capt Sigsbee
in the affection in which he was
held by the crew OF the doomed battle
ship.
Memorial services have been held in
churches of all denominations
throughout the United States in honor
of the men who passed with the Maine,
and there have been many requiem
masses in the Roman Catholic church.
es for the repose of the souls Of the
men who went down in the battle
ship. But high mass ashore and high
mass af1oat are two different matters.
The writer happened to be present at
the only high mass Of the Roman
Catholic Church that was ever cele-
brated on an American man-cf-war.
There are two Roman Catholic chap
lains in the United States navy, and
each Of them recites the low mass Of
his creed aboard his vessel every Sun
day morning, as well as on the holy
days of obligation. These masses are
in general pretty well attended by the
enlisted men of all manners of relig-
ious belief, and the officers not infre-
quently attend the masses in a body.
But 1t was on the United States cruiser
Baltimore, when that fine vessel was
anchored in the harbOr of Honolulu
in January, 1896, that the first high
mass in the history of the American
navy was chanted.
The Baltimore, on her way from
China to the United States, with her
''homeward- bound" pennant stream
ing 200 feet in her wake, steamed into
a terrible typhoOn a few days after
leaving the coast of japan, and, hove
to and wallowing in the thick of it for
eight days, came near laundering.
When she rounded Pearl Harbor Point
on the island of Oahu, and crawled to
her anchorage in the harbor of Homo /
lulu she was pretty rusty-looking /
craft, with her cutters stove in, her (
davits twisted ard torn off, her chain /
rails carried away, and her fighting
tops lowered to the deck to prevent |
excessive rolling. Offcers and men !
were glad to get into port, for their |
danger had been most imminent Two /
seamen had been carried away by the !
green seas that washed the high
standing top-gallant fo'c'sle, and there
were lot of broken heads, ribs, legs, /
and arms among the men forward |
The ships carpenter, a warrant officer, /
died OF his injuries the day the Balti-
more steamed into Honolulu harbor,
and was buried in the beautiful Nuu-
anu valley of Honolulu, under the
shadow of the Punchbowl, with naval
honors.
The chaplain of the Baltimore was a
l.
ar, an athlete, and a finished man gen.
orally, born and educated in Maryland.
He decided to have high mass as a
special ceremony of thanksgiving on
the Sunday following the Baltimores
casting her mudhook in the harkor of
Honolulu. This was as impressive
religious ceremony as any ever seen
or heard in great cathedral. 1t was
celebrated on the ships wide and long
berth-deck forward. The carpenters
gang built an altar especially for the
occasion. Some OF the men got shore
liberty and gathered the gorgeous wild
flowers that bloom in the woodlands
around Honolulu. Then they decorat-
cd the altar, which, when its orna-
mentation was completed, was a won
derful blaze of color. Two young ap-
prentice-boys served as acolytes. hab-
tied in cassocks and surplices. The
fact that these two chubby boys strove
to be consistent and cumulative ruf-
fans under the ordinary conditions of
man-o-war life did not initiate. in the
minds of the uniformed worshippers
against the impressiveness of the mass
which they served. Nor did the rat
Ting Of the double irons Of the half
dozen prisoners, confined up forward
in the brig in full view of the con-
gregation, have any disconcerting ef
feet.