Evening star., 1898-05-28

- many a sniyer-me-
tmbers and push-on-
the-skys' 'l-nalyards expletive sausaged in
with the car-r-ramhas and santissimas
they are liable to pick up the while they
stroll joyously along Dewey street in Ma
Mia. to say nothing of the alohas and pous
and other Kanaka phrases they will prob
ably get the hang OF in the harbor of Hon.
olulu- Whether they get their tongues
around the good things in the vocabularies
of the Kanakas. Negritoes and half-breeds
in the beautiful palm-sown lands they are
To visit or not. they are sure to get back to
the United States with the ever-ready de-
mand upon their lips for junk scouse and
duff, to be prepared at any and all times to
"heave soup and bully cans at each other.
and To talk of shipping green seas" as we
Of the land landly talk of occasionally over
flowing bath tubs
1t is rather romantic expedition. this
American armada sweeping over the
worlds SubllmtSt sea. and next week. may
be. those soldiers who have started for the
Philippines will probably begin to enjoy 1T
all 1t IS moderately safe to say that not
many Of them are enjoying ii at the present
moment of time-ony three days out.
There is probably an amount of bunk IA
tigue and ear pounding and longing for any
old land. even desert land. so II is stable,
at this writing, 10 make 1t impossible for
first letters home. that they enjoyed the
voyage from the moment of casting off at
San Francisco. The Pacific, as everybody
knows who has ever sailed over its indigo
bosom. is handicapped by. its name. Pa
cifc is taken by too many people to be
synonomOus with milI-pond. This is a dis
NAL error
The Pacific Swell.
The Pacific is no more often at rest than
the Atlantic. and in any league of the
voyage from San Francisco to Manila the
soldiers are likely to find out the exact
meaning OF the old shippers and Swiss
Family Robinsons' illusions to mountain
Gus seas" that they have pondered over
cur.ous!y. with the solid earth beneath
tier feet Even on days when the Pacific
skies are Of unblemished turquoise there
Is a Pacific swell a couple of blocks in
leEsth that makes old tars. at the outset
of a voyage, gasp for all the air they can
crowd into their lurgs American nav al
officers departing from San Francisco for
the China station, or for coast cruises,
commonly become too sick for any use
during the frs: couple of days out. and
the writer knows of a Pacific mail skipper
who has made nearly three hundred yCy-
ages TO and fro between Frisco and Pana-
ma. who never fails to put in the frs day
OF his regular voyage between those ports
in his bunk. Noyagers departing from
San Francisco are not often permitted to
maintain their show Of bravery very lonS
dIteT ihe steamer NneS are cast OIL. The
vel Is waded into instantly the ship BE-
comes aligned with the heads of the Cold
en- Gate and il is swell of the perpetual
motion sort People who claim that the So
called choppy sea is harder on the mal-de
ner afflicted than the long. steady swell
that you wait for. and time TO the fraction
of a second. and learn to hate with incon-
csivable bitterness. have not. in all proba-
bility. Voyaged on the murmursome Pa
cific. BY the lime the soldiers on the trans
port ships are warped into the indescriba-
tly beautiful harbor of Honolulu however
they'll probably be making faces over the
Side at the Pacific's glorious phosphorescent
swell.
Fun and Experience.
The patient. philosophical lads who have
gone or VINO are going with the Philippine
expedition Will have all the fun and ex-
Ierience they can handle on the troop ships
There is surely all kinds of experience
snyway. to be had on troop snip. Draw
iEg lots. for example. to see who's booked
10 stand up and sleep and who's to have
about one-third of a coil of hawser to sleep
on IN a position complimentary called re-
Ginning x an exciting pastime of the day
Hght hours on board "a troop transport
Ihere can be 10 use in denying that trans
ports are always jammed TO the gun'ls.
fHteEH hundred troops cannot be put
aboard even so spacious steamer as the
Peking without furnishing material for
gTowls and probably blows among the men
81 tStth't III IHeFt VIII surely be nothing
sinecure IN the work of the regular guards
aboard these transports. If spats and
sluggings not infrequent. are part of the
expected and discounted routine of a prac-
ute camp OF a regiment of soldiers the in
cIdehtS OF this sort i'll the Steerage of 4
troop ship. where men who sour ON each
other over trivialities can't get away from
each others sight are surely common
, enough 10 keep big fore-and-aft guard
incessantly busy Not that the soldiers
under way aboard troop snip make 4
shInbles of their quarters between decks
ana nnd SurceaSe OF sorrow only in banging
away at each others heads; but sea tray-
cling has the effect of making a considera-
Die proportion Of troop ships company
peevish, pugnacious and unmanageable and
this is the reason that troop ships never
depart from port shy of wrist and ankle
irons Tor the Sguelching of the unruly
Never ii troop ship departed on voyage
i1tS or snort yet that some OF the soldiers
did not put in their cruise in double irons
UP IN the eyes OF her-not necessarily bad
sol1ieIs. either. but men too handy with
lheir nsts and too hdir-triggerish Of tenn
rer ON the whole. soldiers who travel
orlSged or IN irons on troop shin VOYAGES
can't Re said To have the wors, OF II Tbev
generally have three times as much room
as their comrades who are at liberty and
uhpoSted members of the guard have to
bring them their food, which saves the
brigged vOy4gers from the necessity of
scfamoins at the mess tables for food that
disappears Ike sunset mirages
The Daily Routine.
Ihe military routine Is always kept up
aboard troop ship. just as it Is maintained
at military post The guard is mounted
IN the morning, and the men Of the guard
nave their regular two-on and -four-off
tricks to worry through, seasick OF no sea
SICK. on decks that leap from beneath their
Ieet like runaway elevators. The men
stand FeEetlie and retreat as they do ashore
In garrison. ard most of the other garrison
calls are sounded. with the exception of
fatigue call On the Philippine expedition
the only fatigue call to be sounded will be
at Honolulu. and after the arrival at Ma
Mia. when fatigue call will mean "AIl
hands coal ship. The soldiers will no
doubt be impressed to help in the coaIing
or the transports. and this will give them
ali an opportunity to pat themselves on the
back and shake hands with themselves
over the fact that they did not take on
in Uncle Sans line OF fighting packets
for coalng ship is the least appealing iob
performed By naval bluejackets There are
occasions even in the lives of bluejackets
by the way. when they get out OF the coal
ship job This is when the bluejackets are
returned from foreign stations to the Unit
ed States on passenger steamers. No more
restful picture is conceivable than that OF
United States bluejacket leaning on the
rail chains OF a passenger steamer, and
smoking short clay pipe. the while he