The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-04-17
Life on Man-of-War

TIE first thing a man-o'-war recruit
learns is TO jump to the scream Of the
bo'sun's mates pipe and the bray OF the
marine '-windjammers bugle. says the
Washington Sun The bugler gets in his
work first, for this musician trumpets all
hands forward awake At ) O'Clock in the
morning.
From the time all hands is sounded
the men are allowed six minutes TO scram-
BILE out of their hammocks. dress them
selves and lash their hammocks and stow
them away in the hammock nettings- The
man who lags and Is 10 seconds behind the
schedule time for this performance is
spotted by the chief Observation-Disclosures
he does not go ashore on liberty with his
shipmates for while.
The hammocks slowed, the officer Of the
deck Qn his bare feet. generally, Ike
the men forward. and therefore not quite
SO gallant and digRifed-looking as he
appears when you go aboard on your vislt>
makes his nod TO the watchfUl bO'sCu's
mate, and tie word Wash down Is pass
ed Then thu Pumps below begin 10
thump ard for a solid hour green seas
pour over the 6eckS-more than enough
water to float her.
Every corner aud GRANNY OF man o.
war is numbered for cleaning purposes.
from the to'gailan fo'c'sle TO the after en-
CINE room, and every man-o'-war's man
has a number to correspond TO his clean
ing station. They don't hollystone man
o'-war decks any more. They use sand
instead.
At o'clock the men knock of and wash
themselves for breakfast, which comes
half an hour later.
The average man-o'-war's man rerards
his breakfast as only a founda ton for 4
smoke-the best smoke Of the Gay. On
American men-o-War there is an open
lantern called the smoking lamp" hang
ing as q rule At the break OF the fo'c'sle.
The corporal of the marine guard lights
and extinguishes this lamp in accord
ance with directions from the officer Of
the deck.
When the smoking lamp is aglow the
man-o'-war's man may smoke himself
black in the face-only on the main deck.
however. and never. at his peril. between
decks. But the man-o'-war's man bolts
his breakfast for the sake of his first
morning smoke-tor he has 10 crowd his
breakfast, the smoke and his somewhat
elaborate policing of himself and dress
ing up for quarters within the space of
an hour.
Quarters which is the first rolI-call of
the day on a war vessel. is sounded in the
L. S. navy at $50 o'clock occasionally at
8 'clockl in the morning. The men for
ward, bluejackets and marines, don't put
on their best uniforms for ordinary quar-
tiers, but they must look thoroughly neat
and clean to stand their division officers
inspection.
Immediately upon the dismissal of men
from quarters (Which ceremony always
takes place on the spar or main deck).
the marine and ships bugIers in unison
sound drill call.
There is a round of drills to fit all hands
in all the ships departments for every
day in the week. Often several different
drills are in progress on the same deck.
All of the men join in the setting-up exer-
Observation-Disclosures of sort by no means
adapted to kindergartens. Most of the
men come in for single-stick drill-rather
Anticipated drill, this, when it is consid-
cred how remote the probability is of men,
of-war getting sufficiently close together
for cutlasses to be of use.
All hands have TO master the use of
the rife.
The other drills aboard ship are almost
too numerous to be specifed-drills on
the great guns: cordage drills, which
means the mastery of all knots used on
shipboard; drills on scientific instruments;
arm and away" a hurry affair requir
ing extreme alertness in manning the
boats; "repelling boarders,' another an
tiquated but exceedingly athletic drill;
abandon ship" when all hands hastily
provision the boats and sheer off in them,
often in mid-ocean, when the sea is glas-
sy; collision quarters" a lightning quick
closing of the doors of the water-tight
compartments; fire quarters" hustling
bit of nose-stretching work; target prac-
tice, with rifles and revolvers, and drills a
plenty besides, too technical to be referred
to here.