Evening star., 1898-07-16

| II II u newly-acquirad ports
| to be ship-policed.
| many out-of-the-way harbors. held either
| ior indemnity or for keeps, to be occa
| any visited by fighting packets with Uncle
| 0anluel colors at the mizzan. All of this
WIZ demand pretty elaborate overbauline
oi the naval assignment map, and e. is MOI
| improbable that the naval srations thar
] nave Tor generations been considered the
| mcst desirable by officers in the servics
| VIII then be looked upon as Botany Ravs
Inc Mediterranean station, for examnle
| thal mas. ever since the establishment Of
the american navy, been the apple IN the
| eye OF the younger line of officers. will GER.
lainiy not, under the rearrangement of
cruising stations, remain the distinctly
swell and important cruising space Of all
the stations The two star stations for
many years to come, in so far as concsras
lhe work the ships attached to than Will
oe called upon to perform, Will unques-
tlonapiy be the eastern home" station
otherwise the North Atlantic station which
includes all of the islands in the Atlantic
wherein trouble now regns and tho China
ssa.ion, s or ofhcially, the Asiatio station
mat Will henceforth actually, and not
honlnally, as has been the case in the
past, take in the Philippine Islands. The
Fhlhppines have always been considered
n a "
nave scarcely been visited by American
Warshlps at all since the whits cruisers
Degan to attract the worlds admiration on
Lar and near seas. The cid "wind-Ja M
mers cruising on the China station used
occasionally to pull into Manila hartor for
week stay or So but the new ships of
our navy have practically given the Philip
pines the go-by- But they will not give
them the go-by in the future and the off,
GERS who are ambitious to be in the thick
OF What is known effective cruising"
as distinguished from that species of cr1Iis-
ing which is the merest lolling about nasl-
tfaI waters for the sake of turning over
the engines and keeping ships fore and
art organizations in stata OF polish. will
uEquestionably want all OF The sea duty
they can get. on the newly Outlined Asiatio
station.
Some Like Home Stations
Naval officers opinions of the cruising
stations as they are at present mapped
out depend good deal upon the officers
Individual circumstances. The older men,
married and with families to look after
are naturally fonder Of the home stations
that is, the North Atlantic station and
the Pacif1c station. These are men who
nave oeen wandering over the world for a.
sufhcient length of time TO become awearv
OF lar-seas paddlins-men, too, who have
"eishty hhancial end of the 5ea-assignme,,t
| proposition to consider on account of their
growing Iamll1es The middle-aged off,
| GERS idea of life on the ocean wave un-
der the very best circumstances is his as
slsnment to receiving ship, housed over
ana restfully reposing on the mud of a
navy yard stream. Officers assigned to re-
ceiYlng ships get sea pay, wnicn is a cor
siaerap,e ngure above shore pay, and. be-
sloes, they get navy yard quarters and are
privileged to live with their families The
| receiving ship billets are in great demand
But, even If they can't eaten receiving
| ship berths, the older officers of fine navy
1f
portunlties sucn cruising gives them TO be
frequently near to their Families Tha shir,s
| or the North Atlantic station have stated
cruising periods when they are away from
the navy yard docks on the Atlantis coast
In the summer they get up around New
port and Bar Haroor for drills and This
| enables the officers with families to plant
| their families at any OF the line of sI;,n-
mer resorts from New York TO the rnldd!.
coast of Maine, and 10 take over-Sundsv
runs, on leave, to see them. During tn,
cold winter months the ships of the Nortt
Atlantic squadron cruise in the West In
dies, and for many years 1t has been the
custom of officers with families to move
the latter to various accessihls points On
these islands during the winter cruising.
At the Summer Resorts.
The young. unmarried. and therefore ro-
mantle, officers of the navy are equally
fond Of the North Atlantic station. esps-
ctally the summer cruising end of 1t, The
uniform OF an American naval officer makes
him more than welcome guest under most
OF the roofs that dot the coast line all
around this continent, and the young naval
officer Is distinctly a parsonage at the
eastern watering resorts north Of New
York He Is invited everywhere and ex-
hibited, and the elderly matrons of society
make much of him and give him all man.
ner of precedence over the most eligible
civilians in presenting him to their beyies
OF young women guests. There was old
admiral OF the North Atlantic squadron,
who used to say, "An the work that l can
get out of my ensigns when the pert and
pretty misses on the beach heave to and
begin to flash their eye-signals 1 can put
irto the tail of your eye." The fleet skip
pers and commanders Of ships on the North
Atlantic squadron are very indulgent of the
young fellows in uniform during the sum-
mer cruising, however, and only pretend
to make terrible to-do when the Junior
officers pile in their incessant and insinuat-
ing requ ests for leaves of absence.
Big Stretch of Water.
The Pacific station is the other home"
station. 1t is hcme station in name only,
sn ths opinion of good many of the off,
cars who get the worst of the assignments
In those waters. The Pacific station ex-
tends FROM 1Tasss down to Callao, and it
tskes in tina hawaiian is,saas. This is a
pretty wide and long Stretch OF wauvS,
The -offioars who are fortunate enough to
eaton anipi LEX dc only Cdl1Orn1a cruising
have all the luck Of the Pacific station
California cosst cruising is gentle and de-
llghtful work. The people who have never
visited California have little idea of the
beauty Of the flower ffestas that take place
in the southern California coast towns,
such as Santa Barbara. San Diego and
Los Angeles, at the close of the winter
season. Business Is absolutely suspended
during these week-long carnivals, which
are the nearest approximation to the car
nivals OF the old world to be found In this
country.
The Navy Department has got into tho
habit of ordering the crack ships on the
Pacific station to the California harbors
wherein these fiestas are in progress, and
both men and officers of the men-of-war
become the guests of the carnival cities.
Their money is counterfeit" and they are
taken In hand, and given q whirl such as
nSval sailers do not have in any other part
of the world. The ships OF the Pacific sta
tion that are permitted to take In these af-
fairs. and then return to the Mare Island
navy yard for loi g lay-ups, are the lucky
ones in the eyes of the officers. who belong
10 the San Francisco clubs and have all
the comforts OF metropolitan life while
still drawing sea pay.