The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-30
TARS WITH A GRIEVANCE.
WAYS OF SHOWING ILL WILL TO
TINE UHPOPULlR OFFICERS.

Rsets asa Other ThinGn used 70 Fly In the
Dark In the Ole Dayp-strnteEy Usea Ne~-
sdaJs ~ the men 90 HrinE Their superiers
TO T~tne-rrichs OF soldiers IN the Array.
wlsHrxGroH, Jan. 29.- Distomper and dis
affection spread as quickly and disastrously
among uniformed men as phylloxera among
vines. 4 man-of.war's ships company with q
grievance means trouble for the officers aft,
while an army post in which the enlisted men
arc dissatisfied requires very careful handling.
Officers OF experience in both services know
these things, and take care not to put the en-
listed men out Of humor.
Few officers In the United States navy fail
TO approhend how well IL pays them to make
themselves popular with the men forward. Tho
men forward know how to make 1t uncomforta-
BILE for officers who treat them with severity or
injustice. In the old navy IL often happened
that officers who had earned the Ill will OF the
bluejackets feared to 60 up forward at night
after lights out, and there wns reason for their
fear. Such officers would no sooner set foot
In or undor the fo'c'sle, where, after lights out.
there was only tho dim illumination Of q single
standing light, than they would have to dodge
all manner Of missiles, Soup and bully cans,
checking blocks. mess gear, boots, anything
and everything throwable that the sailors and
marines, In or out Of their hammocks, FIRST
laid their hands on. On such occasions the
officers had but one thing to do, AMI that was to
get aft as fast as their legs could carry them.
They could make complaint 10 the command
ing officer the next day. but they rarely secured
the punishment Of the men. The culprits
couldn't be singled out. Even when 1t was
possible to pick out the offenders 1t happened
once in q while that the commanding officer
declined to punish them. A famous command
or Of the old Tennessee, who died after becom-
ing an Admiral. was appealed to one morning
by o junior lieutenant, who, as officer Of the
deck the night before. had been treated to .
dose Of flying gear on O visit T. the ~fo'c'sle.
do you know the menu asked the COM
nander.
YES" replied the Lieutenant, and he named
some Of them.
The commander was rough, ready and profane.
1T serves you damned good and right" said
he TO the Lieutenant. The men you've named
are the best men I've got on my ship. I've
been shipmates with come of them since I was
q midshipman. sir, and l have never had any
trouble with them. II you had treated them
right they'd have treated you right. and as an
officer on my ship should be treated. I'd ad-
wise you to put In an application for your trans
fer. SIR"
The Lieutenant, now q Captain tells this
story on himself. and as he afterward became
one of the most popular officers in the navy
among the men forward, he evidently pIofted
by this lesson.
Such ac's as heaving missiles at disliked Off.
GERS are not done in the navy Of to-day. but the
bluejackcts adopt other methods Of getting back
at severe or imperious superiors. For in
stance. they LAY down" on them. The amount
of work that a disaffected ships company can't
do in a given space of time is prodigious. In
coaling ship. for example, the men forward
seize the opportunity to make the disliked Off
Ger an object of derision among his brother Off.
GERS andto put HMM n very embarrassing pre-.
dicament before his commanding officer. They
wait until the officer who has incurred their dis.
pleasure takes the deck and assumes ommand
Of the work Of coaling and then they proceed to
give an exhibition OF how frantically a gang of
sailormen can work without doing anything.
They shovel away furicusly, but. somehow or
other, very little coal seems 10 find its way over
the side and into the bunkers. The bluejackets
in the coal lighters pant and perspire under the
strain of labor that looks quite terrific, but
there Is a lack Of Roadway in the coaling Of the
ship. The disliked officer of the deck may chafe
and mutter deep, dark things under his breath,
but this doesn't get the coal into the bunkers.
When he makes his report to the commanding
officer Of the amount Of coal that has been got
aboard during his watch, it is found by com.
parison that 1t is only about one. third tho
amount that was hoisted over the side during the
happened to be popular with the men. A mat.
ter OF this sort always sets q commanding Off.
Ser dom ,niaaieE; o aGr m @sn Ehs n hsS S,d ls sn1nsn 5 TO
experience that 1t is as easy as launching Q
dingey for 4 naval officer to acquire and hold
the good will OF enlisted mon, and that the use
fulness aboard ship of an officer who has sacri-
feed the confidence and respect Of the men is
A deck officer who by reason of an %unfortu-
nate manner had gained the extreme III will of
was attached to a ship on the China station =
few years ago. He was a fine drillmaster and
Il became his duty to take landing parties Of
the ships company ashore at Chemulpo for drill
instruction, When the men heard OF the order
the word lay down went around among all
200 bluejackets that appeared ON deck 10 com
pose the first landing party. There seemed
military makeup. except q 1 that there Mlsn w sns = m GEM.
eral look Of slovenliness about. them, Each
man had all his gear on,accordi ng. to regulations,
but somehow every man looked seedy. awkward,
unframed and unmilitary this, despite the
fact that the 200, men were part. Of what was
then considered the crack crew In the United
The ungoPpSlsr officer got the men ashore and
a ssf tSe t sI@ 6Fi,s sh STders THEY Ga ts'l Of f tSem en- eam q 1tS 20
order. The otiicsr beratsd them and tried
ten men In the landing party knew the differ.
movements were bowling farce and the foreign
officers ashore stood by laughing. The unpopu.
lar deck officer flew into a rage and began TO
drill the men one by. one. Every man went
through the individual drill. manual and move
ments like q major. and when the on er had
drilled about half or them In this way he started
again to give them orders in q body. Again
they were like q pack Of recruits. The mex
tricable tumble into which the men plunged
themselves, warranted the glee Of the foreign
officers. Tho !dislikcd, officer decided to punish
the men and he marched them nine miles into
the country. Tho mon struggled along like a
flock OF sheep. with no order whatever, and all
as solemn rs owls about It. Tho officer
marched the men back to the landing after the
eighteen miles had been covered and got them
aboard the ship. Then he reported to the COM
minding officer that IL was tho stupidest pack
OF blue jackets he had ever commanded.
'Stupidi' said the commanding officer, who
is now on duty In Washington. "You must be
dreaming. Those men you had ashore to-day
form the crack battalion OF bluejackets in the
American Navy. i shall take them ashore my
self Tomorrow and find out what's the matter.
You shall accompany tho landing party"
The commanding officer, an extremely popu-
lar man among the bluejackets did take the
Every man appeared on dock spick and hpan.