Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1898-08-18
LIFE IN A WARDROOM
THE OFFICERS QUARTERS ON BOARD
A MAN-OF-WAR.

Where All Except the Commander Eat,
Live and Have Their Social Being-Naval
Etiquette Isolates the Man Whom All
Others ON Board Must Obey.
The wardroom ON a man. of-war is the
living place of all the older officers OF
the ship, with one exception, the COM
handing officer. He lives by himself,
has his own cabins, his own mess, his
own servants. Naval etiquette and GUS
tom have established this habit of isola-
ton for the man on the ship who has
command of all the rest. The reason is
undoubtedly to be found in the very
fact that he represents extraordinary |
power. Under these circumstances any !
attempt to forget the superiority OF his
rank by means of a common cabin or
messroom for him and his subordinates
would only result in embarrassment on
both sides.
This does not mean that he may not
be.sociable, for much depends upon the
man. But it is safe to say that any show
of effusiveness among those who live
abaft the mast must come from his side,
if he wishes it to be general. The situa-
hon is delicate one.
In the freer air of the wardroom we
find from 10 to 20 officers living togeth-
er, the number varying with the size OF
the ship. Their ages may range from 20
to so, and they are of all ranks above
that of naval cadet, and of all corps
Engineer officers, line officers, medical
officers, marine officers, one pay officer
and one chaplain, may all be included
in the wardroom of large ship. These
men live in staterooms arranged about
common space, which is known as the
"wardroom country" This assumption
of space of prairielike dimensions is
comparatively truthful in the cramped
quarters of ship. In this country"
exists the social life of the wardroom.
Here these men of varied callings, yet
all of the seas following, live, move
and have their social being.
A day spent in a wardroom by land
lubber would reveal many interesting
ulA6IGnC6S DCOWCCA A1f OIL O111OSAo eAA1NA
their brethren on shore To begin with
they are more cosmopolitan in their
speech. The men in our WardrOOms are
gathered together from all parts Of the
Union. Local discussions find but an
uniAterested audience, or even derisive
one, SO that a naval officer gets accus-
toned to speak and think of all the 40
states as belonging equally to him. Out
side of his own country he is SO great a
traveller that very few civilians can keep
up with the way he skips In converse
ton from China to Peru or to Tasma,
MIA. Other characteristics that are
quickly noticeable are his simplicity,
his cheerfulness and his heartiness. The
wardroom is constantly resembling with
laughter The men in it are healthier
| than men who live in houses. They gel
up earlier in the morning and go to bee
| earlier at night. Most of our wardroom!
are bustling with officers at o'clock il
the morning
| A glance at the breakfast table show
| the senior line officer presiding, and thu
other officers placed near him according
to rank. At the other end Of the tabl'
is the man who has been elected by hi
messmates to direct the catering of tn
mess. Between this early meal and tn
breakfast proper, which comes at hal
past II or 10 O'Clock, there is not mucl
life in the wardroom, for the daily mil
itary routine is full of drills and exer
cises which keep most of the officers o.
deck. There are drills with great gun
and with small arms, drills in clearing
ship for action, drills in handling am
munition and many others-all Of then
rooted in the one idea that you mus
preserve your own life by destroyin
that of your enemy.
AS soon as an officer returns to tn
wardroom from one drill and begins
conversation or perhaps huns song b
is interrupted by the bugles on deck an
must buckle on his sword and return t
another drill.
At every call to quarters all officer
must report themselves ready for duty
5 The chaplain and paymaster, havin
: much less to do with drills than tn
other officers, are usually the first to
back in the wardroom, where there
other work for them. The medical off
Ger has gone forward to the sick bay
look after his patients.
4 When the midday breakfast come
there is the first breathing space for
! little leisure and relaxation But I'll
s drills for the day are not yet over, an
at 1 o'clock the hustle is resume
throughout the ship. A sudden call ma
come for collision drill, Or fire drill, {
battalion drill. If at sea, a floating ia
get may be dropped overheard, and fl
an hour the ship be shaken from stel
to stern by the discharge of guns. Fro
to o'clock in the afternoon there
generally respite from work. and tt
wardroom begins to show signs of b
ing home. Some in it are reading
5, writing, others are smoking or playir
= games or loafing Still others are
their rooms taking the seaman's afte
n noon nap But at 5 O'Clock the drill
J ind exercises come again.
y By 6 80 O'Clock there is feeling TIL
+ one can sit down and dine without fe;
| VI lDbcll DtlOil lliC iuCoo do q w LULU
e now gathered together and the meal
o generally thoroughly enjoyable al
r delightful affair after it is over the
3 are cigars. games, music, or the right
r withdraw within oneself without e.
le citing remark. By 10 O'Clock most
= these sailors are in bed, but even no
d the drills may not be over. At midnigl
K the bugles may sound, and in two mi
/ utes all the ships company be rapid
= making rea'iy for an enemy.
York Post.
. 1t is strange to notice how many O
classical expressions still survive
Tuscany. The people still swear "E
Bacchus!' and By Dianal'' just as v
do by JoveP' but when they talk
"TOm. Dick and Harry they say IT