Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-03-25
WORK OF SEA SOLDIERS.
NEVER ENDING ROUND OF THE DUTIES
OF SHIPS MARINES.

ship and In barracks.
Uncle Sam has two kinds Of sea
warriors, the weh.fOoted ones, who,
wearing blue shirt with broad, roll
ing collar, are called blue Jackets, and
the amphibious, who, dressed in
soldier clothes, with stripes on their
trousers and shevrons on their sleeves,
are called marines. Ashore, says the
New York Sun, the habitat of the
marine il i'll barracks ut every navy
yard, aud you'll find II sentry at the
gate and one ~ every turn in the
yard. Anoat Won find seutrics at
| but come along with the corporal of
! the guard rs he makes his rounds Of
| the ship. At the door of The captains
cabin stands the orderly, Il natty, in
/ tellicent looking soldier He must
needs be intelligent, for he has To carry
many important verbal messages. In
spite of yourself he makes YOU IL little
nervous sometimes when he salutes
and says, 1.-The captain wishes To see
/ Mr.. SMITH No one enters the cap
tain's presence until the orderly has
.
the heels together, and the hand rises
in salute to you IA You enter the
cabin door, no matter if YOU are going
in To get "a communication or the
toughest old reprimand there is, with
few days suspension from duty at
tached.
Down below there is little narrow
/ l. 81 l. l..
it's dark and hot and stuiiy. There
is sentry down there, and his duty
is tn guard the storerooms. From
the nature Of his surroundings he
can't walk, he can't whistle, he can't
sing, and il he goes To sleep on post
he has court-martial before him.
Along the berth deck one comes
across some long bright objects, look
ing much like porpoises, and evidently
intended for swimming under water.
Going closer to investigate, You arc
tapped on the shoulder and the "sen-
try over the torpedoes" courteously
informs you that unauthorized per-
sons are not allowed to handle those
delicately adjusted but deadly instru-
mentS ot warfare.
A little further along on this deck
is the "sentry over the brig, ;" for the
brig IL the ships prison, where, III
complete solitude, and on II bread aud
water diet, an offender can mediate
and see the error OF his ways.
In the forecastle the sentry keeps
order among the crew, and an OCCASION
al eye on that fishing boat drifting
! down with the tide. Jack sometimes
! goes fishing and makes queer hauls.
| With coin M bait, he drops over
his line, gets IA nibble, hauls in II little
/ brown bo,tle-and doesn't show his
catch to the sentry
! And 40 the marine does the sentry
duty Of the ship-and this explains
the ill-fecling TINT has existed from
time immemoral between blueiackct
and marine.
However, there are other things to
be done besides the scntry-gu. The
marines are company Of infantry aud
form the advanced guard in operations
ashore; they fight battery OF guns as
artilcrisis aboard ship, they clean
ship, they coal ship, they paint ship
and their work il never through.
Then there are troublous times in
one of our South American neighbors.
The country is in state of revolution,
in the cities Inv and order are sus.
pended, save the law of the machete.
One does not venture ont on the street
unless heavily armed aud with n guard.
The American women and children are
gathered under the flag Of tho United
States consulate or legation. There
is a soldier III blue uniform on guard
Mt the entrance; there are many of
them within, sometimes biyouacking
ON the patio, shaded from n broiling
sun, ut other times shivering beside n
fire in.the compound These soldiers
are the same marines and their ship il
in the harbor not far away.
Preventing looting, suppressing
fires, burying the dead, such was their
duty after the bombardment Of Alex.
andria. For the manner in which they
did their duty look for the letter Of
Lord Charles Beresford in the files of
the British Admiralty Offices.
1t is quite an interestingand pretty
sight TO watch the ceremonies which
take place on board ship on the ar
rival OF high official, such as an
ambassador, an admiral, Il general, or
a consul. As the cutter dashes mp to
the side, with spray flying from the
oars, the ships bugle sounds "Atten-
ton" The side boys offer the man
ropes as the official steps on the gang
way, and the captain receives him as
he steps on the quarter deck. As the
two walk aft the marine officer, in
quick sharp tones, commands, pre-
sent arms" and the whole marine
guard, drawn up in line on the port