Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-08-06
PHYSIOLOGY OF THE SEA.
some OF the Most Familiar Titles
and Their Origin


In the early days OF the English ma
val organizations vessels OF war had
double crews. military one for fight.
ing purposes and another of mariners
for navigating duties. In consequence,
a large number OF English sea terms
have military origin.
At that time the rank Of admiral
was unknown, and the chief officer OF
the squadron was called constable, or
justice. The term admiral as now
used is derived from the Arabic amir"
or 'elnir.' commander (as in Amir.
alBahr," commander OF the sea). The
early English form was "amiral," and
Is still preserved as such by the
French
The title of captain is not naval
but military one. Originally, the real
captain OF a ship was master" A
military officer was placed on board.
though he knew nothing OF nautical
matters. Gradually his Importance In
creased while that of the master d.
minished proportonately till at tho
present day the masters Office is gradu-
ally becoming obsolete. Commodore
comes from the Spanish commentator"
The title of lieutenant is borrowed
directly from the French, and is meant
as place holder. or one who took the
place of the captain when absent In
former days there were no cadets but
volunteers. but. with the gradual adj
vance of politeness. the term cadet was
appropriated from the French.
"Boatswain" is derived from the
Saxon ''swein.' servant. The term
quartermaster. as used in both the
army and navy. appears to be confus-
| the title OF a commissioned officer who
performs important and responsible
duties. In the navy he Is simply
F, warrant officer directing subordinate
duties In the old ships and in o!den
times his position was a more impor-
tant one; SO much SO that he was con-
sidered to be the fourth part Of the
master-hence the term Quartermaster.
The ships cook was once great
man and there are instances on record
of his being promoted for efficient pre-
paration of food. The ships steward
was originally the caterer
| The terms larboard and starboard
| come from the Italian 'questra borda'
and "queia borda," which by rapid de-
| livery became startoard and larboard:
but owing &c the strong similarity Of
sound they We're changed into star
| board and port (Latin porto. to carry),
the use of the terms in the original
form having been the cause Of many
accidents.
| Gangway has been handed down
from the days OF the ancient galley OF
| the Phoenicians. Carthagnians and
Romans. it having been a board which
ran along the whole length serving as
Il passage for the rowers to and from
their seats. 1t was also used as
| resting place for the mast and sail
| when not in use.
The cockpit. in the lowest part OF the
vessel below the water used during an
| action for the treatment OF the wound
ed, is derived from the old days Of the
English sport Of cock fighting; but this
has been modernized and is now known
as the "fats''-why, no one can ex-
| plain.
Lubber is from the Dutch, meaning
| a lazy. cowardly fellow.
Anchor came from the Latin an
ehora." or ''ancora." which up to 600
B. c. consisted simply of large stone
| with hole through it.
The popularity of so many portions
OF a ships rigging bearing names de-
rived from the trappings OF horse
can only be accounted for from the
fact that the early warships We're man
ned by soldiers as we'll as sailors. the
natural consequence being that they,
the sailors adapted some OF their
terms to meet their fancy among these
being BRIDES whips. bits. stirrups, and
! the like.