The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-24
BEACHED %APOTHECARY
FTNIs OF n MAN WHO lost HTS
RATING IN TIE NAVY.

why men VINO are 'BroHo' IN tho army
or "Busted" in tho Navy Are Apt to
DssSrtJTraGediss That Have Followed
deduction in RAnk-wRy of y Smooth
Chap from the East VINO Enlisted.
w~AsHnEoroH. July 23.-Corporai Mulvaney's
manner Of frequently dwelling upon the time
when he was last " reiooood probably receives
full understanding from only such Of KiplinE's
readers as have been in q military service. A
reduced nop-com, never perceives any humor
In hhR reduction. It 10 usually a rather sad and
bitter business for him. Men reduced from tho
rank OF non-commissioned officers In tho
American Army. or from the rate OF petty or
chief petty officers in the American Navy. do
not desert their service any more frequently
than do mon In foreign military and naval ser
vices who undergo the sam humiliation.
but they desert in numbers, neverthe-
less. In truth. a good many Of them are
expected to desert when they are reduced
broke" IL is called in the army. and busted"
In the navy. Commanding officers. Of course,
do not reduce enlisted men for the sake Of
having them desert, but when reduced mon do
desert commanding officers are not surprised.
Busted " petty officers In the navy are rather
expected by their mates up forward 10 Jump
ship at the first opportunity. and the soldiers
In the outfit Of q broke" non-com. look upon
the reduced man as a fellow Of little spirit II he
does not forthwith turn himself loose from
military service.
Reduced men occasionally stay on in both
services whom they recsive q tip from the right
source that they are soon TO be reinstated in
their former ranks. These are mon who have
been reluctantly reduced by commanding on
GERS. for the purpose Of setting the right exc
ample to bluejackets and private soldiers. and
ofter awhile they are made" again. The
made soldier or sailor 10 the man who. after
reduction. gots back the billet he formerly held.
There are not many such nowadays. Both
services have too many good men in
line waiting for berths involuntarily vacated
By men OF unsteady conduct. The fact IL not
generally known. by the way. that. under the
law. any naval officer may be reduced. by o
general eourt-martial. ito the rate OF an or
binary seaman" This law was made early in
the progress OF the civil war. when some wild
blades got into the navy through the hawse-
pipe to the quarter deck. The law was made
for deterrent purposes, and 1t still appears In
the Revised Statutes. although It is not in
cluded among the regulations governing the
conduct Of officers and men in the American
Navy. It has never been abrogated. however.
Not many years after tho civil war a Lieutenant
serving on the China station was "busted" - to
the rate Of ordinary seaman for tumultuous
misconduct. and he had to go forward and work
alongside the bluejackets. too. The Navy De-
partment permitted him to get out Of the SER
vice not long after his humiliation. Nowadays.
misbehavinR army and navy officers are simply
dismissed the service by general court-martial.
II their misconduct has been sufficiently serious
to warrant this. or suspended for varying Pc
RODS il their offences are not of q nature to call
for cashiering.
Both in the army and in the navy It takes q
court-martial to break" or bust" a nom
commissioned or a petty officer. unless the
offender holds simply an acting appointment,
in which case his chevrons or his rating badge
may be taken from him at any time by order
of his commanding officer. It should be said
that neither In the army nor In the navy do
commanding officers like the lob of reducing
uon-commissioned or petty officers. Officers
don't like thus to exhibit their disappoint-
ment in enlisted men who have shown them
selves sufficiently clever and worthy to DO
promoted from the ranks. A non-com. or q
petty officer who goes to pieces after being
singled out for promotion costs his officers a
good deal Of worriment The officers are in
clined to give the man all sorts OF chances be-
fore they finally decide to smash him to the
ranks. The reduced man who stays on in the
service is nearly always an eye sorrow to the
officer or officers who recommended his eleva-
IlOl, DccduSt uc 10 u pfODI VI bdu JuukUleUU.
There have been many tragic outcomes of re-
auctions in the American Army and Navy. Tho
finish of a case of this sort happened less than
a year ago In San Francisco. The apothecary
of one OF the cruisers on the Pacific station was
the man chiefly concerned. He was a member
OF q good family Of New Orleans. and had been
q wild lot from his boyhood. He figured. in
spite Of his wildness. at the top OF his class
upon his graduation from the University Of
Virginia, and he also captured the honors OF his
class when he was graduated in medicine in
Philadelphia. Rum got hold of him, and he
Joined the Texas Rangers az Surgeon. Then he
entered the regular army as q hospital steward.
Bis record in the army was not creditable. but
he kept quiet about it after he entered the
navy as an apothecary. In spite Of his wiIdness
and recklessness on frequent occasions ashore.
he made an Almost ~uneQualled reputation for
himself as a naval apothecary. 1t was his luck
to get assigned to ships that glided accidentally
into infected ports. and he was utterly fearless
in handling men brought low with yellow fever.
Asiatic cholera, smallpox. and other highly in
the tsSe's side Of ! 't the s6ip esa on W Wbich he sne gas w seyv9 9Usr
without ever being III himself, and he gained
OF his frequent lapses when he went on the
beach. The surgeons. his Immediate superior
ished when they found. and several Of them
did. that there. was nothing left among the
medical stores In the way Of liquors and wines,
such as are carried on board American men-of-
war for conyalescipg men. Dunbar was not
Dunbar nibbled at, any kind Of fluid aboard
ship. and 1t was this sort OF business that
brought him TO his naval finish.
Apothecary Dunbar'e ship was on a surveying
expedition on the west coast OF Central Amer
lea, and one day. while the apothscaEy was
got along 80 well as he had with former sur
geons, had ~occasion. to use some alcohol. He
went to the medical storeroom and tool down
one Of the gallon slcohoI Jars. It didn't smell
tried to light It but 4 didn't light. It was
water. There we're fifteen other gallon jars
supposed to be filled With alcohol on the shelves
and the surgeon tried all Of these. There was
eeon won't to the cabin and reported these facts
to the commanding officer,
When Dunbar returned on board he was
taken to the mast. and the commanding oficer.
a man who Is not notable for OVERRIDING Rener-
ohity TO enlisted men. questioned him,
What became Of that aleohol?" he asked
the apothecary.
An of liz"
Yes. sirb