Daily camera., 1898-08-03
RE-ENLISTED SAILORS
A Second Term in the Navy Cen
orally Keeps Them.
Only About One-Half of the Men-O'-
Wars Men Enter for a Second
Three Years-Easy Times
of Overtime Men.

OF Overtime Men.
On the day after his enlistment for
period of three years the American
man-o'-wars man begins to figure on
vene before his discharge. He has two
years and a butt" to do, the butt
being the remaining II months and
30 days of the first year. On the day
following his completion of the first
year of his enlistment he has only
year and butt to get through. No
matter if the butt is only single day
under year in length, the bluejack-
cts contemplates the term with the
blandest complaisance; it is not, at
any rate, whole year, even though
it be 1854 days, and this fashion of
throttling each year of his service
makes him happy; it seems to bring
his discharge, and the more or less
tempestuous joys he carefully maps
out long before his discharge, within
closer range. When he has put in 1S
months of an enlistmen he breaks
| out lue uOllt"dl u-DOulu pSuHdhl, llC
| is going down the hill; and when he
has finally achieved two years and has
only the butt to accomplish, joy fills
his cup.
"Once sailor always sauor" is not
strictly true of men-o'-war's men of
the American navy. Only about one
half of the men who complete the en-
| listment ship for another three-year
cruise. But about nine-tenths of the
men who put in two cruises settle down
to lifelong continuance in the serv-
ice. Six years of navy life seem to
thoroughly inoculate them with what
the Germans call wanderlust. When
a bluejacket passes few of his sum-
mers in the latitude of the North Cape
and a couple of his winters down
among the Bermudas or in the salubri-
Gus South Pacific he is likely to acquire
dislike for the climate of the United
| States, and this dislike has more weight
than anything else in forming his de-
cision to remain in the navy. More
over, after a few years in the navy the
bluejacket seems to become possessed
of the odd idea that he is really doing
nothing aboard ship to earn his pay
that the perpetual scurry in which he
is kept from all hands in the morning
until pipe down at night is really not
work, and with this quaint notion he
also acquires an exceedingly exagger-
ated idea of the terrific amount of
grinding labor man has to perform
in order to gain a livelihood ashore.
Put to a bluejacket who has put in
couple of naval cruises the direct ques-
ton: "Are you going to ship over
when your time is out?" and, in nine
cases out of ten, he will look you in
the eye with an expression of stupefac-
ton and inquire:
What do you think I'm going todo-
work?"
Overtime men being shipped back to
this country on man-of-war are not
compelled to do any of the ships work;
they simply stand The military calls,
eat their meals and smoke their pipes,
watching the while with lazy happiness
the daily round of labor of the less for
tunate bluejackets attached as mem
bers of the crew of the ship on which
they themselves are practically passen-
gers. The overtime men occasionally
emit arrogantly humorous directions
to these temporary shipmates. the
ships company of the boat that is
hauling them home. "G'wan, now, an
shine up that bright work, ye long
time swab!" they will shout to deck
hand when the officer Of the deck is
aft and out of hearing and "Git down
to your bunker, ye grimy flatfoot, and
rake out your coal!" is the kind Of
thing the man of the black gang below
hears from the passenger" whenever
he tries to smoke peaceful pipe on the
to'gallant fo'csle.
One of the immemorial customs OF
the navy Jacks is to secrete in the ditty
bag of the discharged shipmate who is
about to go ashore can of corned beef,
a few potatoe9kand perhaps one or two
other articles of sea food. This is done
in order to remind the discharged man
when he opens his bag ashore that
in the opinion of his shipmates he will
be unable to earn enough to eat on land
if he takes it into his head not to ship
over, and that they have, therefore,
taken a small measure to shield him
from starvation with little navy grub
when he has spent his pay day. Dis
charged men try all sorts of schemes
to keep this stuff from being placed in
their bags, but nevertheless they near
ly always find it there when they get
ashore-Washingt Star.
Jack Tar and the Actor.