The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1898-11-25
PETS or THE NAVY.
Many Mascots on Board Ships of tn.
American Navy.

Many Mascots on Board Ships of thu
| American Navy.
There are enough pets of various
kinds serving as ''mascots" in Amer,.
can war-ships to stock a good-stze6
| menagerie. According to the sailors
superstition, the crew of man-of- war
would not be complete without such a
mascot, and since pets are allowed or
board only with the formal consent of
the Captain they may be said to be
regularly in commission.
Even at the time Of the disaster of
the Maine, says the New York World.
her pets-Mere not forgotten. The Maine
carried dog and three cats, one of
them the senior cat in the United States
navy. Two Of the cats, which had been
bought IN Cuba, perished with the
ship, but old Tom utilized his nine lives
and survived, as did the Captains dog.
Iom was born thirteen years ago 1,
the Brooklyn navy yard, and has been
IN active service ever since. At the
time Of the disaster he was sleeping
peacefully three decks down, or a dis.
tance of nearly thirty feet below the
upper deck. The force Of the explosion
was so great that Tom was literally
fired through these three decks, and
came down unharmed,
In the confusion Of that awful night
Tom was lost sight Of, but the next
morning he was discovered crying pitt
fully, crouched on the part of the wreck
which remained above water. He was
first discovered by Commander Vain
wright, who FASTENED to take him off
In boat and remove him to the Fern.
where the sailors received him as an
old friend.
The other survivor of the Maine was
Captain Sigsbee's little pug dog, Peg
gy. Peggy was asleep ir the Captains
stateroom when the explosion occurred,
and was forgotten by her owner in the
confusion which followed.
The ship was In complete darkness,
but Peggy managed to find her way to
the deck, and when the Captains boat
was finally lowered in the midst of the
shrieks Of the dying. the roaring of the
fre and all the confusion, Peggy was
found standing at the place she had
been taught to take when that particu-
lar boat was to be lowered.
In some ways the most remarkable
of all these mascots Is the goat, Billy,
now on the cruiser New York. Billy
has served for more than fifteen years,
and takes an active part In the life of
the ship. The custom Of decorating the
uniforms of old sailors with enlistment
stripes has been extended to Billy, and
he now wears five stripes, each stripe
representing three years of.honorable
service.
He wears these when on dress parade
attached to belt of navy blue cloth,
which buttons over his back. In sum-
mer, when on dress parade, he wears a
white duck belt decorated with gold
stripes.
Billy always marches In parade with |
the same company, and is always at his
post throughout the most complicated
naval manuevers. He never makes a
in finding his own boat, and no
one on board is more prompt in re-
spending to the various orders.
Another celebrated goat is "Billy the
which makes his home on the |
Terror. This goat seems to be
happy on the limited deck space of the |
where he frequently lives for
weeks at time without going ashore.
These little mascots have curious !
ways of making themselves at home.
One of the cats which salts with the !
Minnesota often crawls into the yawn- |
ing mouth of one of the cannon. She |
has found from experience that this is
/ very quiet place for an uninterrupted
nap, and when the gun is not wearing |
found there.