Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-23
ON A BRITISH WARSHIP
Something About the Life of John Bulls
Jack Tars
Ward Room and Gun Room Amenities
Omcers-EverythinE Clean.
From the Spectator.

| of human interests cropping up here in
times of leisure, and yet the whole COM
pany have one feeling, one interest in COM
mon. their ship. and through her their
| navy.
! First of all. of course, comes the cap.
/, tain. who. in spite of the dignity and gran
| deur of his position, must at times feel
very lonely. He lives in awful state. a SEN
| try (of marines) continually guarding his
| door, and although he does unbend at stat
| ed times far as inviting few officers
| to dine with him. accepting the officers
Invitation to dine in the wardroom, this
relaxation must not come too often. The
commander, who is the chief executive of
fcer. is in far better position as regards
| comfort. He comes between the captain
| and the actual direction of affairs; he has
J spacious cabin to himself, but he takes
| his meals at the wardroom table among
| al the officers above the rank OF sublieu-
| tenant, and shares their merrilnent; the on
| ly subtle distinction made between him and
| everybody else at such times being in the
| little word Sir, which is dropped adroitly
in when he is being addressed For the
| rest naval nous is so keen that amidst
! the widest fun when off duty no officer
| can feel that his dignity Is tempered with,
! and they pass from sociability to cast-iron
| discipline and back again with an ease
| amazing to a landsman.
| The wardroom of a battle ship is pleas
! ant place. 1t is a spacious apartment TAX
| ing in the whole width of the ship, hand
! somely decorated. and lit by electricity
| There is usually piano. a good library
| and some handsome plate for the table
| 1t is available not only for meals. but as a
drawing room. a common meeting ground
Tor HeutenantS, marine officers, surgeons
| chaplain and senior engineers. where they
may unbend and exchange views as well
as enjoy one anothers society free from
the grip OF the collar. A little lower down
' q 10 If h
| ly in the hull of the ship comes the p1n-
! room, the aff1x being a survival and hav-
| ing no actual significance now In this re-
shect both wardroom and gunroom have the
| advantage over the captains cabin in
| which there are a couple of quick firing
! guns. causing those sacred precincts to he
invaded by small host of men at general
quarters, who manipulate those guns as
IL they were on deck.
The gunroom is the ward room over
again. only more so-that is more wildly
hilarious. more given to outbursts of meIo-
dy and rough play. Here meet the sub-
neutenants: the assistant engineers and
other junior officers and the mid
Shi9men With these latter admirals in
enpryo we ind state of things existing
that Is of the highest service to them in
after life. Taking their meals as gentle
men with senior at the head of the
table' meeting round that same table at
oIiier tlnes Tor social enjoyment once they
are outside of the gunroom door they have
no more privacy than the humblest blue
jacket They sleep and dress and battle
IEe. IN 1act-coram publico, which is one
OF the healthiest things. when you come
70 mink of it. for a youngster of any class.
although they are now officers in H NJ
navy they are still school boys and their
education goes steadily on al stated hours
III III ID W,eii-appolnted school room, keeping
pace with that sterner training they are
receiving on deck. The most grizzIed old
seaman on board must Sir them. but
there are plenty of correctives all around
fha y
pride. - ''' ioi'
On the same deck is to be found the
common room of the warrant officers such
as Do SUM- carpenter. gunner; those sages
VINO nave worked their difficult way up
from the bottom of the sailors ladder
through all the grades and are with the
petty officers, the mainstay of the service
Each of them has a cabin of his own as -
only nttlng; but here they meet as do their
Superlors overhead. and air their opinions
freely. But. like the ward room officers
they mostly talk shop" for they have
only one great object in life the efficiencv
OF their charge, and it leaves them HttIe
room for any other topics Around this
the after part of the ship, cluster also an
other little body of men and lads, the do
neStics, as they are termed who do their
DUTY of attendance upon officers and wait
ing at table under all circumstances with
that neatneSS and celebrity that is insenara-
Die from all work performed in d ship-of-
war. BODY servants of officers are USUALLY
marines. but the domestics are a class
apart. strictly non-combatant, vet under
naval law and discipline
Going forrard. the chief petty officers
Will be found to make some attempt at
shutting themselves apart from the gener+
al, by arrangements of curtains etc all
liable and ready to be flung into oblivion at
the flrSt note of a bugle. For the rest
their lives are absolutely public No one
mas corner that he may call his own I'M
less perhaps II is his "ditty box" that lit
tie case OF needles, thread and ct ceteras
oft
lowed to keep on a shelf near the spot
where he eats. Each mans clothes are
kept IN bag, which has its allotted place
In a rack, far away from the SPOT where
MS hammock and bed are spirited off to
every morning at > o'clock, to lie concealed
until the pipe down hammocks" AT night
Ana yet by the arrangement of '.messes''
each man has. in common with a few
others. a settled spot where thew meet ar
a common table, even though il be not smut
IN, ana Is liable to sudden disappearance
curing an evolution So that mans ness
becomes his rallying point; 1t is there that
the young bluejacket or marine learns
worldly wisdom and many other things
Inc practice OF keeping all bedding on the
move, as 1t were, having no permanent
sleeping places, requires getting used to,
but 1t Is a most healthy one, and even if il
were not, 1t is difficult to see how within
lhe limited space Of warship. any other
arrangement would be possible O,der
among belongings is kept by a carefully
graduated system of fines, payable in snap
any article found astray by the ever
watchful naval police being Immediately
lmpounded and held to ransom And as
every mans kit is subject to a periodical
overhaul by officers, any deficiency cannot
escape notice
Every mans time is at the disposal of the
service whenever 1t is wanted but in prac-
tee much leisure is allowed for rest recre-
alton and mental improvement. Physical
development is fully looked after by the
rules of the service. but all are encouraged
TO make the best of themselves, and no eff
fCrts on the part of any man to better his
position are made in vain. Nowhere per
maps, Is vice punished or virtue reward
eu with greater prOmptitude, and since all
puhlshments and rewards are fully uuh-
nc the lessons they convey are never lost
BUT apart from the service routine the civil
lie OF this little world is curious and
most interesting study. The industrious
man who. having bought a sewing ma
chlne earns substantial addition to his nav
by making every item of his less energetic
mes mates clothes Except boots) for a con-
sheraton the far-seeing man who makes
his leisure nit him for the time when he
shal have left the navy, the active TEMPER
ance man who seeks to bring one after the
other of his shpmates into line with the
eVer-growing body of teetotalers that are
last altering completely the moral condi