The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-10-02
LIFE ON A BRITISH WARSHIP
FROM CAPTAINS CABIN TO THE JACK TARS IN THE FORECASTLE.
WardrOOm and Gumroom Amentttes- How the Warrant and Petty Officers Are HOused-sai1or's Occupations When They Are Off Duty

When They Arc Of Duty.
 As in town, we have here men o
 all sorts and professions, we find al
 manner of human, interests cropping LII here and there in times of leisure, anc
 yet the whole company have one feel
 ing, one interest in common, their ship
 and through her their navy
 First of all, of course, comes the
 Captain, who, in spite of the dignity
 and grandeur of his position, must at
 times feel very lonely He lives in aw-
 full state, a sentry (of marines) continu-
 ally guarding his door, and although he
 does unbend at stated times as far as inviting few officers to dine with him,
 or accepting the officers invititation to
 dine in the Wardroom, this relaxation
 must not come too often. The Comman-
 der, who is the chief executive officer,
 is in a far better position as regards comfort. He comes between the Cap tain and the actual direction of affairs, he has a spacious cabin to himself, but
 he takes his meals at the wardroom
 table among the officers above the rank
 of Lieutenant, and shares their merriment, the only subtle distinction
 made between him and everybody be-
 ing in the little word Sir" which Is
 dropped adroitly in when he is being l 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 socibility to cast-iron dis cipline and back again with an ease | amazing to iandsman.
 The wardroom of battleship is
 pleasant place It is a spacious apart
 ment taking in the whole width of the
 ship, handsomely decorated and lit by electricity. There is usually a plano,
 good libraray, and some handsome
 plate for the table. It is available not
 only for meals but as a drawing room, common meeting ground for Lieuten- ants, marine officers, surgeons chaplain,
 and senior engineers, where they may
 unbend and exchange views, as well as enjoy one another's society free from the grip of the collar A little lower down in the scale of authority, as well as actually in the hull of the ship, come the gunroom, the affix being a survival, and having no actual significance now. In this respect both ward-room and gun-room have the advantage over the Captains cabin, in which there are a couple of quick-firing guns, causing those sacred precincts to be invaded by small host of men at general quarters" who manipulate those guns as if they were on deck.
 The gun-room is the ward-room over again, only more so,--that Is, more wild ly hilarious. more given to outbursts of melody and rough play, Here meet the Sub -Lieutenants, the assistant engineers and other junior officers, and the midshipmen. With these latter Admirals in embryo We find state of things existing that is of the highest | service to them in after life. Taking | their meals as gentlemen with a senior | at the head of the table, meeting round | that same table at other times for social enjoyment, once they are outside of | the gun-room door they have no more privacy than the humblest bluejacket. They sleep and dress and bathe-llve. | in fact-(coram publico,) which is one of the healthest things, when you come to think of it, for youngster of any class. Although they are now officers in H. M Navy they are still school boys, and their education goes steadily 1n at stated hours in well-apponted keeping pace with that sterner training they are receiving on deck. The most grizzled old seaman m board must sir" them but there ire plenty of correctives all around o hinder the growth in them of any alse pride.
 On the same deck is found the com non room of the warrant officers such IS bo'sun, carpenter, gunner; those | ages who have worked their difficult l way up from the bottom of the sailors adder through all the grades and are, with the petty officers. the mainstay If the service. Each of them has cab n of his own, as is only fitting; but here hey meet as, do their superiors over ead, and air their opinions freely But, ike the wardroom officers, they mostly ( ak shop" for they have only one , reat object in life, the efficiency Of heir charge, and it leaves them little oom for any other topics Around this. l he after part of the ship, cluster also ( mother little body of men and lads, l E he domestics, as they are termed, who 0 their duty of attendance upon off CTS and waiting at table under all g with that neatness and ' elerity that is inseparable from all .ork performed in ship-of-war. Body srvants of officers are usually marines, ut the domestic are class apart, | | Lrictly non-comba yet under s aval law and discipline. Going 'forrard," the chief petty off, c ars will be found to make some at 4 mpt at shutting themselves apart S 'om the general by arrangements of d lrtans, ,&c, all liable and ready to be n ung into oblivion at the first note of l "
 bugle. For the rest, their lives are s osolutely public No one has a corner it lat he may call his own, unless per p aps it lis his "dity box" that little case C
 needles, thread, and ct ceteras that Ii needs so often, and is therefore is C lowed to keep on a shelf near the spot is here he eats. Each mans clothes are Il Tt in a bag, which has it's allotted ft ace in a rack far away from the spot t' here his hammock and bed are spirit SC
 off to every morning at 5 o'clock. e
 lie concealed until the pipe down tN lmmocks' al night. And yet by the | ol of "messes'' eacn man has, c in common with few others . spt- a,