Evening star., 1900-12-15
A BLUEJACKETS CHRISTMAS

"I have seen q lot of men look foolish
under certain circumstances" said naval
officer now on duty in Washington. but the
foolishest looking man, so to speak, that
ever clapped an eye on was serving as
bluejacket on the ship to which l was at
tached on the Pacific station In 1896. This
bluejacket had been q bowling young
swell Of San Francisco. He was member
Of the Bohemian and most of the other San
Francisco clubs, had never done a days
work in his life before entering the navy.
had been educated in Germany and England
and had all Of the trimmings Of life from
his infancy. He was one of two sons Of an
enormously wealthy San Francisco widow
and, In fit of pique, because she declined
to let him have all Of the money that he
asked her for, for gambling purposes. he
went UP to Mare Island and shipped for the
navy on the receiving ship Independence.
He thought that he would thus bring his
kindly mother to terms. His enisting had
just the contrary effect. She was delighted
to find out that he had bound himself for
three years man-of-war service. She did
not, as he had expected she would, set to
work and make frantic efforts to get him
out OF the service. She rather Thought that
bit of sailor life would be good thing
for him, and, while she did not intend that
he should remain in the service for the en-
tire period of his enlistment she decided to
let have year of it at least.
The young fellow was game enough not
to do any whimpering when he found that
his doting mamma wasn't going to get him
out, but, when he was quickly assigned to
the ship to which 1 was attached he went
to work with the rest of the hands as if
he never had any better end of it in his
life than they. He had shipped as lands
man, and a landsman's work in the navy
ism exactly dainty, consisting as it does
OF deck-swabbing and all that sort of thing
Inc men, knowing the circumstances of his
case, expected him to do the baby act when
he fully realized the hardships of his posi-
tlon, but, as say, the boy was game and
he took 1t all as it came. The result was
that the men grew to like him immensely,
and we all commented in the ward room on
his pluck. The San Francisco papers pub
llshed a lot of stuff about his enlistment as
a olueJacket, and ran pictures of him in the
act OF washing down decks, and made big
tnlng or 1t In general. Soon after he was
sent to my ship went for a cruise down
to Central America, and we didn't get back
to Mare Island until December "a There
were lot or small Christmas boxes waiting
1or the officers and men Of our crew but
our mall orderly reported that there were
so many mail and express boxes ashore for
our hoWllng swell bluejacket that the steam
cutter "ould nave to make several special
trips to bring them all off to the ship. The
ofhcer of the deck accordingly sent the
steam cutter after the young mans Christ
mas boxes, and the laugh that went up
"hSh Ihcy CdIHc OH IN Two big loads and
were piled up on the deck at the break of
the 10 isle was something huge. The young
man chuckled good deal over the boxes
himself. ~
he recognized the handwriting on man,
OF the mailed packages. A large 1najorlty
OF tne boxes and packages had been sem
70 hlm by sympathetic giri friends in San
francisco. and there was so much of tn,
truck that the skipper gently suggested to
the young man that there wouldn't be room.
on the ship for slowing it all, and that
most or 1t would have to go ashore Then
the young man got hatchet and started
10 open the boxes with his work -roughened
hands. The men all gathered around him
smoking their pipes. 1t was right on this
occasion that the young man looked fooi-
lsh The first box that he opened containe!
dozen beautifully worked night shirts,
with frills and lace all over the front oi
them-nlght shirts for a b.uejacket in the
ohlteo States navy, who slept in ham
mock! Inc men roared when they saw
locked sheepish and sore for minute
hen he saw the fun of the situation. and
during the rest of his breaking open of his
boxes he enjoyed the game as much as any
o. the others. There were about twenty
pairs OF slippers in those boxes and pack
ases-slippers for jack tar who went
about the ship mostly in his bare feet, and
who wore the paymasters government
Droeans when he wasn't barefooted. Then
there were about dozen pairs of six
worked suspenders-they'd have looked
great over the mastering jacket of naval
deep water man, wouldn't they? Worse
yet there We're any number of Honiton
lace work tides, such as people throy
over the backs of rocking chairs! Then
there were slathers Of crocheted necktias
enc embroidered handkerchiefs and bottles
or toilet water-which made the old shell
backs looking on guffaw all the louder
ana numerous pairs of puise-warmers and
Quantities OF pajamaS, and initials for the
irside of hats, and cakes of delicious,y
scented toilet soap, and manicure sets-for
man whose nails were mostly eaten away
with the cleaning lye he had to use in hIs
bl slE ess-and throat muffiers. and boxes o.
kid gloves. and silk socks, and enough of
other gear of the like to stock a haber-
cashery. The bowling young swell in the
tar's uniform spent the greater part of the
day in unpacking those boxes and then he
repacked them and sent them ashore to a
storage house in Vallejo. At about
O'Clock in the afternoon the mail orderly
came aboard with the Washington mail
and few moments later the young man
was summoned to the shippers cabin The
skipper jolied him for few moments anG
just arrived from the Navy Department,
having been procured through the influence
OF his mother. The young man dOnned his
multi right away. and the next day he
was telling the gang at the Bohemian ,Iun
how idiotic he had been made to appear
before his shipmates when he had opened
up the Christmas packages sent to him Oh
board man-of-war by his guileless gtr
friends"
An Agent of Destruction,
From the New Orleans Times Democrat
Vibration is the great bugbear of this