The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-28
HOLIDAY TINE ON WARSHIPS.
THE NAvY'S WAY or ENJOYING
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS.
One Tar vino Got Piano - = G;ift-T1me.
Honered Trick on Green Hands-The
NhitewaSh Buck et-D easing the ship
Punishment Of q DuckO skipper.


Honsred Trick on Green Hands--Ths
whitewash Ducket-Dressins the shiu
Punishment Of . Ducko skipper.
A week or NO before Christmas a few
years ago, q bluejacket serving on board
a nlan-of-war lying In the harbor OF Apia
Samoa. received q Christmas box. II had
come all the way from Maine and the
jackets mother had sent IL
The bluejscket. rollicking bo's'n's mate
Of Is, lost no time in breaking out he coE-
tents. A LOT Of his shi. mates gathered
around him as he welded the Ratchet.
In the box there we're jars Of preserves,
a couple OF fine old-fashioned fruit cakes.
q huge loaf Of cirrant bread. two or three
pounds Of maple sugar. some homemade
molasses candy and a fine crock Of down.
East pickles. Then there as testament.
bound in limp leather.
There were sprigs Of holly and mistletoe
scattered through the box. The holly and
niistletoe spiigs caused the men gathered
round to look thoughtful. A man from
these northern ATTITUDES becomes mighty
sick of the sight Of palms and tropical
verdure-especlally around Christmas.
Down at the bottom Of the b. Z there
we're half a dozen fannelette mig tshirts.
half a dozen pairs Of heavy, homc-knit
woollcn socks, big knit neck mufiier. a
ralr Of yarn slippers and thick pair Of
pulse varmers-these things for a husky
fatfoot OF the American Navy cruising
around the Equator The good old soul back
In Maine vas not familiar with ATTITUDES
or climatic zones Her iden, plainly. was
that when it vas freezing In Maine it as
freezing everywhere. and she did not want
her b. y to s,if or from the cold
II at gear caused an uproar-especially
the iightshirts. II was In no spirit Of dis
respect for the good mother way up in
old Maine that the tars fought for those
nightshirts.
The fellows that got hold OF them inn
mediately put them on over their uniforms.
One OF them slipped of his shoes and put on
the pair Of pink yarn slippers. Another
rolled up his sleeves and put the heavy
pulse warmers on his tettooed wrists.
muffier around his throat
They maize ludicrous parade OF Il around
the to'eallant fo'csle. theae fellows II.
The long hahnele,te night shirts. R'u il
was only In fun. and the man 10 whom
he box had been sent knew II and enjoyed
Il along with the rest.
sailors and soldiers. far from being
rough grained in these matters. are, as
a rule. actually Observation-Disclosures the
hundreds. even thousands. OF them who
have tombsto ones. bearing the words MY
Mother and shaded by weeping willows,
tsttooed upon their arms and chests But
they have an acute appreoia m Of the in
appropriat eness Of a good many things
that come to them and 70 their mates and
bunkies In Christma boxes
A few years ago the rich uncle of New
York scapesrace who enlisted In the navy
a. a landsrnan In a moment Of reckless
ness sent the boy for a Christmas present
an upright piaho--the lad was an expert
performer, The ship on which the young
man was serving was only q small-si.ed
e,ifboat. and OF course there wasn't any
room on board Of her for a piano. But
the difficulty wss solved after time The
scapegrace was tra' serred 10 one Of the
BIZ cruisers bound FOR the Chine sea-.
There was room for q ships piano on
board the big cruiser-but no room, of
course, for any such instrument privately
owned by an enlisted man. The young
man consequently presented the piano TO
the ship, the instrument was duly inst allied
on board OF the cruiser and the black sheep
entertaine al hands with his planoforte
performances from San Franudsco 10 Shang-
hal and from Hakodate to Hong Kong.
Sailors and soldiers like to be reinem-
bored by their kinsfolk when the holidays
best like to receive is boxful Of magazines,
old and ne*, and books OF good fiction.
An American military post or camp or an
American riian-of-war simply cannot be
swAnped by. reading matter Of that sort
The men gobble up every book or magazine
The enlisted men IN the navy get through
the holioays pretty comfortably. even
whsn they are at sea. That their Christ
rl,Ases on board ship are enjoyable In In
dicated by the fact that very few Of them
elect to spfnd ne day on shore liberty
On Christmas eve. for example. II there
d bunch Of recr,hts or lubbefs on board,
the green men are required 10 hang up
their stockings from their hammock hooks.
When they az pss 1S ar q Their ;se ham
men find their cocks Allied to the tops-with
hhe coal dust. The Joke IL e. old a. the
U.S. Of steam In the American Navy, but il
always na4es q laugh:
An hands dress ship. is about the only
Christmas morning. In port the Christ
inas dinner is the regulation. turkey and
trimmings The genuine old sheilbacks
declare that they prefer to be at sea on
Christmas Day, In order to enjoy the Irish
mans turkey-corned beef, or salt horse
but from the way these ancient hatfeet at
tack the beach grub" when their ships
are In port their declaration isn't con-
The blue Jackets like TO dress their ships,
but they hate to be steamine when they do
Il, with little chance of theif brave and
beautiful array Of bunting being seen by
eyes other than their own. The good hiok
In this respect that happened to an Ameri-
oan glnboAt that visited Australian
ports few years ago does not often occur.
!, The Iian.o war was logged out in all
hsr hnefy on q Christmas Day She was
on her way up TO San FrAneasco. and abe
Was following q very lonesome sea track.
The tars who had affectionately rugged
the ship out In Der holiday gear had little
h6pe that thSir ship would meet any other
vessels on that Christmas Day.
But 1t noon two OF the finest full-rigged
shipe Of the American merchant marine
were sighted dead ahead. both OF them
under full canvas In the mild breeze, and
both Of them, like the man-otwar, decked
put from stem TO stern In their holiday
buptins. The two ships were not more
than half mile apart.
!; They were racing for a big wager from
Ban francisco to Sydney, and they hadn't
paired company from the beginning Of the