The Saint Paul globe., 1903-10-04

Sea life develops a sense of humor. and
Jack sees the funny side of everything
Any incident that occurs aboard ship with
a side capable of humorous development
is instantly seized and launched upon
sea of forecastle gossip, until it circles
the globe more times than Jack himself
and Is translated into as many tongues as
there are maritime nations.
1t is In the second dog watch that Jokes
are born and told. The second dog watch
is from to 8 o'clock in the evening,
when the days work is done and all hands
are at leisure. Then. after the evening
meal, while pulling at the pipes. the fore
castle hands arouse one another's mirth
Here is a typical yarn:
The conversation had drifted to long
voyages and to Jacks inevitable deser-
ton at the first port Said one old ex-
man-of-Wars s-nnan:
But ye can't do that in the navy
NO., replied the young merchantmen.
Hang the navy! I wouldn't ship in the
white man-sellin yerself for four
years ears, ;,
amt SO bad as ye think it is. There's ways
more, with your pay''
'How?' inquired several.
When I was on the old Alabama ten
years ago. continued the bluejacket,
there was young fellow aboard just
| shipped.
hsh1n' smacks so navy discipline didn't
| agree with him. We could all see as how
1t was maxim him pretty sick, but to cheer
him up we laughed and joked and jolied
him along. thinkin' he'd soon get used
to it.
1T wasn't no use. though; he kept get
tin bluer, and pretty soon he got to actin
queer. Whenever he was off duty he'd sit
danglln his feet over the rail. fishin, no
bait on his hooks and the ship goin' ten
| knots. After that we begun to get uneasy.
One day the officer of the watch came
! along, and, seein' the lad fishin', he sez.
seq he:
Fishin,' sez Jack.
What for? SeZ the lieutenant.
.Donno,' sez Jack, very short.
well, the officer got suspicious after
he saw this few times and he reported
along and he sez:
What ye doin. Jack?'
| 'Fishin'
What for?'
Dunno
"An' that was all we could ever get
out of him-he didn't know what tell he
| was fishin' for.
well, one day we fetched up in Fris-
| co, and Jack was reported unfit for duty.
| Application was out in for his discharge,
SOS they could send him home, where he
enough. was his disability discharge and
check In full for his pay
when he came on deck again Jack
was a civilian. We was all gatherin'
round him to tell him goodbye when sud-
| denly. he busts out laughin' fit to split
| hiSSelf. We all thought as how some
new kind of fit took him, but the exec
1 utiVe officer SeZ:
What's up, Jack?
Why shouts Jack. between laughs.
| 4 just found out what 1 was fishin for.
And he holds up his discharge and
| The Spanish American war brought out
another story that has also circled the
| globe. The incident took place outside
/ New York harbor, but the writer first
heard of it from Greek sailor on the
veranda of a Japanese tea house in Ma
gasaki.
J of the American warships of the At
lantic squadron were at once Swelled by
| the addition of numerous naval militia
| men-amateur sailors whose sea-go1ng
1 experiences have been confined to an
| chored training ships and sailboats. Jack
/ has. an unspeakable contempt for these
fresh-water sailors. and this makes itself
obvious in the stories of the militiaman's
| clumSiness aboard ship.
| One small gunboat had seventeen of
them assigned to it, much to the disgust
| having been out cruising, ran into
| fleet or torpedo boats. One of the militia
men was on lookout, and as the various
| lights appeared he reported them.
first
"AI right" answered the executive
| officer from the bridge.
| Another light appeared.
.Some more lights on the port bow"
| cried the greenhorn. becoming somewhat
bewildered and uneasy.
| "All right" came the officers cool an
swer.
The lookout stamped nervously up and
! down until suddenly he caught sight Of
| the red and green sidelights Of a steamer
This was too much. DESERVING his post,
| he fed aft
! Cap'n." he shouted breathlessly. DASH