Evening star., 1903-08-15
FUN OF THE FO'C'SLE
Jokes That the Sailors Crack
in the Second Dog Watch.
WHEN ALL HANDS LOAF
TYPICAL QUIPS THAT ARE
WORLDWIDE TRAVELLERS.
GreenhorIs and Naval Militiamen Are
Butts for Most of the Mer-
riment.
WHEN ALL HANDS LOAF
Copyright. 1908. by Albert sonnichsen,


Written for The Evening Star by Albert Sonnich-
sen, Allie Seaman
Seamen have a keen appreciation of a
joke. whether it be practical or anecdotal.
The former they play on greenhorns and
the latter they tell one another in the fore
castle.
Sea life develops sense of humor, and
Jack sees the funny side of everything,
even when he has to create 1t. Any incl
dent that occurs aboard ship with a side
capable of humorous development is in
stantly seized and launched out upon a sea
of forecastle gossip, until 1t has circled
the globe more. times than Jack himself
and has been translated into as many
tongues as there are maritime nations.
AS an instance, dialogue like this is
common in a ships forecastle:
Say. that reminds me. Did you ever
hear the story of Baltimore Pete and the
French lieutenant in Madras?"
mo. What was it?'
why. thought everybody;d heard that
Pete went ashore and got drunk" etc, and
so the story develops.
Some of these yarns die with those who
tell them, but others live on and become
forecastle classics Many are of the Boo
caccio order. but others are as chaste as
the quips that make their way into the best
funny" papers.
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 contentedly pulling at their pipes
the fOrecastle hands arouse one another's
mfrth. Long practice has made them ex-
perts.
A Typical Story Of Humor
On one of these occasions 1 heard several
yarns that can bear repetition. The con-
versation had drifted to long voyages and
to Jacks inevitable desertion at the first
port. Said one old ex-man-o' -wars-man:
But We can't do that in the navy"
NO, replied young merchantmen.
Hang the navy! I wouldn't ship in the
navy for skipper's pay. 1t amt fit for a
white man-sellin yerself for four years"
Well, said the man-o'-war's 's-man. 'ft
amt so bad as ye think 1t is. There's ways
o gettin' out of the navy, too, an what's
more, with your pay"
'How? inquired several.
when was on the old Alabama ten
years ago. continued the bluejacket there
was young fellow aboard just shipped
He'd been bred to the sea in Cape Cod
fishin' smacks, so navy discipline didn't
agree with him. We could all see as how
it was maxim him pretty sick but to cheer
him up we laughed and joked and jollied
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
danglfn his feet over the rail- fishin'. no
bait on his hooks and the ship goin ten
knots. After that we begun to get un-
easy.
"One day the officer of the watch come
along and seem the lad fishin', he seq, sez
he:
Well, Jack. what yo doin'?
g 'Fishin',' Jack.
What for? sez the lieutenant
Dunno sez Jack, very short
We'll, the officer got suspicious after he
saw this a few times and he reported to
the captain. Then the captain came along
and he seZ:
"r;vh,n. ",What ye' doin'' JaclF
"'What for?
Dunno
"An that was all we could ever get out
Of him-he didn't know what til he was
fishin' for.
well. one day we fetched up in Frisco
and Jack was reported unfit for duty. Ap-
plication was put in for his discharge, sos
they could send him home. where he could
be well took care of. One day Jack was
called aft and there. sure enough, was his
disability discharge and check in full fur
his pay.
when he came on deck again Jack was
a civilian. We was all gatherin' round
him to tell him goodbye when suddenly he
busts out laughin' fit to split hisself. We
all thought as how some new kind of fit
took him, but the executive officer seq:
Whats up. Jack?
Why shouts Jack, between laughs, I
just found out what 1 was fishin' for 1t
was this.
And he holds up his discharge and pay
check"
A Joke on Militiamen.
The Spanish-American war brought out
another story that has also circled the