Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1904-09-16
MIDSH|PMAN'S LETTER HOME
Describes His Experience On Man
of War Durine The
Cruise.

The Reading Daily Times of recent
date contains a graphic description of,
Midshipman Paul j.. Dampman's 5 ex-
perience ON board the man of war
Brooklyn when he was initiated into
the ancient and honorable Order of
Neptune. when crossing the line. :"
The Times publishes an extract of
a private letter from Midshipman
Dampman, written to his parents at
Reading, Pa, his home, describing
the ceremonies attendant upon the
occasion of crossing the equator
Ii is an immemorial tradition of
the sea that no man is full fiedged
sailor until he has crossed this imagi-
nary line which divides the earth,
midway between the north and south
poles. and the sailors always take care
that thnSe who have never crossed
shall b duly initiated. This ancient
practice is especially encouraged on
men of war, and preparations for the
event are made long before hand. on
ships whose itinerary extends south
of tile equator. The ceremonies, de-
SCI bed by Midshipman Dampman, oc-
Cured on the ship Brooklyn, of the
Sontll Atlantic squadron which car
rics crew of upwards of 600 men. A
somewhat unique feature of this oc-
casion WAS that the ship crossed both
the d Jint OF latitude and longitude
within space of three hours, and
while tile ceremonies were in pro-
gress.
The performance occurred in the
Gulf of Guinea off the west coast of
Africa, on July 30, on the voyage of
the feet TO Capetown, South Africa.
The letter contains graphic account
Of Neptune's messenger boarding the
ship. This messenger, who wore an
astonishing amount of rope yarn whis-
kers, was received on the quarterback
by the commanding officer. The bag
of mail which he had brought aboard
was distributed and proved to be
printed slips, summoning all the crew
who had never crossed before, to ap-
pear before the court the following
morning TO pay tribute to His Males
ty. The messenger then went below
TO the wardroom to examine the Off
GERS credentials. Being satisfied with
these, a toast was drunk to His
Majesty and he withdrew. When the
equator was crossed the writer saws
a number on board declared they saw
it and some were afraid 1.-THE line"
would get ''afoul the ships screws. 4"
Fortunately this did not happen.
Having crossed the equator there was
a grand reception to Neptune and his
suite, after which the necessary in
itiation to become one of Neptune $
subjects followed, portion of the
ceremony including ducking into a
tank and having the hose turned on
the victim. The letter concludes as
follows:
1.-The uninitiated officers were per-
mitted to escape the ordeal on pay
ment of fine of so many dozen pints
of beer. | appeared before the judge
and was charged with never having
crossed the line. pleaded guilty and
was sentenced to pay fine of two
dozen bottles. 1t was so much fun
watching.them go through that by III
o clock, L determined to go through
the tank myself, just so l could say l
had been properly initiated. Ander-
son, Rowan aud Hearty, fellow mid
shipmen, went through with me. We
put on old clothes and marched up.
You should have heard them yell
when we hove in sight. l was hauled
up before the doctor who had me
sounded. That consisted of the ap-
plication of the paddle to my stern.
Having been well sounded. | was
given a large dose of the black medi-
cine and passed on to the barber S
chair. l received particularly large
dose of lather, was shaved, squirted
upon, batted over the head with a
stuffed club, and finally dumped into
the tank. l was under water quite a
while and got an extra good ducking.
but it didn't hurt any and l enjoyed
it for it washed off most of the nasty
lather so that when l emerged. l was
fairly clean. We had over 80 aboard
to duck, and the operation took up
the best part of half day. The last
man having been soused, the process
sion was reformed and marched aft
Neptune babe adieu to the command
ing officer, made short address and
returned to the depths.
The South Atlantic feet to which
Midshipman Dampman is attached is
now en- route from Capetown, South
Africa to Rio Jeannerro, Brazil.