The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-06

ever thought of living ashore. You find, therefore, a happy. contenled lot of men. It little matters that they are new to the boat or that a goodly portion of them are new to the sea. Jeffries has enlisted his own crew since the republic was matched, and while he has no uniforms for them except soldiers caps, he is winning their affections and promoting their loyalty to the new government by looking closely after their interests and satisfying their animal desires
 Here, as in the army, the utter lack of discipline is noticeable. When the Admi- ral went aboard the other morning. after having been some little time ashore the only mark of respect paid him was by a title coal-black fellow, evidently the off, cer of the deck for the watch. who came bustling up to the head of the gangway. Over this fellows right shoulder was slung a broad strap, supporting a two- edged sword, hanging at the left hip. Jerking he sword from its sheath, the of- ficer saluted as JeffFies stepped aboard, and then hurried away, the Admiral threading his own way aft, past groups of poorly clad and bare-footed sailors, none of whom took any notice of his ar rival. They were too deeply immersed in their several games of cards and domi- noes-played on the hatch covers-to mo- lICG tHc dTTlNdl OI LIlSlT commanding Oul~ cer, and the commander-in-chlef of the Panamaian naval forces
 Don't Waken the Sentry.
 This happy-go-lucky way of running d man-ofwar was noticeable on every hand Those, officers or men, who had occasion to speak to the Admiral would saunter in- to his presence and speak almost as fa- miliarly as did Charlie" Ross in the conversation have quoted. The Adpiral takes all this as matter of course; his enforcement of rigid discipline extending only to one thing, and that is to keeping all the rifles and small arms aboard the boat tightly locked in the armory, a small iron deckhouse just aft of the pilot house.
 That Jeffries does not believe in being too hard on his men was well illustrated when we clambered up to the bridge. The hour was about noon, the sun was shining with true tropical torridity, and the sailor who had the watch on the bridge lay stretched out at full length on a narrow bench. sound asleep, with his cap pulled we'll down over his face. Following Jeff ries's example, we stepped lightly so as not to waken the man. and our inspec- ton from the bridge finished, We went softly down the ladder, while the man slept peacefully on.
 But 1t Is to be remembered that 1t is of the navy of Panama we are writing. and such little things as the watch as eep at his post are of no moment. Going aft from the bridge. the chief engineer, a re- tund, full-bearded Englishman, came to the quarter-deck to speak with Jeffries. In his hands he carried the broken part of one of the pumps. The accident was one which had to be remedied. Of ma chine shops in Panama there are none, so after looking at the broken pieces Jeffries quelly told the man:
 If you are going ashore this afternoon slip down to La Boca and see If you can't find something aboard one of those old French canal dredges or scows that you can use in place of this. If you don't find what you want there, go out to some of the ships anchored of Flamenco Island; maybe they will lend you a piece" |. This Navy is a Joke.
 And when the four-oared boat took us ashore, one of those aboard was the chief engineer, who carried in his hands the broken part of the pump and who was set ting out on his endeavor to bck up or borrow a piece which could be used in it's place.
 In the Panamaian navy they do not re- gard such things as of any importance; yet Jefrries is man of force and capab l. ity Given time he may succeed in mak- ing something out of the material with which he has to work. He has not yet taught either officers or men that on a man-of-war ropes. marlin pins and belay- Ing pins should not be left lying round the decks in a most perfect state of con- fusion. Neither has he brought them to any realization of the benefits of di5cip- line; but he has only begun. Ashore or afioat Jeffries is fitted to command and 1t is the common statement that in the little time he has had he has succeed d in markedly raising the morale of the ser vice. There remains. however, infinite , room for improvement.
 SertoUs.y considered, this alleged navy