Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-08-01

try from side to side upon til,
S level deck showed more thai
| ~ anything else that the huge
floating mass Of machinery and guns
was lying ut anchor in Il sheltered ha
ven. With one eye and one ear aler
for possible disturbance of his present
! quiet, the marine utilized his other eye
and ear for matters of personal and
| private nature. Up forward crowd
of jackies were disporting themselves
in accustomed fashion. One couple
had on boxing gloves, and their OWL
agility, combined with the criticisms OF
| surrounding mates, promised skill OF nC
mean order in this form of manly ex'
ercise A little apart from the rest
and slightly screened from the full eff
! feet of the sun by an iron ventilating
shaft two strangely diverse types OF
humanity lay stretched out upon the
deck side by side. One was big
dark complexioncd Irishman with the
| CRIME of coal dust worn into the very
fiber of his skin; the other, an under,
| sized, ruddy checked youth, showed
indications of gentle upbringing in ev,
| cry move that he made. To the unin-
| itiated their uniforms appeared to be
| identical, but there were certain ear
marks and signs which showed their
ratings TO the nautical mind-the for
mer as coal passer, the latter as a
member of the guns crew. The Irish
man was ut the moment merely sleep
ing-paSsing away an idle hour after
the fashion of all animals and many
men. His companion was reading, ap-
parently with deep interest, from a
CODY of the "Iliad" in the original, for
among the very lowest ranks in our
navy, and unlike that of any other ma
ton, YOU may find what you least eX-
pect.
An individual rather short ana stout
in figure came putting up the steep lad
der leading from the berth deck. With
out pausing to watch the glove contest,
now in its final and most exciting
round, he slowly made his way aft.
Halt"
This abrupt command came from the
lips of the sentry, whose single watch
full eye and ear had sutliced.
Hello, Billy" commented the In
truder genially, completely unabashed
by the others show Of dignity. Il
want to speak with the captain for a
minute or so. I've got little scheme
that
At this juncture it CHANGED that a
tall and rather elderly looking officer
came out from an adjacent cabin.
Master Tailor Todds, sir" spoke
out the sentry, bringing his piece to the
salute. Something he wants to show
you"
"Eh, Todds! TO show me-" re-
marked the captain somewhat wearily.
Then motioning with his right hand he
babe the other follow him.
Carefully holding what appeared to
be some sort of an article of wearing
apparel between his two pudSy hands,
and poising it in midair as If he feared
person might result in mutual injury,
the visitor obeyed his commanding Of
ficer's gesture and trotted along be-
hind.
A big man war vessel of the old
fashioned type was veritable village
afloat, but modern specimen OF the
same class Is city. On the Droaa
and open deck of the old time frigate,
where cattle rOamed the spar deck ana
motherly hens raised their families IN
the longboats. was felt the freedom
of village life, but not SO Oh the mon-
ster modern ironclad. Here Is Well
represented the compact and busy city.
Does not the ever present trolley bring
the coal from bunker to furnace and
carry ammunition to the guns: The
machine shops are well equipped fac
tories in every sense of the word.
Electric light wires and water mains
run in all directions. and cement paw
ed decks are laid wherever they may
seem to he necessary.
Both villages and cities, moreover,
possess craftsmen Of various kinds. and
such useful individuals are never lack
ing from warships complement. In
the bygone days sailmakers, riggers,
carpenters and spun yarn weavers were
absolutely essential. These have been
succeeded in our present generation by
stokers. pipe filters, boilermakers and
electric linemen, but many Of the other
old callings continue to flourish In
spite of the evolution from wooden
hulls to steel ones and froN shaking
out the reefs in sails to piling on coal
| in the furnaces. Among those ships
craftsmen who have thus survived the
era of change, and almost as important
| in these days of well fitting though
simple uniforms as in those OF cruder
shape and lavish adornment, Is that Of
| the master tailor. 1t may take nine
shore tailors to make Il man, but one OH
shinboard often turns out very credita-
bic specimens.
Obadiah Todds $50 was he entered up
| on the books of the United States bat
tleship Rhode IslanD had scarcely been
inside the captains cabin two minutes
before he emerged therefrom hurriedly
and very red in the face. The sentry
grinned derisively. but Todds never
even scowled back at him.
"Foollsh, Is it," he muttered as he
returned to his quarters forward.
"Foolish and nonsensical! Well. maybe
1t is, and then, again, maybe 1t isn't.
Now, II he had said that there was no
money available for supplying them at
the moment I'd feel different. HOwev
er, may get chance to try the thing
before long, and then We'll see."
And he carefully placed the big bun
die of cloth out of harms way and be
took himself to his ordinary duties
Obadiah TOdds was product of New
England, section Of country which
has brought to light more ingenious
contrlvances for aiding and supple
menting the work Of man than any 9th
er similar stretch of territory upon tin
whole globes face. AS became one Of
his blood, Obadiah was an inveteratt
inventor. His very latest scheme haG
just been most emphatically denounced
by his captain. But still-following the
blood strain which has given US sewing
machines, typewriters and thousands
of other similarly useful articles II
spite of much more serious obstacles
than their simple announcement by NJ
oficiaLObadiah cherished his prOjec