The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-20
CURIOUS CUSTOMS.
Traditions of the Past as shown bv
 Uniforms of British 0R3cerm

SAAAONhks VI fsFltIAn OnlfeTN.
 Norfolk. Va, June 19-Many quaint and curious customs will be found by the inouisitive visitor to the warships lying off the Jamestown Exposition to DC held at Hampton Roads in 1907. These customs derive their greatest charm from the fact that they are a survival of olden days and events long since forgotten.
 For instance. the visitor will see on the dark sleeves of many British off, ceTs, patch of lighter colored cloth with row of three buttons If the visitor is so curious as to ask what rank that sign indicates, his host will tell him that 1t is not indicative of rank but is survival of the time when
 My Lords of the British Admiralty round 1t necessary to curb the young midshipmans tendency to use his sleeve as an impromptu handkerchief Hence the three buttons Chevrons worn on the sleeve of petty of1cers survive from feudal usage Crevron is the French word for "rafter," and the chevron worn on the sleeve was put there to show the wearer belonged to the house of the lord whose heraldic emblems were displayed underneath the chevrons For long time the United States Army wore their chev rons pointing down. Considering the origin of the custom of wearing chev- rons, this was wrong and when 1t was called to the attention of the War Dc partment. the custom was immediate ly changed so that now army chevrons point upward as do the rafters in any well behaved house
 The visitor will observe that in the British navy the officers leave and en- ter their ship by means of the port or left gangway instead of the starboard SanRway which is on the right side looking toward the bow. as is the cus- tom mother navies. This custom all so prevailed in the British navy un til the great mutiny at Nore in 1750 when the crews of the vessels in the mutiny sent the officers over the port gangway as mark of disrespect and set them down on the beach When the mutiny was suppressed the offl- cers came back into their ships over the nort @angway and have ever since used +hs. a g the most honorable en- trance to the ship
 Time Is counted on shipboard by bells The dav is divided into six ne riods of four hours each. The periods or watches commence at noon. four D. m, eight D. m. midnight four a. m, eight a. m. At 12:30 p. m the ships bell is struck once. Two bells an nounce one o'clock, three. half past one and four. two D. m. This goes on un- til four ?. m is sounded by eight bells when the count for that watch Is end ed. At half past four 1t is begun again with one tap on the bell This custom is followed in all navies except the British which instead of striking four bells at six o'clock, strike only once. This also is In memory of a mutinv. The legend as still told in the British navy. is of a great British fleet lying at anchor in a British port crowded with mutinous men who had pledged each other to arise and overpower their officers when the last stroke of four bells In the second dog watch (6 p. nn.) were dying away in echoes. With his hand poised to strike the bell four times. the marine whose duty it was to keep the time, first learned of the mutiny His captain and the admiral of the fleet were both absent. If he struck the full measure the mutineers would be on him before help could reach him To confuse them and gain time the marine struck the bell but once and for some time the mutineers supposed 1t to be only half past four o'clock Their first intimation that their plot had been discovered was when the soldiers appeared among them and arrested their ringleaders. Still another curious fact for the visitor to the Jamestown Exposition to remember will be that the three white stripes running around the wide collar of the bluejacket was origlnaliy placed there to comm emorate Lord Nel- sons three greatest victories. the Nile