Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-06

ton which prove most effective in pre-
venting the recurrence of ofenses These punish
ments are often of very curious and even ludic-
rous nature.
1t is everyday occurrence on a British war
ship to see half dozen sailors lined up on deck
facing the paintwork, their hammocks on their
shoulders and their faces presenting most woe
full picture For this punishment is not so trivial
as it appears. The hammock is not very heavy, it
is true, but after hour or so it drags ones
shoulder like lead. Besides, it is far from pleas
ant to stare fxedly at a square foot Of gray
painted woodwork for sixty minutes at stretch
Jack would prefer to do few days Ten A" or
to have his leave 'jambed."
Splitting upon the deck of man-o war is strict
ly prohibited. AS soon the bugler has sounded
the Stand easy" spittoons placed at intervals
along the deck for the use of the sailors, and woe
betide the tar who ignores the presence Of these
tubs and expectorates about the spotless deck. On
many vessels wide belt is kept, and this the
man who departs from the regulations is COM
PEELED to wear upon his person, and is thus sub
jected to the ridicule of his shipmates. He is
given an opportunity Of retrieving his character,
however. He is permitted to walk the deck with
the other men, and should he spot sailor COM
hitting like offense he at once presents him
with the hated belt, and the new victim has to
undergo similar ordeal.
Some officers adopt more drastic measures II
Jack is detected expectorating anywhere but in
the receptacles provided, "spitkit' is strapped
to his chest, and any man who cares to do so
may make use Of this curious walking receptacle
As may be supposed, this humiliating punishment
effectively prevents the men from violating the
regulations.
Were civilian given two large wooden buck
cts one empty and the other full Of water, and
told to bale the liquid from the full tub into the
empty vessel with small spoon, he would consid
er the order to be that of a madman or revival
of ancient fairy lore. Yet this punishment has
on several occasions been meted out to refractory
"sea dogs" Nothing is more amusing than to see
a weatherbeaten sailor carefully baling out spoon
full after spoonful of water and as carefully depos
iting the fluid in large bucket at his side
A punishment frequently employed is that of
setting the defaulter to walk slowly backward and
forward along the deck, nursing in his arms six
inch projectile (weighng little over 100 pounds)
After a quarter of an hour so of this beneficial
exercise" the unhappy victim is glad to drop the
load and rub his aching limb. At the same time
he probably makes a solemn mental resolve never
TO repeat the offense for which he has been
awarded" this dire penance.
An old naval captain-one of the old, old school
was at one time sadly addicted to stammering.
He could not utter simple sentence without a
great amount of spluttering and hesitation. This
was one day too much for an intrepid sailor, who
was receiving an order from the captain in that
officials usual hating manner, and he unfortu-
nately burst into an uncomfortable fit of laugh
ter This rash laugh he bitterly repented. Cap
tain was a disciple of the homeopathic sys-
tenn. Making Jack stand upon the fore bridge,
in full view Of the entire ships crew. the officer
commanded his victim to laugh continuously for an
hour and half. This he was compelled to do,
though the pitiul expression of his weather-beat.
en-, sunbunt visage denoted anything but happy
and contented frame of mind.
Whistlng in forbidden parts of the ship haa
often been punished in a similar manner The
offender has been obliged to whistle his oudest
under the eagle eye Of the commander, until poor
Jacks lips have become so parched and cracked
that he could not produce another note.