Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-24

the most popular officers. with the men
Tor ard. IN the American navy.
But there are modern occurrences In tho
American navy equally illuminating. 4
deck officer who had gained the extreme
H-will Of the men for'ard was attached TO
n cruiser on the China station only few
years ago He was a fine driIl master and
II became his duty to take landing parties
OF the ships company ashore at Chemulpo
TOT drill instruction. When the men foF-aTd
heard OF this order the word lay down
went around among all hands. II was a
siouchily accoutered gang of 100 blue lack
cts that appeared on deck to compose tho
nrsf landing party. There seemed nothing
particularly the matter with the mems mil
Itafy makeup, except that there was a
general look OF sioyenliness about them
Each man had all of his gear on according
10 regulations. but somehow or another an
hands looked seedy. awkward. unframed
AM, sh unmi,itary-this despite the fact that
the men belonged To what was rightfully
considered one OF the crack crews OF the
whole American navy.
Howling Farce.
The disliked officer got the men astora
and started to drill them. They fell down
In body at the simplest orders Half Of
them came to present arms when tho
other half came 10 order arms. The
ofiicer berated them and tried again Tho
men did worse than before The officer be
gan TO march them Apparently not ten
ference between fours right and LETT
ooiique The movements were a bowling
farce. and the foreign naval officers ashore
stood by laughing boisterously The uupop-
uiar deck officer flew into rage and began
10 drill the men by one Every man
went through tho individual drill manual
and movements, like a major, and when the
officer had drilled about half of them ia
this way he started again TO give them
orders in body. Again they were like a
pack OF recruits. The inextrioable jumbo
into which the men plunged themselves
warranted the glee of the foreign officers.
The dfsliked officer decided to punish the
men, and he marched them five miles into
the country over n bad road. The men
struggled along like a flock OF pursued
sheep, with no order whatever, and all as
solemn as owls about IL. The officer
marched the men back to the landing after
the ten miles had been covered. and got
them aboard the ship. Then he reported to
the commanding officer that IL was tho
stupidest pack of bluejackets he had ever
commanded.
stupid" the commanding officer said.
You must he dreaming. Those men you
had ashore today make one OF the crack
battaIons of the whole American navy. l
shall take Them ashore myself tomorrow
and find out what's the matter. You shall
accompany me with the landing party.
The '.old man. an extremely popular
commander among the biuejackets, did take
the landing party ashore on the following
day. Every man appeared on deck spick
and span, alert. all a-quiver with mettle.
The commanding officer got them ashor"
and put them through their manual Tho
bluejackets were as one man with their
pieces. The skipper then put them through
the movements, and the clean pracuced
fashion with which the bluejackets per
formed the eyOlutlons caused the foreign
officers who had laughed the day before.
the greatest amazement. When the party
returned to the ship the disliked officer
put in his application for transfer.
Unpopular Engineer Has Troubles.
When a chief engineer on man-o'-war
of today acquires the dislike Of his men
the black gang"-they are capable OF maxi
Ing heavy trouble for him. Aside from the
commanding officer 1t might almost be said
that OF all the officers attached TO a modern
war vessel It is most, necessary for the
chief engineer to possess not only the good
will but the actual devotion OF the men
under him. The chief engineer Is held
strictly accountable for the preservation IN
good condition of the ships boilers and ma
chinery A loose screw may very easily
disable an engine, and It is the simplest
thing In life to loosen screw without any
body being the wiser. one cut rlNet Is
enough to make boiler useless, and crown
plates may be let down easily enough. n
crime of this sort has never been actually
fastened upon an enlisted man In the ehgl.
neers department OF an American snip ~
war but II is matter OF common Know
edge in the navy that those CHIEF enel-
neers who are unpopular with the men under
them have far the most trouble with tha
machinery and boilers in their charge ana
some of these disliked chiefs nave 20 eN-
mend a great deal of ink and paper in eN-
plaiulng to the department Just why tHeIe
are SO many breakdowns In the gear oNt'
which they have control 1t ls quite PeSst-
bla for SO low-rated q man as even an
aegrieyed coal passer to get ms cHlet eng
neer tangled up with a court OF inquiry
Moreover. 1t often happens that an ul,-
nonular chief engineer can't get ms men
10 make steam. The hremen appdIeuc.y
work hard enough, but they don seS ~
revolutions out of the propellers- New
traIaIs lust as fast from the cabin 10 INC
sn'c,SIe as II does from the 70 sic 10 tIte
cabin. and when the firemen hear that thtI5
upnonular chief engineer has Deeh OIueIeu
10 get the ship to such ana such POI -
such and such a time, they JUST caLC.I 80 80
thara en- that time or anything IKE IL. -
would make no difference II the ctilet - =.
neer himself were to slahd "a'cH az -,
Ere rooms tWenty-four hours at d siete-''
The steam registers wouldn In 1aa' 1rIs
a,ar5 leans on account of his presence. lH9
assistant engineers also stand IN hee9 %
TIE good will OF the black gang. On Si .,
attached TO which there nave ,s -
assistant engineers one OF them llA ,,4, go
e. other of them out OF favor VIII 80
t I t,ape n has frequently Deen 90,
oa1,.ad that the speed of the snip u9' --[s
. SIatches of the ship or the uisIlheu
80 has fallen short by KNOTS Oh 80
snee5 got out of the engines py his O'0''
officer. ,,,-,,x, ,ro about the
an" ~ World over, and men are human
%, boar5 ship as well as they are on ". W
Ind gang of railroad cohsll 49, go.
he nds will lay down on an uhPopui"t 49, a
nc nan n.'9 IN inst about the same way that
disaffected gang of bluelaekets VIII
M an unpopular officer
DIT la wing down Isn't 'muLHE- .