The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-08-09
NAVAL PUNISHMENTS
SOME ODD PENALTIES INFLICTED ON
BOARD BRITISH SHIPS.

Battling Out a Tub of Water With
Little Wooden Spoon Is One of
Them - The Humiliating Penance
Imposed For Splitting on the Deck.
The officers Of the British navy do
not always mete out to the men the
punishments laid down in the kings
regulations. They frequently adopt
punishments of their own invention
which prove most effective in prevent
ing the recurrence of offenses. These
punishments are often of very curl
Gus and even ludicrous nature.
1t is an everyday occurrence to see
half a dozen sailors lined up on deck,
facing the paint work, their hammocks
on their shoulders and their faces pre-
senting most woeful picture. For
this punishment Is not so trivial as it
appears. The hammock is not very
heavy, it is true, but after an hour or
SO it drags ON ones shoulder like lead.
Besides, it is far from pleasant to stare
fixedly at square foot of gray painted
woodwork for sixty minutes at
stretch. Jack would much prefer to do
a few days "Ten AZ or to have his
leave 'jambed."
Splitting upon the deck Of a man-o-
war is strictly prohibited. AS soon as
the bugler has sounded the "stand
easy the spittoons are placed at in
tervals 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 compelled to wear upon
his person and is thus subjected to the
ridicule of his shipmates. He is given
an opportunity of retrieving his char
acter, however. He is permitted to
walk the deck with the other men, and
should he 'spOt" a sailor committing
q like Offense he at once presents him
with the hated belt, and the new vic
tim has to undergo similar ordeal.
Some officers adopt more drastic
measures. If Jack is detected expec-
torating anywhere but in the recep-
tacles provided spit kid is strapped
to his chest, and any man who cares
to do SO may make use of this curious
walking receptacle. AS may be sup
posed. this humiliating punishment eff
fectively prevents the men from vio-
lating the regulations.
Were civilian given two large
wooden buckets, one empty and the
other full OF water, and told to bale
the liquid from the full tub into the
empty vessel with a small spoon he
would consider the order to be that of
a mailman or Il revival of ancient fairy
lore. Yet this punishment on several
occasions has been melted out to re-
fractory "sea dogs" Nothing is more
amusing than to see weather beaten
sailor carefully bailing out spoonful
after spoonful of water and as careful
ly depositing the fluid in a 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 (weighing little over 100
pounds). After quarter of an hour
or so of this beneficial exercise the
unhappy victim is glad to drop the load
and rub his aching limbs. At the same
time he probably makes a solemn men
tai 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 ad-
dicted to stammering. He could not
utter q simple sentence without great
amount of spluttering and hesitation.
This was one day too much for an in
trepid sailor who was receiving an or
der from the captain in that officials
usual halting manner, and he unfor-
tunately burst into an uncomfortable
fit of laughter. This rash laugh he
bitterly repented. Captain - was a
disciple of the homeopathic system.
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 |
a half. This he was compelled to do |
though the pitiful expression of his |
weather beaten, sun5urned visage de- |
noted anything but a happy and con- !
tented frame of mind.
Whistling in forbidden parts of the |
ship has often been punished in a |
SIMILAR manner. The offender has been !
obliged to whistle his loudest under the |
eagle eye of the commander until poor
l,~I
and cracked that he could not produce
another note.-LondOn Tit-BitS.