Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-10-19
SOME PUn|SHMENTS
Melted TO "JACk|Es"
BaIing Tub Of Mater With
Spoon One Of the Fore
most.
OTHERS MORE STRENUOUS
For Instance, Walking Back and Forth
on Deck Carrying in His Arms a
One-Hundred- Pound
ProjectiIe.
From Tit-Rits.

Naval officers do not always mete out
NO the men the punishments laid down
in the kings regulations. They fire.
tquently adopt punishments of their
own invention which prove most eff
~fective in preventing the recurrence OF
offenses. These punishments are Of
ten of a very curious and ludicrous
mature.
I 1t is an every day occurrence to see
half a dozen sailors lined up on deck
facing the paint work, their hammocks
on their shoulders and their faces pre-
ssenting q most woeful picture. For this
punishment is not sc trivial as II APP
pears. The hammock is not very heavy,
ut Is true, but after an hour or 81 1t
drags on ones shoulder like lead. Be-
sides, 1t Is far from pleasant to stare
ixedly at a qua foot OF gray paint
ed woodwork for sixty minutes at q
stretch. Jack would much prefer to-
do a few days Ten A" or to have his
leave "jambed."
Splitting upon the deck OF a man-o'-
war Is strictly prohibited. AS soon an,
the bugler has sounded the Stand,
Easy %spittoons are placed at intervals
along the deck for h use of the sail
ors, and woe betide the tar who ig-l
nores the presence Of these tubs and
expectorates about the spotless deck.
On many vessels a wide belt Is kept
and this the man who departs from
the regulations is ccmueiled to wear
upon his person, and is thus subjected,
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" a sailor commit,
ting q like offense he at once presents,
him with the hated belt, and the new.
victim a to undergo a similar orr
deal. !.
Some officers adopt more drastic.
T--v $500
torating anywhere but In the recepta-l
cles provided, a "spit kid" is strapped
to his chest, and any man who cares
to do so may make use OF this curious
walking receptacle. rs may be sup
posed, his h~umiliating punishment eff
fectively prevents the men from yto-
lating the regulations.
An Amusing Sight.
Were a civilian given two large
wooden buckets, n empty and thet
other full of water, n told to bale
the liquid from the full tub into thel
empty vessel with a small spoon, he
would consider the order to be that
of a mailman or a revival OF ancient
fairy lore. Yet this punishment has
on several occasions been melted out to-
refractory sea dogs" Nothing Is
more amusing h to see a weather.
beaten sailor carefully baling out
spoonful after spoonful OF water and
do oCPooiNAfo AN
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 a six
inch projectile (weighing q little over
100 pounds). After a 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
mental resolve never to repeat the Of,
tense for which he has been awarded
this dire penance.
An old naval captain-one of the old,
old school-was at one time sadly adj
dicted to stammering. He could not
utter q simple sentence without a
great amount of spluttering and hesi-
tation. This was one day too much for
an intrepid sailor who was receiving
an order from the captain in that Of
hciaps usual hating manner and he
unfortunately burst into an ~uncentrol-
liable fit of laughter. This rash laugh
was bitterly repented. Captain -
was a disciple of the homeopathic sys-
tern. Making Jack stand upon the fore
bridge In full view of the entire ships
crew, the officer commanded his VIC
tim to laugh continuously for an hour
and a half. This he was compelled to
do, though the pitiful expression of
his weatherbeaten, sunburnt visage de-
noted anything but a happy n con-
tented frame OF mind.
Whistling In forbidden parts OF the
ship has often been punished In a SIM
FLAIR manner. The offender has been
obliged to whistle his loudest under the
eagle eye of the commander until poor
Jacks lips have become so parched and
cracked that he could not produce an
other note.