Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-01
in A MAN-O'-W BRIG
Plight of Mister J. Raynor
Storrs Wells.
WILL BE RELEASED TODAY
This Kind Of Punishment Has No
Funny Side.
BREAD AND WATER RATION
Story Of How 0ilded Young Lands
man Got Into His Difficulty
What Might Have Been.
BREAD AND WATER RATION

Mister J. Raynor storrs Wells win get
out OF the brig today
| This may read or sound like some sort
OF a cryptic society note. but It isn't.
| Mister ]. Raynor Storrs Wells II Q socl-
ETY. young man, all right, but he isn't
working at 1t just now.
| He's in double irons in tho solitary brig
OF the receiving ship Franklin at the Nor
folk navy yard. doing his little old ten
days on bread and water. II that's society.
excused me-perhaps Mister J. Raynor
Storrs Wells is dismally humming this little
dftty at the present moment Of writing.
| while he waits for the ham-handed Jimmy
Legs or chief master-at-arms to clank
along with his bunch of rusty keys and
turn him loose. The leather-skinned legs
will swing the steel door open. letting the
light in So that young Mister Wells will
blink quite lot.
Hey, pup" the hoarse Legs will grunt.
| come on T. tn stick
| Then the disdainful Legs will unlock
young Mister Wells wrist and leg irons,
| and young Mister Wells will limp some
what creakily to the mainmast. where
either the skipper or the executive officer
Of the "guardo"-receiving ship-will be
waiting for him. The young man will be
ad1ured in no mild terms to behave him
self like a decent and self-respecting sailor
/
ard. pick up a swab or something. and
1 take up the performance OF some mean
| and gummy deck job.
Instead Of which, young Mister ]. Raynor
/ Storrs Wells might at this instant Of writ
ing. be lolling under Tapping marquee
on the grounds of his folks Newport pal
ace. touching the button for groveling
household varlets to fetch him amber
fluids in tall. thin glasses. and II. under
such inspiration. he yearned for the wimp-
ling. wine-dark sea. why. he could stand
| up on the velvety lawn Of his folks New
| port palace and just gaze and gaze and
gaze at the sea until his eyes grew tired
Then he could what-ho for one Of his Pan
| hards. jump into the same and have him
self buZz-tooled to the Casino, where he
could shake dada with Larry Heir and ex-
| change bright, vivacious thinks with mod
ish young women and hit up the button for
some more of the amber and sit down and
1 listen to the sob Of the vioins and the
moan Of the harps. and then he
But what's the use? Mister ]. Raynor
Storrs Wells was unable to perceive 1t In
| this light so now he's stretched out on a
soggy mattress in a solitary brig. about
| six by six, on board a stationary man-o'-
war called receiving ship by proper
| speaking people and a ''guardo" by uncouth
sailormen. waiting for the gruff-voced mas
| ter-at-arms with whiskers in his ears to
clank along with the keys and turn him
| loose
No Joke While It Lasts.
Now, while 1t may be possible in the af
ter years to bark back to 1t with certain
amount Of humorous retrospection. this
brig thing is no joke while It's going on.
/ Any number of pleasanter experiences than
being sewed up in any old kind of a man
| o'-war brig might easily be mentioned by
| anybody who's been through that MILL
1 Young Wells was really lucky to have got
his first dose of it while still on board a
"guardo:" For. you know. "guardo Is
anchored to dock. and 1t can't roll or
| pitch. When you're in solitary brig on
| board a sure-enough man-o-war that's
| blowing the bowling main, there isn't any
manner of doubt in life that you're in bad
You get your bumps. and hard ones. with
| every pitch or roll and the walls Of a soli-
tary man-o-war brig are not made Of
soft steel either.
rmake 1t all but impossible for you to stall
of those bumps. You've got to just swing
along with the ship and take what's COM
ing to you in the way Of jolts. You may
whole world during the first day or SO of
this and you probably plan to give 'em
something to put you in the brig for later
on. when you get out. But by the time
4 your little ten-day space Is up you're pref
| ty liable to have made up your mind to
be good You hear your well-behaved mess
mates chatting and skylarking outside Of
your dark cage. and the smell of their to-
bacco drifts through the little holes cut for
air at the top of your steel cell-you miss
your smoking horribly. by the way. long
| peIolS youL seu ua9 or ny 90 e $3.50.
t,Ir ~ their mandoI;ns and tbe wild sweet
chords of their mouth-Organs reach you,
followed by the shuffiing Of their shoes
In the man,o-war breakdowns. which mu,
SIC always Hoa,,i ~ ,, no tnro,,aI, thnsa
same little holes, and the-well not to carry
the penitential picture to any unnecessary
length. we say that by the time you've
had even whole lot less than ten days
of this you feel a-plenty chastened in spir-
IK-gentlemen, yes!-and long before the
gruf Legs with the warty. tatooed hands
swings along to let you out you're more
than liable to have said to yourself a good
many times, Blamed II | don't believe I'll
arrange to stay out of this in the future,
for I know now that it won't do. viewed
from any angle"
You'll say that to yourself II, underneath
your hoydenish, cut-uppy exterior, you've
got stratum of sound common sense. II
you haven't got that, you'll turn up in the
brig again sooner or later, and then again
and again, and the finish. like not, will
find you beach-comber. standing mourn
fully alongside your griny old ditty bag,
| looking dismally up and down an avenue of
Hacking and jeering palms, perhaps, and