The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1906-05-22
TRICKS In THE NAVY

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TRICKS In THE NAVY
NOW the MEN coNTRIvE TO PUNISH
UNPOPULAR OFFICERS.
jack Tar Has Many Effective Ways
Of Getting Full Revenge For His
0sAsvances-The Difference Between
. day Down. and a Mutiny.
tiny these days. They know the pun
ishment that would be meted out for
that sort of thing, and their average of
intelligence and of esprit de corps is
Infinitely higher than that of the crews
OF the old time frigates who really did
mutfny. much as is talked about the
glories Of the old navy by the ancient
fat feet of the wooden navy, still In
the service. A genuine mutiny on
board any kind of ship is a good deal
like what General Sherman termed
war. The entire British navy in every
part Of the world upon preconcerted
and passed around word once mutinied
lit was In the latter part OF the eight
eenth eentury-at a certain hour. There
were doings then and afterward. The
doings afterward arranged matters SO
that there has never been genuine
mutiny on board one British man-o'-
war since. The yardarms we're busy
standing the strain Of the swung men
for long months after that mutiny, and
it was a salutary lesson for naval mari
ners the world over.
But disconnected men-ofwar's men
In the American navy, suffering under
what they deem imposition or a with
holding Of their rights, can, and some
times do, make 1t mighty unpleasant
on board their ship for the commander
thereof and for the officers directly con-
cerned with their grievances.
Such acts as heaving missiles at dis
liked officers are not done In the navy
today, but the bluejackets have little
methods of their own of getting back
at severe or imperious- officers. Lay
ing down" is one Of their schemes, and
1t il an eff1cacious method. The men
of ships company cannot be punish
ed In a bunch for not coming up to
set standard In the performance Of
work, and they know how to take ad-
vantage of that knowledge. The
amount Of work that a disaffected
ships company can't do In given
space Of time Is something immense.
In the matter Of coaling ship. for ex-
ample. they can either make life mis-
cradle for the commanding officer. If
he IL the man they have 1t In for, by
loafing on their job through all the
watches and dragging the dirty and
unpleasant coaling task through an in
terminable length of time, or they can
punish any watch officer for whom they
have got it In by showing him up"
In the latter case they calmly wait
till the watch officer who has incurred
their displeasure takes the deck and
assumes direct command of the work
of coaling, and then they proceed to
give an exhibition of how frantically
a ships company of naval sailor men
can work without doing anything.
They shovel away furiously, but some
how or another very little coal seems
to find Its way over the ships side and
into the bunkers. The bluejackets in
the coal lighters pant and perspire I'M
der the strain of labor that looks quite
terrific, but there is monumental lack
Of Roadway In the coaling of the ship
The disliked officer of the deck may
chafe and mutter deep and dark things
under his breath, but this doesn't get
coal into the bunkers. When he makes
his report to 1.-THE old man" of the
amount Of coal that has been got
aboard during his watch it is found by
comparison that it is only about one
third the amount that was hoisted over
the side during the watch of the pre-
ceding officer of the deck, who happen
ed to be popular with the men, A mat
ter Of this sort always sets a command
ing officer to thinking. for men who are
old enough to be commanders Of Ameri-
can men-of-war have learned by ex-
perience that 1t is as easy as launching
and hold the good will Of enlisted men
and that the usefulness on board of a
ship Of an officer who has sacrificed the
confidence and good will OF the men
forard is just as good as gone.
And so 1t comes to pass that nova
days few officers of the United States
navy fall to apprehend how well 1t
pays them to make themselves popular
with the men for'ard. In the old navy
1t often happened that officers who had
earned the i'll will of the bluejackets
actually feared to go for'ard at night
after lights were out, and there was a
reason. Such officers. taking the chance,
would no sooner set foot under the
fo'csle, where, after lights out, there
was only the dim Illumination Of
single standing light, than they would
have to dodge all manner of missiles
soup and bully" cans, checking
blocks. mess gear. boots, anything and
everything throwable that the sailors
and marines, In and out of their ham
mocks, first laid their hands upon. On
such an occasion the officer who was
that was to scoot aft as fast as his
legs would carry him. He could make
complaint to the commanding officer
the next day II he were foolish, but he
rarely secured the punishment of any
men for'ard. The throwers couldn't be
singled out
But there are modern occurrences In
a lv
ing. A deck officer who had gained
the extreme Ill will of the men forard
was attached to a cruiser on the China
station some years ago. He was fine
drillmaster. and it became his duty
to take landing parties of the ships
company ashore at Chemulpo for drill
instruction. When the men for'ard
heard Of this order the word LAY
down" went around among all hands.
1t was slouchily accoutered gang of
100 bluejackets that appeared on deck
to compose the first landing party.
There seemed nothing particularly the
matter with the mems military makeup
except that there was general look OF
sioveniiness about them Each man
had all or his gear on according to
regulations, but somehow or another
all hands looked seedy, awkward, IN
trained and unmilitary-thisd despite the
fact that the men belonged to what
was rightly considered one OF the crack