The sun., 1906-12-26
JACKS MERRY CHRISTMAS.
MORE FIN THiN YOJ EVER SAN
ABOARD THE EIEET.
Trees Rnd Greens tO the observation-disclosures
In the Bunk HOId-Vand over Isard
Masthead Races The BFIgs EmptieSI
shore cav - q hecrs for lselen GsOuIl

shore Leaves hecrs for iselen Gould
Kings may he blr,' hut Jack was glorious
O.cr all the Ms Of NE vc,oriouN
Snuggled away in the cosies, corner OF
the harbor the men and officers of Uncle
Sans dandy be ,teship suuadrons Of tho
North Atlantic fleet celebrated Christmas
yesterday at the BROOKLYN navy yarl
. let as church mice the big fighters
have been gathering here lately from Maine
~ Manila 10 greet st Nick in that port Of
ports that sailor men love, the one just of
the Bowery.
Hard by the main Cock Of the yard. spank
ing and nt in a coat of holiday paint, lies
the Kentucky Abaft and well TO the stern
the Maine. flagship of the feet In the
wake of the latter the Yankton. Across
the channel, fast TO the c)b dpcky%is the
Kea rsarge. Aft in the direction of the old
Wallqbout Market the Alabama, flagship
of the second division with Rear-Admiral
Charles II Davis aboard. on to starboard
rides the Iowa. Directly across from Man
haitian and hugging the westerly end O. the
dock the receiving ship Hancock. Near 10y
the Newark and the Dolphin. Around the
Horn, well to east by north, the Ohio.
From outward Appearances evidently
little preparation had been made for the
Yuletide celebration until sundown Christ
mas eve. Rear Admiral Coghlsn, who il in
command of the yard, preparatory 10 clos
ing shop for the night took down "a handy
telephone receiver
Kindly ask c)mmandant OF the yard
II the fleet will dress ship for Christmas?"
be asked of the flagship commanding officer
AVE, ave, sir!" came back cheeriy.
sTrees and green's TO the mast head at sun
set
Very good" replied the Admiral.
Hardly had he spoken the words when
colors sounding from numerous bugles of
the various ships broke out c. the crisp
air almost in unison. Crews were mustered
on the nuerterdecks at attention. As the
last note sounded cOlors dropped and each
officer saluted. Hardly had the sound pene-
trated TO the commandant's office than with
admirable precision off each yardarm and
haQstaf was swung a huge Christmas tree
and quantity of holiday green's.
Immediately the hand aboard the Maine
struck up an old Christmas carol Each
vessel followed. With lusty lungs the
hearties joined in the chorus;
May God bless
All friends dear.
with Merry Chrlstmss
And Happy New Nrar.
This was what the jackies had been wait
Ing a solid year for 1t didn't take them
long 20 get into action.
All sorts of funny jiggers were rugged up
In the crews quarters for merriment. In
the bunk hold of the Kentucky strapping
big fellows with hands tied behind their
backs were diving into huge pans of
molasses trying to fish out silver coins
with their mouths. Aboard the Ohio the
hmeiaclets were convulsing themselves
watching a pie eating contest. This event
had 10 be hurried go make way for the blind
pig boxing match. So it went far into
the night.
All hands were up early the next morn
ing to be in time to witness that event of
events--a hand-over- r-hand masthead race.
The boys aboard the kearsarge broke all
records and were declared champions of
the feet
During the morning az many men and
officers as could be spared attended i'm
pressive military masses celebrated by both
Protestant and Roman Catholic chaplains.
The climax OF the hilarity Of the crew
was marked by the breaking of the mess
pennant from the yarda arms az high noon.
They now had to turn in for a dinner that
their mouths had been watering months
for. Ship printers had Wed with each
other in getting out the dinliiest menu card.
On one side of the favor would appear
a likeness of the ship. The other would
tell what was doing in the eating line and
about what might be expected from the
band. Here's what the boys aboard the
Ohio battled with;
Cape Cod Oysters.
Pickles. Horseradlsh.
Ro,s Turkey with Oyster Dressing,
Cranberry sauce. Boiled Eastern Ham
Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas.
Celery.
Mince. Cranberry and Apple Pies
Plum Pudding.
Nuts, Candles.
Fruits In season.
Cigars. Cocoa.
To make the event happier every man
in the brig, many of whom had been dining
FOR several days upon bread and water. was
turned loose. Everybody ate as hard az
he could, because he knew there was plenty
more where that came from.
Aboard the Hancock a real live bard was
discovered. IL was in the person Of Able
Seaman Bill Stokes Amid bushes he read
che following original poem. which met with
such vociferous approval that the author
was Immediately dubbed poet in chief OF
the yard.
The frown Of has vanished
From OF the ship to day.
And wrinkled Is banished
While Christmas holds It's sway:
With fags and holly cleaning
The decks vanished bright.
The guns In peace dreaming
And hecked with rosy light.
Keen frost and breezes singing
May sweep the bitter Fast.
But mlrth and laughter ringing
Shall crown our jovial feast:
The ships aglow and nummng
With lghtsOme Jest and word
When the boatswaln pipes the coming
OF Santa Claus on board,
WILLIAM SToEEs. y, S. y.
After dinner the crews mostly applied
for shore leave, which was readily granted,
and they began to hit the high places bound
for the Sargasso Sea, better known To
Iandsmen as the vicinity OF Chatham Square
end the Bowery.
During the afternoon and evening special
vaudeville performances were rugged up
o. the Naval Y. NJ. G. A. in Sands street,
Brooklyn. While this was going on Il was
announced that Miss Helen Gould had pre-
sented the association with fine new
graphophone and more records than could
be heard in a month This was greeted
with a storm Of cheers for the donor.
special dinner was also served.
About this time the officers aboard began
60 get busy. Their celebrations in the form
pf Christmas trees, gift exchanging and
pess dinners were due, beginning at sun