The Dickinson press., 1907-09-21
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Thought ~HeWas1EIigibls.@ c6is.
4 mand. a Cruiser. !
an OLD TIME NAVAL PRANK.

AN OLD Time NAVAL PRANK.
i: -- e5ss
The Shabby Trick That Was Played
3. Upon 4 Patriotic Crock soiisrmaksr
2 by Some Of Uncle Sans Sailors With
& Whom He Had Shipped.
7 "A number'o IF years ago the cruiser
on which, was serving shipped a boil
,ermaker while We were on the Medi-
$%terranean station" said q retired petty
officer Of the navy. "Our former boil
fermaker's time expiredrwhile we were
ut Gibraltar. and as he was, not in good
physical shape he wasn't re-enlisted,
but took his discharge and returned
to the United States by mail steamer.
So the ship&:wasf@shy q ;boilermaker.
q very important and necessary petty
officer down below in the engineers
department. and when the ship pulled
into Naples harbor the chief engineer
went ashore to see*if he couldn't dig
up a boilermaker.
There was a. clause in the enlist
ment regulations permitting command
ing officers to ship necessary men on
foreign stations in short handed emer-
gencies. The chief engineer brought
back to the ship a Greek named Char
lie Marc The man couldn't speak any
English to speak of. but he. was q
good maj at the hoilermaking bust.
ness, and he was duly shipped aboard
Of us for three years. He was a wild,
hairy looking lot. Marc was, and he
got a good deal of a laugh at the
hands Of the crew. especially the
younger fellows, from the time he first
came over the side. ~,
"Maro thought, that there wasn't any
other country on the map except
Greece, and after he got hold Of
enough English to make himself i'm.
derstood lie used to take some of the
young apprentice boys up into the
eyes Of the ship and tell them. with
many gesticulations and furious words,
of the different kinds of tar Greece
could knock out Of Turkey.
1.-THE ship was around on the Pa
cifc station when the war broke out
between Greece and Turkey. When
the news Of the outbreak of the wal
got to Marc, our boilermaker, he
nearly had heart disease and a whole
lot of other sudden things from pure
excitement. He just couldn't hold
himself in, he looked so tickled.
ada Greek man villa BIN, BIN,
bin, do Turka man, was Charles
Maro's way Of putting it, and he didn't
see that the Turk had u ghost Of a
show. All hands forward encouraged
him in the belief. They all acquiesced
In expressing the belief to Marc that
Greece would simply eat Turkey up.
Then a bo'sun's mate who knew how
to crack the most impossible jokes
with a face as solemn and wooden as
an Indians took Charlie in hand and
told him some things. He told Marc
that the United States was so much
in sympathy with. Greece in the strug-
gle with Turkey that the navy depart
ment had decided to turn owe all Of
the ships Of the American navy to
Greek commanders.
".:Here's q big chance for you, Maro,'
the bo'sun's mate told Marc. You just
want to work your edge, Here you
are already shipped on this cruiser, and
It's dollars to doughnuts that If you
ask for the command of this ship in
order to take her over Ito Greece to
mix it up with the Turks youth get it
hands down. Better try it on
'"That idea impressed Marc a heap.
He asked the bo'sun's mate whom he'd
have. to apply to to get command Of
the cruiser. r..
"'Why to the commanding officer,
Of course was the reply.
"Maro was tremendously, important
for a day or SO while he let this huge
idea grow within him, and he bullied
the men detailed to work with him
down below in the boiler rooms good
deal. The bo'sun's mate kept working
him up to 1t, and finally Marc appeared
on deck one morning logged tout in his
very best mastering suit of bluejacket
clothes and went up to the officer Of
the deck and, asked permission to see
the commanding officer at the mast
The officer OF. the deck was rather IT.
prised to see tAe man all done up in
his mastering toys when all hands
were at work; but, as he is obliged to
do when IN enlisted man requests per-
mission to see the commanding officer,
he sent word to the skipper, who oon
emerged from his cabin and appeared
at the stick, y
"'Well, my man?' said the skipper to
Marc, who stood bolt upright and sa-
luted with q flourish.
"'sare,' said Marc to the skipper, Il
hav-a da honor to .her-a-by. taxa da
command ola da Ship
"'Hey?' said the commanding officer,
putting his hand. to his a and looking
as II he hadn't heard Alright.
"'Da Ship repeated Marc. Fora da
navee ola Hellas-da Greeka navee-I
hava .da honor. to taxa, da' commando
"All hands among the enlisted men
were up on the to'gallant,fo'e's TAX
ing. the thing in, and they:brQke into a
roar that you could have heard i've ca
bic lengths distance. Marc heard it
- 80 tlf..l- Hs.H->- rl1S