The Goodland republic., 1907-02-22
raE war q IEEE AID srAEF.
rides Always q sore subisct on Board
"a nr-.l---- I'LL,

Tides Always q Sore Subject on BOaEd
the Modem Worship.
That old time quarrel between line
and stan in the navy acute now for
the moment. Is chronic in every ward
room and at every shore station the
country over. The chance civilian in
the wardroOm wiz see no sign CT the
friction unless he happens to say
something especially tactless, and even
then the good sense Of the opposing
factions usually prevents an explO-
sion
A landsman, indeed. might make
the mistake OF addressing the surgeon
or the paymaster BY a military title
without elicfting so much as a sar-
castle half smile from any member
Of the star. The knowing civilian.
however, as he glsnces up and down
the wardrOOm table at the double row
Of uniformed breasts, line to the right,
stah to the left, realizes that every
man on one side thinks himself de-
frauded because he does not enjoy the
titles OF his equal in opposite rank,
and every man on the other side Is
tenaciously bent upon keeping for
himself and his fellows the titles that
his friends across the table so ardently
desire.
Since the engineers entered the line
they no longer have that unpleasant
nickname ''greasers," a reliC OF the
time when there yet fingered in the
engineer corps a few old fellows who
had been promoted from the engine
room without passing through the
naval academy. The marine officers
although counted Of the staff, are sol
diers, and have always enjoyed mill
tary titles. The surgeons are pretty
carefully called doctor" but that is
a tame title after all When a pay
master is still young and fellows Of
like rank on the staf are called
merely mister" he does not resent
the familiar pay" but when a man
has seen twenty-five or thirty years in
the service, and really has the rank
Of captain, it sounds awkward to be
called pay inspector or pay director
Titles aside, there is absolutely no
difference in naval etiquette between
/ line and stah. The Jap wardrOom boy
/ comes just as punctually and briskly
at 8 o'clock with the doctors morn
/ ing egg and coffee as he does with
/ that OF the "Buu lieutenant Young
sters on the staff, ensigns and that sort
/ Of thing are just as punctiliOusly re-
| spectful to the ranking STAFF officers
as to their own superiOrs Of the line
l All the time, however, the ensign
| takes q secret joy in the fact that the
paymaster will never be called cap
/ tain save by the uninitiated. As a boy
/ at the academy the youngster inherit
ed the tradition Of his corps, and he
/ values it next TO his buttons.
| Nothing strikes the initiated civilian
| as funnier than this deadly and in
| durable strife between two sets Of mer
/ who must live for years together in
close quarters. The quarels Of mar
| ried life are nothing to it, for they
vary in subject, and in the navy there
is no divorce between warning line and
staff
There are perhaps a few line on
\ GERS who would be glad to see theil
friends Of the staf decorated with
/ titles betting their relative rank, bu
their fellows Of the line hold them II
II low esteem for this opinion. There
are even staff officers who affect Il
laugh at military titles. For them
selves, as good Americans, they dC
not value such things, but there is th'
army, where line and stan are treat
ed alike in the matter Of titles and
then, you know, this distinction be
tween the two in the navy is a trih'
awkward on a foreign station ThOsl
snobbish Europeans never can un
derstand; in fact the thing is otter
bit humiliating, and then all th'
time you suspect the youngster OppO
site, who is really far your junior, Il
be secretly enjoying your humiliation
One thing the line can never for
/ give, and that is the occasional &C
quiescence by staff officers in the er
ror Of civilians who introduce then
by military titles. Retired STAFF officer
in rural communities find their OlC
time neighbOrs ready and anxious t
call them captain Don't they poin
! him out to strangers, saying, cap
Toggles, Of the U.S.N.. born right Ovel
| there, retired now with nothin' to do
and drawin' morn $500 a month reg
! ular'' It is an awkward day for the
4 acquiescent old fellow, however
when his friend Admiral Trunnion
comes to visit him, and must hear
! those stupid villagers with feeling:
] that he does not dare display.