Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-25

| attached to cruiser on the Asiatic sta
ton only a few years ago.
He. was an expert drillmaster, and so il
became his duty to take landing parties
of the ships company ashore in the small
er ports on the China station for drill in
struction. When the men for'ard heard
of this order the tip 'lay down" was
passed around.
1t was a elouchily accoutered gang of a
hundred odd bluejackets that appeared
on deck to make up the first landing par
ty. There seemed to be nothing essen
TALLY the matter with the bluejackets'
military makeup except that there was
general look of slovenliness about them.
Each man wore all his gear according to
regulations, but somehow or another all
hands looked seedy, awkward, unframed
and unmiiitary, and this despite the fact
that the men belonged to what was right
fully considered one OF the crack seasoned
crews of the whole American navy.
The disliked officer got the men ashore
and began to drill them. They fell down
In a body at the simplest of orders. Half
of them came TO present arms when the
other half came to order arms.
The officer berated them and tried again.
They did worse htan before. The officer
began to march them. Apparently not ten
men in that landing party knew the differ
ence between four right and left obiique.
The movement was a bowling farce,
and the foreign naval officers who hap
pened to be ashore stood by and made
little effort to cover up their grins. The
unpopular deck officer few into a rage
and began to drill the men one by one.
Every man Jack went through the indi-
vidual drill manual and movements like a
royal marine, and when the officer had
drilled about half OF them In this way he
resumed giving them orders in a body
Again they were like pack of recruits.
The inextricable jumbles into which they
got themselves warranted the boisterous
laughter of the observing foreign officers.
The disliked officer decided to punish the
men. and he marched them five miles into
the country over bad road, mostly on
the double. The men struggled along like
pack of pursued sheep, with no order
whatever, and all as solemn as owls
about 1t.
Remarkable Reversal of Form
The officer marched his men back to
the landing after the ten miles had been
covered and got them on board the ship.
Then he reported to the commanding Of
ficer that 1t was the stupidest lot of blue
Jackets he had ever commanded.
"Stupid?" inquired the skipper wonder
ingly. You must be dreaming. Those
men you had ashore today make one of
the crack landing party battalions Of the
American navy. shall take them ashore
myself tomorrow and find out what's the
matter. You will accompany me-"
The old man. an extremely popular COM
mander with the bluejackets. did take
the same landing party ashore on the fol-
lowing day Every man appeared on deck
spick and span and alert. all a-quiver with
mettle. The commanding officer got
them ashore and put them through their
manual.
The bluejackets were as one man with
their pieces. The skipper then put them
through the movements, and the clear,
practiced. expert fashion with which the
performed the evolutions
amazed the foreign officers who had
laughed the day before.
When the party returned to the ship the
disliked officer held a conference with
the old man in his cabin relative to get
ting transfer to some other ship on the
station.
When chief engineer of a man of-war
of today acquires the dislike of his men
the black gang-they are capable of maxi
ing heavy trouble for him. Aside from
the commanding officer 1t might almost
be said that of all officers attached to
ship it Is most necessary for the chief
to possess not only the actual
good viii, but the devotion of the men
under him.
The chief engineer is held strictly ac-
countable for the preservation in good