Sharp County record., 1907-03-29
Copyright, by Joseph u. Dowles.) }

Copyright, by Joseph u. Dowles)
(Mrs. Charles D. Sigsbee, wife OF Ad.
miral Agsbee Of the United States navy,
Is the daughter of the late Gen. Lock-
wood. She has been much at sea and
her kindly interest in the sailors has
given her a close insight into their lives,
as the following article discloses)
Comparing the modern sailor with
those who enlisted on board our men.
ofwar so or go years ago we see that
Jack nowadays fares far better than
In those good old times
In the early days Of the nineteenth
century and until about 1S45 fogging
was administered for even minor of.
fenses. The "cat," scourge with
nine tails, used on the bare back, was
the ships company were required to
witness this degradation Of their com.
rades. The colt" oI ropes end, was
frequently kept coiled IN the caps of
the boatswain's mates ready to be
used alta moments notice on the luck
less offender.
'-- Now what change! Confinement
In the brig on bread and water for
stated time or deprivation Of liberty
on shore Is the punishment for small
offenses, while for the greater sum.
mary or general court-martial Is held
according to the gravity Of the wrong.
doing.
In former times the ships library
consisted Of few old.fashioned books.
too dry mostly for Jacks taste-es-
says, lectures, sermons, with sprink.
ling Of poems and lives OF notable peo.
pie. These were kept In cask or
barrel commonly, which was capsized
whenever n volume was to be selected.
Now Jack has good library, COM
prising tales Of travel and adventure,
the newest novels, as well as the
standard works, histories, poems-in
fact, the kind Of books that he would
care to read.
On the battleships In summer the
men are called at four o'clock or 4 80,
according to the executive officers or.
der book, First the buglers sound
the reveille. The boatswain's mates
pipe IN unison a ghrill call and then
roar:
"A.a.a.ll hands, Upl All ham.
mocks Turn out Lash and carry!
Shake log! Bear q hand!"
This In stentorinn tones. The
sleepy occupants Of tho hammocks
turn out rubbing their eyes and
stretching themselves, The sluggards
receive a push underneath tho ham.
mock from tho mastor.at,arms, caus.
Ing tho sloepiest to turn out quickly,
Half'clothed Nlroady--not sleeping In
pajamas-thelr remaining garments,
which are tucked away In their ham.
m0oks, are soon put on.
They proceed to lash their ham.
mocks, rolling thom In a cylindrical
bundle secured with seven round taut
turns Of manila lOshlng and then neat.
ly slowing them away In tho netting
on deck,
Tho moss cooks thon appear, bring.
Ing tin buckets two feet high filed
with hot, strong coffee swoetoned and
diluted with milk Each man drinks
his bowl OF coffee then comforts him.
self with pipe or with cigarettes
from his "ditty box" rogrot TO aay
that tho cigarette habit has invaded
the ranks Of our fine, stalwart body Of
bluejaekets, Jack with pipe sounds
historic and as he should be, but with
a cigarette he Ia inconsistent. The
ditty box is about foot across and
In this Jack keeps safely locked his
private letters, photographs, writing
materials, perhaps a cake of soap and
other treasures, For half an hour the
sailor may sip hls coffee, smoke, write
q letter or do az he pleases,
The bell strikes the half.hour. The
boatswen's mates pipe and then sing
out Turn t0'" the pipe or whistle
blast coming first and the order fol,
lowing, This means that the mon
must tumble out on deck and In obedi.
enoe to the orders as given must
"waeh clothes" scrub down The decks
with sand" wipe on paintwork," or
do whatever the programme for the
Mornings work may be for that day,
Hose is brought out, pumps are started
and sand is sprInkled on the decks,
The men scrub the decks with long.