The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-24
HYPNOTIZING SAILORS.
washington starr

| l. IOO0Ole 1flC lldldil Dukc vi AUl
ri doesn't feel so badly over the way he
was shredded of his gilt buttons. The
duke is naval officer, and he certain
| ly must know that to have his shiny
gear swiped by the ship-visiting young
women on big occasions of ceremony
is part of the game. American naval
! officers certainly do not expect to have
much of anything in the way of per-
sOnal possessions left after their ships
have been swooped upon by the girls.
They give up easily and readily. and
take their frisking like little men, As
a matter of fact, neither officers nor
men of an American man-of-war ex
| pect to have much left in the way of
small gear after the girls have been
over the ship. The girls don't come
right out and ask for things, of course.
but they have their little ways of
| tipping ii off that they'd like certain
souvenirs. and they rarely fail to go
ashore with enough stuff to stock a
! bumboat
Anything that an American girl sees
! on board an American man-o-War and
! likes she gets. If she could carry away
siX-inch rifles. the officers aft would
probably give them to her and take
their chances on court-martials for
surrendering government property. The
| bluejackets of our ships are just as
4 =
! sion, for instance, carries about fifty
| times the number of cap ribbons ever
| likely to be required for the use of
changing crews. These extra cap rib
| bOns are FRANKLY meant for the visit
| ing girls. They are not officially made
for the girls, but it is quite an under
stood thing that the ship-visiting girls
are to get them. They cost the officer
| or bluejacket who draws them from
tho Sfpr'S StOraS IL cents each
but if they cost the officer OF bluejack-
ct SIS apiece the girls would very like
| ly get them all the same
Petty officers in our navy are always
shy on rating badges for their watch
arms after their ship has been invaded
| by the girls The girl innocently re-
marks that the embroidered anchor, or
pair of cross guns, or exploding shell,
or silver wheel on the petty officers
arm is cute or cunnin' or pretty. She
doesn't have to so any further than
that. The petty officer makes for his
ditty box TO get his scissors and cuts
the rating badge off his uniform before
the girls eyes. She gets it, and then
he has to draw upon the paymaster's
stores for another badge.
The chief petty officers. who wear
! brasS-buttOned uniforms often go but
tOnless for a day or so after ship-visit-
blOuses for the girls, and then have to
stand by for more buttons at the pay
masters office. The bIuejacketS will
give the girls anything they happen to
possess, or don't happen TO possess for
that matter.
There was an equipment yeoman on
board a ship that visited the San Diego
flower fiesta a few years ago who fit
ted out the girls he escorted around the
MIL In n
store room he had a couple of hundred
old-fashioned wristirons that had done
a lot of duty in cooling out the frac-
tioUsness of brigged sailormen. A board
of survey had been held on these
handouts, which were out of date, and
they had been condemned. 1t was the
yeOman's business to turn them in at
a navy yard store room for junk at the
first opportunity. But he made a bet
ter use of them by giving them to
highly appreciative young women who
honored him with their company on
visits about the ship. The girls, of
course, valued them highly as imple-
ments that had been used for the SUBJ
DUNG of poor sailormen. The skipper
of the ship had the nervy yeoman at
the mast about his way of distributing
government property. but the man was
not punished for the offense. extenuat-
ed as it was by such generous gal
lantry.
The officers of American men-o'-war
hang on to the anchors and other or
naments attached to the collars of their
blouses as long as possible, but most of
them have to sooner or later rip them
off and hand them over Ia the ship
visiting girls who like the workman
ship of the ornaments.
The cleverness of American girls, in
e Ill. sT,.-.- -
nation is worthy of note. A Russian
fleet visited New York harbor a few
years ago, and the New York girls went
These daggers are beautifully devised
affairs, the hits of them being heavily
Russian naval officer is a fine dagger.
These daggers are beautifully devisede
affairs, the hilts of the mbeing heavily
wrought in gold. There wasn't a dag
ger in the whole Russian fleet two days
after the New York girls began to
visit the cars warships. but there
were many scores of Russian naval
daggers hanging from chains in the
rooms of New York girls.
On ship-visiting day in an American
port a barrel of hard tack, standing
preached in a man-o'-war alleyway, is
sight the young women can't very
we'll resist The navy hard tack is cir
cular in shape, about four inches in
diameter. Ihe girls all get a nanO1ul
each of the ships biscuit and take
them ashore to paint ships and sea-
scapes and such like on their corrugat-
ed surfaces.
Another article of uniform that the
bluejackets of our navy can't hang on
to when the girls get aboard their ships
is the neckerchief. The United States
bluejacket's neckerchief is hand
somely woven, affair of the very finest
black silk. 1t costs the bluejackets
close to $1.50, as drawn from the pay
master. Nevertheless, there is a gen.
eral loosening of neckerchiefs when the
young women are aboard, and the skip
per, when he inspects his neckerchief-
less crew at quarters on the following
morning, before the men have had time
to draw new neckerchiefs from the
paymaster, doesn't punish the men for
hainsy out of uniform but mutter