The sun., 1908-01-12

~Oood for the Preaidentls shouted one
Of ths officers in the waist OF the table
SO say we all, responded q man on the
other side, -but wish he had told us where
We are going"
That man didn't have 20 wait long, for
soon there was sent into the wardroom Of
every ship a message signalled from the
flagship which said that after a brief stay
on the Pacific coast the ieet would probably
come home by way Of Sues.
Every man jumped at that news; every
one wished his wife or sweetheart could
know il at onOe. One OF the puzzles about
the feet was Nettled.
There is no NCo0m in this first letter Of
the long cruise to 90 into detail about the
thousand ond one thinRs-incidents cere-
monies and drills-thAt make up the routine
and life on a warship These will come
afterward in other forms. One might tell
how the men on guard at the side lights at
! night sing out after a bell is tapped: Port
/ light burning bright "Starboard light
burning bright. how -the O'Clock light 10
out. sir report ia made and received; how
they put the shirts on" the gun muzzles
and mainmast; how the call to dinner to
the officers is done on the Louisiana with
fife and drum. rolling roast beef they used
to call it, and probably do yet in the British
navy. only the tune Ia different in ours. for
it s Yankee Doodle: how -sweethearts
and wives" are toasted once a week; how
make il eight bells is done; how scores
OF these things. many OF them well known.
are done and why. Let IL go for the present,
CLEANLINESS GREAT VIRTUE.
II there h one thing that impresses the
civilian even more than the ceremonies or
the peculiar routine OF a wsrship h is the
cleanliness Of things. This applies as
much to the men as it does TO the remotest
nook and Granny in the darkest and deepest
part Of the ship.
The Officer would, take you into some
corner where you had 70 bend your back
and almost go on your hands and knees
and show you that il was as clean as the
most exposed parts of his bailiwick. The
feet had not been out two days before the
executive officer issued an order about
cleanliness
The men were cautioned to keep them
selves and their clothes clean on penalty
Of going on the scrubbing list. Il did not
mean that there we're men on board who
were slack in this respect but there were
a lot Of youngsters who had never been to
sea before and they needed TO be broken
in. What the scrubbing list is was well ex-
planned by an old time sailor on board He
said:
-Man-o'- war cleanliness 10 different from
any other that know. distinguish it from
all other kinds because 10 is the most search
ing and far reaching thing of the kind in
the world.
1T really begins on the inside Of a man.
at his soul although / am sorry to say you
can't always see the effect OF it there. and
il works its way out to his skin, clothing
and surroundings. All must be immacu-
lately clean, and this habit is 30 thoroughly
ingrained in the men that to maintain il
they will even commit crime.
Il mean just what I say. Let me give
you an instance
'In one Of the old ships in which l sailed
fresh water-it was the case-of all Of EN-,
sir-fresh water was a scarce article even
to drink. No fresh water could be had
to wash our clothes. Salt water does not
clean clothing properly, no matter how
you work over your duds
so our men in the old DAYS actually
used to steal the water oIt Of the breakers,
the small casks kept in the boats at all times
in case Of emergency, such as shipwreck.
That is what mean by committing crime.
We actually used to steal from the most
important supply on ship just for the sake
Of keeping ourselves clean
For uncleanliness a man would be
stripped naked and his skin scrubbed with
sand and canvas-no man ever forgot IL
who experienced that-and sometimes with !
ki-yar brushes, by two husky bos'n's !
mates. All hands soon got the habit OF |
being clean
Scrubbing with sand and canvas still |
goes on in the navy, but on the 7 ouisiana,
at least, there was no need 10 resort to such |
drastic measures. The mere notice Of |
what was in store was sufficient, even il |
there were any who were inclined to be |
careless. Vigilant inspection did not re-
veal any such on board.
THE WIRELESS TELEPHONE.
There was much interest on the ships as
10 how the wireless telephone would work
out. The system has been in operation only
a few months and is largely in the expert
mental and almost the infantile stage.
All Of the battleships are equipped with
the apparatus and there was no doubt
about it, you could talk to any ship in the
feet from any other and at times the sounds
Of the voice were as clear as through an
ordinary telephone. At times they weren't
and there was a division Of opinion among
the officers az to the real value Of the in
vention.
Only one ship Of feet can uAe the tele-
phone at one time. While one ship is talk
ing to another all the other ships must keep
out OF il and even the ship to which the
is being sent must keep still and not
break in The receiver must wait until
the sender has got all through with what
he has to say and then he oan talk back.
The sending and receiving machines
use part OF the apparatus Of the wireless
outfit. II an attempt is made
10 use the telegraph while the telephone
is in use the telephone goes out Of com-
mission at once because IL is absolutely
drowned out. The telegraph apparatus uses
30 much greater power that IL is like loud
voice overwhelming o soft one.
In despatching wireless telegraph mes
sages from the fleet when il was about eight
hundred miles out it became advisable to
send them to the Minnesota because her
apparatus is the strongest ON the ships
and she could pick up Washington. Fire
Island. San Juan, after dark apparently
At will, while the other ships had some
a i. rrr- |