The Washington herald., 1908-02-06
On Board L. s. S. Louisiana.

ing of bO's'ns' whistles and other strange
noises, so many ceremonies little and big,
that 1t takes some time to get a com
prehcnsive idea Of what is going on and
why.
Probably the first idea that is fixed
firmly in the mind is that a man-o'-war
IS and Of right ought TO be. the cleanest
place on earth. The next IS that it is as
busy a work place as the most rushed
factory on land. Then. as the details Of
life on the ship unfold themselves and
take shape. there comes a realization that
an immense amount OF bookkeeping is go
ing on, far more than exists IN an estab-
lishment OF 600 or 1000 workers on shore
Your correspondent began TO browse
around the Louisiana the other day hay
ing got his sea legs pretty well attached.
for information on this matter The Off
GERS said that there was nothing unusual
about keeping records, that It was the
same on all the ships the same on this
cruise as # had been on every other cruise
for decades, and expressed surprise that
so Drosaic a subject would have an in
terest for those on shore Then one of
them said;
of course there is lot of record
Keeping, and, come TO think of il, per
haps IT'S extent would be q surprise 20
those who do not know about IT,"
Minute Entries Made.
Then the officer began 20 explain. Tt is
worth passing along to others Each one
Of these battle ships is crowded with vari-
Gus kinds Of stores They are ciaesed
under department heads. ordnance. uavt-
cation, construction and equipment, en-
cheering, raymaster, medical and ma
rines. nuch as a department store is or
Eauized. These stores include everything
from Pinch shell to a soda cracker.
Every item is entered on the books and
every one. down 10 a nail or a screw
must be accounted for.
The most important of these records
pertains 10 the construction and equip
meDt stores of the ship. and with these
the executive officer of the ship has 10 dc
exclusively Nothing can be drawn from
any of the stores without q reQuistiOu.
The acquisitions. duly signed. must be
preserved as vouchers. An account is
kept of the weekly expenditure of stores.
These weekly records in turn become part
Of a quarterly record that must De kept
the amount of stores used set forth as 20
bulk, but there is an item of prices for
each item OF stores. SO that the cost price
Of these supplies may be taken into con-
sderat0n
Enlistment Record Kept,
One Of the most important records kept
IS that OF the enlistment record Of each
man on board. Each man has a page i'm
facts as 10 his service in the navy. his
rank date of entering the service. his
relatives or next friend. his promotions
his punishments his good conduct Pc
RODS. the amount OF liberty he has had,
the result If his regular examinations for
proficiency. and SO on. With each man,
when he is transferred or discharged
goes COPY of this enlistment record
If the man goes To another ship that
record is entered upon the books of his
new billet An immense amount of detail
enters into these records Not "a day
passes without many items being entered
on these pages. So these records grow,
and they tell q story of a good ship
or q bad one or am Indifferent one as
the initiated is able 10 read them
Every quarter the executive officer must
prepare % complete muster TOH Of the
crew. win certain pertinent details upon
il as 10 the history of the men, To be
forwarded 10 the department at Wash
ington.
Even such matters as the detail of men
for cooking purposes and cleaning COM
parrments must be looked after by this
busy and. to the landsman's eye, over
worked executive officer.
Another extremely busy department is
that of the paymaster Many people may
ar.r. -rH- HFF fr q
t0 do but count out the money and keep
tho accounts straight and with an as
sistlnt paymaster and an experienced
clerk and yeom8n to help. The multi
-Ii1ity Uf clerical work I'm that department
sl-prising. The responsibility is also
se. Much more IS involved than count
out money.
Issues the RatIons 10 1Ien.
'he p8ymaster is the commissary of
ship He it is who issues the food
ppIias jn bulk. These supplies are
opposed 90 amount To- what is known
ration a day. worth so cents. The
gulatious require that so much -four
much sugar. SO much meat. so much
fec ana so ON shall constitute q ration
1a price of these commodities must be
--grn into consideration. When in a for
CiEl port where meat is high the value
Ct the ration must be put UP, which
according 90 certain regulations is per
MISSILE. Still, when the articles are
issued I'm bulk they must Dee cooked and
served, with plenty for each man. and
the ordinary price Of what the man eats
must be- kept within the 3g-cent limit.
Tt takes q nice amount Of figuring TO
make ends meet You can't issue TO each
man Just so much Of this and so much Of
don hs-fr Ina mn, nv
down 20 so cents. il must all be issued i'm
bulk. and the cOmmissary steward must
do the rest. Sometimes the value OF what
tie men eat for a month runs above the
so cents. The next month there must be
economy somewhere, an economy that
must not be noticeable 10 the men or be
skinny I'm any way. II a paymastcr is
sues too many so-Calied rations it is up to
him to pay for them himself when the
account of stores is taken Il is only re-
Gently that a paymasteT, through some
clerical error, issued a lot of rations to
men who had been discharged and who
were not entitled 20 them, although most
or them had remained on ship, and he
had 20 pay more than $500 out of his own
pocket for feeding them. Many a pay
master finds himself from $40 to $50 short
In a quarter and has to settle himself
for what the men have eaten over and
beyond the legitimate cost OF the ration
In Charge of Canteen.
The paymaster also runs the s0-called
canteen on shipboard. The canteen is not
place where drinks are sold but it is a
general store where candies. note paper,
thread, crackers, and knickknacks of
every kind are kept for the bluejackets
There are several hundreds of items in