The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-05-15
OFFICERS AND
MEN PLAYED OUT
Entertainment on the Coast No
Longer Appeals to the
Sailors.
SHORT RESPITE WELCOME
FLEET WILL LEAVE FOR PUGET
SOUND MONDAY MORNING.

q
SOUND MONDAY MORNING.
San Francisco. May 14.-San Francisco's
entertainment of the Atlantic fleet is
drawing to close and the ships will set
sail for Puget Sound Monday morning at
I 10 o'clock. The three days of steaming at
sea are looked forward to by the officers
with genuine pleasure as relief from the
arduous social duties that recently have
been imposed upon them. The fleet has
/ been in home waters one month Monday,
and during all that time there have been
but two evenings of quiet and rest for
officers and men afforded by night steam
ing. One night was spent en- route from
Santa Barbara TO Monterey and the sec
ond night on the run from Santa Cruz
to San Francisco. Under ordinary condi-
tons in the navy, steaming at sea would
not be considered the most restful of oc
equations, but after the strain and stress
of more than four weeks of gaieties
ashore the call of the ocean appeals
strongly to every officer and to that
heavy percentage of the men who have
their hearts in their work.
Too Much of a Good Thing.
A solid month of banquets, balls. recep-
lions, teas, parades. luncheons and other
entertainments, while wonderfully express
sive of CALIFORNIA; hospitality and joy
over the coming of the battleship squad
rons, have wrought much havoc to diSci-
pline and efficiency aboard the vessels of
the Atlantic fleet Executive officers.
who in plain language are the active
managers of the various ships are com
planning of conditions aboard and declare
that much of the splendid efficiency at
tanned during the long cruise has been
almost wiped out by the relaxation that
set in with the conclusion of the long line
of entertainments from San Diego TO San
Francisco. Complying with orders from
Washington, sailors have been allowed
shore liberty on the most liberal basis
ever known in the navy, 200 men being
permitted daily to go from each ship.
There are always many overtime men in
such large liberty parties as these and
consequently large number of those first
allowed liberty are still ashore when the
second division of POO set out for the beach.
In this way the crews are reduced to an
extent that makes good work difficult
and the ships are suffering in conse-
quence.
Impossible TO Do Work.
The work that could be done with the
reduced forces, the executive officers de-
clare. is seriously interfered with by the
presence of thousands of sightseers
aboard. The visiting here has been enOr-
nous and some excursion boats as large
as Mississippi river packets have been run
alongside the Connecticut and the Mime
sofa, the most popular of the battleships
in the harbOr, and have unlOaded perfect
sWarms of people on the forward and
quarter decks. The officers realize the
value of having the public see and become
interested in the navy and they are very
hospitable in their welcome to them, but
at the same time the disadvantages of in
terrupted work and discipline on such a
long tour Of merrymaking and sightseeing
as the past month has afforded stand out
fOrcibly in the minds of the men who are
responsible for efficiency and accomplish
e -4,s..r
tive officers declare il NAV be necessary
10 begin all over again with the crews on
the lines mapped out when the fleet sailed
from Hampton Roads last December when
the reorganized squadrons start from San
Francisco on July on their tour of the
world.
Officers Tagged Out.
The never-ending series Of entertain
ments provided for the officers have at
times practically robbed the fleet of the
presence of its commissioned forces if
IS no longer an unusual condition for
lone watch officer to sit at the head eff
an empty WaTdrOOm table. where ordi-
narily there should be from twenty-five
to thirty of his shipmates at the mess
The entertainments all have been eXcep-
tiOnally attractive. and coming at a single
port would have been intensely enjoyed
But in the mass of social activities dav
and it is only under detail that Off
GERS attended the nOwaday functions
They go to teas receptions. etc. Just as
they go about any other duties and on
most of the ships the officers have div
ided themselves into divisions to take
turns about in meeting the exigencies of
the entertainments provided for them. A
striking illustration of the faded condi-
ton of the men was furnished q few
nights ago at a dinner of naval academy
graduates. The dinner was preached far
down the coast and awakened the great
est anticipatOry enthusiasm, as in the
combined fleets in San Francisco harbor
there are perhaps a thousand ANNAPOLIS
men When the evening of the dinner ar
rived, however. only seventy officers put
in an anoearance.