The sun., 1908-03-24

A most dlsgraeeful thing, and banding you Inn
| poster
Appear you, then. that this foul blacEsst stain
BY baptism be cleansed In our domain.
| All ye Aremsn water tenders and greasy oilers,
An ye mess lads comm aries and chicken brollers,
All ye boat deslroyers and gun busters,
An ye marines. signal boys and jack o. .dusierL
| All ye topslders, warrants and enlisted men,
No matter where ye shipped or when,
Al ye who are not OF the slush anointed,
Appear, I say, before the Court appointed.
Pail 10 appear and ever rue the day
| My klnEly law you dared 10 disobey
| Attest: OCTOPUS, EAocutus Of1cehuG
January T. 1908.
There Is always good deel Of serious
conversation, especially as 10 navel mat
ters. Reuterdahl was constant topic.
He had good many supporters In bis asser-
tions that the ships Of the feet we're not
what they should be and what most people
| thought they were. Then there wGs the
everlasting discussion Of the pay bill and its
chances before Congress. Always there
was talk OF naval history, incidents Of old
cruises, Naval Academy "reminiscences,
and not day passed without earnest shop
talk, how to improve this or that thing, how
10 add 10 the fighting efficiency Of the ship.
All this talk is from lofty and patriotic
standpoint and the one thing that inn
presses the outsider is the intense loyalty
to the flag
LITTLE GAMBLING ON SHIPS.
BY way Of other diversion there is always
harmless card playing Of one kind or another
after dinner and the days work is over.
Chess and checkers are played also. II is
a mistake 10 think that there Is gambling
on warships as a rule. Bridge has its
devotees. Many people believe that naval
officers are inveterate poker players.
They may have been in the past but II the
cruise Of the Louisiana is a criterion ii has
disappeared The sun correspondent has
been in a position to know the facts and he
asserts with the utmost positiveness that
there has not been a single game Of poker
played by the officers Of this ship on the
present cruise Heaven knows naval
officers, just like other folks, have enough
Of human frailties to answer for. but they
rise superior to many folks in that they
have not the sin Of poker playing TO ex-
plain away, at least not in the modern
conditions Of naval life at sea. This form
OF gambling may exist on some ships
but il what the officers Of the Louisiana say
is true it is rarely nowadays that it is prac-
tised in the navy
Social amenities are observed most care
fully by these men. Every mess has its
social secretary. who looks after social
correspondence. The mess has its social
card. When a ship reaches port where
there are other ships Of the navy OF where
there are foreign warships the niceties Of
calling and entertaining etiquette are
observed. naval officer would no more
neglect observing all social proprieties than
he would appear without his proper uni
form on the quarter deck,
Many officers spend large part Of their
time in reading. They are an unusually
well informed set Of men. Their wide
travel conduces 20 this. Some Of them are
musically inclined and many an evening
Is spent in the steerage where there is a
piano. 1t takes only a few minutes TO get
up an improvised orchestra OF a couple Of
violns a guitar, a mandolin and a horn
OF two songs soon begin to be heard and
the music fest often develops into a story
telling contest and all hands turn in late
after jovial evening.
Officers club life on warshps is run on
good. wholesome lines. 1t ia manly, free,
entertaining, fruitful Of self-control and
always in keeping with the responsible
station Of men who have sworn TO defend
with their lives the honor and integrity
OF their country.
BETTER MEN FOR SAILORS THAN FORMERLY.
There are those who lament that in these
days of steel ships and electrical appliances
all the picturesque side Of a sailorman's
life on a warship has disappeared They
talk Of the old days Of romance and poetry
and sentiment aboard ship. Well, things
have changed for the sailorman, but those
who know how much his creature comforts
have been improved, how his health is
safeguarded, how his mental necessities
are looked after are glad with him that
there has been change. A warship is
not intended to be a poetry factory. It's
a fighting machine and with the best guns
that you can get you need the best men
available 10 shoot them.
the scum Of toTn and country, the recep-
tacle Of jailbirds temporarily at large
the resort Of men not fit for any decent
toll on land. The navy needs men OF in
telligence and good character, the bright
boys from the farm young lads from the
city, who otherwise would have to spend
their lives in factories. The navy needs
these men, and it is getting them all the
time. Why? Because largely there have
been many changes from the old methods.
because no workingmen in the world have
better food, more comfortable clothes.
more sanitary housing. more opportunities
for mental improvement. more wholesome
recreations.
1t is true that Jack no longer has to do
duty as a captain Of top, no moro does
he receive orders to cockbill spars, square
yards, man the main clew garnets and
buntlines man the weather fore and main
cro'jack braces, as in the old days, The
old horse block, as the platform where
the officer Of the deck formerly stood to
give his orders at sea was called. can be
found no more on warships. The old |
sports Of head humping, hammer and anvil
and sparring, old style. have zone, Here
is what sparring used TO be;
-Sparring consists Of playing single stick |
with bone poles instead Of wooden ones,
Two men stand apart and pummel each |
other with their fists "a hard bunch Of
knuckles permanently attached 20 the |