The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-01-22

on the evening Of the fourth OF Jan
uSry says Fighting Bob" in his in
teresting story in Hampton Broad
way Magazine for December, mes
scnger from Neptunus Rex boarded
each vessel, interviewed the captain,
and, having received his permission
for his majesty to visit him on the
morrow, took his leave. During the
hight of the fourth each ship was dt-
ted with large canvas tank near the
forward turret, so arranged that from
fitting BARRIERS chair on the rim
of the turret the one to he initiated
could be tumbled head over heels into
| the water which, it leaked out was
being constantly renewed by several
lengths of hose. All those to face
Father Neptune were sure OF good
cool bath il nothing more,
When the position Of no latitude
was reached on January 8, the flag
OF the monarch of the sea was broken
ont at the signal yardarm on every
vessel of the fleet, and King Neptune,
followed by his suite boarded each
ship over the bows and marched ait
to the quarter deck in the presence OF
The assembled crew to make his call
on the admirals and captains, and OBJ
tain their permission TO conduct his
ceremonies. Great ingenuity had
been shown by the "old hands in pre-"
pairing the many costumes necessary
Tor the occasion. and the march aft"
as it is called, produced much laugh
ter and applause from those who saw
it for the first time; but there were
many serious faces among the young
recruits who looked forward with
some anxiety TO the time when they
| should fall into the hands of these
fearful looking monsters of the deep
who were constantly threatening dire
things OF those ''landlubbers" and
lawmakers" who yentured TO Invade
their domain without permission.
Father Neptune in every case knew
the officers and men whom he had
met before, and welcomed them with
a few kind words, mentioning the
name of the ship in which each had
| sailed. and wishing them fair wind
| for all time. So perfect were the
| costumes OF the king and his court
| on board the flagship that | failed to
recognize a man Of the more than
| fifty who constituted the suite. / pre-
sented them with cigars enough to
keep them going, wished them sue
ceesful day, and the frolic began.
Seats had been arranged on the for
ward bridge for the officers who had
crossed the line before. and from this
IL, h. teaO
| The day was exceedingly hot and
we were all dressed In our thinnest
white uniforms. After | had been
| watching the fun for several hours |
| felt a peculiar cold wind blowing on
my back which so chilled me that
| I was forced to retire to my cabin.
where in the evening | found myself
| helpless with with an attack of in
| flammatory rheumatism which caused
me intense suffering. often recurred,
and eventually compelled me TO give
up the command of the Atlantic feet
"a misfortune which might well
| break the heart OF any flag officer
who loved his profession as have al
ways done.
Before leaving the United States
the "old hands had provided the GER
| tihcates for Neptune TO sign. They
were handsomely printed on sea-greeS
paper and made very pretty souyen-
irs for the recruits to preserve In
deed, / should not say recruits" for
| there were many men. and officers as
well, who had been around the world
several times mon of many years SER
vice. who had never cros;ed the
equator This may be easily under
| stood after glance at the map. where
il will be seen how one leaving San
| Francisco can cross the Pacific. pro-
ceed through the Mediterranean, and
so across the Atlantic to New York
without once crossing the equator, and
| tlis many officers and men had done.
| When once the Panama canal is COM
| pleted the equatorial regions will bo
much more lonely than they now are.
King Neptune always offers the OFF,
GERS the privilege Of paying their
footing; that is contributing so many
| cigars or so many bottles Of beer in
stead of being regularly initiated; but
on this occasion the midshipmen de.
cided that they would take their med
icine with the rest, and they were the
first to receive the rites: that is to
say, be shaved by the barber with a
| long wooden razor and then "tumbled
into the bath, where the "mermaids, :"
Sharks" and "porpoises" saw that
they were thoroughly and properly
Gucked. The ward room" preferred
to pay.
AS each man of the crew received
his ducking he became an energetic
recruit In the ranks of Neptune and
Joined the sea policemen. who, with
stuffed clubs. were searching the ship
for those who attempted to escape
the ordeal This was particularly the
case with many of the colored men
on board who were serving in the
capacity OF mess men. None were
allowed to escape, and as | looked on
7 could tell very easily the men, both
black and white. who had in any way
made themselves offensive to tho
crew. Such persons came out of the
tank pretty full of soapsuds and sali
water But In no case was any man
maltreated or injured. 1t was form
OF harmless hazing TO which / gave
my hearty approval When all hands
had received his attention the certif