New-York tribune., 1910-07-31
SORE ON NAVAL CRUISE.
Rochester Seaman Has Poor
Opinion of "Gunboatin' IT.
BURNT DOING BRIGHT WORK
But officer Says Men Go: Excel
lent Practice on Weeks
Cruise to Bermuda.

"Gunboatin' il down to Bermuda and back,
or seven days of he'll don't care how you
put it IN the paper, but don't forget to say
that all Of. us got burnt worse n blazes,
said naval ini1i-iaman who returned from
weeks cruise on board the battleshfp
Michigan YESTERDAY The seaman came out
of drydock at Rochester week ago.
MY wife hated TO see me CO." he con-
tinued. Bermuda looked SO pretty in the
pictures she thought as how I ought TO u
carried her along. At first I felt sorry at
leavin' her in Rochester, but say, I'm burnt
to a cinder too tired to toddie. and the
nearest we went to Bermuda was some
thing like ninety-fve miles north of the
equator We didn't see it close.
II washed clothes like niger when It
was 10 on deck. and did the bright WORK
when there wasn't a cloud In the sky Say,
did you ever do bright work."
seaman from the battIeship Nebraska
said: "Quit yer knoclrin', Bill. 1t was all
right except the condensed salt water 10
drink That was sure sickenin'. Next to
the almost coffee, it was worse n any
thing
Did any amusing experiences occur?
they were asked.
The men were among the six hundred
sailor miIitiaElen of New York. Brooklyn.
Rochester and Buffalo, who departed IN
seven battlestlips of the Atlantic fleet On
July 23 for weeks work as naval tars.
Burned to Blister.
'Nuthin' funnier than gettin' burnt 10
bloomin blister doin' bright work, replied
the man just off the Michigan The battle
ships were gone and the seven-day sailors
were resting at the training ship Granite
State, off West 96th street .
What did you do on board ship except
the bright work?'' he was asked
THE first thing every morning It was get
I'D at o'clock, lash your hammock. scrub
your clothes and scrub down decks. and
then they let you eat breakfast az six bells,
which was o'clock. Breakfast was hash,
salt meal rnush, alnost-coffee made out
of steamed ehicory-not boiled. II it was
real coffee il would cost too damned much.
Then you go out and clean bright work.
There's call for muster at $50, which you
have to put on clean whites for. Then
there's the drills, after which you close all
water-tight compartments and batten down
matches until II o'clock.
You're liable 70 lie around until seven
bells, 80 O'Clock, when you have to r1uss
around gettin' the mess gear on the table
You get through mess at 12:15, and at l
o'clock it's pipe down white clothes. That's
sailor spiel for taking clothes off wash line.
They let you play cards after that until
$50, when it's mess gear again; same
stunt with dishes for tea LAST night we
had potato salad. canned salmon. bread
and butter almost tea-they call it tea
water-and some kind of cake One night
we had pretty good cake. Then there's a
OF or call for
hammocks, and at o'clock you're sup
posed 10 be dead TO the world
Take seven days Of that. and the most
amusing experience on earth couldn't
make you enjoy tt"
Used a Substitute for Powder.
What did you learn"
That the best thing to do was TO keep
off the IRON replied the man from the
Nebraska. Instead of putting powder
in the guns We used bean bags of the same
weight We had four mix-ups on the Ne
braska on account Of some rookies-that 9
new sailors trying to do each other And
we had q storm coming home off Cape
Hatteras Most of the fellows kept from
being seasick-
I'VE got 81 20 q day for ten days, and
spent most of it at the candy canteen
The tobacco was 40 cents a foot-so tough
YOU had to chop it with sledge. We
wouldn't have been burnt much, only
an order came from the flagship Connecti-
cut from the fleet surgeon for all of us 10
take off white bIouses and wear under
shirts They We're looking for mutilated
underwear. They located some, and we
got scorched-
Captain r P. Forshee. commanding the
Brooklyn naval militia, said last night
that the trip to south Of Bermuda and
back had been of great benefit to all the
militiamen. No stop was made. The men
were instructed in the loading and hand
ling of s, and Il inch guns although no
actual 5ring was done. The fleet was un-