Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-05-21

the nineteenth century in all walks of
British life as compared with the very
general sobriety of the present day.
In the first twenty years of her reign
inebriety was the fashion among all
classes of the population, temperance
an abnormality, and the expression
drunk as lord" no mere figure of
speech. Since 1860 intoxication has
been frowned upon by society as bad
form and intolerable vulgarity, and
the masses have taken their cue from
the classes in the matter.
Within year after the accession of
Edward VII to the crown he caused a
notification to be quietly issued to the
officers Of the navy and army that he
would feel himself just as much hon.
ored by their drinking his health in
water as In wine or spirits. At the
mess dinner of every British regiment,
save the Black Watch, and on board
every British warship the toast Of "the
king is given each night of the year
1t Is a custom dating from the end
of the seventeenth century, when SYM
pathy for the lost Stuart cause was
widespread and it was considered nee
essary to require officers Of the army
and navy to pledge each day in this
fashion their loyalty to William and
Mary, to good Queen Anne and to the
British sovereigns of the house of
Hanover. Some secret adherents of
the Stuarts used to compromise mat
ters with their conscience by toasting
the sovereign over their finger bowl,
SO as to satisfy themselves that they
were drinking the health not only of
the monarch In London but of the king
over the water''-that is to say, the
exiled James II at the court of st.
German, and his son and grandson,
known as the Old and Young Preten-
ders, respectively. For this reason the
use Of fngerbowls was prohibited in
most naval and military messes, and
even to this day it is contrary to Ell
quette to have them appear on the din
ner table when any member of the
reigning family of England is present.
If the Black Watch refrain from Civ
ing this daily toast of "the king" at
their mess dinner, it is because, hav-
ing been raised to fight the Stuart,
they have always claimed that their
loyalty to the English house of Hano-
yer was above suspicion.
While the daily ration Of grog to the
crew is still continued on British war
ships (although long since abandoned
In hn MT th dir
commanders have strict instructions
that in lieu of the double allowance of
spirits formerly served out to the
crews when going into action, not
drop Of alcoholic liquor, no matter
whether spirit, wine or malt, is al
lowed among the officers and men
when there is any fighting to be done.
In order to slake the thirst engen-
dered by the heat, exertion and smoke
inseparable from naval combat, sup
plies of oatmeal and water for drink
ing are arranged all over the ship.
This is, of course, very radical de-
parture from the former practise. But
it is a step which has been rendered
imperative by the extreme Importance
of sighting, with the utmost degree
of exactitude, the guns, upon the pre-
cision of which the success Of every
action at sea depends. In naval en-
gagements there is little boarding to
be done in these times of ironclad war
fare. 1t is no longer necessary to pep
per the hull of man-of-war full Of
small shot-holes in order to sink
her. This can be achieved by one
single well-directed shot from any of
the great guns with which the warship
Of the present day is armed. Every
thing, therefore, depends upon the pre-
cision Of the gunnery, and the bellig-
erent whose every shot carries is
practically certain to win the day.
Admiral Lord Charles Beresford,
when last here, during a conversation
with me on the subject, laid stress on
the fact that the prize gunners of the
Mediterranean feet which, when I'M
der his command, made such a sensa-
ttonal record in gunnery, were all men
who did not drink, and who were,
therefore, able to shoot with more pre-
cision than those whose pulse was in
the least bit quickened by a stimuIant.
But total abstinence Is merely encour-
aged-not enforced.
Similar conditions prevail In the
Japanese navy, and whereas in that of
Great Britain inebriety was formerly
treated with relative indulgence, 1t is
now punished with such great severity
as to put stop virtually to all heavy
drinking among the officers The lat
ter do not have to be completely in