The Washington herald., 1914-07-10
PLAY VS.. WORK
ON MAN-O-WAR.
District Naval Militia Is Hav-
ing its Taste Of Both
During Cruise.
COOK HAS HIS TROUBLES
With the Rhode Island at Sea Off
GERS put Everything in ship
Shape"
BY IRWIN HARBOUR,

Stan Correspondent with District Naval Battalion
On Board Battleship Rhode Island al
Sea (via Lewes, Del) July s.-Roaming
around the ship awhile ago. who should
pop I'D but old Sam Sam is a sea cook
Of long experience. and an African bru'
nette as regards complexion. He also Is
the exponent of numerous dishes noted
in fo'castle circles.
Working hard, Sam?" we inquired.
''Yass sab, oh, yes sah." Sam was in
deadly earnest. These here young mer
We took on board -Sho'ly knows how. to
eat"
''seasickness has passed. and Sans
definition Just about covers II. The naval
militiamen who are coming back to
Washington in ten days or so, all loaded
down with information about how to
run one Of our Uncle Sans battleships
also will know q thing or two about
carrying cargo. This life on the water
does give one an appetite.
Lots of Pep, Too.
Along with the returning appetites the
boys have developed a lot Of the old
pep. We were up on deck, looking al
the sad sea waves a while ago. when a
lot of young men came rushing toward
US in what looked to be the good old
cane rush style we have seen somewhere
before. We sidestepped nimbly and
sought a companionway, but the men
suddenly spread out and each shot into
place at a station along the rail like
bolts into a socket.
II was lust one Of the drills through
which the naval reserves are put many
times daily Fire drills. collision drills,
all kinds of drills, and the militiamen
are catching on as II they hadn't been
doing anything but drilling all their lives.
Today the gun crews put in Ions
trick in the turrets. They practiced on
both the three-inch and siX-inch guns
Practice at the searchIights placed to
protect the ship from torpedo attack at
night also is part Of the routine.
For leisure moments they have band
on board, and the men gather to listen
to the musicians in the evening. One OF
the District Battalion. John Suraci, has
been assigned to the band, and Is splitting
barbershop chords with the best of them.
Suraci's persuasion in the musical line
is a cornet and a cornet is all right out
of doors.
.1Movies'' on q warshiP.
We whiIed away an hour or so at the
movies" last night. Whaddgemean
movies? Just the same as they have in
the PENNSYLVANIA avenue nickleodeOns
and along the Ninth street rialto. The
movies" on shipboard are shown on
deck, and are a pleasant feature OF the
long summer evenings.
They are different from the movies we
see on land. however, in that there is
not much blood and thunder and more
instructive pictures. Travel scenes,
weekly news" pictures, and films along
that line take the place Of the James
Boys Last Stand" and THE Terrors Of
the Beautiful Cloak Model"
Down IN the engine room, division OF
the District Battalion's engineer division.
is shoveling coal at rate of about a
ton a minute or something Hike that,
and the good ship Rhode Island is plow-
ing steadily ahead in the general direction
Of Bermuda, where the British lion holds
forth in all his pristine glory.
There are so many officers from the
various divisions of the District. North
Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
reserves that each has to stand only a
short watch. The watches have been
divided up evenly between them, and at
night officers of the Rhode Island stand
watch with the citizen-sailors. The daily
press news" has just come in by radio
Somewhere in the still night air we hear
Jimmy Sullivan asking What's the
score?''