Evening star., 1914-02-08
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| NV
- NE Of the most successful cruises
on its own vessel since the Naval
Battalion of the Nationa! Guard
of the District of Columbia was
/ reorganized last spring was
participated in last Sunday by the
officers and enlisted men of the com
mand. 1t had to be. The moving-pic-
ture man was along to click on several
hudred feet of film depicting the
doings of the naval militiamen and every
one aboard the L. S. S. Sylvia did his
best and did it well.
| Promptly at $50, the time set by Com
mander Dempf. Ensign Harold l.. CraW-
| ford, navigator, ordered the lines cast
| off and long blast from the sylvia
siren warned other craft that the naval
militia yacht was backing into the stream
The several trips already made on the
Sylvia have enabled the officers to know
her better and on the trip down Sunday
they handled her with the proficiency
displayed by regular officers
| Ensign Crawford. who navigated the
vessel during the whole trip, handled his
ship In a creditable manner and tndf-
Gated that he had thorough knowledge
| of the channel-way in the Potomac. COX
ter. controlled the Sylvia's helm under
| direction of Ensign Crawford. COM
nander Dempf remained on the bridge
during practically the entire trip leaving
it only for a short period to get lunch
He directed the men in their drills.
| Shortly after the Sylvia had passed the
Jones point lighthouse, just below Alex
| andria, the cry of Fire" rang out from
some part of the ship. and the ships bell
| changed out "a number indicating that the
| fire was on the port side of the bow. In
| stantly men We're hurrying about the ship
| laying line of hose over the port side
| of the vessel. and two minutes after the
| first call Of fire the Sylvia's pumps were
| throwing water over the side of the yes
| sci at the point where the fire was sup
posed to be. All the time the moving
picture man with his camera set right in
the bow of the ship was clicking off his
film.
The ire-drill stations were assigned to
the men the station billets handed
them when they boarded the ship, and
| although every man knew where he was
supposed to be in case fire broke out.
not one aboard except the commanding
officer knew that a fire call was to be
sounded
Then the shriIl notes from the bugle
were heard. this time calling the men Ito
quarters" where there was muster the
movie man all the time spinning the reel
of finn around Then, of course, the pic
ture could not be complete without a view
| of Sausage" the popular mascot of the
battalion, Sausage" as the name might
imply, being dog.
| While the Sylvia steamed down the
river several men were detailed from the
engineers force to overhaul the boiler
of the steam launch belonging to the
battalion. the boiler having been hauled
upon the quarterback of the vessel be-
fore she left. During the voyage the
| work on this part of the launch ma
chinery was completed and the boiler
probably will be reset some time this
week, when the launch again will be
placed in commission for practice work.
| When the vessel reached Glymont, Com
mander Dempf ordered it to put abou
for the return voyage. arrangements
had been made to have her dock at the
| Washington navy yard at go o clock in
a call of Man overheard" was heard
In the after part of the ship. instantly
all was hustle and hustle on the bridge.
The engineer was signaled full speed
| the vessel Lieut.. ". w Burns, who
| was officer Of the deck at the time,
ordered the helmsman to throw the wheel
hard over" SO that the starboard life
boat would be on the leeward side A
heavy wind was blowing and the water
was choppy. Chief Boatswain's Mate
Ward had cast over the life buoy at the
first cry Of man overheard The lifeboat
crew was mustered and Lieut. Burns
ordered 1t lowered and to put out for the
| supposed drowning man. Time consumed
| from first call of man overheard until
the lifeboat's falls had been let go four
minutes. The movie man was on the
job and the stage had been admirably
set The man" who had caused all
| the commotion was dead" It was a
box In which food for the trip had beer
brought aboard the ship. At any rate,
1t served the purpose of giving the men
| a good drill in handling the lifeboats in
an emergency and the movie man a good
picture Quartermaster Mi Ter was cox
swain of the lifeboat which was launched.
4 Commander Dempf declared that the
moving-picture men took him in almost
every position but standing on his head
Then the men were called to battle
stations where they We're put through
the work of loading and firing the Syl-
Was guns. When Mount Vernon was
reached seamen were ordered to stand
by the ''colors' and the ships bell When
abreast the resting place Of George
Washington the bell was tolled and the
Stars and Stripes were dipped. while sail
ormen manned the ships rails.
various other things were taught to
the naval militiamen. They were taught
how TO read the taffrail log which tells
the speed at which the vessel is travel
ing; they were taught also how to stand
lookout" watch. how to read the com.
pass. and last. but most important in
steamng over pilot waters, how to heave
the lead.
Below the decks the members of the
engineers force learned the workings OF
naval machinery, learned how to fire and
other matters in connection with the care
of the vessel.
The officers who made the trip were
Commander Joseph A. Dempf command
ing the Naval Battalion and the sylvia
Lieut. w Granville Guss. executive Off
Ger; Lieut. w. w. Burns, commanding
second division: Ensign Harold w. Craw-
ford. first division; Ensign William r.
Hoefer ordnance officer; Ensign Frank w.
sieourney, commanding third division:
Lieut. Charles NJ. Smithson, chief engi-
. neer: Ensign F. l.. Nudge. commanding
fourth division (engineers), and Ensign
Paul V. Thompson. fourth division.
The vessel docked at the navy yard
promptly at the time set by the com
mandant of the yard for her to be there.
After the vessel had been docked, Com
mander Dempf declared that he believed
that the trip was one of the most in
struetive which had been experienced
by the battalion for long while. He
added that the only way for the Off