Putnam patriot., 1914-05-08
A Smart Ship in the
 Old Days
Harships Went Back 10 Salls After ihe GYa Var. Ehieh Was Fought
 Unaer Steam
Stirring Account of a Cruise and
 Mooring

Tal is D. N- TfOA bAA1 -tEA A
 York Evening POstI
 IL seenas incredible tO us Of the pres ent day, when ships are mastless and sails unknown, that the moment ths Civil War gas oyef--A war fought ca the water under steam be is femem. bered-the navy went back to canvas and looked 10 the winds for motive power. Yet such is the fact. To bum eoai was so grie1ous sn offence In tbe eyes of the authorities that for years The captain was obliged to enter in the logbook in red ink his reasons for get ting up steam and starting his engines. While target practice was not neglect ed altogether, and a certain number Of rounds had 10 be 90 fired each quarter, officers made their own and their ships regulations by smsrtness at drills with sails and spars.
 Every morning in port, when the coiors were hoisled at eight o'clock, there was an evolution Of some soft-- such & sending up to lo'galisnt masts, crossing to'galIsnt and royal yards, Iooslng ,sall to bowiine, etc. At seven bells in the forenoon watch or sI two bells ln the afternoon watch the sails would be furled, the yards squaF- ed, the rigging hsuled taut, and the ends femished leoiled} down On deck. Then the ship, immacuiately clean within and without, awning spread exercises over, all hands would settle down 10 8 period Of rest and peace, broken only Dy the visitors from shore. When two er more vessels Of the same flag were in pori, rivalry became in- tense. 10 keen II was at times that seemen, when they chaneed to meet on shore, maintained each the proves Of hls own vessel 10 the point Of black eyes and broken heads. Some naval wag has defined esprit de corps as 'tly- ing like h--ll for your own ship Oh, yes, the navy was full Of esprit de corps in those days, just as 1t Is now with this difference. that smart work aloft was tnen the criterion, while now il k the gunnery score.
 Not only were ships fitted with pro pellors that could be hoisted, turning them for the time being into yeritabie sailing craft, but some that had no en- zines at all were sent out to fly the flag in foreign waters. Naturally, the youngsters of that period, of whom l was one, took their cue from their se- niors and held oid.fashioned seaman. ship to be the one professional essen iiaI. To handle ship we'll, 10 read the signs of the weather correctly, to have the sheets close home and the sails taut as a drumhead; to shorten sail in time before he oncoming squali, to brace the yards SO as to profit exact ly by the bTteze, to have your watch Of hundred real sailors well in hand, quick to jump at your order: "Topsaii clew-lines, weather topsail braces" when the gale threatened to increase: to tack ship deftIy without los of headway, fill again on The other course and not fall of before the wind-these were the earmarks Of good naval of- ficer.
 The sailing sloop-of war Portsmouth went into commission at New York early in January, 1889, under the com mand of as competent seaman as ever trod quaTtefdeek the late Com- modore, then Commander, A. A. Sem mes, nephew, by the way, of the mo- torious nrebel piraie, as people called Raphael Semmes, Of the Confederate cruiser Alabama. Although A South erner, too. our captain had stuck loyal. ly by the flag and served with distine- ton during the Civil War. was a watch officer on board the Portsmouth. Among my messmates, a capital set of fellows, too, they were, were Gorringe, who brought the obelisk from Egypt 10 it's present site in Central Park, and Ira Harris, now Inspector of Vessels at New York.
 As we proceeded down New York harbor, recall Cspt. Semmcs's dis gust al finding the pilot to be very deaf.
 "Confound il iH he exclaimed to me, sI never come into or 90 out of New York under charge of pilot who can hear. When | return from this cruise, I'll be hanged fl l let any pilot come on board until know that his hearing is good. have had too much of this thing, and l won't stand II any more. !"
 IL was nearly three years later that, homeward bound, we picked up pilot oil Barnegat during the night, the cap tain being below at the time. He came on deck, as was his custom, al seven o'clock next morning. The elder. ly pilot, all mufIled up In heavy over. coat, wearing a soft xoolen cap, with its ,tabs drawn over his ears, iof the weather was frosty snd biting, wa. pacing the squsrter deck in leisurely fashion.
 "Gcod morning, pilot.
 "Haygn replied the pilot, his hand so his ear.
 nGood Lord They've got me again, the skipper snorted, and hurried helo~ to master his rage.
 We got to sea before fresh north vest gaIe-the thermometer close ts zero-every drop :of spray turning ts Ice e 1t struck hull, deck, or rigging