Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-25

a FER two weeks at sea aboard
IN one of Uncle Sans mighty bat
~ tie ships. nearly $50 excellent
male housekeepers were turned
loose into the District of Columbia,
with knowledge of homework such
as their mothers or their wives could
not have impaired in whole lifetime.
They couldn't get their attention long
enough, but when those sailors stepped
aboard the United States hattleship
Kearsarge for a two-week cruise it
was a case of everybody working and
giving his undivided attention to de-
tails. Every man looks out for himself.
and the officers look out for all,
These men. who are the citizen sal IL
ors OF the District of Columbia the re-
serve naval force upon which the Unit
I'd States can rely when the call to arms
is sounded. did everything aboard the
shin from cooking to cleaning house.
with a wash day thrown In every day
for change. And they kept them
selves and their part Of the house
clean. To lay back on the job meant
double duty when the busy officers
found time to catch up with the shirker
It was work practically day and night
for those citizen sailors from the time
they came over the side of the ship at
Hampton roads the morning of July 3
until they had returned there July Is.
after a voyage up around Long Island
a day at target practice and few
hours liberty in New York city. They
worked in every part of the ship. from
the depths of the engine and boiler
rooms to the decks, around the guns
and in the galley. where the savory
dishes for the crew were prepared.
But 1t took those citizen-sailors from
the District some hours to get used
to the things aboard, to shake down..
as they say in naval parlance. The
navy has language all its own and
every citizen sailor has to take a post
graduate course in naval English. Take
the English language. or a few words
of it. throw 1t into a twelve-inch tur-
ret. give it ar extra charge of powder
and send it through the guns back
ward and you have the correct naval
language that will pass muster for
sailorman.
But the District boys in about four
days could speak it just as well as an
old salt sail, who had put putt, about two 70
the service. They could say "on the
top side" without even thinking of up
stairs. and below" when they meant
to go down. In the first place. they
don't have starways in the navy-they
have matches. and you can't very well
go down stairs except under the jeers
of the experts in naval language.
While those District sailors were
aboard the ship they ranSabout every
thing with the exception of the cap
tains abin. and they might have gone
after that except that it Is sacred
ground where both angels and fools
fear to tread. Commander Dempf
commanding the local jackies, kept that
part of the ship running with his funny
stories.
Up at four bells-6 o'clock-in the
morning watch. there is a flushing of
human systems with large amounts of
black coffee. and the eyes open wide.
the better to take in the large amount
Of work to be done during the day.
For then the days work begins. There
comes the slushing of water about the
decks and the grind. grind, grind of
the holystones could be heard scratch
Ing back and forth across the decks
Somebody always looked for the easy
job there. That was handling the hose.
These otherwise clerks and professional
men in civil life just rolled up their
blg-bOttomed trousers with the rest of