Evening star., 1916-09-06
Aim Could Have Hit Enemy.

Yet it was good enough that, had the
enemy been submarine or a fast tor
pedo boat, 1T could not have escaped
That, after all, is the efficiency needed.
The remarkable. thing was that crews
of average American citizens. perhaps
somewhat over the average in inteili-
gence, perhaps somewhat under in eye
sight and GOODNESS, with but little pre-
imlnary training, should be able to
handle with effectiveness and precision
a delicate instrument of war 1t was a
fortunate augury of what may be done
in time of war with good American
material
which is not as evil as it sounds If
bears no relation to it's more famous
prother OF the army. which aroused
the Ire Of Carrie Nation. The most
popular thing the canteen sells is
late Secretary of State departed not
without some influence
Neck and neck with it in Jacks"
popularity pgnns ssr is is tobacco. Fifteen-cent
cigars cnaa tor sen ~ for cents and quarter
does not extract his little tax from
the sailor boy. and so the thirty-a-
month "gob"-the sailors own name
TOT himseif-smokes a real cigar.
has a tremendous vogue is writing
paper Before he enlisted perha ps
Jackie was like every other man,
writing only when he had to. and
making his communications brief But
here at sea, where there is no visible
indication of the land, where all that
binds man is forgotten, the chains
or memory are unloosed, and the sailor
writes sixteen and twenty-five page
letters to mother, or the dozen sweet
hearts in Newport and Norfolk and
Guantanamo and Frisco
1t docs not matter that the missives
may not be mailed for a week, He
drops them in the postmaster's hoy and
feels relieved. 1t seems that in some
Intangible way communication has
been esta blished with the distant shore.
He has written to her! She knows.
For the same reason, whenever port
turns from trip to shore, every man
who can spare the time will stand in
line for hours. patiently waiting to see
If there is any mail.
They are pretty human, these Jackias
They seem to care just about as much
for their folks as you or the next
man who stays on shore and drives a
pen or cuts coupons for living.
Inspection T1me.
Every day at > each man Is REQUIRED
to assemble on tho quarter deck. there
to pass under the watchful eye Of a
Lieutenant He misses neither broken
shoe lace, nor spots to conceal which
valiant attempts have been made. Be-
cause they arc only imitation sailors.
the rockies are not spared the lash of
the caustic tongue.
And Saturday is a multiplied scrupu-
lousness of attire. That Is the day for
Captains inspection" when the COM
officer walks through the ship
and examines 1T minutely from double
bottom to superstructures. The un-
fortunate who appears on that day
with unpublished shoes or unwashed
uniform is made to feel how small a
thing Is a sailor.
To keep clean on ship means regular
and religious scrubbing of uniforms.
Every day at 4. when work is over,
play begins. The decks are washed
down. Each man brings out his dirty
clothes in a pail of water. lays the
clothes fat on the deck, and on hands
and knees, with brush and soap. in
a slow and even motion like the
movement of a piston. he begins to
scrub.
They all dress in lone pair of
ba thing trunks, which are impregnabl Bile
to soapy water. They scrub and they
job not half SO well, In twice as long.
as the average dollar-a day scrub
woman. But they enjoy it, 1t Is part
of the game.
IT will never swear at my laundry
woman again, vowed one portly gen
tleman, profoundly.
And that is something worth while.
searchlights Turned On.
Now and again. Of nights. the men