Bridgeton pioneer., 1916-08-31
PLENTY OF WORK
FOR Sea ROCKIES
So Busy That They Do MOI
Have Time to Write Letters.
ROUTINE OF DAILY LIFE.

s., Before Breakfast-Firing Guns anc
Drilling Show Need of Proper Train.
ing, Such as They Are Getting a
! Present.
The first of the John Paul Jones
cruises for civilians on the reserve ships
| of the Atlantic feet has seen adven
ture subsiding'into work. At least it,
that way on the Virginia, which car.
| ried 800 odd recruits from Boston.
Efficiency demands that under wal
conditions the men fire three shots a
| minute. 1t takes ten to man a twelve
| inch gun, from the shell men down
! in the hold, four decks below the tur-
ret, to the pointer above. 1t took the
civilian crew just five minutes from
"hoist away" to fire" Yet trained
crew goes through it all in twenty
| seconds, shell after shell, to the end
1t was a better lesson than any amour,
of preparedness talks in the necessity
of trained men. 1t is scientific job
this one of being modern fighter, re
quiring the proper coordination OF
brain and hand and eye and nerve
That is what the training cruise is fo'
to get men ready so that preciou
months need not be spent in teachinc
men to shoot.
The Boat Drill.
For boat drill the men are divide,
into regular full crews. They ma!
the davits and lower away and maj
the oars and row away. Among tht
rockies are half of Harvard's frs
crew men: Herrick, Harwood, Whit
and Allen. They are in the same boat
and there are eight other men in til,
boat with them. The oars are narrow
and the seats don't slide. 1t is half
the Drawn that rowed Yale off the wa
ter last June.
But somehow" as one man sadl
remarked, ''it doesn't seem the same
But the observers can see the evi
dence of the trained oar. struggling fl .
form" in the numbering clumsineS
of the ships boats.
Then there are the old rockies, me;
who rowed on the long sweeps whel
the Virginia was yOungster. The.
are accumulating good bit of eXtr;
weight amidships and show a roll
they walk. But they are game an
pull at the oars as they did an th;
winning varsity in '03 or so. The,
come in putting and played out afte
practice row. but there is the lighi
of excitement in their eyes, whicl
comes from living over again well re
membered times.
They are men-of-war's men now; ev
cry one of these 800 recruits. They
rise at to the bo'sn's pipe tumblinc
out of their hammocks six feet to the
floor. They lash their hammocks in
the required nautical way with the re
quired number of bitches. Then they
roll up their broad legged sailor pants
to the knees and swab down the decks
with cold sea water. They polish brass
and wash paint, as though their very
existence depended on the job.
Millionaire Washing Brass.
1t might be funny to see a man
whose fortune runs to millions shining
brass in way that would not earn
him 50 day. Yet you know that brass
polishing is not his goal. That is Incl
dental to the larger work of being pre-
pared to help on a big man-of-war III
time Of danger.
After cleaning comes breakfast and
after breakfast assembly, with setting
up exercises. From that to gun prac
tice they go Immediately, then to boat
drill, to classes Of special instruction tc
| torpedo defense stations, taking barely
time for bite of dinner in between
They are trying to teach the recruits
the utmost it is possible to learn in the
time of the cruise, and every minute is
| precious.
Il don't even get time to write a let
ter" says one dapper sailor plaintively
| Il have written Dear Ethel five times
and that is as far as 1 get"
| From turn to- at Of the gra,
morning to "taps" at 8 Of the weary
night the men work and learn. The.
are displaying a remarkable quickness
for the mechanism Of gun and ships
The days are full of work, but they are
also full of accomplishment.
II don't know what to do with m,
men," said the commanding officer O.
another vessel of the fleet to the cap
tain Of the Virginia.
Keep 'em at work." Captain Jack
son advised him.
Not that life is all work for the rook
les. Morning and evening a boom /
rugged from the side of the ship slor
ing down to the water, and down i
the men go to swim. Probably half O
them go in the water. The other hal
lean over the sides and cheer III
water is cold and very salty. II.
swimmer stays too close to the side;
the ship a little wave will come a.
slap him against the hard armor p'af.
Therefore most of the men SWIM On
! followed by a lifebOat.
Who said men do not live well in f.,
navy? Asparagus on toast, steak
roasts, grapes, oranges. cantaloupes-
these are items chosen at rapdn.
from the menu of the last three day