New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-21
The Navy in the Early ;
Memories of a Landsman Who Sn,t
Many Happy Days With 1t
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: My agreeable critics to the contr.,~
notwithstanding, the Lancaster, when bpln
and for many years after that, was carr.s
on the navy list as "steam sloop."
May indulge in bit Of ancient his.orv>,
When was a law clerk in the Office Of S.,.t
tor Evarts my uncle, then Captain Gher,rs
was in command of the receiving ship Co,s.
RADIO at the New York Navy Yard. and n...
happy day did | spend on board her q
1879. 1850 and 1881. On the port side OF "A.
gun deck, between the last gun and the b,v
masters Office, was an open space, with
port, where in the evening the senior ofie,,,
Of the ship, and occasionally of the yard ana
from other ships, would meet and ss,,
yarns, and !. though landlubber was Il.
lowed to join the circle.
There we're my uncle, the paymastef, IL.
chaplain more nautical than a sailor, for 4.
never turned to the right or left in a s,-,s
but to starboard or port!). a Mustang" CON.
msnder Chat was the designation among Of.
GERS of sea captains, for example, who had
obtained commissions in the navy during, n,
war;. remember Harmony, who recentlv
died, being there, and many others. Thsr.
were lot of bent wood armchairs viii
wicker seats; a brass-bound bucket with ssns
in il; and from deck beam was swunra
lantern with a hole in the glass, the reguhs,
tion smoking lantern from which, with paper
lighters, cigars and pipes were liz. There N
a congenial circle the old salts would sit ana
swap yarns about the war and the sea, never
mentioning anything horrible and lever
speaking Of death or wounds.
There learned great deal about the ia
navy, and years afterward | read in the book
of an old salt, Grover Cleyelands partjcusr
crony, great many sea tales which had
supposed were connected with others: but
guess it is just as well TO have them prs.
served as Evans did. Alongside Of Us VIVA
the huge af.er-capstan with It's water buckets
and some shot on its upper rims the vds
gangways leading 70 the spar deck there
were capstan bars, hammers, swabbers, and
| know not what else in the way Of para.
phernalia which have belonged 10 an old.
fashioned warship, since adam was an
oakum boy in Chatham Yard" the Old
sailors put ii.
On Board the Colorado
As write this in my library | can smsn
the curious odor that drifted through Ii.
ports from Havemeyer's sugar works; ] eat
hear the old ship creak and feel her msye
as the swells of passing steamer reached
her; ! can hear the drum and fife playing
the well known airs just before taps; and
can see as the gun went Off at o'clock, ths
orderly come to attention and report: Vine
o'clock. lights and fires out, sir Mr. Jones
requests an extension Of ono hOurs
Granted" the captain would say, and II,
interrupted story would go on, like that Of
the sailor who went into the turret OF mon-
itor off Charleston and took with him, agans.
orders, a lantern so as to read a sweethear's
letter; how the Confederates fired a. Tho
port hole through which the light showed
how the shot went into the turret and, strik.
ing the inner wall. went shooting around
the turret at furious rate until, its velocity
spent. it rolled harmlessly onto the deck
while the sailor, scared 70 death, dropped
off the gun slide through the hstchway 10 the
deck below with the lantern and the lettsf.
Or how a ship returned TO the blockading
squadron and, after reporting TO the senior
officer signalled "ifteen-two" an agreed on
signal to my uncle for game Of cribbsr,
Of which he was an inyeterate er-ands
GOOD one. Or more serious yarns Of the
passing of the Mississippi forts or the battle
of Mobile, in both Of which actions my uncle
took part.
deck to look up my friend Fiske, one Of the
Junior officers. We talk electricity, for his
mind was already working on new problems
sailor comes up the gangway triHe ~
steadily, he satisfies Fiske that he can wall
a crack in the planks, and Fiske enters
cabalistic-looking c. S. P. (cleaa, sober sto
punctuaD in the log And ], getting slesT
90 aft where my uncle greets me win;
Better turn in, my boy, or you'll get hri
Columbia at the Office in the morning ~
being late" And turn in, in a most cog,
Portable cabin, watch a stray cochroaeh ros@
along the ceiling, hear the ships bell striss
four bells, and the sentries on Cob Does
begin to call: Number one-AlPs VEN
Number two-Alls wel!!" Number three
but | am asleep and don't wake until ns
bugle calls all too early in the morning
GHERARDI DAVIS
/ New York, Nov. If, 1917.