The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1917-11-13

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with a valuable cargo.
| took two or three watches while
I on board, with the gobs, and enjc =
ed ,ile WORK thoroughly. The wel-
ther was ideal--a rare thing aio: g
! the coast in this region. Most of t. e
time there is rain and fog and Oft n
! heavy storms which make the WOE *
NOR edTudgery than play. With a
single exception, this trip was Tie
only fair-weather voyage they h d
i made in many weeks. L could We'll
imagine the extreme hardships ard
discomfor these crews must under
go when storms are raging in the G
sturdy but small fighting ships, ,whic h
were built for inland pleasure eruis-
ing, not for use IN the toughest Wa
ters known to shipping. 1t is en-
these occasions, as one OF the sailors
told me, that meals can be eaten Oh
ly by standing up with a sandwich in
one hand, aud hanging onto a pot
or railing with the other. And sanu-
Wiches are all they can get at suca
times as these. 1t is then the sob S
thoughts turn TO the time when he
will be safe in port tif he gets back
for d shower and good hot dinner
DIT lttS 1 NJ. \. les vi GtII, DIS III =
particular sailor told me, adding:
Maybe you don't think it seen. 5
good to get into that hot shower
there at the 'Y' after you've been
out on this job for several days"
Il took a watch up in the crows
nest that evening, and the rocking Z
of the boat at that height felt like
the cradle probably did years age.
the swell was not excessive. the thou
ght occurred to me that it would not
be an especially safe ascent or de-
scent in those rough-weather days,
and l admired those boys still more,
since many of them are almost as
much landlubbers as myself. But
they like the crows nest watch. Il
is when it is some ones turn to
'holystone" the deck that some kick
ing might be heard. This is thor
ough process of cleaning the deck all
spick and span First, sand is
sprinkled all over, then water hosed
On and then the "hollystone" USED
very vigorously. The holystone is 4
brick cut in half, and does an effec
tive job.
| took two meals the second daw
out with the fo'castle crew, or the
deck force. These are mostly college
men. Some expert gunners have dc
yeloped in this unit; one in particu
lar-Lee-whom the boys claim can
hit a periscope at anything within
5000 yards. Here 1 learned a new
eXpression-"Do l rate another cup
of coffee there, cook?"-I heard L
young husky from Northwestern
University inquire. That use of tbs
word rate" seemed to be populal
when one wanted to find out what
was coming to him.
The hammock hunks here were in
layers of three deep, similar to the
BLACK Gang" quarters. and the light
was dim.
During the night shots were heard
from one of our fellow patrols which
had gotten a glimpse of the enemy.
But in this case the enemy was toe
far away or there was too little
him showing up, to do any damage
Large sea-planes swoop over the
sea to spot the ehemy. They travel
at high speed, and the whirrins
noise of their motors can be heard
at almost all times of the day.
These machines and the observer bal
looms perform a splendid service Ill
sighting the dreaded mines as well as
the submarines. They are able from
their height above the water to sec
objects considerably below the sur
face. Any bits of wreckage floating
about, masses of oil On the surface.
or long white streaks denoting the
recent presence of U-boat which
has left its wake behind after sub
merging, are quickly noticed by the
sharp eyes of these aerial guards.
Later in the voyage l was invited
to mess with the chief petty officer
in their quarters, called the &c. P
O. Quarters" These are the chiei
machinist's mate. chief boatswain'a
mate quartermaster and others. Nee
essarily they are men OF practica-
marine experience. They mess be
low the deck also, and their small
bunk rooms are arranged around the
mess table. In this mess, as in thai
of the BLACK Gang" and the fo'cas~
tie crew, the food is cooked amid
ships and brought to each mess by
one of the gobs. There are two
messes, so that those on watch are
relieved and can get their Chow
When watch is split in two this
way, it is called "dogging the watch,
i. e., a dog watch" is only half as
long as the regular watch.
AS the time drew near for me to
leave this congenial company, it was
brought home to me that had never
seen such pleasant relationships as
those existing on board between the
officers of the ship, the c. P. O.'s ana
all of the men, both fore and aft
There is almost a family feeling
among the crew, and the very one
who may appear to get 'cussed" at
the most, such as, for example, the
good-natured chap called Red, ,"whc
it seemed to me had one of the
hardest jobs on the ship-namely,