The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-07-28
What Happens When Several
Hundred Jackies Are Turned
Loose for Shore Liberty.
MAKES FOR The HAPPY SHIP
LiberaIity Of Private citlzens Has
Given Men of the Fleet a Big Ath.
letic Field for Their
Recreation.

watch when the shriIl trill of m
oosns whistles are heard piping tn
crews OF the mighty dreadnaughts r.
the rails and the sing-song cries O
the bos'n's mates carry out over N,
water, Liberty party to muster"
1his Is the summons given thre,
ulhes each week to the men of the At
iahtlc Meet to take their hours of recre
ation on the immense athletic field pro
vioed for them by the Navy league
ny the hundreds, on every battleshir
ana cruiser, the youthful, white-uni.
formed Jackies come rushing on deck
10 form into line for the liberty In.
spection.
Two long white lines form on deck
ana every man stands rigidly at atten-
hon while officers pass along marking
the appearance of each one. Their mi.
tor1ns are spotlessly white. Their shoes
freshly blackened. OF come their lit
ne round white caps to show that their
mar Is closely cropped. No visitor to
me meet fails to be struck, when he
views that line at inspection, with the
extreme youth of the men. their tntelli-
gent faces and happy, smart appear
ance. Inc average age appears to be
less IMAM twenty years and many Of
them seem barely to have passed their
eighteenth birthday on the date of
tnelr enlistment. From every state in
the Union they hail and thousands of
Them from the farms of the middle
West. A collection certainly of Amer
fcas finest gathered on the deck of a
floating fortress to form the first line
pf the nations defense.
of for Day of Sport.
On every sun-tanned face Is worn n
proad smile In expectation of the snort |
That the afternoon will bring. Over
{he rail, the visitor sees the ship's |
punches bobbing about In the seaway
with the bowmen holding fast to the
ships side with their bOathooks. Then
the sharp word of command rings out
pm deck and the white line of sailors
begins to move forward toward the
sangway and the men 60 over the side
TO the waiting launches.
discipline begins to give way q lit
tie at this point, although the cox
swain of the boat Is all business as
ne calls to the bowmen to shove off.
The afternoons recreation has beeun
thousands of superfuously healthy,
absolutely carefree and very young
men are turned loose. To be sure
there is the provost guard with their
policemen's sticks, but that is only to
guard against the chance Of ugly blood
developing from the fun, which does
not happen.
When the dock at the athletic field e
is reached the men from the launches a
tumble out pell-mell and Immediately \
begins q raid upon the canteen. Pop Il
8 sold faster than corks can be pulled. c.
The man who gets anything over the b
'anteen counter fights for it. You c.
must come with your change ready or n
20 without. There is too much busi- RI
less to stop to change money. c,
Watermeions Last Quick.
A pump receives the overflow from b,
ne canteen and those who have been tie
nable to spend their money for candy h
r pop take their chances on getting pl
tucked under the pump. A farmer be
1ves onto the field with q load of re
7atermelons. At so cents apiece his
'atermelons last about fifty seconds. su
colored cooks helper buys a melon 81
nd dives into it when a huge hand err
to Jackie from an Indiana tel
irm buries the dark's face into the gi'
elOn up to his ears. Another enter tn
rising farmer brings some old farm SCI
ags on the field to hire them out for tai
,entlemen's mounts" to the sailors. tel
bviously the horses are about ms to
'ed to their saddles as hog Is to col
ork. But they are hired by the sail
8 at any price the farmer asks. A
d hailing from Maine takes his first
ance on horseback and slides down e %.
horses neck. His shipmate yells 80 80
49, 81 at cha
The thousands Of tackles swarm scr
er the field. Hundreds of them break r
d run for the beach for a swim. A hoo
'wd Of them gather at target prac- The
e with small rifles. Six Of the ten ~.
seball diamonds are promptly put 2 M
0 use by scrub teams. non
md then more launches from the r
come in bringing the star can
'eball teams from four Of the battle and
ps. A double-header Is to be played ing
ween four Of the best teams OF the ern,
t In series to determine the feet N
mpionship. The grand stands fill the
idly and soon they are a swelling legi,
Of white suits and red and brown the
es as the sailors cheer their ships ice
ms on to victory. Rafting good p,
is played by these navy teams. chic
nine men on the diamond repre- on
the pick Of a thousand from a snor
leship and they play with the In an
st and good bit Of the money of "eve
whole crew backing them. They bett.
q and work for months for a cham mol ,
ship series like this. tn
Provides the Happy Ships" dres,
is the liberality of private Ameri- Iepes
citizens that has given these men oner,
he fleet their big athletic field. teleo
n the war came on the fleet lost nhers