New Britain herald., 1917-06-18
|AsH0RE WITH JACK
 OFF THE WARSHIPS
Hours Of Liberty Are Crowded
 With Fun and Froic

1veSs vuH0 4cs--lI was two bells Tn tho afternoon watch when the shrill ] triIl of the bos'n's whistles are heard piping the crews of the mighty dreadnoughts to the rails and the eing-song of the bos'n's mates carry out over the water, Liberty party to muster.''
 This is the summons given three times each week to the men of the Atlantic Fleet to take their hodrs of recreation on the immense athletic held provided for them by the Navy League. By the hundreds. on every battleship and cruiser, the youthful, white uniformed Jackies came rush. ing on deck to form into line for the liberty inspection.
 ' Two long white lines form on deck and every man stands rigidly at at |3ention while officers pass along,
 nAr4lng the appearance of each one. sE Their uniforms are spotlessly white. 9TAefr shoes freshly biackened. Off e6fne their little round white caps to
 Asow that their hair is closely No visitor to the fleet fails :4Oa be struck. when he views that line Inspection, with the extreme youth pc the men, their intelligent faces and happy. smart appearance. The aver
 
 Foars and many of them seem barely ftes have passed their 18th birthday
 the date of their enlistment From Eevery state in the Union they hail Ind thousands of item from the far1qs of the middle. west. A col-. leettOn certainly of Americas finest .olntheled on the deck of a floating kE6rtress to form tho first line of the Hu4tion's defense.
 I4sOn every sun tanned face is worn a (hroAd smile in expectation of the |port that the afternoon will bring. Ever the rail, the visitor sees the
 hip's launches bobbing about in the
 eAway with the bowmen holding fast
 . the ships side with their boat thooks. Then the sharp word of command ahgs out on deck and the white line bf sailors begins to move forward e0ward the gangway and tbe men go |qver the side to the waiting launches. Uiscipline begins to oSgive way a little a4 this point, although the coxswain |ofsthe boat is all business as he calls to the bowmen to shove of. The af- recreation has begun. |Ehousands of superfiuously healthy. carefree and very young |Iaen are turned loose. To be sure fAere is the provost guard with their u(pHcAmen's sticks, but that iaednly to h&rd against the chances 6f ugly sbaood developing from the fun,. which doe6@not happen. < Rad on the Canteen. E When the dock at the athletic field . reached the men from the launches AmDte .pe1l melI and immediately begins a raid upon the canteen. Pop. Fl sold faster than corks can be pulled. Tho man who gets anything over the canteen counter fights for 1t. You must come with your change ready or go without. There is too much business to stop b change 1heney.
 k pump receives the overflow from th4 canteen and those who have been sl6ble to spend their money for
 Hay or pop take their chances on
 e1ting tucked under the pump. A
 tmer drives onto the field with
 I'd of watermelons. At 50 cents 6iece his watermelons last about 50 Seonds. A colored cooks helper
 kys a melon and dives into 1t when
 huge hand belonging to a Jackie om an Indiana farm buries the 1arjry's fave into the melon up to his ears. Another ,enterprising farmer brings. some old farm nags on the 1teld to hire them out for gentle IASaass mounts to the sailors. Obvi- pusiy the horses are about as used to their saddles as a hog is to work. But they are hired by the sailors at kny price the farmer asks. A lad aailing from Maine takes his first khance on horseback and slides down he horses neck. His shipmate, yells E him, "Go aft, you fool. go aft
 The thousands of Jackies swarm Syer, the field. Hundreds of them
 reak and run for the beach for
 vim. crowd ot them gather at
 Greet practice with small rifles Six
 2 the ten baseball diamonds are
 romptly put into use by scrub teams. And then more launches from the Aettleships come in bringing the star Geball teams from four of the q 1kttleships. A double-header Is to be played between four of the best teams III the fleet in 8 series to determine lfhe fleet championship. The grand stands fill rapidly and soon they are ,a swelling sea of white suits and red and brown faces as the sailors cheer their ships teams on to victory. Battling good ball is played by these navy teams. The nine men on the AIAmond represent the pick of thousand from a battleship and they Daay with the interest and a good bit of tho money of the whole crew backing them. They train and work 46r months for championship series NtIe this.
 xkIt is the liberality of private Ameri- 3u16f citizens that has given these men - the fleet their big athletic field. 1eEhen the war came on the fleet lost ehe income it usually had for it's kSflsaetic fund from the Guantanamo
 knteen and the Navy League of the
 7nited States offered to lay out
 eId for the men of the fleet. In all BIna,x 11k .a crea haxa heen Qhtaiued.