Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-10-29
LIFE OF COAST GUARD
SKIPPER DESCRIBED
HIS Lunch Wakes Him Up at All
Hours OF Night to Set
Things Right.
HAS STOCK IN BRAIN TRUST
Does Not Often Visit Admiralty With
suggestions Meant to Reform
Whole Institution, and, in Consc-
Gucncc, Is Always Welcome There.


CUTTER AT SEA. October 2S.-ln and
OUT OF the wardrpom. you may come
ana 60 For the wardroom houses on
nno me e, one and half SHIPPERS and the
O,ic hirpers But into the cabin YOU
may not go. unless the orneriy enters
, nrs,' For the CABIN houses the cap
Now the young gentlemen Of the
mhrdroom arc only in the process OF
nakiinE their several marks in the
ncrSlcc. But the captain has already
made his mark. So.at the base-hc
Zines In tho s'nteful solitude of a
gray magazine covered with gray
SPLINTER mattresses. and "a black stew
AZ sea. however. the captain rarely
secs the cabin. 1t is only in those areas
tak sea In which he deems 1t safe TO
1ypscrVe the ritual OF the morning bath
i nhn rest rest Of the day 1and nighO. you
abaft the charihouse. or in the tween
hght at dawn and dusk. on the bridge
HAS RErGTATION OF BEING
HARD But SQUARE BOSS
re Is physical giant with "a huge
cnin and the reputation among his
rev, rev. OF being hard and an ever
iastingly square boss for whom 10
,"oIk. When you sec him ON the
bridge. his gold and blue cap towering
"tfiar,y TO the l2w awning ana his chin
under the low visor OF his cap. YOU
Know at once that you looking at
me, me nnest type OF seafaring man. He
molus rev shares Of stock in the
brain Trust. He has no use for walk
Ing Ing sticks and kindred ,fopperics. He
- IN England lac usually goes up TO
LONDON: and once in "A while he goes
;hoslIy' however. he proceeds on the
,ncory that any ideas which occur TO
MN , have been submitted to the Ad-
iniralty several hundred times before
nc happened TO think Of them As ::
result when he does show up at the
admiralty, Admiral Dun is glad TO see
lea Among :, the celes'ials who talk Of a
fcssnn OF nations. he is self-con-
the almighty gums the security or
SiF't1lzaton and scores OF faiths have
,, re has put behind him thirty un-
otenlshed years OF sea service. many
where the year il divided into Ten
months winter and Two months bad
n mvaiinet;; Ihis afternoon, in :, com
naun!cativc humor. he spoke lightly Of
some OF the young captains who are
!",nnains their way 10 sea nowadays
ms own sea going days bark back TO
INC time when wardroons weren', the
Those were the distant days when the
executive officer was boss of the ward
room in practice as we'll as i'm theory,
"hcn no Office. dared wear his cap
INTO the wardroom nor speak in laven-
DER DER ianguase lie imagined tina, il he
some business ashore tina, he had put
iyo. On ships; he might have, been
were rich men whom he knew ashore
and who had told him time and again
that they envied him He had nothing
whole, he presumed ii was true that
s hsd rather IN have sea job than a
once who didn't know the first thing
ABOUT 'Ae sea This banker happened
one night. and tho banker had asked
him how II was that a sea captain
was hhic TO take !, strange ship ana
a l.a'.l
before. " - ''e'' -
appalling" said the captain.
LUNCH WOKE HIN
AT TWO IN THE MORNING
now and ne uses glasses TO read by.
but he can far off at sea as any
OF, his crew. He has lunches occasion
ally. mysterious impulses that move
him, apparently no cause whatever to
get UP on the bunk in the emergency
cabin and go up n The bridge. IL had
day morning He had green watch
officer standing the midwatc and he
mad put his executive officer on the
bridge to stand it with him. out of
sound sleep. his hunch woke him. He
And he found that instead of his ships,
being in her right station. she had
the convoy. where she stood eX-
ccilcnt chance Of getting herself run
down. or OF running somebody else
What are You trying to do with the
ship: ne asked his officers and added
we all have our little troubles That
is one OF his.
ordinarily when his convoy is in
good formation. their barnlikc bows
slowly rising and falling astern Of him
beneath the silver vci!s Of the sea. YOU
Around the head OF his bunk here. lac
has at his fingers tips: speaking
iey the red d' tin hoS OF toba am" s ais
wife sent him from Boston. along with
pile OF saturday Evening Posts Che
gets bundle Of them every time he
touches the base and it takes him most
Of his time at sea 10 keep up with
deviation tables for steering. "A calen-
dar. the omnipresen; blue bulb for a
night-ligh, and SC, OF those gray
graphic Office lists the pilot lights on
every coast III the world. FOL, furni
table. a small writing i table =" viii, h''h his
night order book on il "a white. lin
oleum- coyered volume which looks
weighted with lead to make it sink at
once. should it have to be thrown over
board to avoid capturc): and his locked
cipher chest dashed to the bulkhead.
weighted at tho bottom with scrap iron
and lead. and with holes bored in ts
sides to make il fill quickly.
TAKES HIS DAILY FORTY
WINKS AFTER LUNCHEON
Here you will find him usually,
stretched out on his bunk in the Amen
Corner, smoking q pipe over the Sat
urday Evening Post. and there are
those among his officers who prefer not
10 remain one second longer than
necessary in that rolling. air-tight,
smokc blue emergency room with him.
However, he doscn't always smoke
after luncheon. II is then he usually
takes his daily forty winks.
Hc dosen't pine too excessively for
submarines to sink. This is not all
10 say that he wouldn't welcome
change occasionally, in readiness for
which he keeps his crew on tiptoe
with a daily general quarters drill and
depth charge drill every watch But
his first business is to get his convoy
through. He knows II and, without
his making any talkec-talkcc about It,
one knows that he feels little pride
at not having lost q skip so far. There
arc times when il has required 4 little
tact to achieve this record. They tell
OF one instance in. particular. II is
necessary to mention first. however.
that these arc days when the navy is
required to say please TO the Mcrcan
Tile Marine. For nearly all the skip