The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1918-04-19
IMPRESSIONS OF A ROOKIE.
by One of Them

While life in the Navy is by no
means a bed of roses for the man
who possesses to the full the saving
sense of duty that is so necessary,
still he has a pretty good time of it
taking it all in all. There are GER
tain drawbacks and embarrassments
to be encountered always by the raw
and innocent recruit. Not the least
of these is his outraged sense of mod
esty when for the first time, he dons
his uniform and becomes a regular
F"Gob." The decolfette effect of the
sjurper is to say tire least, discour-
tagging, and upon hrs first appearance
lin public he experiences much the
same feeling that N to the "sub
Edeb" when she first appears upon the
.Edazzled gaze of a Bored and blase 500
sciety, in her first IOw-necked party
(dress.
His "sea-goinE" hat gets on his
nerves too. 1t seems so inadequate
and juvenile soE,efiuw, and when he
meets a lady of his acquaintance, as
if his too apparent panic were not
enough, he fir5s himself clutcnafrg
m2dly at the caepty space where his
hat brim used W be in days of pore,
in a vain attempt to acknowledgement
situation within his Former galThntry
and Ease of manner which had mark.
ed him among his companion =. ever
in early youstk as n "perfect. little
gentleman"
Then theirs. are the trousers which
have a peculiar habit of haaping. in
\ the breeze and advertising 70, the
! world the magnitude of hiss number
| nine Shoes. These trousers. are pro.
vided with q perfect cffbuttonss
| and the combination to eac3,one must
be learneil infinitely before, he can he
expected to get into then, in proper
form within the space OF thirty rai,l-
utes OF so. They are g4Sdl trousers,
enough, but even at taat, they an
far from being the latest thing from
Pica@iiiy.
Insariably, the newly" uniformed
Geo" believes himself 70, be the
ceater of all eyes, when he Erst at.
ten1pts to negotiate his old haunts
in the strangely fMting garments
which have been wished On him BY
la kindly and b~enessolent government
Abut the time comes when he no Longer
lminds the innocent and interested
FStsIC " CHC pdSoCI-Dys s2Iu OCSAilo u
feel the first stirring Of a deep afs
soul-inspiring pride that he is one Q;
those who has been chosen to serv'
his country in the hour when tina
country needed him most. He get
so he DONE feel right in his "civvies,
and thougk be may have been in onl
two weeks, you will see him swim
along in the best imitation he Ca
muster, of the old timers, whose FIRE
and rolling gait, marks him at ono
as a born sailor.
In time he grows to love the uni
form which at first caused him S
much trouble and embarrassment. ]
J seems to shout aloud to all the worlt
I"Here is one who is doing his BIZ
: No Stacker about that guy. He is tn
!. kind we're depending on to give Kai.
er Bill and the rest of the Huns whs
is coming to them. We're prOu
of him, and here's our hand on it.
Never has patriotism run so high j
his veins before, for he knows tn
eyes Of the whole world are upon hin
} and that all the nations on cart
know he will uphold the splendid an
Immortal example of those men VIII
found it the greatest nation in tn
history of the human race.
After all, the uniform he wears
but the badge of pride and trust b,