Evening star., 1928-12-09
Navy Shudders at Landlubbers' Antics

ABOARD q. 8. 8. MARYLAND (By
MaiD Traditional discipline Of the
United States Navy goes by the boards
when o man-o'-war 10 converted into
ship Of peace and good will.
What pain 1t must have caused some
of the Nays veteran salts to see a
troop of discipline e-fiouting landlubbers
take possession Of one OF Uncle Sans
proudeSt battleships--afid to know they
must be tolerated with the utmost re-
spectl
Newspaper men, for example. arc
| notably defiant of the conventions, &C.
cording to books and plays, and this
defiance includes Navy rules and regu-
lations, all and sundry. With nearly
, 40 representative correspondents turned
loose on one ship, untrammeled by Of
| fee routine, their work lightened by
aggravated by the heat of the tropics,
1t was inevitable that service morale
should suffer.
Maybe the Navy. itself, was partly
to blame for the situation In which
1t found itself. No sooner had the
goodwill party boarded the y. s. 8.
Maryland than each member was hand
ed o nicely phrased pamphlet Of well
come and information, addressed ITO
our guests.
"our mission of this cruise" the
pamphlet said, "is to provide O safe
and comfortable passage to the presi.
the facilities of the entire ship are
placed ct your disposal.
1.-THE officers and crew OF the Mary
| land consider 1t the greatest honor ever
| bestowed upon the ship to be selected
| for this duty, and every hand will do
his utmost to make this cruise success.
ful and enjoyable for you."
Room Boys Furnished.
Furthermore, each guest was advised
| he would have room boy who would
make the bed, handle the laundry. run
errands and otherwise serve as o
| factotum. Most amazing Of all was
the warning that the room boys, who
are Filipino enlisted men, "are not ex-
pected to accept tips, and, expect none"
| There was Just one unhappy note to
| the whole thing--the statement that
meals are not served in the staterooms.
| This was quite blow to some of the
| habitual late risers In the press con-
tingent. ~
planned from the canteen, where one
could purchase anything from razor
blade to camera, to nightly movies on
the quarterback, showing the very latest
feature productions from Hollywood.
There was a stern injunction in the
little circular. It read: "Air ports below
the main deck are very close to the
water line and must be kept closed at
all times eft sea and In port"
Most Of the newspaper men overlook
ed that little paragraph altogether, 1t
seems, for the very first thing any OF
them did on establishing themselves In
their quarters was to take q wrench,
unscrew the nuts sealing the port and
let in the air and sunshine and spray
Inspection officers scratched their
heads when they found out about this
brazen violation of orders, but they
said nothing.
They scratched their heads some
more, and enlisted men shuddered
when later they saw members Of the
party use the side of seaplane cata.
pult as board on which to chalk up
the score in a golf-putting contest. Oh
yes. This battleship had putting
"greens"-constructed by sweating
sailors from board and canvas. That
is not ALL The crew found itself as
signed to such extraordinary tasks az
making nets for deck tennis, construct
ing shuttle board outfits from broom
handles and planks, feeding clay