The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 1, 1902, Page 5

) DEZENDORY. 1 can't get "em up, get e v in the morning I can't get 'em up, the last note of close upon the morLiLg gun two be and 3 official d £. Battleship Wi ezzin from 2 compelling or con- of a bugle on a war- ynote of each day, and " n's maie 3 , the Jack- master at arms, a lively rate among the i w hammocks of the berth K y sleepers. On g g fort there are five d all sleep in room officers men sck T rdeck is ‘the officiaf hall of the A dignitaries who a the star- nown as Here is the he ship. s over the water on a he band of a warsh for from ter k every morning masters and enlisted men e of the ship as more own field t work and gun bright work the men, and they the half hour until . If one on land should ne four-hour system of & bably mix him at first does on board, but like it is simple after one g else had to be done a task to keep the and ng, and one n elweys see men oiling and polishin s to keep them from rusting. On n there are forty-eight of ter the brass work is all like next thing on the programme nds to get into uniform and clear up all decks for inspection At two b executive officer in- epects the lower decks. He has one or two str figures in his wake when , officer this same the gun s the ispection, training of the monster guns in the revolve by electricity, the at brings up on a hoist ? to the breech of the car of ammunition the rate of 270 de- ix seconds, the gun cap- put his eye to the sight be graduated to a dis- s, train the gun at the means of an electri- > near him, and in 14-inch wall of the are shaken e in the crew he turrets fore and week they are ve to do in time of a turret, are different ones most every day of tion of the mag- s a daily operation. ted morning rature taken hermometer there. ether, which is_one smokeless powder, ring these maga- ted often are adly projectilea. k-nosed com- emi-armor piercing, , and the blunt-nosed All these magazines can i ter if necessary by fiood sosls ecting with the deay. There are Jackies always on duty watching the magazines, and in very bot countries as many as one hundred men are ordered to this duty. At twenty-five minutes after 9 the bugile rolls out the first call for quarters, and five minutes later quarters is sounded. Tkis is really a muster and occurs morn- ing and evening. Some days it holds more of ceremonial than setting up drill; as at general quarters on Thursday, when every gun on the ship is manned and am- munition provided as if going into action. At quarters everybody is out, and the captain and officer of the day reign su- preme. The division officers report the five deck divisions into which the men are divided, the engineers and the ma- rines, and soon the decks both fore and t are filled by moving lines of blue and ckies go through various enic evolutions. On Fridays each division has a different irill The marine guard is put through a physical drill with arms and guns are in- epected. These routine drills go on until 10:30, when retrest from drill is sounded At 11 o'clock work is knocked off om deck. In these brief intervals the sailors show that they are jolly tars on shi board as well as on shore. Little knots of them may be found everywhere, some reading, some spinning yarns, some walk- ing briskly arm in arm through the super- 5 i structure or the fo'casle. Eome are hav- ing a turn at the guitar or the sailor's favorite instrument, the accordion, some- TEE CALL. SUND Y times called the ‘“‘sailor’s plano.” Saflors are versed In many trades, and it has been said that should a hattleship be wrecked on an uninhabited island a small town could be completely built by the vessel’s créw, as some man could be found for almost any kind of work to be performed. A not uncommon sight on a naval ves- sel Is bronzed and stalwart seamen using bend-power sewing machines. These men make uniforms from regulation cloth pur chased from the paymaster, and make not only their own clothing, many of tbem, but receive orders from their ship- mates. Several barbers are useful on a battleship, and they are generally kept pretty busy after the general \muster, which takes place on the quarterdeck on the first Sunday of each month. Each man's name is called, he answers his rat- ing, and as the sailors say, “walks around a stick.” If long hair is one of his visible discrepancies he is sent to the barber. The crew of the Wisconsin have two baseball teams and have only lost one game out of twenty in a year. Thelr racing boat crew made the Iowa “lose her pride” about a year ago. Then was heard the Wisconsin yell; One, two, three, who are we? ‘We are the boys of the new naveel Are we in 1t? Yes, we are. ‘Wisconsin| Wisconsin! Rah! rah! rah! In the quarters of the wardroom offi- keep them from swinging in a rough sea. Dinner is piped at eight and twenty-six messes sit down to that meal. It.is hardly finished when there is a cry ‘of “Mail, ho!" and fortunate tars be fire drill, are soon look over letters and paper: bell means a - - “Turn to” is sounded at 1 o’'clock, and 0ne has b Al the Nose cers all is serens and quist at this hour of the day. The white-gloved orderly sits on the alert before the door of the ad- miral’s cabin. Though Rear Admiral Casey, as commander in chief of the Pa- cific squadron, makes his official home on the Wisconsin, he has no direct command over this particular ship, and all orders come through Captain George A. Reiter, in command. To an onlooker the main business of the day for the officers of a battleship when not in action is to be present and direct the many drills. At ten minutes before noon the omni- present bugle sounds mess gear and be- low there is a great rattle of tabies heing let down. They are all hung by wires to Ja pedo room polishing the tubes that send the torpedo at a speed of thirty knots through the water are painting or shellacking decks or door- ways, for there is always something to u be painted on a naval vessel. dusy making hammocks in the saitmaker's bells promptiy is busy again. Some are in the tor- or air. Still others Men ars room, and clever machinists are at work in the dynamo room, the hottest spot in the ship, where the temperaturs often reaches 120 degrees. In the ammunition passages men are shining the brass plates ‘which conneot with the sliding doors in the engine rooms below and which by manipulation can be closed to prevent possibllity of the engines being flooded. Perhaps the two most unpopular spots on a naval vessel are the sick bay or hos- pital, with its clean white cots, and the “brig,” or prison, with its cells of heavy painted iron, in which are men conflnec for various periods, on a diet of bread and water. Before the loophole of the door paces & marine, relleved every two hours by another gua officers are donn! preparatory stand by to tu the magazines. awa; send in harbor and make a d to me are closed and men let out, por T on flood cocks leading to Sometimes this Is followed by “arm and vay,” when the Doats are equipped 1 attack, of a port by the breakers, prov re all brought c hellin CILLING THE "/Ave,uvi/' by the saflors In double quick time. An- other mest realistic drill is what is known as “abandon ship.” This is practiced reg- ularly, so that in case it becomes a real- ity that the ship is in collision or has in action, every one knows what to do. The boats are manned, the men respond to the captain's call of “step lively there.” and everything needful is to the boats. The whistles sound & signal that the ship is sinking and 4ll ‘water-tight doors are to be closed. There is a call or two from the division officers: “All ready, sir,” and In a few moments more the drill is over, and the decks re- sound with tramping feet to the sound of the buie calling retreat from drill. Ev- ery three months target practice goes om, when the decks are cleared as in action and great guns as well as revolvers are brought into use. Sometimes this practice will be when the ship Is under way at sea, at other times record practice takes place in the harbor. In the past year the Wisconsin has broken the record for a long cruise, baving made 19,000 miles in twelve months. After dally drills are over, the division officers and others all report to the exec- utive officer. The officer of the deck on a battleship is also an important person- age, even though a new officer relieves him every four hours. He bas everything in charge, and must be notified of any- thing done. Happenings in his depart- ment find a place in the ship’s log. At 7 bells or 3:30 p. m. the bosun’s mate ipes “sweepers,” which means every- ng 18 to be swept down fore and aft And as the sallors say, “all the spit-kito are emptied out.” Then again Jacky is at leisure for a time, and the “smoking lamp” is supposed to be lit. Boxing, bag- punching, cards, are some of the amuse- ments, and the string band which the men have among themselves may gather {n the barber shop for practice. The two ts, the 'possum and a cat, which are §: s mascots, come in for their are of attention. Perhaps there is some talk of golng ashore and hitting the “dog.” as whisky is known to the sallors On Wednesday and Saturday much time is given to mending clothes, seeing visi- s, ste. Swimming exercise and instruc- on is daily when circumstances will permit. After dark searchlights are exer- eised and night signals go on. There are many other drills during a week too nu- merous to mention here. The Sunday soutine is much the same with the addi- tion of the captain’s i ection and morn- ing service by the “sky pilot.” There is plenty of yarn spinning in the afternoon. At five minutes to 5 p. m. sounds the officers’ call for evening quarters at 5. Once more comes the familiar call of mess gear, and pipe to supper at three bells. At four bells “turn to’ sounds again, but not much work goes on. Soon the band ceases to play on the quarterdeck. On ‘Wednesday and Saturday nights the sail- ors usually have a ball on the fo'cas’le. The exgcutive officer goes around at #ix bells and ects the lower decks again. ‘“Hammocks” 1s sounded at 7:30 “Jimmylegs” goes around to chase up the men again. Then the bosun's mate pipes down, the hammocks are slung and at eight bells the anchor watch lay aft to muster. Tattoo sounds at 9 and five minutes later booms out the evening gun. Then comes the slow notes of “Taps” or all lights out and all hands turn in save the quartermaster, the an- chor watch and the signal boy. But not so peaceful is a night when the ship is in_aectlon. Then the picket boats are out. There are watches on starboard and port, and men at different points on deck to report anything floating in sight. The guns are manned and all lights are out except in the fire room. There may be & long last sleep for some befors tha bugle shall sound the beginning of am- other day.