NAVAL CADETS ON THEIR SUMMER CRUISE. 



447 



locker the articles of clothing, etc., which 

 he brought with him. By the time all this 

 is finished several hours have slipped away, 

 and the cadet, beginning to feel hungry, 

 looks around and wonders what kind of 

 supper he will have. 



By the time all lockers are packed and 

 the deck cleared, the mess boys begin to 

 spread the tables and to satisfy the cadet's 

 curiosity and longing. 



The meal is plain but substantial, as it 

 usually is, and the new "plebe" begins to 

 feel at home. 



Supper over, he wanders up to the spar 

 deck and begins to look in every direction 

 at the sight displayed. On all sides he 

 sees sailors and marines, some pulling away 

 on ropes, some climbing through the top>. 

 others with sewing machine or need- 

 les repairing the rents and snags in- 

 cident to the service; still others are sit- 

 ting idle and smoking or enjoying games 

 of cards or checkers. To the landsman 

 the sight is strange, and the cadet is in 

 terested in the many ropes and spars above 

 and around him; for he realizes that his im- 

 mediate task is to learn the names and 

 places of every one of the many hundred 

 parts of rigging which now seem so con- 

 fusing. 



While meditating on the future and the 

 tasks likely to be assigned to him, some 

 one lightly taps him on the shoulder, 

 and turning he is informed by an upper 

 class man that he is wanted below. Most 

 humbly he goes, and soon finds himself 

 in the midst of a gang of third class 

 cadets, who desire to show the "gaily 

 plebe" that he is not out on a yachting 

 trip. In order to impress this fact more 

 firmly on his mind, they proceed to initiate 

 him into the mysteries of that peculiar 

 hazing known only at Annapolis. He is 

 made to sing funny songs, to make love tr* 

 a broom, to narrate all of his past love 

 affairs, to stand on his head, to smear his 

 face with mucilage, and many other silly 

 things, which are necessary to impress on 

 the mind of the new cadet that he is onlv 

 a miserable plebe. and must stand ready 

 for the rest of the year to do everybody's 

 bidding, and remember his humble posi- 

 tion. 



It is a relief to everyone when, early 

 the following morning, the anchor is raise! 

 and a tug tows the ship over the bar into 

 Chesapeake bay. From that time on till 

 the end of the cruise the ship is maneuvred 

 by its own sails. 



Sometimes the cadets arc taken abroad 

 on their cruise, and after landing at som : 

 port on the other side start back immedi- 

 ately. Usually, however, the cruise : s 

 limited to home waters, the route being 

 down the Chesapeake, through the capes 

 and Northward as far as New London. 

 Conn., where headquarters for mail ami 



provisions arc usually made, and the ship 

 anchors for 10 days or more. During this 

 time all the hardships and sea-sickness suf- 

 fered by the cadets while at sea are for- 

 gotten, for the girls of the Pequot and 

 Fort Griswold hotels are always most at 

 tentivc and ready to give dances and after- 

 noon affairs in their honor. In return, the 

 cadets give a dance on board the ship, to 

 their dearest acquaintances ashore. After 

 a short stay at New London, the ship is 

 headed for Newport, R. I., and again a 

 short round of social gayety falls to the 

 lot of those on board. From Newport the 

 return trip is begun and the greater part 

 of the work for cadets remains to be done. 



There are usually about no cadets on 

 board and about 150 sailors, 25 marine- and 

 12 officers, some of whom are detailed as 

 instructors of seamanship and navigation 

 for the cadets. 



The cadets, like the sailors, are divided 

 into two watches, starboard and port, and 

 when at sea one watch of sailors and cadets 

 is on duty on the upper deck all the time, 

 while the other is below at rest. 



The members of the third and fourth 

 classes are assigned to positions out on the 

 different yard arms, and on deck to pull 

 on topes side by side with the sailors. The 

 members of the first class are detailed as 

 assistant watch officers and as mates of the 

 decks and captains of different parts of the 

 ship. They also have an hour or two every 

 morning to devote to the study of navi- 

 gation and seamanship under the direc- 

 tion of a competent young officer, acting as 

 instructor. 



The cadets of the lower classe> also have 

 to recite certain elementary problems con- 

 cerning the rigging of the "ship, and to find 

 answers for all sorts of questions relating 

 to the mariner's compass, which first of 

 all they must learn to box. Before re- 

 turning from the cruise 2 weeks are spent 

 in Gardiner's bay. near New London, 

 where each member of the first class is 

 made to take command of the ship and :<> 

 put it through the evolutions of tacking, 

 wearing and reefing, loosing, furling sail, 

 etc.. so that by the end of the cruise every 

 one is able to assume the principal duties 

 of a young watch officer. 



During these exercises the lower class- 

 men have a chance to learn a great deal 

 while nulling on ropes and climbing aloft 

 through the rigging, to execute the orders 

 of, the cadet who is being practiced in giv- 

 ing commands. 



By the 28th of \u.uust. the ship has re- 

 turned and is anchored outside of Annao- 

 olis. ready for the tug to tow it over the 

 bar again and up to the dock. SO that the 

 eadets of the first and third classes may 

 disembark and go off for their well earned 

 furlough of 30 day-. 



