Milwaukee School of Engineering - EMF Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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 -THE 1920 EMF mSi ' 4wwp If® By this time the rookie had decided on a plan of action, so he took his hammock lashing, threw it up over the beams, took both ends and managed to climb up into a hammock, with some trouble and a narrow escape from hitting the deck and finally fell upon a way that he thought was fairly safe. After deciding to be sure to get up before reveille in the morning and get an early start on the hammock, he finally went to sleep, only to wake up about an hour later hanging by his arm pits in the net work of rope he tied himself in with, while incidentally most of his bed happened to be on the deck. To the accompaniment of a word from the Boatswain’s mate on watch who happened to hear the noise, and a few remarks from the sailors sleeping next to him he finally got tied in again and everything was peaceful for a while. But this peaceful slumber did not last very long. The liberty party began to come aboard about one a. m. and in getting their hammocks up and getting undressed they happened to wake this rookie again and seeing half dressed sailors around, he thought reveille had already gone so out he came, hitting the deck with all his bed and clothes with him. In about fifteen or twenty minutes, after showing all the speed he had in getting the ham- mock lashed and the thirteen buttoned trousers on, he had time to look around and see that everyone was still turned in. Me began to realize that some- thing was wrong, walked over to the guard and asked what time it was. The guard told him it was about three bells. The poor rookie thought three bells meant three o’clock instead of one-thirty, so rather than go through what he had already gone through with that night he decided to stay up. Tfie guard saw a chance to get an early relief, so asked the rookie to take his belt while he went out and had a smoke, and of course the guard never came back. The relief came at four bells though and informed the rookie that four bells was only two o’clock. Rookie began to get a little sore about this time, so back in his hammock he went and in a few minutes was sleeping as only a sailor knows how to sleep. For three hours the rookie’s worries were “zero.” then suddenly they ran up again for he had just heard the last notes of “I can’t get ’em up. I can’t get ’em up,” and a hard-boiled Boatswain’s mate was coming down the deck bawling like a circus boss. ‘‘Rise and shine.” “Hit the deck with a wallop.” “Make a move there sailor,” “Show a little pep,” “You arc in the Navy now.” “If you don’t know it, it is time you was finding it out,” “Shake a leg,” “All right, sailor, let’s see you hit the deck.” With his heart in his mouth for fear someone would nab him. the rookie finallv managed to get his hammock over the netting only about five minutes late; he had barely got the hammock in the netting, when the hammock stower bawled out. “Hey! Jack, take that mess to the lucky bag; you only have six lashings on it and there should be seven. As the rookie knew nothing else to do but obey orders, he took it to the lucky bag, all the while wondering where he would sleep the next night. THE ROOKIES PRAYER THE FOLLOWING NIGHT. Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Grant no other sailors take My shoes and socks before I wake. Page One Hundred Sixty-l iree

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J1 M THE 102(0 —— „— A ROOKIE GOB’S FIRST NIGHT IN A HAMMOCK By Clyde C. Randolph, Term IIA The scene of this little incident, was the famous Goat Island Training Station at San Francisco, California, which I believe, was the only training station in the United States to keep the old naval regulations throughout the war. Therefore I consider it the last place in the world a rookie would want to land; for I can truly say that it is a worse place than any one of the regulation flag ships I had occasion to visit, while in the navy. The rookie, the principal in this incident, had been in the navy just one month, and this month had been spent in detention camp where a fellow only drills eight hours a day, stands guard four, stands in chow line four, and has nothing to do the other four except answer bugle calls, such as fire drill, collision drill, general quarters, etc. But on one wonderful day about ten rookies received orders to report to the Radio School at Main Barracks where they were supposed to enter the real navy, sleep in hammocks and live like real sea-going gobs. The transfer was made without any trouble and everything moved along nicely until they got to the Boatswain’ locker where they were to draw the hammocks. The old Boatswain in charge looked the rookies over slowlv, and as no one seemed to know what to say to a gorilla, he bawled out, “Well what in H---- do you sap heads want?” One of the bunch that had a little more nerve than the rest sputtered out “hammocks.” The Boatswain pointed to a pile of ropes, lashing and canvas and said. “If you fat heads have enough brains you can get your hammocks out of that pile, if not. sleep on the deck for all I care.” The rookies worked all afternoon and finally managed to get out of the pile, something in the form of a hammock. However, T doubt if there was a hammock in the lot that would float as a regulation one is supposed to do. At “hammocks” that night when the officer of the deck read out the order for the following day, he included the order that all hammocks should be in the netting properly lashed by ten minutes after reveille. This sounded nice to the rookie that spent all afternoon getting a regulation lash on his hammock. But his troubles had only begun. When he tried to sling the hammock, he found the clews too short; but with the help of a sailor he finally got this fixed, got his clothes off and stowed away under the mattress, so no one would steal them during the night, this treatment, incidentally pressing the clothes for use next day. But here came another problem—how was he going to get in his ham- mock and stay in after he got in. The thing was six feet from the deck and it seemed to swing terrible; in fact it looked worse to him then, than all the tales he had heard about it in the last month could possibly make it look. He watched the other sailors swing into their hammocks with much ease and grace and after they were in them they would swing back and forth and move around as if it was impossible to fall out. but after trying about ten minutes to duplicate their way of getting into the things and each time having the job of putting his bed and mattress back in the hammock, he finally gave it up as a bad job and leaned up against the bulk-head until a coxswain came along and told him to shake a leg and get turned in or else he would find himself on a port watch. Page One Hundred Sixty-two

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' «K. 4 96. % u A H u r THE 1920 JE SB Please Lord, guard me in my slumber Keep my hammock on my number May no clews or laces break And smash my nut before I wake. Keep me safely in thy sight, Grant no fire drills here tonight, And in the morning let me wake Mid haunting smells of .sirloin steak. Lord, protect me in my dreams, Make things better than they seem. Grant four years may quickly fly, And all hardships pass me by. On that billow feather bed, Where I long to rest my head. Far from all these hellish scenes And the smell of half-baked beans. Take me back to solid land, Where they scrub no decks with sand. Where no demon typoon blows, And women wash all clothes. Lord, thou knowest all my woes, Kindly cure my sun-burnt nose. Take me home to fields of clover, And I promise, Lord I’ll not ship over. By Clyde Randolph. Term IIA PROPOSITION I. THEOREM Given—A rotten potato. To prove—That a rotten potato is a bee hive. Proof—A rotten potato is a speckled “tater.” A spectator is a beholder: A bee-holder is a bee-hive: . . A rotten potato is a bee-hive. PROPOSITION II. COROLLARY Given—A hill. To prove—That a hill is a lazy dog. Proof—AT hill is an incline. An incline is a slope up. A slow pup is a lazy dog. . . A hill is a lazy dog. Page One Hundred Sixty-four