“THE SCRAN BAG"

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 15, 12 October 1928, Page 10

“THE SCRAN BAG"

ENCOURAGING TIDINESS ABOARD SHIP

An interesting feature of shipboard life in the Navy is the institution of “the scran bag,” to use the official title. This is not the sort of receptacle usually associated with the term “scran.” The “scran bag” is a necessity of man o’ war life. It consists of a large box situated amidships on the main deck. When “Divisions” is sounded at 9 o’clock in the morning, and the crew parade, the ship is searched for any clothing left lying about. All thus found “sculling,” as the sailors term it, are gathered up and thrown into the “scran bag.” When eight bells sound (the landsman’s midday), meihbers of the ship’s complement who have missed various pieces of equipment “queue” up before the “mess deck chief” in charge of the “scran bag.” Before any article can be redeemed, however, the owner must pay forfeit in the form of one inch of soap—and the C.P.O. directing operations sees that there is no short measure! Soap procured in this manner is utilised for cleansing purposes about the ship, the idea being that a sort of poetic justice is thus exerted upon the untidy.