LIFE ON A MODERN TROOPSHIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2443, 9 January 1901, Page 68

LIFE ON A MODERN TROOPSHIP.

(By J. Allan.)

Within the last few months we have seen an army of nearly two hundred thousand men transported six thousand miles across the sea; an unprecedented feat which no nation but the British, with its immense fleet of merchant vessels, could have accomplished unaided.

So great has been the enthusiasm throughout the nation with regard to anything in connection with our troops, that a few words to the manner in which Tommy Atkins fares during his two or three weeks' sojourn on board ship may not be found uninteresting to a considerable number of people.

Let us betake ourselves, then, to one of the wharves, at which a large trooper is lying, waiting to embark her living freight. It is still early in the day, and. the train has arrived, bringing the first detachment of men. While they are detraining, we seize the opportunity to inspect their future quarters, for once the men are aboard our progress through the troop decks will not be so easy a matter. Numerous ladders lead down from the upper deck, over the top of each ladder being printed in large letters the numbers of the "messes" to which it leads, and also the names of any other compartments, such as the "armoury," "baggage room," "hospital," etc., which may be reached by the same means. Descending one of these, we find ourselves in the main troop deck — a large space with a row of mess-tables and seats projecting fr<jm each side, leaving the centre of the deck clear. On the ship's side, at the end of each table, is printed the number of the mess, and the number of men it can accommodate. The tables are numbered from forward, odd on one side of the ship and even on the other, each table accommodating from 12 to 24 men. On every taible is a tin pannikin, plate, and spoon for each man (they use their own knives and forks), two large covered tins for soup and tea, and a tin meat dish. Each mess is also su-^lied with a bucket, a scrubbing brush, and a piece of house flannel for cleansing purposes. For hanging up coats, etc., several rows of hooks are arranged all along each side of the ship, whilst overhead are racks for the men's valises and kit batrs, and another, already filled up, for life-belts — one for each man. At intervals in the clear space in the centre of the ship racks are fitted up for brooms and mops, and others in which to stow hammocks and blankets during the day time. As we ■walk along we open a door marked '"Helmet room."' This i<= a small room, all round the .«ides of which are pigeon holes, deep enough to take nine o^ ten helmets placed one inside the other. Farther along at the other end of the deck we are confronted with a notice in large letters, "Guard room and cells," and we look in to see the arrangements made for the reception of refractory or delinquent members of her Majesty's forces. The enclosed space goes right across the ship, and contains about half a dozen cells, each about 6ft long by sft in breadth. The upper half of these cells is formed by a grating of iron bars, so that the prisoners are always under the observation of the guard, and one cell is thickly padded for the accommodation of lunatics. I

Going down into the lower troop deck, we find everything fitted up in a similar manner, whilst one large division is devoted to the armoury. This is fitted up throughout with rifle racks, just enough room being left for the men to pass between each set of racks. As we pass from here we are met Iby a line of soldiers. They are the men we left detraining. All their rifles have been stacked on the wharf, and they are now passing them in from hand to hand to be stowed away in the armoury. They are soon in their places, and then the helmets are treated in the same manner. The Government supplies stocking caps in their stead for use during the voyage, but a good many of the men are to he seen in tam-o'-shanters — presents from some of Tommy's numerous friends. The nivmber of presents, toy the way, which arrive at Southampton, addressed to the "care of the Embarking Staff Officer," is simply wonderful. The ship I am speaking of had over 500 tons of them on board, and we were told by the officials that this amount was nothing unusual ! Some of them are addressed to individuals, some to a certain division or regiment, and others "For our troops in South Africa." The contents vary according to the donors' fancies. Plum puddings -were much in favour iust before Christmas time. Caps and stockings, jerseys, all sorts of underclothing, chocolate, tobacco, note paper, all find a place amongst the heterogeneous mass.

As soon as the helmet* are stowed away the detachment falls in on the wharf ; they are told by the embarking officer the numbers of the messes apportioned them. Each man picks up his valise and kit bae;, and they file off to their quarters. While this has been taking place their camp equipment for the campaign, such as tents, blankets, waterproof sheets, kettles, etc., has bsen slung up and lowered into the vessel's hold. The officers' baggage has been earned or hove on board and stowed away in the baggage room in another part of the ship, and all is ready again for the next train load of troops. As the nv:n have often had a considerable journey, a men! is usually served them as soon as possible after their errb r irk;>l:on. The daily papers have nude us fcumh.ir with the scenes which t^ke place \iLen, with the men all on hoard, and the gr.n^ways ashore, the ship finally mrves arav on her long journey to tli° &omh. o'<e of the fust diit.es after Kivmg port is to have &entnt's posted at various parts of the ship. S»m° over the ino»raZMie ;md armoury, otlurs at the various ladders, to prevent crowding and d;.°mder ; all of them being warned to give notice to the slrp's officers at once in rbe event of any sums of fire being detected With this exception, the men aie left pretty much to themselves for a day w two* till tfcss; recover

from any effects of mal-de-mer. Tommy, however, soon settles down amid his new surroundings, and a regular daily routine is arranged and carried out throughout the voyage. The day commences with the reveille at 5.30, when all the men turn out ; each one rolls ujd his own hammock, with the blankets inside, and they are stowed away in the places set apart for them, unless the order to "air bedding" has been issued the previous day, in which case they are taken on deck and hung up or spread out in the sun until after parade. There are washhouses in different parts of the upper deck, fitted with a constant sunply of fresh water, a blessing which was quite impossible in the old troopers, as it means in the case of some of the larger vessels condensing about 12,000 gallons a day. In addition to this, as soon as the weather gets warm enough, two or three large canvas baths, about 18ft by 6ft, are filled with salt water every morning for ablutionary purposes. From 7 a.m. to 7.30 is allowed for breakfast, and by 8 o'clock everyone must be out of the troop decks except those who are selected to clean them up. For this purpose two men from each table are told off to act as "mess orderlies" throughout the voyage. These men, besides washing and sweeping up after every meal, attend at the galleys (kitchens) and issuing rooms for the daily rations. The troop decks are divided up into sections, each of which is in charge of a sergeant, known as the "deck sergeant," who is responsible for its cleanliness, and who has under him another five or six men to assist the mess orderlies. The sergeants have a section set apart for themselves, and a few men from their various companies are told off to keep it clean and fetch their rations along, etc. Those of them who have been selected for deck sergeants have their meals there, and then go to superintend the cleaning of the section of which they are in charge. At 10 o'clock there is a general parade, when all the troops except those employed in the troop deck fall in in their appointed stations. The officer in command of the I troops, with his staff, and the captain, 1 chief officer, and surgeon of the ship, then make their rounds of inspection. All troop decks are visited, and if any dirt is found or if the tin mess utensils are not clean and bright, the sergeants and mess orderlies, who are all standing to "attention" at their own tables, are called to account, and particular notice will be taken of that section when the rounds are made on the following day. The men themselves are then inspected. Sometimes they are paraded in bare feet, >with their trousers and shirt sleeves rolled up. At other times they will be in their full sea-going uniform — i.e., the khaki, now so familiar to most people, and brown canvas shQes, which are always issued to the men when going on a sea voyage ; and a sharp reprimand will be forthcoming for anyone who has butons missing from his jacket, or is not clean and tidy in all respects. Some mornings the order "Caps off" will be given, and those whose hair is not of the regulation shortness will be sent off to the regimental barber. A day or two before the end of the voyage a parade in full marching order is held. Valises are brought up and opened out on the deck, each man standing behind his own, and note is made of anything that is . short, so that it can ibe replaced before the men are sent up country. After inspection, if any misconduct has been reported during the day, a court-mar-tial is held. The offenders are brought along, and if convicted awarded so many hours in the cell. From these prisoners, too., as far as possible, any "fatigue parties* that are wanted will be drawn. That is to say, any men who may be required for work about the ship, such as holystoning decks, getting stores up, etc. Occasionally, too, they will be converted into temporary music-stands. If the band is playing on deck on a windy day one prisoner will be told off to each bandsman to hold his music down, and turn it over when required. Dinner is at noon, and tea or supper at half-past 4. Here a few words may be said about the food. In the Admiralty scale of provisions salt meat figures pretty frequently, but in the case of several of the big liners which have been utilised as troopers the owners have undertaken the victualling, and as the refrigerating accommodation in a modern passenger steamer is considerable a supply of fresh meat for the greater part of the voyage and a more liberal diet is ensured. Bread is served out four mornings per week, and biscuits for the remaining three ; porridge appearing regularly every morning. -Soup, a joint, and vegetables form the every-day menu for dinner, with the addition of plum pudding on Wednesdays and Sundays, the latter being made by the men themselves. On the previous afternoon barrels of flour, raisins, suet, sugar, and salt are placed in position at the issuing room, with a steward behind each, the quartermaster-sergeant being in attendance with a book, in which all the men are tabulated according to their messes. The mess orderlies fall in in single file v ith their tins, and as each man passes he calls out the number of his mess and the number of men in it. The quarterm istersergeant checks it off in his note-book, and the various ingredients are served out to ' him. These are taken below, and soon every table is the centre of an animated j little group, all busily engaged in the mys- 1 tenes of making puddings. Some chop 'up j the raisins and suet, and others stir every- > thing together in a tin. Finally it is mixed ' up, and tied up in a cloth ; a metal tally i ■with the number of the mess is then at- [ tached to it, and it is taken along to the . ocok. Mirmalade is served out every day, J ar.d pic'des, miist?rd, and pepp»r once a vv p"k. Tomrrn can always augment this cuisine from the d:v canUen, where, for tl.s & une piices as in binacks a shore . or in win; Crises rather les-o. he can ruin ha*e all su"l> little li'xrrrps .is -ji n«, e<rm'Lrn°cl Milk, potted m o at^. etc Xn drink is a^ov ed en board, the nores ip the "wet cnnfe°n" cunsi- ting of lemoned", ginger die, etc., which are fively patronised in the wsirni wea r hcr At that time, too, one often h»ir< cries about the de -k of '"Who says cool drinks V "Who'll have a coolei ?" which on investigation prove to arise from some of the more enterprising members, who, beUvs leaving iyame^ have provided tieai-

' selves with a stock of sherbert, which they now retail to their comrades at a penny per glass.

There is always an orderly room fitted up, where all the regimental business is transacted, and whence the orders for the following day are issued by the commanding officer.

Space on a troopship is naturally too limited to allow of manoeuvres being practised, but each company has a certain portion of the deck allotted to it for a certain time of the day, and here they are drilled daily in calisthenic exercises. They have running, too — five or six times round the deck — a form of exercise much needed by some of the reservists, who show unmistakeable signs of not having "been in training for some time. Rifle drill and firing also forms part of the day's work. The firing is always from the stern of the vessel, all empty cases and barrels being kept to throw overboard for targets. Wire for the purpose of towing a target is sent on board by the Admiralty, but in the case of the faster vessels a towing target is found to be impracticable. As it was agrped at the Peace Conference that expanding types of bullets 'were not to be used in warfare, the Government find this a useful way in which to get rid of that which has been manufactured. A few cases are sent on board each transport, to be used for practice on the way out, but on no account is it allowed to ibe landed in the colony. For purposes of revolver practice, bottles and tins are hung from the end of a spar rigeed out over the ship's side, and are fired at by both officers and men. Boxing gloves are sent on board, too, by the Admiralty, and a good exhibition of science is frequently the result of the friendly rounds and matches which are arranged. A few concerts, too, generally form part of a voyage's amusement. A convenient part of the deck is chosen, and after being enclosed under the chief officer's supervision by canvas screens and awnings, is frequently decorated artistically with flags. Officers and men combine their talent in their effort to make the evening a success, thus promoting a feeling of goodfellowship throughout the corps. When there are details of more than one regiment on board, there is usually great rivalry between them to score the greatest success, each regiment having an "evening" of its own. On these occasions Tommy has an. hour or so extra time allowed him, it generally being about 10 o'clock by the time the concert is over. On ordinary nights the "Retire" is sounded at 9 o'clock, when every man except the guard and the sentries has to be in his hammock. A hammock and two blankets are i«sued to each man when he comes on board, and when in use these are slung to hooks screwed into the ceiling of the troop deck.

The officers also have their various little duties to attend to. The day is divided into six watches of four hours each, the first watch being from 8 o'clock to 12 a.m. or p.m., the second from 12 to 4. and the third from 4to 8. Every day an officer and subaltern of the day are appointed, and three officers of the watch. The former I see that all orders issued t>y the commanding officer are carried out, and receive the reports of any irregularities that may have occurred. The officers of the watch take their turns of four hours each. Every hour, accompanied by a sergeant, they make the rounds of the ship, visit all the sentries, see that everything is in order, and make their report to the ship's officer on duty on the bridge. An officer always has to ibe present, too, when his company is on drill. Very often the officers will form a drill squad of their own, and have half an hour's energetic exercise in the early morning under the adjutant's instruction. These drills invariably end at the dismiss with an exciting rush for the first baths, as there ore very seldom enough baths to accommodate all the officers at once. In the afternoons lectures are given in the saloon by one of the more experienced officers on practical tactics in time of war, at which all the young officers attend, whilst in some quiet corner on deck the sergeant-majors may be seen imparting similar instructions to the non-oommissioned officers of their regiments. If there are any officers of the medical corps on board a course of lectures on "first aid" is also arranged. During leisure moments deck quoits and cricket find their numerous* patrons, as in an ordinary passenger boat, and a good deal of Tommy's spare time is employed in playing "house" — a mild gambling game sanctioned by the Admiralty. Thanks also to the thoughtfulness and generosity of so many people at home, there is a .plentiful supply of reading matter for everj^one in the shape of books and magazines. Thus in a judicious intermingling of discipline, .work, and recreation the voyage passes away, usually leaving memories that will be looked back upon by all in after years with feelings, if not of pleasure, at least of satisfaction.