The Hokitika Guradian TUESDAY, JULY 25th, 1922. THE NAVY SIXTY YEARS AGO.

Hokitika Guardian, 25 July 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guradian TUESDAY, JULY 25th, 1922. THE NAVY SIXTY YEARS AGO.

Admikai. H. 1,. Fi.KKT calls his record of forty-one years’ service in the Navy “My Life and a Few Yarns;” as a , matter of fact, notes a reviewer, the '■ Few Yarns” occupy quite as much space as the recital of his peisonal experiences. Admiral Fleet, who, h.v the way, is a younger brother of the late Rutland Barrington, the celebrated Savoyard, entered the Navy in the early ’Sixties of last century, when it was in a phase of transition between sail and steam. The Navy still hore a close resemblance to that of Peter Simple and Midshipman *Easy. Many customs which are now obsolete were faithfully observed. There was a good deal of hazing, and newcomers had to go through sofnc rather drastic ceremonies of initiation. In particular they were made “ free of the Navy” by having a broad arrow carved on the tip of their noses, hut the author does not think that this hazing ever went beyond hounds, and he is convinced that it was a very salutory discipline for many a young cockerel. Flogging was still practised, and Admiral Fleet gives I several unedifying descriptions of the j operation. He holds no brief for it; it was essentially a brutalising and degrading punishment, hut it had one redeeming feature. It was inflicted for crimes which would now lead to a term of imprisonment in gaol. The Hogging completely expiated the offence: the victim started again with a clean sheet, arm was spared the stigma of being a “ gaol-bird.” The author’s cruises took him up and down the world, as is the way with sailormen, and he visited many little known places in the course of his travels. His memoirs contain a vast mass of miscellaneous information about everything under the sun, and he is an authority on the origins of naval customs and terms. Incidentally, he

tells us that the expression, “ Jack Tar,” is never found on the lips of a sailor; it was invented and is used exclusively by land-lubbers. Admiral Fleet’s literary style is straightforward and energetic, but his language is occasionally rather technical. Thus, in a panegyric of* the vessel on which he served his first commission, we learn that the Constance was a Svmondite, rigged according to Cocker, and that everything was shipshape and Bristol fashion; no strop and toggle work, no fakes, gilguvs, or gadgets. The layman is glad to hear it. During his wanderings Admiral Fleet collected an extensive assortment- of anecdotes, many of which, if a little tall, are distinctly well found.” There is one relating to an incident that occurred in a port belonging to a friendly Power which is i|iiite reminiscent of Kipling’s story of “ Bai-.Tove dudsoii.” And as ail example of the loyalty which members of the Senior Service hear to one another we quote the reply given bv a captain to a question asked him at a Courtmartial. An officer was being tried for an alleged error in navigation, which led to a collision during tactics in the Mediterranean. The prosecution asked the captain, who had been called as an expert witness, what he would have done if he had been in charge, instead of the officer concerned, to which he made the cryptic answer “If I had been where I was not I might have done what T did not do.” The Court had to be-satisfied with that