Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 162, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 July 1915 — Saluting the Quarter-Deck. [ARTICLE]

Saluting the Quarter-Deck.

Every time an officer or a seaman goes upon the quarter-deck he salutes it He never by any chance forgets this, one of the regular customs on board, says Pearson’s Weekly. The quarter-deck Is that part of the deck reserved by officers, and many people think that the reason why it is saluted is out of respect for those officers. The why and wherefore of the saluting has a far more interesting origin than that, however, and one has to go back hundreds of years to find the beginning of the custom. In the old days a crucifix used to stand on the quarter-deck. In those days all the sailors were Catholics, and, of course, every time they approached the crucifix they crossed themselves to show their reverence for the holy symbol. It is many a long year ago since the crucifix was there, but the custom of saluting the quarter-deck, which was a result of it, has been handed down in the navy ever since.