Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 140, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 June 1916 — Asking Leave. [ARTICLE]

Asking Leave.

Nobody is allowed to leave a British warship without permission, even for an hour. Senior officers, “heads of departments,” must obtain leave from the captain in person before going ashore, though usually a general dispensation from this obligation is given at the beginning of a commission. Young officers of branches other than the executive must first ascertain from their- own immediate superiorswhether they can be spared, so the process of obtaining leave sometimes becomes quite elaborate. The most junior en-gineer-officer, for example, may be observed to enter the wardroom, Cap in hand, First, he approaches the senior, and recites the appointed interrogation- ' “Please,” is returned in a quiet voice. But this is not#enough. The youngster steps across to where, the engi-neer-commander is sitting, and again asks, “May I go ashore, sir, please'?” onee more getting "Please” to encourage him, Yet once again he stands a suppliant,-before the commander now, till a final “Please” sends him away rejoicing to “shift into plain clothes.”