Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 171, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1919 — HOW SAILORS “LAY GHOSTS" [ARTICLE]

HOW SAILORS “LAY GHOSTS"

Men of the Sea-Give Short. Shrift to ■ . Spooks That > Annoy Them. . ’7- <7s*, * - J ■ -■ The first lieutenant had just been relieved, writes “I. S. T.” in the LonjdOn Mail, aqd was wending his way frotn the destroyer’s bridge to .his cabin. It was fairly calm, but very dark, and there 1 was little to be seen but a line of waves, on each side and the dim form of a second destroyer in station’ astern. Even for this “No. 1” had no eyes, for he bad had a weary- middle watch and bed was his only interest. But he did notice a weird ■ figure, apparently 1 human, crawling about near the “bandstand” of the after gun. He went to investigate and found the surgeon probationer, clad in a chamois leather overall suit, in which he had been sleeping on the wardroom couch below —for every one must sleep more or less clad, ready to turn out at - a Thoment’s notice. He was feeling a*bout in the dark, ap? parently in search of something. “What on earth are you doing, Doc?” heiaskedr and got the brief answer. “Laying a ghost.” The first lieutenant? grunted and disappearec below, leaving the doctor to insert 8 paper wedge between a loose rattling shell and the side of the stand in which it was placed:- ; ’ . ' A ghost, in naval language,.\ is a noise which cannot be accounted for. In a’ deStYoyer one becomes a con noisseur in noises. The steering gear clanks heavily at Intervals and the rhythmic beat of thd engines is always there, changing only when the speed is altered. In heavy weather'the washirig and beating of the water makes a hundred noises. But ghosts are extra noises, aqd should be avoidable. Some misplaced or ill-fitting article or a loose screw may cause the noise, and with the ship’s vlbratloq it will knock or rattle with a regular persistency that will drive the mpst placid mind nearly to frenzy, and sleep will rarely be. the victim’s portion until he has left his warm bunk and- found the cause, of the trouble and the ghost is laid.