COUGAR SCREAM

On the foundation of what promises to be an all-Navy threat to fleet basketball, your Cougar quintet won their first game of the season from the Receiving Ship team by a hard fought 18-14.

The final score in no way gives proper credit to our hoopsters, as the Receiving Station has been organized and playing together for a very much longer time.

It is therefore with great pride we announce the result of our "first time out."

And to strengthen our boast and contention of developing a basketball team of All Navy calibre, this same conscientious and energetic crew in their second game thoroughly trounced the P.N.S. Seneca team by a score of 38-22!!! Well done indeed.

It is gratifying to note that the entire team functions like the proverbial clock work. No man tried to grab the spot light to the detriment of proper teamwork---and that's the way a championship team always functions. With all, Richison, lightning forward, is to be commended for cooly slipping the "apple" through the cypher for a total of twenty points !

Now that these noble Cougars have started the ball dribbling for the glory and amusement of their shipmates; and word is getting around what a fine team we have; further attendence at the games is bound to be much larger.

So keep yourself posted through the ship's paper and be on hand for future games to see your snappy basketball game in action! ---------------J.J.

The destroyer USS INGRAM is named for a gunner's mate first class, Osmond K. Ingram. He lost his life trying to save his ship and shipmates. The occasion of his heroism came during World War I. The place was off the coast of Ireland. He was serving on the destroyer USS CASSIN under the then Captain Welter Vernou. It was on October 16, 1917. The CASSIN was on convoy duty. The lookouts spotted an enemy submarine but a torpedo had already been launched and was headed for the CASSIN. Captain Vernou maneuvered the ship to try to let the torpedo pass under the stern.

Gunner's mate Ingram, whose station was aft, saw the great need of getting rid of the depth charges, in case the torpedo should hit. He undertook release the eight "ash cans".:'Each of these contained 250 pounds of TNT. They represented a ton of sudden death and disintegration of the ship and his shipmates.

While engaged in this task, Ingram was blown to bits, when the torpedo hit and exploded the depth charges. He was the only one killed in the CASSIN. Many were wounded. The CASSIN'S aftersection was blown away but she made port under her own power.

Ingram Plaza at the San Diego Naval Training Station is a permanent memorial of this act of heroism. A monument stands there with the dedication inscribed on a bronze plaque. There, a short time ago, the twenty-fourth anniversary of his death, a distinguished group gathered to pay him honor. His commanding officer of that day, now Rear Admiral Vernou, was there. The Commandant of the District, Rear Admiral C.A. Blakey presided. Four of Ingram's shipmates stood alongside his monument: Charles Hill CBM, Ralph Morley, CTC, A. C. Lace, CBM, and Coleman Marshmen, CGM. The spirit of the Navy and the unselfish devotion to duty of a true Navy man were celebrated with poignant sincerity in this Memorial ceremony.

(A few days after the torpedoing of the Cassin, a poem was found posted on a bulkhead in the vessel's wardroom. No name was signed to it. Its author has never been found.)

His name was "Rebel" he was

   Alabama's son,

And he whistled songs of "Dixie"

   as he stood beside his gun.

There was laughter in his make-up,

   there was manhood in his face;

And he knew the best traditions

   and the courage of his race.

Now there's not a heart among us

   but should swell with loyal pride

When we think of "Rebel" Ingram

   and the splendid way he died.

On the swift destroyer Cassin he

   was simply "gunner's mate,"

But up there, today, I fancy, he is

   standing with the great.

On that grim day in October his

   position on the craft,

Was the portion of the vessel

   which the sailors christen aft.

There were ash cans there beside

   him to be dropped upon the Hun,

And the fan-tail watch in those

   days was a mighty busy one.

From the foretop came a warning,

   Came a. cry all sailors fear,

"Torpedo coming, starboard side,"

   and the vessel's doom was near.

Ingram saw the streak of death,

  but he saw a little more,

A greater menace faced him than

  the Whitehead had in store

If the ash cans there beside him

   were not heaved beneath the wave,

Every man aboard the Cassin soon

  would have a watery grave.

It was death to him to linger, but

   he figured if he ran

And quit his post of duty, t'would

   be death for every man.

So he stead right at his station,

   heaved the ash cans overside,

Then in a splash of blood and

   flame--that's how "Rebel" Ingram

      died.

I don't know just how to say it

   but the whole United States

Will remember "Rebel" Ingram--

   he who died to save his mates.

--------------Nevada Cheer-up

An article appearing in "The Gosport" Written by Lieutenant A.S. Hill, U.S.N.

Did you know that a well conceived and executed propaganda campaign may be worth as much as an entire army in the field to a belligerent nation ?

It depends basically upon the theory that a lie repeated often enough is certain in the long run to be believed by a majority of the people, who will not take the trouble to investigate the source or authenticity of the story.

As an example of the effect of a propaganda campaign, witness an incident of the World War. The British, wishing to create confusion and indecision in the German high command, decided to spread the story that Russian troops were being landed in England for eventual use on the Western Front. They chose for a medium to spread this story the wives of service husbands IN THE STRICTEST CONFIDENCE of the Russian troop movements. Via the tea table and sewing circle, the lie spread like wildfire until nearly everyone in England had heard it many times and believed it. Naturally, espionage agents forwarded the information to Germany as true, one agent so convinced that he reported actually seeing "25,000 great bearded Russians with snow clinging to their boots" landing at an English port. History does not relate how many German divisions were transferred from the Eastern front to meet the new threat, but the lesson is obvious to all:

(a) Question the authenticity of every rumor until you can track down it's source.

(b) Keep your mouth closed and your ears open. Your best friend may prove to be your worst enemy insofar as security is concerned.

"A wise old owl lived in an oak. The more he heard, the less he spoke. The less he spoke, the more he hard.

Why can't WE be like that wise old bird."

The following advancements were affected on November 1, 1941:

"Yes," said the lawyer to the tearful young woman, "a divorce would cost you about $200."
"Don't be ridiculous!" she flared at him. "That's too much. Besides, I can have him shot for $50."

At the University of Chicago's 50th anniversary celebration being held this month, two famed professors presented an authoritative paper on "The Physiology of a Free Flight Through the Air". One of the stories which these physiologists told came from young 190 pound Arthur Sternes, who leaped five times from altitudes up to 16,500 feet laden with a special oxygen mask and helmet and recording instruments.

To quote: "Parachutist Starnes fell into no featherbed. He heard a terrific ruch of wind past his ears; when he tried to talk he felt as though he were shouting into a high gale. He knew he was falling and falling rapidly, for his body spun through the air like a leaf. Except for a momentary blackout when he pulled the ripcord, his mind was sharper and quicker than when his feet were on the ground. He had no "gone" feeling, which one gets when an elevator begins to fall to rapidly. His heartbeat and blood pressure were normal at all times."

In their paper, the scientists drew a practical conclusion. They suggested the use of a small, accessory antispin parachute to keep jumpers in a semi-erect position and minimize the distress of swirling.

A young bluejacket was once overheard talking like a blowtorch. His language, in his own ill formed opinion, was "hot" and it was calculated to burn up the situation and stamp him as a bigshot. When hauled up for an accounting his excuse was: "Force of habit, Sir."

This is the excuse many of us pull out of the bag for our moral lapses. Why we occasionally get away with it is because our superiors realize what a powerful influence a habit is. They know their Psychology. They know that a habit is easy to form but hard to break. They know that a habit is the readiness of passion to rise quickly and strongly and often and to pass at once into action so that the action becomes a regular thing.

A man forgets to write home; it becomes habitual. He makes a rough liberty; he regrets; he repeats it, and then it becomes habitual. He gets paid and aquires an extravagant impulse; he follows it, and buys gaudy junk for his girl; he neglects to pay for it. His buying and neglecting becomes habitual. Then the curtain falls on romance. Thus it goes with the "smart guy" the "born leader" who is tough with his tongue. It is all force of habit and a strong one.

Philosophers and others who know life tell us it is just as easy to form good habits. Life then becomes easier and hippier. Action becomes golden; idleness, poison.

Study your good habits and break the bad ones. Keep your speech clean and your record clear and it will then become so much more pleasant to know you.

The first submarine was built during the American Revolution by David Bushnell, a Conneticut man. He was the first man to destroy a ship with a torpedo. That was in New London Harbor in 1777.

During the World War, the five or six German U-boats operating in the waters of the United States, sank ships aggregating 110,000 tons, among which was the cruiser, U.S.S. San Diego.

Samoa is the only United States possession south of the Equator. In the days before watches were worn on every wrist, the steersman used to time his tricks at the wheel with a sandglass. Due to the difficulty of steering the old windjammers, a trick was only half an hour, and each time the glass was turned a bell would be struck to indicate the number of the trick in the watch. Hence the custom of eight bells to a watch.

Naval Officers are commissioned by the President with the consent of the Senate. In the year 1775, a naval officer was commissioned in any one of the following ways: by the Marine committee, which administered naval affairs, by its subordinate boards at Philadelphia and Boston, by any naval commander, by recruiting agents, by commissioners abroad, or by local authorities in the several states.

Knights placed their badges of honor over the heart, hence all medals are worn on the left breast.

Cable reports from London last week revealed that continued protests against Metro's "Comrade X" as "untimely ridicule of Russia," resulted in withdrawal of the film in England. Australia and New Zealand are expected to follow. MGM had inserted a foreword which pointed out that the picture was all "in good fun" and intended as "good-natured entertainment in no way reflecting upon the gallant and heroic struggle the Russians are now waging against the Nazis," but the protests continued. Meanwhile, in Mexico, the film was shelved after trade unions there voiced disapproval.

"My brother has a paint store and business is booming on account of the war."
"Sells paint to the Government?"
"No, liquid stockings to the ladies!"

No, Oswald, a dog watch has nothing to do with taking care of the ship's mascot.

We know a photographer who has a dog who goes around snapping people.

A bus pulled up suddenly at an intersection as the traffic light turn- ed red. An old car crashed into the back of it. The driver of the bus went back and asked: "Just what do you use for brakes when there isn't a bus handy ?"

Back in the days when visitors were allowed on board, a lady, one of a party of sightseers, was being shown around a warship. Turning to a sailor who was acting as their guide she asked: "Can you tell me why sailors wear such loose-fitting clothes ?" "Certainly, mam, it's to allow for shrinkage when we fall overboard."

If a girl is wise she'll hitch her wagon to a man who works like a horse.

Wife: "The new maid has burned the bacon and eggs, darling. Wouldn't you be satisfied with a couple of kisses for breakfast?" Husband (reading paper): "Sure, bring her in."

"What are you looking so sad about ?" "Well, I work right next to the Print Shop, and all the jokes for Korney Korner are tried out on me before publication."

I wish I were a little rock,
A sittin' on a hill.
Doin' nothin' all day,
But just settin' still.
I wouldn't eat:
I wouldn't sleep;
I wouldn't even wash.
I'd just set still a thousand years,
And rest myself bygosh.