Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

A.F. Robinton, The trials and tribulations of Roger Aldolphus Ralston onetime recruit in the U.S. Navy and at present, Boastwain's Mate, 1st Class, Accession # 10875 -aa, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This account was given to the University of Virginia Library by Matthew J. Bruccoli, Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc. of Columbia, South Carolina, on September 24, 1994.

Scope and Content Information

This addition to the Joseph M. Bruccoli Great War Collection consists of humorous reminiscences concerning navy life during World War I entitled "The Trials & Tribulations of Roger Aldolphus Ralston onetime recruit in the U.S. Navy and at present, Boatswain's Mate, 1st Class" by F. A. Robinton, Seaman, U.S. Navy. The 117 page manuscript, with illustrations of colored pen and ink drawings, dated November 21, 1919, was written in a bound copybook with "F.A. Robinton" engraved in gold letters on the spine and housed in a blue slipcase. The author describes the account as "Being partly fictitious and partly true, but all based on actual happenings and facts conjured up from stories told in the forward compartment of the U.S.S. Stringham , a ship which was a home, and a home of real shipmates, to whom I dedicate this tabloid tale."

The manuscript contains six hand-written chapters: Chapter One - "Being on account of first impressions of Navy Life, Carry On" (pp. 1-8); Chapter Two - "Stand By" (pp. 9-26); Chapter Three - "At Ease" (pp. 27-37); Chapter Four - "Give Way" (pp. 38-67); Chapter Five - "Cast Loose & Provide" (pp. 68-88); and Chapter Six - "Attention" (pp. 89-117).