The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-07-04 00:00:00

THE TRAINING SHIP EXMOUTH.

The training ship Exmouth, lying in the Thames off
the pleasant little town of Greys, was on Saturday
visited, and the boys inspected, by her Royal High-
ness the Princes S Louise (Marchioness of Lorne) in
the presence of the Committee of Management an-1
some other members of the Metropolitan Asylums
Board. The Exmouth has now been used as a train-
ing ship for some ten years, and receives boys from
the various workhouses of the metropolis, the majority
of them being drafted into the Roy al Navy and the
mercantile marine. During that period the ship has
received no less than 2749 lads, of whom C 39 have
joined the navy, 881 have entered the merchant ser-
vice, and 305 have become members of army bands,
whilst the rest have been sent back to their unions or
their friends. There are now on board 5-N
lads, of whom 291 have been received since the
inspection last year. The Princess Louise left
Fenchurch-street Station on Saturday by special
train at one o'clock, the greater portion of the
company having started an hour and a half
earlier. Her Royal Highness, who was accompanied
by the Marquis of Lorne, and attended by Lady
Sophia Macnamara and Major Collins, was received
at the station by Mr. E. H. Galsworthy, chairman of
the Metropolitan Asylums Board, and conducted to
the train. The other members of the party included
Lord Muncaster, Admiral Robertson, General
Gardner, and Captain Gerald F. Talbot. After a
pleasant run of 35 minutes Greys was reached, and
the visitors entered carriages, in which they were
conveyed to the river shore. The guard of honour
was furnished by the Ist Essex Artillery Volunteers.
The little town had put on holiday, apparel. The
streets were gaily decorated with flags, Venetian
masts, and stt earners, and the loyal welcome offered
by the inhabitants found still more hearty evprescion
in the cheers of the many hundreds of people who
lined the route from the station to the landing-stage.
Here the Princess and her travelling companions
stepped into a boat belonging to the Exmouth, and
manned by a crew of the elder boys, by whom they
were rapidly rowed to the Exmouth itself. The
beautiful ship—a fine specimen of the old "wooden
walls " was gay with flags, as were also the
Shaftesbury School Board training ship, which lay
just astern of the Exmouth, and a sloop on which the
boys of the latter are sent for practice in seaman-
ship. As soon as her Royal Highness touched the
deck the Royal standard was unfurled at the main-
mast, and the Princess was received on board the ship
by Lieutenant-General Batten, the chairman of tha
Exmouth Committee of the Board, and Captain Boar-
chier, the captain superintendent of the ship, and the
other officers. The lads were mustered on the quar-
terdeck, and the Princess and party passed through
the ranks, which presented a spectacle of clean,
healthy, :happy-looking boyhood which it would be
difficult to match in all London. After a short in-
terval the lads were put through a series of very in-
teresting drills, including the rescue of a shipwrecked
crew and ambulance exercises. Next came the selec-
tion of the most popular boy, the winner receiving a
silver watch, presented by the Training Ship 9pm-
mittee. On the previous day each of the six divisions
of the ship had chosen their favourite. These six lads
were now ordered to stand at different parts of the quar-
ter deck, and at a given signal the boys ran to the lad,
out of the six, he liked best. The choice, by a large ma-
jority, fell upon Robert Kinder, who amidst the cheers
of his comrades, was then presented to her Royal
Highness as the most popular boy. The other prizes
having been presented, the Marquis of Lorne, on
behalf of the Princess, made a brief but stirring speech
to the boys, stating that her Royal Highness con-
sidered them to have been "extremely steady in the
ranks, very smart and active at all the exercises? He
exhorted the boys, whether they enjoyed the Royal
Navy or the mercantile marine, or whether they spent
their lives ashore, never to forget the ship on which
they were trained, nor the hero—Lord Exmouth—
after whom that ship was named. In conclusion, the
Marquis of Lorne said they had before them a proof
that boys trained on board such a ship as this were
superior in physique to any lads trained on shore.
The Royal party then left, the boys manning the
yards, and giving several hearty cheers as the boat
left the vessel's side. This boat was manned by the
12 boys on whose breasts the Princess had pinned
medals for good conduct and general progress during
the past year. Her Royal Highness and party drove
to Greys Railway Station amid hearty cheers. The
" special " reached Fenchureh-street shortly before
five o'clock.