The Osceola times., 1878-01-12

mtnt, anu winch ~ tHt same tluit rhali
be compact, portable and not easily liable
to derangement.-PaH Mall Gasette.
How Mcn-of- Wars Boys Are Trained
for Sea.
The impossibility of manning the ships
of the American navy with trained sea
mo of native birth has been long felt to
be a grievous evil by the officers who,
when ships went into commission, were
compelled to fill up their complement
with men from all nationalities, OF whom
the percentage of American seamen was
lamentably small, and thus eked out by
landsmen, whom il took two years
cruise to fashion into the shape of man.
of-war's men. While the powerful
navies of other maritime powers have
had in succt ssful operation for many
years well organized systems of training
seamen, the United States has been
utterly destitute of any provision OF the
sort and has had to depend 10 man her
war vessels in the main upon stray drift.
ings from the merchant service.
In order to remedy this, Secretary
Robeson, under special act of con.
gress, issued an order on April s, 1875,
providing for the enlistment of boys,
between the ages of seventeen and
eighteen, to serve until the age OF twenty
one, the purpose of the enlistment being
to educate them ~ seamen and thus
in measure keep up the supply. The
first enlistments were made in New York
where, on board the United States
steamer Minnesota, there are now
two hundred and fifty boys
being carefully trained. There are also
some forty or fifty now on board the U
5. ship Saratoga in Hampton roads, 4
few on the U. S. steamer Monongahea
at Baltimore, and at tine San Francisco
station twenty-five. The Constitution
after having been rebuilt Just before The
Centennial, was stationed as a sort of {
show ship at the Philadelphia navy yarc
during that year of glorification. Or
the 18th OF January Of this year sht
went into commission, and at once tn,
enlistment of boys at this station began
There are new on board the Consttu
tion LAG boys, leaving four vacancies
her allotment being $50, which, with 100
sailors and petty officers and a marin,
guard, make up the ships company
The boys were hard at work on thu
gun deck Monday morning, engaged
in heaving up the anchor, task which
occupied them until late in the after
noon, the anchor having during the
storm OF Saturday fouled with another
with which one of the monitors in
shore was moored. A more athletic
, set of youngsters it would be hard to find
or such collection of cheerful, intell
faces. Besides, they are all American
boys. Il am surprised" says Captain
Cook, "at the character of many of the
boys brought here to be enlisted. Many
of these who you now see are of excel
lent and well.to-do families, and of un'
doubtedly good character. We do not
get the rih-rafi of the streets, nor young
, scoundrels who, their parents having
in vain endeavored to reform, are glad tc
be got rid of. We have the choice o.
excellent material, and of those who
apply perhaps two-thirds are rejected
mostly for physical dsqualifcations
. The boys when entered are rated
second-class, and receive $40 80 month
The outfit, which is furnished by the
paymsster, costs about forty dollars. The
, boys are generally kept aboard at first
for three months without liberty, partly
to make the ship good against the cloth.
, ing advance, but more particularly u
break the youngsters in. After that
unless misconduct bars the way, each
boy has liberty on shore once every
fortnight and If his parents or relatives
live in the city or near by from Saturday
to Monday. From forty to fifty boy.
are thus let loose on every Saturday, and
the captain asserts with pride that in
: but few instances have any o; them over.
stayed their time and none returned
under the influence of liquor.
They mess and sleep on the gun.deck,
the berth deck being appropriated to the
men. Their morals are under the especial
care of the officers, who display the
greatest interest in the welfare of their
charges. For the purposes of discipline
the boys are divided into gun crews OF
seventeen each, two of which form a
division, each division being in charge OF
lieutenant. Once a week the bags
containing their clothing are brought on
| utCh huu luc Nbuttuts Vi each carefully
inspected. Besides this there is a daily
morning inspection, and one afternoon
each week is devoted to mending, old
sailors being detailed to teach them the
mystery Of mending and making their
garments. The course of instruction is
divided into two hours in the morning
and two in the afternoon, and, the
boys being detailed in four divisions,
each division goes at the end
OF each hour to different course of in
struction, in training at the guns, broad.
sword exercise, single stick and infantry
drill, or, consolidated into two divisions
take turns at practical seamanship, such
As making and shortening sail, bending
and unbending sails, sending down wards,
etc. Their lessons, studied of evenings.
are also recited in the morning hours.
Three schoolmasters teach reading. writ
ing, spelling, arithmetic, grammar geog-
raphy and history. Swimming is also
taught. OF evenings the boys are en-
couraged to amuse themselves in singing
sud instrumental music. "The great
idea," said Capt. Cook, "is to keep them
always engaged"
OI the result of the training of these
boys the officers of the Constitution speak
with ore accord. Their good behavior.
their desire to learn, their aacrity 70 obev
| are warmly praised. and while il seems IN