The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1878-01-17
How Mcn-Of- Wars Boys Are Trained
for Sea.

How Mcn-Of- Wars Boys Are Trained
for Sea.
The impos3ibility of manning the ships
of the American navy with trained sea.
men of native birth has been long iclt to
be a grievous evil by the officers who,
compelled TO fill up their complement
with men from all %nationalities, OF whom
the percentage Of American seamen was
lamcntably small, and thus cked out by
landsmen, whom it took Il two years
cruise TO fashion into the shape OF man.
ofwar's men. While the powerful
nayies Of other maritime powers have
had in successful operation for many
years well organized systems OF training
scamcn, the United States has been
utterly d%cstitdte Of any provision OF the
sort and has had to depend TO man her
wal vessels in the main upon stray dfllt.
ings from the merchant service,
In order to remedy this, Secretary
Robson, under a special act Of con-
gress, issued an order on April 8, 1875,
providing tor 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 ~ scamen and thug
in a measure keep up the supply. The
first enlistments were made in New York,
where, on board the United States,
steamer Minnesota, there arc now
two hundred and fifty boys
being carefully trained. There are also
some forty or fifty now on board the u.
>. ship Saratoga in Hampton roads, Il
few on the u. S. steamer Monongahcla,
at Baltimore, and at the San Francisco
station twenty-five. The Constitution,
after having been rebuilt just before the
Centennial, was stationed ~ II sort Of 4
show ship at the Philadelphia navy-yard
during that year Of Qualification. On
the 18th OF January Of this year she
went into commission, and at once the
enlistment Of boys at this station began.
There are now ON board the COnsLitu-
ton lac boys, leaving four vacancies,
her allotment being $50, which, with 100
sailors AMI petty officers and II marine
guard, make up The ships company.
The boys were hard at work on the
gun deck Monday morning, engaged
IN hcaying up the anchor, Il 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 a collection Of cheerful, intclli
gent and in many instances even refined
faces, Besides, they are all American
boys. 81 I'm surprised" says Captain
Cook, cat 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.
doubleday good character. We do not
get the "riil.rat OF the streets, nor young
scoundreIs who, their parents having
in vain endeavOred to reform, are glad to
be got rid Of. We have the choice OF
excellent material, and Of those who
apply perhaps two.thirds are rejected,
mostly for physical disqualifcation4.
The boys when entered are rated
secDnd-class, and receive SIO5Oa month.
The outfit, which is furnished by the
paymastcr, 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 to
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 boys
are thus let loose on every Saturday, and
the captain asserts with pride that in
but f}w~ instances have any OF 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
a lieutenant. Once Il week the bags
containing their clothing are brought on
deck and the contents OF 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
1T each hour to a 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 scamanship, such
- 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, geor.
raphy and history. Swimming is also
taught. OF evenings the. boys are en-
couraged to amuse themselves in singing
md instrumental music. "The great
idea," said Capt. Cook, sis to keep them
always engaged"
"a 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 ~alacrity b obey
are warmly praised, and while it seems to