Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-07-19
TRAINING SEAMEN.
THE APPR ENTICE SYSTEM IN
THE AMERICAN NAVY.
En- Effective School for Supplying
the United States Navy With
Good Material = How
boys are Recruited.

with somewhat pardonablc pride that
The United States navy looks to the young
apprentices as the very flower of its SER
vicc. All of these young sailors are
American boys vino have been enlisted to
become blue jackets. They come from
Ill parts of the Union, but mostly from
The scaports. The lads are taken when
between the ages OF sixteen and eighteen.
! md must be of respectable parcatagc.
From the date of their admission until
they become Of age the apprentices can
not leave the service, and only in few in
stances does the Navy Department lct any
Of the lads Off
The recruiting for the apprentice
squadron is carried OH ut all the navy
yards, and every summer the United
States steamer Michigan cruises up the
great lakes recruiting boys at all the
ports. On her return trip she often
brings back us many us 800 lads. On
'caching Eric, Penn, the boys arc sent to
The Minnesota, the frigatc 1T New York.
= charge of an officer, and, after some
preliminary instruction on board that
of-battlc ship New Hampshire, at New
port. On this vessel the schooling Of the
apprentice begins i'll earnest. Besides
being taught the rudimcnts of sc;:man-
snip and gunncry, he is given common
school education, and becomes, to some
| extent, sailor of intelligence After
serving years period on the New IIamp-
shire, the apprentices are sent aboard the
sea going training ships, which make
an annual cruise abroad, lasting
; between three and four months.
With the exception of few able
scamen aboard, the apprentices COM
prise the whole crew, and the ships man
agencnt depends upon them. On the
return of the training ships from abroad
those apprentices who have been with the
training shins for tarcc years are sent
aboard regular sca-.oing ships and arc
known us sei:'lcn apprentices. They are
| compelled to pass an examination in sea-
manship showing that they are qualified
at least !or ordinary scamcn. AS rule
many of them can fill able scaman's
billets. On reaching the age of twenty
one the apprentice is at liberty to leave
the service, but it is rare for those to do
so who have continued the life for three
years. Every induccmcnt is offered to
former apprentices to rc-cnlist when they
become twenty-one years of age. All the
! petty officers billcts aboard are held omen
to them, and it is possible for them to
attain to the rank of warrant officer.
The warrant officers include the grades OF
boatswain, gunner, carpenter and sail
maker, the pay beng 5000 per annum
for the first three years, ;.ld increasing
to $500 per anpu-i ;::tcr twelve years OF
service from date of appointment Under
the present exciting law apprentices are
/ not eligible TO Annapolis, and why the
law, which some years past allowed three
! appointments yearly from the apprentice
squadron, has been changed, is un
accountable.
1t is Il mistake TO thin,l tina; apprentice
ships are rcformatory schools. Boys
| fitted only for the Bridcwcll are not the
material from which the United States
Navy is to he recruited. Naval officers
understand what is needed and good
deal of care and Judgment is exercised
! III the choosing of lads. II does not take
an officer long to pick out the apprentice
seancn from among Il group Of sailors
| There Is II neatness about him, Il smart
| air which the old sailor does not possess.
I His clothes usually fit him to II nicely.
and are cut with I'LL the skill of the blue
| jacket. As for fighting men they are
| tie best i'll the navy, and i'll IL tight place
can always be depended upon. There are
! perhaps 10 other warships in the world
which carry such heterogeneous crews rs
! those of America. Men mailing from
Q f.x...- Il Il.
/ ing un:.cr the American colors, and all
! actuaicd by the inducements held out by
the Government i'll the way OF pay. When
/ the Shenandoah left Boston Navy Yard
/ Tor the European station some years ago
| Il was found that there were represented
! lnong the men forward no less than
( twenty-five different nationalities
The writer has served aboard
onc naval vessel which had a
complement of nearly two hun
! iircd blue jackets, yet Of this number
only twenty-five We're native born Amcri-
cans. just how these foreigners will act
in time of action, and particularly if en-
gagged III battle with the flag of their ma
tive country, is a matter which naval off
GERS look upon rs deserving considerable
attention. 1t is well known, however,
that when it comes TO pinch, the ma
jority of the foreigners are found want
ing, and the writer has but to alludc to
! some of the incidents connected with the
clearing of the rebels off the Isthmus of
Panama i'll 1885 to recall to the minds OF
many naval officers how inefficient was
the majority of the foreign element in
the infantry battalions. Officers engaged
there will remember, too, how well the
! apprentices behaved and the splendid
showing they made. Can there he any
stronger advocacy or greater reason for
the full maintenance Of IN apprentice sys-
tenn than the incidents OF the Panama af-
iair9 Foreign sailors aboard ship are all
wei enough under ordinary cIrcum-
stances. They can he depended upon to
haul Ill Il brace and lay on Il yard arm
when told simply because thcy are paid
! paid just us they would be in Inc
merchant service. What is needed are
men on whom dependence can he placed
in time of action-men who are willing
+ 10 take chances, because il takes the fri,