Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-05-01
4 = S1rr,rArs 81 rurE NAVY.


~ Ts,s xaniniss ssrstlon Mas Favored
d {u9o1ruesp- An Eloquent Protest.
~ lbllowing is from ue letter o. 2 s.,scs .rss
<3SfS cSmpany Of the Richmond, and
)oVo horersw to be . fAir sample Of the
Si1s1en Of the navy, IL composed of 307
-. = o. who m are apprentices and ex-
Fuz1iceA Exclusive Of the last men
~, - per cent. only Of our crew arc
1kmortcoua, the other AZ pcr cent Oeiug
n5l0avians, Danes, Russians, Dutch,
1nuenaus. English, French, Spanish, itsl.
||nna Aftfcaus Monrolians and Turks VI
r. apprentices and ex-apprcntices,! OF 20 per
TT are Americans while the remaininY
( y psr cent. are mostly natives Of Ireland,
4 ~ ssss,ntrv thev ioft when 40 young
a ~ thoy have little or no remembrance oil
Z 4 bcara Of Officers has srocommende ed that
- ko0ss Apprenticeship shall continue until
: y q a years Of age, and our latest news
4 I&um home inforinA us that this has DO.
S0omo law. OF that In itself they would not
|1omplain. but go what follows The hon
1Ggable secretary OF the navy Issues an order
~ tho Gffout that no apprentice shall hold
& i1bo rte Of petty officer, thereby compel
B ~ t1Do boy to serve until he Is q before no
tn - ratsd, while the sane admtnistra-
$l5oo rnakes no provisions prohibiting the
4 S/l0fWegian or German, who comes d.
E&ooes ffOm Castle Garden to the navy yard,
|Sknine rated . petty officer before he has
\ I'm afoat week /; In fact u is not neces.
I! IVY that the dust Of our noble land should
A lave come in contact With hts wooden
40hoos q all. He can board us In foreign
4 tlaod without evor having been cheered by
4 = night Of the grandest country on which
4 eko blessing Of God ever rested, and before
~ can count, In English, the stripes on that
semblem OF freedom, he Is the captain Of
Z - q the coxswain Of boat, while the
s american boy who has spent eight or nine
,ofthe best years of his life In the service Is
mot eligible TO the place.
And II nine-tenths Of that 72 per cent.
Above mentioned should be questioned
ooncsrning the Specification OF the stripes
ond stars under which they are serving II
would be found that their ignorance Is
tonly exceeded by their extreme indificr.
&oUce In tho matter. And can our boys tell
Il ~ any thing about itf Yes, and not that
a1pne. Many of them can tell of fathers
where shot and shell have torn and rent 1t
md have handed II down to them
'sS without a stripe effaced
Or single star erased.
And for what? Why, to wave at that poak
there, while beneath its honored folds they,
ohe children Of its defenders, are subject To
TIE beck and nod OF the offscourings OF
snlists In the navy with these facts staring
him In the face must indeed he devoid Of
ambition.
where are the boasted privileges Of our free
lnstltutions which support the theory that
untel1igence and Legitimate ambition should
I not be held in checkf In looking back
over the naval history Of the past, what do
SWe observes This: That tho younger the
9uofsonnel Of the navy the more effective
- been IT. condition. We will cite one
oxample: Lake Erie, Sept. 20, 1913; an
American boy-yes q boy, but with the
one Of the most brilliant naval Victories the
world had ever seen. His enemies attributed
his succeas to his superior gunpery. We
3 knvo boys In the navy to-day between
EtWenty and twenty-four years Of ago,
whose knowledge Of gunnery would para
lyse The shade Of the noble Perry and
2sesll they are not 1T to be petty
~ the past decade has been the
SA1mehlng stock OF the nations OF the
world, the cause Of which we can attribute
EeAlsfiy 10 Its sntiquated personnel. In
nny Cases an officer reaches the rank of
i0oUlnodore now when he reaches his dot
~, and from then until he is retired his
s1lne II spent--not In supporting the dignity
~ bic rank, but In haggling with the affairs
j9 ~ hle captains and younger officers, there
~ making II unpleasant for everybody In
III command. But ] have digressed.
1cysi what will you dor know your
answer. ave wifi finish our apprentice
nip, take our discharge, seek employment
y y civil life, and give the foreigner his sway
7 n the navy, while there Is nothing to do but
III NV hours drill daily, and the American
fIcld TO be drawn at the end Of every month
Ind forwarded to Norway, to Denmark,
-. Russia, to Germany and TO Italy, which
will continue as long as the mantle Of peace
b0rnces our homes; but when the clouds Of
4 var gather above our devoted land, the
olleI has taken his departure from the post
af danger, to carry the knowledge he has
<eoQuired under our flag perhaps to the
snemv, we will come back and through fire
and blood will we carry the honor of our
5 Nation; and when the glory Of our fathers
has been again sustained we will probably
agHin be crowded out by the laws of our
counfry. to make room for the peace'loving
fortune hunters OF Europe. AMERICA.
FLAGSHIP RICHMOND, March Is.