The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-06-22

IHougu osCenSlDly telegram, Is De-
yond doubt clipping from some
newspaper published elsewhere
than in Honolulu, under the
head of "Good for the Navy"
and which in its re-hashed
attire is a most bitter calumny
and malicious lie against the
entire enlisted personnel of the
the United States navy, as well as
a stigma upon all who are affiliated
Herewith, as perusal of the fol-
lowing paragraph will exhibit.
1.-THE navy at the present time is
manned by some good men who have
been brought up in the service as ap-
prentices, and others who did good
service during the late war, but most
of the men enlisted of late are pro-
fessional tramps, and good many of
them have been sent back to the re-
ceiving ships for their discharges
To anyone of comparative intel
ligence who has ever visited Uni
ted States man-of-war, or who has
ever been thrown into intercourse
with any of its attaches, the NAL
ignaty of the above paragraph is so
pronounced conception of an i'm
beetle brain that it is, metaphor
cally speaking, scarcely necessary
to rebut were it not for the fact
that some similar unsophisticated
reportorial quidnunc would, in his
ignorance, believe it and further
promulgate the lie.
In commenting upon the para
graph in question l do not wish to
be interpreted as holding up to
public dissection the personnel of
the United States Navy as being
constituted of persons who are par
excellent with inimitable char
acter, yet | do maintain and stand
ready to prove that taken as a
whole they compair more than
favorably with any body of men in
the world similarly drawn to-
gether as they are by casualty.
The assersion that the major or
greater portion of the enlisted men
of the American navy are "profes-
sional tramps" is as absurd as it is
malicious. Official statistics pub
lished comparatively by the United
States and Great Britain show us
-"that nine-tenths of the vast null
titude following a sea-faring life
entered either the merchant ma
rine or naval service during or i'm
mediately following boyhood, while
the other tenth are men who have
entered the service through misfor-
tune, lack of employment or curl
osity to visit foreign countries"
1t is evident that the reporter or
correspondent in whose Imagination
the above paragraph originated has
an exceedingly diminutive knowl-
edge of the essential requirements
necessary for shipping in the
United States Navy, and shows his
ignorance of the characteristics of
a professional tramp" as well.
Were it possible for "profes-
sional tramp" to succeed in ship
ping in the United States Navy, he
would only too promptly recognize
his folly and find it more congenial
to his professional instincts to take
to the road before giving his name
opportunity to dry on the articles,
or drawing his dreaming bag"
In vindication of the United
States Navy | am pleased to assert
for the information of those who
deem all who are in, or perchance
to enter, the service refugees from
justice, paupers, or professional
tramps," that during my connec-
ton with the Navy [ have found to
my surprise that the men before
the mast possess an over average
amount of intelligence which
would on competition eclipse that
of any homologus gathering from
the paths of civil life brought to-
gether as the men of the American
Navy are.
To my personal knowledge there
are many men before the mast who
are taxpayers and possess i'm
peachable character, and who are
neither apprentices nor vetrans. I'll
such men as these are professional
tramps," l bow my head in humble
humiliation, but until the contrary
is proven 1 trust that the more
generous minded public will not
condemn every Jack tar" or sea-
faring person as being professional
tramps," outcasts and paupers, as
many less honorable persons would
have their neighbors believe them
to be. A. MARINE.
U. S. Flagship San Francisco,
Honolulu, H. l., June 20, 1892.
0NpncroI n