Smyrna times., 1894-08-22
For The Smyrna Times.
The Pennsylvania Naval Reserves at
League Island Navy Yard.

AOdE uC ASAdnu ~ dfy dAus
While on the Cruiser Minneapolis at
League Island last week l was afforded
an opportunity to witness the advent
of the Naval Reserves on their annual
practice drill. including five days run
at sea on the Cruiser New York. The
battalion consisted of two delegations,
one from Philadelphia and one from
Pittsburgh, Pa.
They made a brave showing when
habited in the full uniform of the
American sailor they jauntily swung
into the yard to the tune of THE Girl
l Left Behind Me-" 1 never saw a
ship laugh, but possibly the ribs of the
72-yearOld StLouis were tickled when
the jolly embryo tars came on board
and hoisted their fiag-a yellow anchor
on blue field On the other side of
the wharf lay the grand old historic
sloOp-of war, Richmond, her name en-
baZOned in the glorious victories of
which with the Hartford, Lancaster,
Kearsarge, Brooklyn and Saratoga, will
forever cluster about the hearthstones of
Americans along with the heritage of
Decatur, Bainbridge aud Preble in the
the deathless Valor of the American
race in times that tried mems souls.
Out in the stream looms the white
hull of the magnificent Cruiser New
YOrk-the pride of the navy. Farther
to the south lay three Old-time Erricson
Monitors doing away in dotage now
that their work is done, since one of
their type had the honor of saving the
cities of the Middle Atlantic seabOard
from falling prey to the Confederate
ram Merrimac, during the late war. So
it can he seen th It the surroundings in
which the Reserves were introduced
were calculated to make them dof
their land legs as quickly as possible
and roll and sWagger after the fashion
of the griZzled aud gray sea-dOgs about
them, which they succeed in doing to
perfection. Then the five days at sea in
firing the % feet long 10 inch guns
must no doubt have been a revelation
to many of the youngsters except those
who were investigating the merits of
several New YOrks besides the one
they were on.
The city papers teemed with de-
scriptions of the amount of hard work
mapped out for the Reserves when
they reached the Navy Yard. So far
as work went. or rather a desire to
gain information what between Juggling
their baggage over to the old Monitors
and on the st. Louis and interspersed
with few battalion drills up and down
the wharf and ending with a grand flare
and blare of drums, when Gov. Patti
son and staff came down on the Cutter
Hamilton-the boys had u good time
fishing. Now quite different was the
work mapped out for the Naval Cadets
| from Annapolis on the practice-ship,
Bancroft, which steamed up the Della
ware while the Reserves were banging
away at the targets of the Breakwater
from the New York. The entire lot
were sent ON shore early in the morn
ing and spent the day among the great
| industrial works along the river front.
Cramps received the best part of them
and clad in white duck clothing with
no semblance about it of the smart
American sailor rugged out in his tog-
gerry. The officers in charge of them
saw to it that they made practical use
| of their note books before the day was
ended.
From these boys are or will be
evolved the future officers in whose
charge will be placed those stately
ships that are now eliciting the admira'
tion of the world instead of burning
| powder. They are using up the gray
matter of brain and Drawn learning
something of the technical and theo.
retical construction of the very ships
some of them some day may be as
signed to command. They go about iu
squads iu charge of an officer and each
one makes his own comments in note
book from which later on takes the
form of paper to be read before the
Board of Instruction at Annapolis. o.
course they shoot and fish and wher
they get a chance plunk empty beer
bottles into the river just as the re
serves do without a chance-of being
detected.
But these boys learn sOmething;theil
vocation is right there before them
nothing so hap-hazard as the old far
mer remarked at Il school commence
ment "Gracious if all these boys is go
ing to be lawyers and druggists anC
doctors, whose to stay home and shucl
the coIn?" They learn something o
the names used in constructing battle
ship, about keel plates, about shell
plating, they are told the difference be
tween angle-iron and channel-irol
frames and how the plating is fastened
to them. They measure the stem ant
make drawings of the stern posts The
trace out fore and aft bulkheads ant
their transverse direction. The weigh
| E f,o ~ .fa 10 ,r,k1
is ascertained in foot tons. They Sc
the workmen bend heavy sheets i
every conceivable shape and to all tn
degrees of the quadrant to exactly
the varying shape of the ship. The
crawl down into the depths and Sc
how the water bottoms are built an
the use of inter-costals and automati
: valves to prevent the water rising i
case a shot penetrates the under bod
shell-plating. They see the first stage
i made in building up the great engine
that are to drive these ships thrOug
water at marvellous speed.
Y The boring of the shaft alley wa,
: the delicate centering Of the engin,
beds is explained and how the strok
y of the triple expansion engine is mad
to work on rock shaft. The use
condensers, iDjectors and feed pipe
etc. is given. Up in the drawing-rOo
e they are shown the detail drawings {
re blue-prints for every part of the shi
'e being built. OF how by the exa
= science of hydrostatics in the equil
bruim of fluids, solid body is made
!: displace precisely its own weight
. water and just what these ships wi
II weigh and what water this weight wi
III displace is known to a fraction. Othe
~ wise all would be confusion. The sh
would roll and under the laws of gra
ity the top would very easily becon
the bottom. So that they must knO'
it is one thing to build and quite di
N ferent matter to determine how best
build. To conceive is one thing,
%. %. execute is another.
IN Now this technical teaching for
er certain purpose is in accord with Il
1e er idea of the best instructors everywher
The value of technical training becom
.Sl apparent from the schools devoted
it springing up all over the cOuntT
as There is not one chance in a million
~ boy in his lifetime fighting an eneu
on and winning distinction, but there is
"' fighting chance for many a meritoriO
aohnolhOu of uyinnin0 his broad in 4