The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1894-07-28
HOWITISINTHENAVY
POSITION AND REMUNERATION o.
THE ENLISTED MEN,

steady Employment With Sure pav
seaman Glass Worst Paid.
Although the seamen and even tho
petty officers Of the United States navy
are largely Of foreign birth, there never
was a time when places in the navy be.
low the rank of commissioned Officers
were so attractive to native Americans
As the old wooden ships and the ola
fashioned steam propelled ships pivo
place to modern marine machines tho
navy becomes more and more suited n
the tastes Of capable Americans
Since the Kearsarge laid her bonoa
upon Roncador there arc left in really
active service only 10 wooden sbins
though there are 10 others used as re-
ceiv,ng ships and as scholarships Of ono
sort or another. All the sailing sbina
that ever move from place to place ara
the training ships and scholarships Tho
navy has long been made up chiefly Of
steam propelled vessels, and it will bo
only few years before the whole NO.
tive list will be composed Of iron or
steel steamships.
This gradual change in tho navy hes
wrought marked change in tho rcr.
sonnet of the petty officers and the en-
listed men, as in the conditions under
which they work. Captain Codma1's
mournful cry that there arc no moro
sailors is as true of the navy as Of tho
merchant service. The navy still shfrs
seamen at wages ranging from SIC to
$24 per month, but it also ships host
of artifcers, mechanics, firemen end
whatnot at wages sometimes exceeding
$40 per month.
The new navy rs it grows will reed
an increasing number of men in these
special classes. There are nearly as many
new vessels building as there arc wood.
en- ships now on the active list, and ev-
cry new iron steam propelled monster
that is added to the navy creates an III
creased demand for the skilled and high
paid classes of enlisted men. Already
there are some scores of machinists at
$40 per month, boiler makers ut $50,
blacksmiths at 500, plumbers at S45,
water tenders, oilers, firemen and print
ers at from $50 to $40 per month, to say
nothing of coppersmiths, shipwrights
and coal passers at wages varying from
$50 per month down to 500.
The seaman class, the worst paid Of
all in its lower branches, is very well
paid in the higher ranks. The lad that
enters as third class apprentice at 50
per month may reasonably hope to be-
come chief master at arms at $50 per
iaonth The lad with a gift for music
may easily find himself transferred to
the special class that includes must
clans, writers and apothecaries, and
here the wages vary from SIS to $50
per month.
There is a special provision of law to
encourage good men to remain long in
the service. The ordinary term of en-
listment is three years, and by this pro-
vision any honorably discharged man
who re-enlists within three months
from the date of his discharge returns
to the navy with his pay raised 81 per
month. The extra dollar is added at
each re-enlistment, and there may cast
ly be half a dozen re-enlistments, or for
that matter dozen. 1t means that q
good man who sticks to the service for
life gets a three months vacation every
three years, followed by an increase OF
pay.
1t usually happens that the man who
thus enlists and re-enlists has reached
the grade of petty officer at his third or
fourth enlistment, and after that tho
larger pay of his new place increases
regularly 81 per month every three
years, should he choose to continue II
the service. There are other small per-
quisites of one kind or another that
swell the earnings of the sailor tnE'
sticks to the navy, and there awaits hiIa
In old age a safe retreat ashore with Oh
companions.
1t Is true that mechanics in tho navy
receive nominally smaller wages than
men of their trades ashore, but they arc
subject to none of the uncertainties Oh
business The navy goes right on II
times of panic, and there is no docking
for illness Employment and pay arc
secure for the rest OF mans days anu
promotion is almost within his OWL
control.
The aristocratic organization OF 'n'
navy doubtless has kept many sell IT,
speeding native Americans from eniisF
ing, but the service is vastly moi0
democratic in practice than IN Theory
True, no enlisted man may hope TO ".
come a commissioned officer, bat 'no
enlisted man of tried ability and Know
good conduct always earns the resgs''
and the consideration Of his superioiS
The brutal officer of the deck IS ainioa,
unknown in the United States navy ai,'
the self respecting enlisted man Is ~
dom made to feel that any one io0-7
down upon him.
His food is wholesome, clean az
abundant, and the officer Of tho us S
must taste it before il is served 10 w
men at any meal His quarters are Oe'
ter and better as the navy improves 'n1
the privileges of the well ordered -
man are many and agreeable. Inc n'',
department holds out as an inducenen'
to men that think Of enlisting the Pr
pect of seeing foreign parts 49,
through portfolio " was the ola u, -,
Jack Tar's cynical comment when -
cruiting poster met his eye ashore :.
But the seaman whose own conuuS.