The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-05-24
OWITIsINTHENAVY
POSITION AND REMUNERATION or
THE ENLISTED MEN.

The Vast and Varied Force OF areciaanics In
the service-Here skilled LMbor Finds
steady EmpIoyment with sure Pay.
Seaman Glass Worst Paid.
Although the seamen and even the
petty officers of the United States navy
are largely of foreign birth, there never
was q 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 old
fashioned steam propelled ships give
place to modern marine machines the
navy becomes more and more suited to
the tastes of capable Americans.
Since the Kearsarge laid her bones
upon Roncador there are left In really
active service only 10 wooden ships,
though there are l5 others used as re-
ceiving ships and as schoolships Of one
sort or another. All the sailing ships
that v U move from place TO place are
the training ships and schoolships. The
navy has long been made up chiefly of
steam propelled vessels, and il will be
only o few years before the whole &C.
tive list will be composed OF iron or
steel steamships.
This gradual change in the navy has
wrought q marked change In the per-
sonnet Of the petty officers and the en-
listed men, as in the conditions under
which they work. Captain Codman's
mournful cry that there are no more
sailors Is IS true of the navy as of the
merchant service. The navy sti1l ships
seamen at wages ranging from SO to
ga per month, but 1t also ships D host
of artificers, mechanics, fremen and
whatnot at wages sometimes exceeding
$40 per month.
The new navy as il grows will need
an increasing number Of men In these
special classes. There are nearly as many
new vessels building as there are wood
en- ships now on the active list, and ev-
cry new iron steam propelled monster
that is added to the navy creates an in'
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 Mt $50,
blacksmiths at $50, plumbers at $45,
water tenders, oilers, fremen 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 $22.
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 a third class apprentice at 90
per month may reasonably hope to be-
come chief master at arms at &65 per
month. 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 &18 10 $50
per month.
There Is q 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 honorabIy 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 easi-
~ be half a dozen establishments, or for
that matter a dozen. 1t means that a
good man who sticks to the service for
life gets a three months vacation every
three years, followed by an increase Of
pay.
Tt 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 the
larger pay of his new place increases
regularly 81 per month every three
years, should he choose to continue in
the service. There are other small per
quisites of one kind or another that
swell the earnings of the sailor that
sticks to the navy, and there awaits him
in old age a safe retreat ashore with old
companions.
It is true that mechanics in the navy
receive nominally smaller wages than
men of their trades ashore, but they are
|. subject to none Of the uncertainties OF
j business. The navy goes right on in
times of panic, and there is no docking
/ for illness. Employment and pay are
secure for the rest of a mans days, and
+ promotion is almost within his own
) control.
} The a~ristocratic organization Of the
+ navy doubtless has kept many self re.
specting native Americans from enlist.
ing, but the service Is vastly more
) democratic in practice than i'm theory.
True, no enlisted man may hope to be-
come q commissioned officer, but thu
enlisted man Of tried ability and known
good conduct always earns the respect
and the consideration OF his superiors
: The brutal officer OF the deck is almosI
! unknown in the United States navy, and
6 the self respecting enlisted man is sci
d dom made to feel that any one look
. down upon him.
81 His food In wholesome, clean and
abundant, and the officer Of theldecl
must taste it before it is served to TIL
men al any meal. His quarters are bet
ter and better as the navy improves, ans
? the privileges of the well ordered sea
2 man are many and agreeable. The nav.
y il aa~m~%~~r.& Ir1lc 1L+ au =. s~l.n1M1~.