The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1894-05-30
HOWITISINTHENA NAVY
POSITION AND REMUNERATION OF
THE ENLISTED MEN.
Tho Vast and Varied Force of Mechanics In
the service--Hcre Skilled Labor Finds
Steady Employment with Sure Pay.
Seaman Glass Worst Paid.

the service--Here Skilled Labor Finds
Steady Employment 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 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 Is others used as re-
ceiving ships and as scholarships of one
sort or another. All the sailing ships
that ever move from place to place are
the training ships and scholarships The
navy has long been made up chiefly Of
steam propelled vessels, and it will be
only few years before the whole ac.
tive list will be composed Of iron or
steel steamships.
This gradual change in the navy has
wrought marked change in the per.
sonnel 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 as true of the navy as of the
merchant service The navy still ships
seamen at wages ranging from $40 to
SEA per month, but it also ships host
of artificers mechanics firomen and
whatnot at wages sometimes exceeding
$40 per month.
The new navy as II grows will need
an increasing uupiber Of men in these
special classes. There are nearly as many
new vessels building az 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 On in
creased demand for the skilled and high
paid classes Of enlisted mon. Already
there are some scores Of n,achinists at
$40 per month, boiler makers at 500,
blacksmiths at $50, plumbers at S45,
water tenders, oilers, flremen and print
ers at from $50 to $40 per month. to say
nothing Of ooppersmiths shipwrights
and coal passers at wages varying from
$50 per month down 70 &22.
The seaman class, the worst paid of
all in it's lower branches, is very well
paid in the higher ranks The lad that
enters as third class apprentice at 90
per month may reasonably hope to be-
come chief master at arms at &65 per
month The lad with . gift for music
may easily find himself transferred to
the special class that includes musi-
clans. writers And apothecaries, and
here the was vary from sls to $50
per month.
There is 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 pny raised 81 per
month. The extra dollar Is added at
each re-enlistment, and there may easi-
ly be half dozen re-enlistments, or for
that matter dozen. It means that
good man who sticks to the service for
life gets 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 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 safe retreat ashore with old
companions.
1t 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
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 mans days, and
promotion is almost within his own
control
The aristocratic 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 in theory.
True, no enlisted man may hope to be-