The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-05-24
HOWITISINTHENAVY
POSITION AND REMUNERATION OF
THE ENLISTED MEN.

| Steady Employment With Sure Paw.
Seaman Glass Worst Paid.
Although the seamen and even tho
petty officers of tho United States navy
arc largely of foreign birth, there never
was timo when places I'm the navy be-
low the rank Of commissioned officers
were so attractive to native Americans.
AS tho old wooden ships and the old
fashioned steam propelled ships give
place to modern marine machines the
navy becomes moro and moro suited to
tho 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 arc 10 others used as re-
oeivtng ships and as Scholarships of ono
sort or another. All tho sailing ships
that OVER movo from place to place are
tho 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 90
tive list will DO composed of iron or
stool steamships
This gradual change In the navy has
wrought marked change In the per
sonnel of tho petty officers and the en-
listed men, as In the conditions under
which they work Captain Codman's
mournful cry that there are no moro
sailors is as true Of the navy as of the
merchant service. Tho navy still ships
soamen ut wages ranging from s16 to
$24 per month, but it also ships o host
of artihccrs, mechanics, f1remen and
whatnot at wages sometimes exceeding
$40 per month.
The. new navy as it grows will need
an increasing number Of men in these
special classes There are nearly rs many
new vessels building as there arc wood
en- ships now on tho active list and ev-
cry new Iron steam propelled monster
that 1s added to the navy creates an in
creased demand for tho skilled and high
paid classes OF enlisted men. Already
therc arc some scores of machinists at
$7O per month, boiler makers at 800,
blacksmiths at $780, plumbers at $40.
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
800 per month down to s23.
The seaman class, the worst paid of
all III its lower branches is very well
paid in the higher ranks. The lad that
enters rs third class apprentice at 50
per month may reasonably hope to be-
come chief master at arms at 500 per
month The lad with gift for music
may easily find himself transferred to
the special class that includes must
clans, writer's and apothecaries, and
here tho wages vary from $19 to $50
per month.
There is special provision Of law to
encourage good men to remain long in
thq service. Tho ordinary term of en-
listment Is three years, and by this pro-
vision any honorably discharged man
who re-enlists within three months
from tho date of his discharge returns
to the navy with his pay raised 81 per
month. Tho extra dollar is added at
cath ro-enlistment, and there may east
~ be half dozen ro-enlistments, or for
that matter dozen. Il means that
good man who sticks to the service for
life gcts throo months vacation every
three years, followed by an increase of
pay.
1t usually happens that the man who
thus cnlists and re-enlists has reached
oiio Si1'ic VI pc1uy OiilCtr Ut Ills tIllIu VI
fourth enlistment, and after that the
larger pay of his now place increases
regularly 81 per month every thrco
years, should he choose to continue in
tho service, There are othor small per
quisitcs of one kind or another that
swell the earnings of the sailor that
sticks to the navy, and there awaits him
! in old age q safo retreat ashore with old
companions
1t Is true that mechanics In the navy
receive nominally smaller wages than
mon of their trades ashore, but they are
| subject to mono of the uncertainties of
business Tho navy goes right on i'll
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
Tho artstocrattc organization of the
navy doubtless has kept many self re-
spocting native Americans from enlist
ing, hut the service Is vastly moro
democratic In practice than in theory.
True, no enlisted man may hope to be-
como commissioned officer but the
enlisted man Of tried ability and known
good conduct always earns the respect
and tho consideration of his Supporters.
Tho brutal officer of tho deck is almost
unknown in tho United States navy, and
the self respecting enlisted man il sell
dom made TO feel that any one looks
down upon him.
His food is wholesome clean and
abundant, and tho officer of the deck
| must taato H. bpfOro IL IL ccvvod 70 tho