The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-04-22
PORTSMOUTH, AH0Y!
New Jerseys Naval Reserve
to Take Possession of
Their Ship.
SHE IS sTAUNcH AND TRUE
Drills Will Soon Be Held on Ship
board and Cruises Will Be
Taken During the
Summer.
SHE IS STAUNCH AND TRUE


! Division Of the Naval Reserves, Who
have ali the winter long been getting
themselves IN readiness for the service
| as best they could in the Black Prince
| Armory, will probably bid adieu to the
| drill hall forever in the course OF a
| couple of weeks. The good ship Ports
mouth is nearly ready to be towed
| around from the Navy Yard to the North
River, where she VIII find a temporary
| home in a dock to be kindly PROVIDED
| by Colonel Stevens. of Hoboken. 1t VII
| be a merry day for the boys when they
| get orders to report on board the SNIP
! for the work in the drill hall. whlie II
has been interesting. is a pretty tame
| sort of performance compared with the
real thing on an open deck with the plue
| sky overhead and the breezes Piping
| through the rigging. There seems plenty
of active life ahead for the reserve men
| now, and it is peculiarly acceptable AFTER
weary months of waiting for the powers
! at Trenton and Washington ana else
| where to stir their highly Respectable
| stumps and bring matters to something
| Ike a definite head. The officers ana
men of the Newark division lave done
| all they could to get things into shape,
hut beyond a certain point their efforts
| could avail but little. If the State wouia
not act, the prospective reserve an y m"nth
has worked wonders, however. Much
that does not show on the outer SURFACE,
but which. ney 4ha nItsmat eas Success Of
the movement. has been accomplished.
| The Battalion of the East, New Jersey
Naval Reserves Is now ', me- ni1 for the sea-
son,s work is being mapped out, and
the men viii find themselves learning the
elements of practical seamahshAp ~
pefore TIE Iafy NSEsSWARK DIVISION.
The Newark division numbers ABOUT
forty five men. 1t Wa l egga september,
and has gone through many vlclssltuuss
| since then. The first Newarkers to ION
lime. AT that time Jersey City had a
| good-sized and seemingly prosperous uivas
Sion, and for a few weeks the NeWaIkers
| were but a handful. Their NUMBER grew
STEADILY however, and by the middle OF
August enough had put their names on
| the roll al the regular bi.weekly meetings.
I ganize a division there. All through the
summer there had been .rumors 70 the
| effect that the mastering in mignt pc sat
pected almost any day.. and Tor tnat
reason the membership list swelled rapid
w, Gradually, however, the men began
to lose confidence in the rumors as Gays
/ and weeks went by, and nothing IN the
shape of a definite order appeared from
Trenton. Interest began to wane. ana
the w sad hearted T Hhes h had Found dut that at
there was nothing particularly romantic
or s~oulTinspiring about waiting, ana tney
either Concluded they. weren't cut OUT ZOE
until someone else had done all the nara
work, and then apply for admission
again. +ha
| Newark division dwindled from ninety
to thirty, or thereabouts. New men
~ 90 1oSt CantorphQr and IN TO the pres
ent time the division has had upward
of 125 members. This experience, while
It has been somewhat dlshearienlHg a.
times, has proven most valuable, Tor 1T
has shown who the men were who could
be depended upon. These have taken
applicants for admission that only gen
uine enthusiasts were wanted, and as, a
consequence the men admitted during the
last two months have known perfectly
well that the naval reserve is not an
ornamental Organization. But while the
/ Newark division was struggling, to keep
on its feet, there was a peck of trouble
on 1901 ro = NJ By S1' bE;1ssENs1oNs.
The division here became torn with
and mischief and idle hands has it's APP
plication in this instance, for If the bat
TALON had. been mustered in the mem
think about besides personal animosi-
ties. AS it was the Jersey City division
dwindled and ~dwindled, until from fifty
vi ~ AlCil II 1tdQ " q
The Newark men watched matters from
affair.", and when affairs had reached a
crisis lent their aid IN recognizing
a new division on the ashes of the old.
Since then the movement has prosper
ed very materially, and considerable in
H tfsee5E has as b wah m as II tb,a d II it Al II
this is in a manner ancient history to the
members Of the reserve. but it is of inter-
ICES the first year Of the movement after
the efini organization of a battalion
in this section Of the State began.
above was going on it became necessary
to procure legislation. In this the New
apn men were Re 2r9nan EN- f1 as they tSs called anftai q
ions at both ends Of the State. At that
conference the old naval reserve law
was carefully gone over and altered to
uiLJ fle spresenl eonuirIons, after q con-
aSrfn Gen aaa h'f siam nsid T Thth n sas .f iii wes
one new Was Wiped from the he" statute b Books IS
It is since this was accomplished that
the ! =, ses sigtdra ana ID re- really ! yvp r9 rseeroa u ep Tsan
THE sTAUNCH OLD PORTSMOUTH.
meeting was held in Hobosen. in Ferry
mans nan. and at that meeting MI;
sW%ashington LYING Of Summit, who will
the Battalion. was present and ave the
men much, definite information. The ship
f Ro%Tts oi1fy fo;ur w vmonth Mea AGO. ou Was 81 in eemmasi
by Captain jacques and Mr.. Irving at the
Navy Yard in Brooklyn a few days ago.
Part of her rigging has been sent down
but Will be replaced, as the intention is
to have the reserve men sail her this
coming summer. There were many old
sailors who had been part of the ship
crew at one time or another about the
Navy Yard when Mr.. Irving, was there,
| and they were agreed that the old boat
| was a good one. a fine sailor and staunch
and tight in every way.
She Is of such build that If the young
sailors should happen to run her aground
| no harm will be done, provided the
| bottom she lands on is soft. As soon as
the boat Is in dock all drills will be held
| on board. TIL Battalion Recruiting Com
| mittee, or some members of 1t, will be on
hand every evening to receive. applications
/ for admission to membership, to show
| people about the ship and explain the
very aptly, puts II, the ship viii be the
ss ssssssP bssss tsssa @a 3t9Ssss assss5ass'd ls.ls:
/ attracfinE To TIE. I&serEasoNosHg 4Hsn ffSf
| the right class. MI. Irving lays especial
| stress on the fact that, once the ship is
procured there will be NJ Newark nor no
Jersey City Division. There viii be two
bers OF he one battalion and viii be ex-
pected to foster a spirit of devotion to
Its best interests rather than to the
| division. The men Will work together
and III many ways the division viii be
w WoH sign Fo 81 THE COMING sumMEB.
Ths men wIA bs taught to handle TIE