The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-08-08
LINES DRAWN IN THE NAVY.
Features of the Service That Suggest an
Aristocratlc Organization.

eatuFeb OI tHt 1hAL SuBBeSt An
Aristocratlc Organization.
Although the United States navy is
by far the most democratically consti-
tuted military body in the world in it's
personnel, it does not lack the distinc-
ton of appearance and manners COM
monty supposed to be confined to aris-
tocracies. This is true of staff as well
as line, of the men who have obtained
their commissions after a course of
education at the Naval academy, and
as well of those that have entered the
navy Immediately from civil life Yet,
while the method of getting into the
navy is constantly becoming more
democratic, the service is organized in
aristocratic fashion. The navy was
formed at a time when this country was
much less of a social democracy than
it now is, and when European social
traditions brought over by the early
colonists still had considerable force.
No navy draws - shan per line be-
tween the commissioned officer and the
enlisted man. The phrase officer and
gentleman" as expressed in the rules
and regulations OF the service, mean
something different, as far as the latter
member is concerned, than the popular
conception of the word gentleman. The
youth who enters the ward room from
a home where he has been accus-
toned to d few luxuries and little at
tendance, finds himself in place
where dinner is conducted after a
some what formal fashion, and where
he may demand when he will the per-
sonal service of one or more attendants
1t is a favorite theory in the service
that the men most eXacting toward
the ships boys" are those who were
brought up with little or nothing in
the way of atten dance at home. Be this
as it may, the ward room denizens look
like a company of well-bred we'll
dressed men, and speak as one would
expect such men to speak. Doubtless
the simple and tasteful uniform is re-
sponsible for part of this, and certainly
the average naval officer is better
dressed in uniform than in citizen S
| attire.
Although the navy register shows a
, strong preponderauce of English
names, the navy is not largely re-
cruited from old American families,
nor does it include many sons of rich
men or many youths from fashionable
/ urban society. 1t represents American
society as whole. Even the names
that have been in the navy in time S
past are not largely represented in the
navy'of to-day. There is no Decatur, or
Balm bridge, or McDonough, or Far
ragut
The navy does not attract the gilded
youth, because the pay is insufficient
to meet the needs of lads brought up
to love luxury. 1t does attract, how
ever, the sons of the poor and of those
that have moderate means. As Amer
lean fathers do not ordinarily leave the
bulk of their fortunes to their eldest
sons, there are no cadets of rich fam
lilies to crowd into the service, as is the
case in foreign navies. The American
farmer boy or mechanics son, after u
long course of study and discipline,
goes forth, commission in hand, TO
meet on equal terms the aristocrats of
foreign navies, and to take a part, as
Ut NlSl' III roy il IcCcpC1ollS anu llhe
ceremonialS.
There is in the navy considerable
number of officers of German descent,
many of French descent, perhaps as
many of Irish descent. though Irish
names are not common; a good many
of Dutch, and a few of Spanish and
Italian. With all this mixture the
navy has few names of outlandish
sound to European ears. Perhaps the
most foreign-sounding name is that of
Cipriano Andrade, an engineer officer
DR.. Dismukes, also of the engineer
corps, bears name very close to that
of "a distinguished person. A few of
the other odd names in the service
are Colvocoresses, Braunersrauther and
HCogewerff The number of Hebre w
names is extremely small.-N. Y. Sun.