Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-28


HNSM MYS contract with the
~ ph) United States gov
LAT " eminent went into
~ effect, and all good
Americans will be
glad to know that it is working excellently.
1t was provided for in section s of the bill
entitled IAN act to provide for ocean mail
service between the United States and
foreign ports and to promote commerce.
passed in 1891, which says:
THAT the vessels with which the Post
master General enters into contract for the
transportation Of the United States mails
shall take as cadets or apprentices one
American-born boy under twenty-one years
of age for each one thousand tons gross
register and one for each majority fraction
thereof, these boys to be educated in the
duties of seamarship to rank petty off,
GERS, and to receive such pay for their
services as may be reasonable"
This provision is being carried out on
three American steamship lines-the Red
D. running to Central America; the Ward
line, running to the West Indies, and most
important of ALL the American line. run
ming between New York and Liverpool
The American line alone on its four steam
ers-the New York, the Paris, the ST. Paul
and the st. Louis-carries forty-six cadets,
eleven on each of the two first named yes
sells and twelve on each of the two last
named. Including the cadets carried on
the other two lines, there are thus provid-
ed something less than 100 places for
Amercan-born boys who may desire to
become officers on our great steamers and,
perhaps one day, have their share in up
holding on the ocean the glory of the
American flag.
Position of the Companies.
AS might have been. expected, this enact
ment of Congress was not at first received
by the steamship companies concerned
with any great enthusiasm. They regard
ed it an onerous provision, and prepared
to comply in rather a spirit of protest
The consequence was that some trouble
occurred at the start, chiefly due to tho
fact that insufficient care was shown in
selecting the boys for this service. Some
boys of rough character who behaved bad
ly We're chosen. These boys soon left and
others were taken in their places, better
judgment being shown this time and bet
ter results following. Now the steamship
companies have become quite reconciled to
the new order of things and regard the ad-
vent of the cadets with considerable salts
faction. They see in ii an advantage for
themselves and step in the right direc-
ton as regards our merchant marine
One of the first points decided upon by
Captain Shackford, marine superintendent
of the International Navigation Company,
10 whom. at pier il, North river, all appli-
cants apply for cadetships on the American
line, was that he would, as far as possible
select boys who had graduated from one of
the three school ships, the St. Mary's of
New York, the Enterprise of Massachusetts
and the Syracuse Of Pennsylvania, which
for dozen years have been gradua ting
about thirty boys annually. Each one of
these boy graduates Is thoroughly fitted
for ship duties, having already acquired
practical knowledge of seamanship and
navigation, and being, therefore, well fittoi
to fill the positions provided on the great
steamers. AS far as possible, Captain
Shackford makes his selections on the
recommendation of the school ship instruc-
tors the boys having thus held before them
as an incentive to good work that, on their
graduation, their diligence and success in
their duties will find practical reward in
these cadetships. which prac tically mean an
assured future for the rest of their lives
1t is thought that this new stimulus will
have most excellent Influence in the school
ships and Will soon bring about more fixed
ness of purpose among the graduates than
has been heretofore noted, for of recent
years hardly % per cent of the boys gradu-
ated from American school ships have con-
tinued in marine life. the large majority of
them having been cured of their wayward-
ness and rowing tendencies by the severe
discipline, preferring to abandon the sea
altogether and settle down on land in some
form of business. One chief reason of this
general Discrimination to follow the sea lies
in the fact that the graduates from the
school ships did not have what they have
now thanks to the cadet ships, sure
officers.
Duties of Cadets.
The cadets at the start receive $15 or 800
a month, in addition to good food in the Off
GERS mess, and snug though not over-lux-
urious, quarters down aft on the glory
hold" where two tiers of iron-framed hunks
running athwart ship furnish their sleeping
accommodations. Bedding is supplied by
the company, and lockers are furnished for
their spare clothes. On the New York and
Paris the cadets occupy the rooms that were
originally intended for the chief and senior
second officers. so that they are especially
favored, having separate drawers for their
clothes, washstandS, and good accom-
modations most of the passengers.
AS to their duties it may be said that the
cadets are required to learn the whole alpha
bet of seamanship, everything from swab-
bing a deck up to taking an observation.
OF course they are not worked as hard as
ordinary sailors. they being only boys, and
their ages ranging from sixteen to twenty
one the average being about nineteen. OF
course. it is in the companies interest to
take the boys as young as possible since
they are expressly prohibited from having
cadets over twenty-one. There is some
vagueness, however, in the law to
whether an American boy, taken as cadet
before he was twenty-one. might remain on
the steamer as a cadet after passing that
age OF course, in many instances before
reaching twenty-one CADETS will have been
promoted by the company to permanent po-
sitions in their efnploy; already one such
case has occurred; where a boy, taken
cadet, has been made IL full quartermaster
on the American line, with the salary of SO
a month. AS the months pass and the sys-
tenn comes into smGpther working, there will
doubtless be manyisuoh cases of promotion.
On the four stessnefs of the American
line the cadets are divided into watches
with the officers and stand watch. four
hours on and four bours off. On the
Paris and the New York the cadets are
kept busy on the. bridge or in the
wheel house, where 1t is their duty to
polish the brass work, to mend the flags
and to keep everything spic-span clean.
Besides this they are given every opor-
tunity to learn 20 steer to use The seXtant
and to signal with the flags according to
the code. In the main their duties are
similar to those of the quartermaster, al
though they are unable for many months
to cast the log or heave the lead. On
the st. Louis and st. Paul the cadets are
not given such free access to the bridge
and the wheel house, but are kept under
the direct authority of the boatswain or
the boatswain's mate, and are required