The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-06
NAVAL RECRUITS SCARCE.
AN ORDEAL WHICH ONLY ONE
MAN IN TWELVE CAN PASS.
the Army-Exnminntion OF the Omc-r or
the Deck and the Surgeon-Chancea or
Promotion Many More Sntior. Needed,

recent years the navy has experienced extreme
difficulty In securing q sufficient number OF
recruits TO mar the ships properly, and this
difficulty has now developed into n problem Of
considerable magnitude. The nu nbcr Of en-
listed mon allowod for tho navy by law is In
adequate for manning tho new ships .hat are
put into commission from time to time and for
keeping I'M the old ships COMPLIMENTS. IL
thus happens that good. scrviceahlc vessels nro
Kept out OF commission solely In order that
thcIr crews may be utilized to put the new mem
of-war intO commission. In .order to have all
the vessels OF the United States navy In COM
mission. tha force OF enlisted m.n would have
to be in creased BY at least "A third, and even
such an increase would not give each OF tho ships
ar entirely full-handed crew. To put the ships
on a war footing, the present enlisted force
would have to DO moro than doubled. Tho
ships OF nearly all the great European navies
arc practically on q war footlng,all the time. so
that It FIRE luently happens that n third-rate
British cruiser anchored In foreign waters
alongside an American cruiser OF tho first class
has quite AS large n complement of enlisted
men as is carried by the American ship.
But IL 10 in maintaining the comparatively
contracted force of the navy rs 1t stands that
the department is now having an unusual
amount OF trouble, in spite Of the wide-open
Rangways OF the recetving-ships and the re-
cruitinR cruises of individual ships along the
EASTERN and Western coasts. When times
are bad plenty OF young men present them
selves aboard tho receiving ships for enlist.
men in the navy. About eleventh welfths of
them discover their mistake az soon rs they
get over the receiving ships' gangwsys. for,
using the average for several years. only one
man in n dozen who present themselves for en-
listment in the navy is accepted. 1t Is al
most az hard to ship in tho navy rs a landsman
as 1t Is to enlist In the army rs II soldier, and a
good many men who have had a try at the lat
ter task aver that 1t Is n good deal easier thing
TO pick up a job In civil life than II is to get in
to the soldier uniform of Uncle Sam. The
proportion of reflections of applicants for en-
listment on board receiving ships has become
80 large that there IS authority for the state
ment that the Navy Department IS seriously
contemplating the elimination of certain rigid
physical and mental REQUIREMENT..
Besides the fur receiving ships that are con-
stantly In com mission for the enlistment of
naval recruits the two most important OF
these being the Vermont. at the New YORK Navy
Yard, and the independence, at the Mare ISL
and Navy Yard American warships are con-
stantly shipping men. both in homo and for
eiSn ports. to I'LL gaps In crews. The COM
mandinG officers of American men-of-wer nre
permitted by the Navy Departments MI vacan-
cies In their crews by shipping men in any
part OF tie world. Under certain circumstance
they are even allowed to waive some of tho re-. |
qutrcmcnts, especially the one which provides
that no man shall be enlisted In the United
States navel service who cannot speak and read
the English language. Wardrooms Of Ameri- !
can men-of-war would have to worry along
without the invaluable Chinese and Japanese |
messroom attendants and galley cooks II this
rule were strictly observed.
New York city furnishes more recruits to tho
navy than any other city OF the country. 1t
is no exagseration to say that in general IN
tellieence and adaptability and the capacity
70 quickly grasp sea KnowledCe these New
York recruits easily excel all the other recruits
who enter the naval service at the rating OF
landsnen. 1t is as landsmen that the great
majority of American naval recruits are
shipped. for experienced seamen of the mer-
chant marine have ALWAYS seemed to fight shy
OF the American naval service. The difidence
Of merchant seamen about entering the Amer
lean naval service makes an extraordinary
amount Of work on board American men-oi.
war for officers and petty officers In the matter
OF licking landsmen Into sea shape. No other
SO much raw material.
The general appearance OF the man who
wiahes 10 go into the naval service as II lands
man is a thing that is likely to tell largely fnr
or against him when he goes over the receiving
Ger of tie deck. The day has long sinGe gone
By when a man Just emerged from the throes Of
deiir,um tremens and eyeIywhere discredit"d
with the recruiting officer rs to his history.
habits, occupation. ana general decency. The
man VINO now accosts an officer OF n receiving
shio deck with a View to getting on u suit OF
b!uejacAet clothes is met witt Il very critical
ter deck. and II is an examination that cannsU
be satisfactorily borne by the greater number
last resort OF the social outcast. Wha. is his
idea In entering the navy IL II simply to get
day. Does he know that he stands "A fair
chance Of savinE, 70 fight and of gctttnE Killed?
been under discipline what was the Il last Io eG ieb
he heidi Why Is he not holding it now Why
Has he ever been in an inebriare asyluln: Does
he know that the lie OF a landsman In the navy
in his own mind that he has suficient stamina
20 endure a rou-h lite uncompiainipglyt Does
t hs Kn0W To waaf 'h hs b raE wsying at The misIea
with which the ,Jnitcd States RaoTcned to ;
servedly fight for the honor OF the American
flag? Hard question: To answer. some OF these
and recruiting officers for the testing OF the
mental strength and character of confused
young men To whom the deck OF u man-ot-war
is as strange a thing to trcai as would have
been a BabYlonian hanging garden to IL viking
and whose only reward for running this gnnnt-
let is the securing OF n job that pays Sl6 a
month. Men, however. who have ncrved them.
TO get In badly. and 30 they are quickly on their
meLtle when these questions are hurled ne
cor Of the rs eeSD!h RS sIi ay deekH4 e'f liz D@ 1nd i.G G qm.
self over the ganRwa" and ashore before lie
has fully grasped wha. has been said 10 him.
The man whose appearance is against lin is
asked TO reply TO questions that are dcSIgnrdiy
impossible, or almost impossible, OF !ntr!!i-
gent answers. He is thus let down casIly with
out :havinR his feelings hurt.
The man who successfully passes the visual
and oral examination of the officer OF tho deck
and the recruiting officer Is still very much ON
q lee shore. The recruiting officer turns him
over TO tho examining surgeon. The eXamin-
Ing su' Rcon is the rock upon whici, the great
majority, OF applicants for enlistment in lie
United States navy 20 to pieces. In many re-
spects the exam nation of the naval recruit ms
to his physique IL more severe than thar throurh
.Hhtch tho candidate for enlistment in Tie army ,
Is put. The slightest physical defect, such ns
n "Rric5Se vein which the applicant himself
docs not know that le Dossesses. IL sufficient
ground sr the candidate's immediate reIrc-
tiOn. The tests given 70 his eyrnight aal hear
Ing are such as very few men can succrssfully
pass. Tho runb"r of men who discover Tor
the first time, when they are put through o. a
naval surgeons ordeal. That they are color
blind Or a tribe hard of hearing, is astonisil-
ine. Strapping big men with superb physinurs s
ascertain thar there is some,hing radically {