Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1898-09-08
YANKEE sEAMEy.
Rank Above All Other Nstio,.n
ties Afoat
some Interesting Informa,,.,
Uncle sans Jolly Jack =.
The American Navy 10
Be Remained

Secretary Long intends n
lie the personnel of the Americar gan
This will meet with the approval a,al.
countrymen in general and Of nls
officers m particular. These osas
men, BY profession and obserya,;er Aue'
best qualified to speak. They arsnns ss
imously OF the opinion that the A.. 49,
lean sailor is the best sailor II ~
world. There is no "buncomhe. l. ~. ~
Their opportunities for comn...-
have been unlimited. They sta,s
Judgment maturely formed. No, -
sentiment enters into modern war -.
the nation would like to see nona -,
Americans on guard If it can be hronss'
about The men gathered upon ~
upper deck Of the Trenton in the ors..
samoan storm. listening TO the bsra
play Hail Columbia" and cbeerino ~
Stars and Stripes as it ioated over sh '-'
for the last time, did a deed who's !.
cital stirs blood like a trumpet's IAN
but something of glory and beauty !,
taken from the picture when /, !
learned that one-third Of them w.
foreigners. They were brave wha,sv..
their country, and they knew how -
die, but we would prefer to know that
they were all American born. m.
chief difficulty to be encountered \.
the secretary and his aids lies in n.
fact that it is hard to induce America.
20 enlist. So many avenues promisin.
better things are open to active men
in this country that they have turned
TO the sea as last resort.
The American navy. as AZ nresen.
constituted, numbers about rs 600 men
exclusive of the commissioned officers
Observation-Disclosures" they are called
ARE paid $3.50 month and ratiops.
They enlist for three years and are az
once placed under a rigid discipline
There Is no nonsense about it After
passing the strictest of physical ex.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. which show
that they are fitted for hard work and
hard service-they begin the treadmill.
ard II is no child's play. The sailor
cooped between decks is much mora
under the eye of his officer than a pr.
vate in the ranks, and is compelled
therefore TO walk a much straiphter
'ine. He lives plainly, is forced to keep
good hours, is not given "shore leave"
any oftener than is good for him, and
consequently improves in health and
morals This life makes more Of
nian of him, but he does not amas
money. If he enQists for second term
with continuous service certificate"
be is classed as an ordinary seaman, and
his pay is increased to s11.50 per month.
The average age of the American
navy man is 81 years. He is enlisted
mostly at New York, Boston, Philadel-
phia, Norfolk and Mare Island, or San
Francisco. 1t is fact not generally
known that by far the best men come
from the lake region. Physically they
are of superb type. Navigation on tho
lakes is peculiar. There is little sea
room. Squalls are quick and storms
violent. These conditions demand fast
action on the part of men who brave
the elements on the unsalted seas. The
lake seaman is quick-witted. He is OF
ready decision. He is never able to
divest himself of his early training.
and. though in the middle Atlantic, il
given an order will spring instantly 70
IT'S execution.
Formerly the best of our seamen
we're obtained from the fishing feet Of ;
The New England coast. That school
produced sailors whose equals tha'
world has never seen. It no longer
gives them to us. because the school
itself has become almost thing Oh
the past. The present feet is not one
twentieth of it's former size. The men
who manned 1t in the old days are dead
or retired. and their sons have found
other ways of making living, but IN
its time it was a wonder From TINS
school came the sailors who astonished
the world in 1912. who showed the bull
dog strain of their ancestry when.
stripped TO the waist and bood-besp@-
tered. they stood TO the ieaping guns
under the eye of Decatur. Even now
boys of Is on the New England coasu
will make voyages while asleep tna1
would deter older men with them
senses about them.
The American. according to the tesu1
mony of experts. is not drawer sea-
man than the Englishman. but be is
better seaman. He will execute an or
der while a man from the older coun7
try is thinking about it. He VIII 90
a job of knotting or splicing while 'no
Britisher is getting his tools. he y
more intelligent and will learn twice ~
fast. Because of the climate that nas
blessed him and his progenitors ana PEI
cause of the conditions under wnicil
they and he have lived, he is faster o
his feet. In a months time ne wi,i
nave at his fingers ends that wnici1
will take the foreigner year to learn
partly. The reason for this IS apPal7
INT. In nine cases out of ten the Div
.sh sailor has been always a sailor
That is all he knows and all he cares
to know. The American recruit may