Arizona republican., 1898-05-14

signed them. All Onc6rS, rom cap tain down, may also be assigned to shore duty. These officers of the line occupy about the same plane as com missioned officers in the army. Each has his particular station in battle, but they may be called upon to act di- rectly as assistants to the ships com manding officer. They are all instru- mental in forwarding the proper or ders to the stations and seeing that they are carried out
 BoatSwains, gunners, carpenters and sailmakers are warrant officers, and have no relative rank. All below these, including mates, are p6tty off, cers. The petty officers are divided into four classes, the chief, first, sec ond and third. Each of these classes is subdivided into four branches, the seaman, artificer, special and marine. The seaman branch embraces the mas ter at arms, the bOatswain'S mates, the gunner's mates, the quartermas- ter's, the coXswain's and the school masters.
 The artificer branch of the petty off, cers includes machinists, carpenters mates, boilermakers, coppersmiths, blacksmiths, plumbers and filters, sail ] oilers and painters. The special branch is composed of yeomen, apoth- ecaries, bandmasters and musicians. Sergeant-majors, first sergeants in charge of guard and cOrporals go to make up the marines.
 The seamen and messmen are about the only persons actively engaged in the handling Of the warshipS of the navy who have not the privilege of being classed as officers These two departments are also divided into the same four branches, and comprise sea- men Of low grades, seaman gunners, apprentices, 1andsmen, firemen, ship wrights, sailmakers, coal passers, mu- sicians, bugl6rs, baymen and the vari- ous grades of cooks, stewards and mess
 attendants. Thus it will be seen that with the exception of but a few men nearly every warshipman is an officer of higher or lower grade
 Of the duties of the warrant, officers the navy regulations provide that they shall act as assistants to the heads of departments to which they belong; the boatswain and sailmaker to the equipment officer, the gunner to tha ordnance officer and the carpemter to the construction officer
 The boatswain's especial charges are the spars and rigging, the anchors, boats and other movable articles and spare parts pertaining to these in the hold and stores. The gunner has charge of the batteries, and super vises all ordnance work. He has ia charge the condition and ready accessibility Of the armament and ordnance stores | h~a Of f@V 1i 1 duties all pertaining to the keeping in repair of the wooden portion of the vessel, the spars, the water-tght com l partments, the bottom and the mechan- i ical devices for the management of the vessel. In action, he must see to speedy repairs of all damages which i affect the effectiveness of the ship. 1 The sailmaker is the head of the de- ] partment in charge fthe canvas in 1 all conditions.
 The executive officer of a vessel is the captains right-hand man. He is detailed from among the officers of the ] line by the secres ary of the navy. He is next in rank to the captain, but has no authority ind8pend9nt of him. The executive officer takes the carrying cut of the captains orders upon him.
 
 l of many minor and arduous details,
 acting in his place and keeping con-
 stant and watchful oversight on i the men and their work. He is also 1 detailed as equipment and corstruc-
 ticn officer, and in these capacities
 has charge of all extra supplies, the
 acquisitions, invoices, returns and dis
 bursements.
 | The second officer below. the cap 1 tain is the navigator and ordnance off
 cer. He has general charge Of the 1 ships course, under orders, and in
 reality is the pilot skipper. He reck-
 ons out the ships position and has the oversight of the coming tower,
 charthouse and steering apparatus The navigator has charge also of the ! ships log, and in fact is email edi- tion of the captain himself always,
 however, bound by the later's orders
 AS ordnance officer he performs duties l in connection with the magazines,
 shell rooms and torpedoes. He kep; everything in readiness for instant
 action, and is held personally responsi- ble for the efficiency Of the arrange
 ment and appurtenances.
 ! The officers of the deck and of the gun, IOTpOuO duu pOWuCI ulF1olOHS, ns ! their titles indicate, have subo1 dnat; control over these departments. Ths
 officer of the deck resembles the army officer of the day; he is the officer of
 watch in charge of the ship. The safety and immediate availableness oi
 the vessel is in his charge to degree } The junior officers of the line are de fined as being those of a rank below that of a lieutenant of the junior grade, not assigned to regular duty a: watch and division officers. The en sign may also serve as clerk to tht commanding officer.
 : The duties of the officers of the staff are clearly indicated by their titles
 The medical directors, inspectors, sur geons, passed assistant surgeons an( assistant surgeons are detailed t' : duty relative to the sanitary condition , of the ship and the healthfulness o