The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-01

I
We're badges Of authority and their use Il
daily and important task.
VI the four grades, the gunner and
DoatsWain are still valuable "a the serv-
zee the latter as a gO-between with Off
GERS and men, and the former in direct
charge of the ordnance. In fact, the i'm
POr'anee of the gunner as a factor in the
ne" navy is such that a special school for
the scientific training of naval gunners has
Dseh maintained by the government at
washington for fifteen years.
warrant rank Is the highest rung in the
aduder of promotion for enlisted men. Be
yohd that they cannot 60 no matter what
education they have nor what politi-
cdl influence they can bring TO bear. In
the army commissions are Opepcd TO COM
petent non-commissioned officers, but in
the navy the only door to the quarter deck
Is the Annapolis Naval Academy.
IN the service to-day are men-prin-
cipally among the boatswains, carpeni efs
ana sailmakers-whO wore the rolling col
iar ana the jaunting cap of the seaman
lot years ana years be fore some act Of
bravery or stroke Of good fortune sent
Iher names to Washington for reward
lhey We're men picked in the brine of the
harness. cask and redolent with the salty
oaths of the fo-c-s-le. They cared more
Tor ''swipe" of salt horse than all the
pate-de-foie gras ever served i'm the whole
OF Paris, and the Guilty pipe with It's load
or navy plug was sweeter than the best
pertecto ever turned out of a Havana fac
tory.
TO these men came in the fulness of time
WORD from the department that as Ie-
ward for a distinguished act of bravery"
or IN pursuance of your application nd
IN consideration of long an faithful serv-
ice they had been made bOatswains or
acting carpenters or acting something else,
as the case may be, and that they would
serve as such until experience had proved
their capabilities. With the acting rank
came the privilege of wearing a uniform
differing from that of the commissioned
officer only by the insignia worn on coat
lapel and cap front.
The promotion also brought new quar-
tiers, a new field and new dignity. The
quarters and the field of action did not
weigh heavily, but the uniform and the
dignity were like the golden sandals to the
child of the desert. These men who were
accustomed TO the freedom of the for
ward deck and the reckless devil-may-care
charms of comradeship, found themselves
perched upon an emlnence where resting
was hard and moving awkwardness itself.
From their place amMship they looked aft
with a sense of awe they could not over
come. and forward with a yearnlng hard
to stifle.
1t they made bold to assume a familiar
as low as an ensign they were given what
is known i'm the parlance of the confidence
man as the frozen face If they turn
ed back to an old shipmate who was still
wearing the blue jacket, they were remind
ed brusquely by the executive officer that
discipline in the service would not permit
of association between the enlisted man
and the officer. They were then driven,
perforce, to seek confidence and the pleas
ure of gossip among their own Settle
solitary quartet of the ship. An exact
smile can be found in the case of the poor
miner who finds wealth in sudden turn
of a shovel, and who is compelled TO Tor
sake the accustomed joys of the mining
camp for the painful atmosphere Of East
ern civilization.
These men, these carpenters and sail
makers and boa tswains, remain in the
service because they have spent the best
years of their life in it. They do not care
to relinqush the increased pay nor incur
the II told you SOS" of their former
mates by resigning their warrants, but
they would be much happier swinging IN
the old fourteen-inch space on the berth
deck and messing with Jack and Bill ana
the rest of the fellows.
The same can hardly be said of the ma
jority of gunners in the service. This class
of warrant officers Is composed mainly OF
young men who are graduates OF the Gun
merry SChOOi at w dSnllSNOLs anu WIN az
fitted by education and taste for the po-
sition. The curriculum of the school and
the scientific nature of the studies teno
toward refinement, and, as a rule, there
is less hesitancy about fraterniz'ng with
them by the higher officers than with the
old sail-makers and carpenters.
The grade of gunner is eagerly sought
after by the ambitious apprentice of the
service The attention paid to the appren-
Of resulted
in the infusion of new and youthful Amer
lean blood into the navy. Warrant rank
being the only one open TO the enlisted
man, there Is therefore vast number
of applications on file in the navy depart
ment for promotion. The great majority
of these are for the rank of gunner, as
that billet Is considered the most honorable
and desirable.
With rare exceptions, the present gun
ners of the service were formerly appren-
tees. and not a few of them won their pro-
motion by distinguished and gallant
conduct. Gunner Henry e. Ellers
one of the brightest and most prom
Using officers in the grade, gained
his warrant by an act of daring that would
have won him the Victoria Cross of Eng
land if he had been a son of Britain.
While serving on board the Philadelphia
in 1892 he coolly entered the magazine into
which had fallen the burning fragments OF
an exploded charge and stamped them our
with his feet. In the opinion of his SUI
perlor officers this former apprentice boy s
act saved the ship and crew from total
destruction.
Gunner Charles Morgan, who was APP
pointed in 1880 after serving as an appren-
tice for a number OF years. wen fame and
commentator for his services in charge
of the divers engaged in the Maine inves-
tigation. His professional skill and con-
scientious labors assisted materially in the
finding of the investigating committee, of
which Rear Admiral Sampson was the
head.
BY law the service is allowed forty-fve
sllnners. forty-one boatswains, forty-three
carpenters and fifteen sail-maikers. The
members of the first three grades are
scattered about afioat and ashore, but the
latter are all assigned to naval stations
and special duty with the exceptions of
two detailed 10 the old Lancaster and the
Marion.
A warrant officers pay ranges from
Fl 0OO n vaar being the sea nav of his first