The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-06-05
Welcome Possibility of Active
Service on Puget Sound.
70 MAN AUXILIARY CRUISERS.
comyyeh~nsfye History of the Or
ganfxatfon's Growth In Tbs
Country, by Dr. James u. White
RsIi of Seventeen states shows
<sy omcer. ead 1895 Nen-TIme
fer q washinxten Naval MILITIA.

sTf,e naya. rszsr.e battalion organized
mere with such Infinite care and patience
may vet see active srrvice On Puget sound.
A. s,atsd in a special dispatch 10 ths
poss-InseiIgenecr from W azningion pup
shea yesterday Admiral Miller aaa o*en
Esrrurtea 10 furnish an auxiliary cruiser
20 replace the AoDadEock On tie SOUND
provided Il could De manned oy WASH
ingtoa naval reserYea The battalion a.
ready In existence has among It's members
several we'd drilled ussns and with pros
p<ct Of service there VIII De no asnicusty
IA securing recruits Those enllsrng VIII
b. required 70 do % for one year, piacihs
sher,ss.ves ABSOLUTELY under Federal con-
troll. Tbs reserves have pEoi1eTeu thsaF
earyicse 20 the government AID an onicer
viii be ssnt to the SOUND from Washing
ton 4, Investigate the ORGANIZATION anu al
In perfeeung H.
Amonx the most active IN promoting the
prgansxAticn N q naval reserve In lols
sfate In Dr. waite. He Is thoroughly Ia
sal,lar with the history OF the oEsanszA-
tions in this country. and called on yester-
day for q comprehensive interview Gil The
subject sad:
How 10 create and maintain a reserve
Of trained memo waFs'ners is SUBJECT
THAI has for many years occupied the at
tention Of thu navy department Other
countries especially EngIand have naval
gs~erves that are sufficiently trained IA the
arts Of handling our modern ships ard Dig
gums that th&y can be- made al short no
tee an efficient branch Of The service.
Several efforts have been made In tais
country % have congress take some action
In the matter, but without avail, mostly
of o n y.
The naval militia, as Row organized IN
the several states. is the result or the
endeavor en- the part Of the government
- Greats a national naval reserve OF fEsn
ana ships for war purposes. The idea at
hrst was 10 organize such a reserve rom
Nle seasaring classes. 10 be directly under
she control Of the Federal government. and
IN 1857 a bill was introduced In the senate
Ito create a naval reserve OF auxiliary
criLsefs, officers and men from the mer-
camille marine OF the United States. but
Il failed 20 become a law
''Ths original Intention was then modiaed
lR favor OF state organizations and the
nAvy department. in this same year. pre-
pared a plan for organizing naval militia
force. In pursuance of this plan oil
was introduced Ia congress In isss TO
provide for the enrolment II naval mill
Ella and the Organization or naval forces.
by this bill all the states bordering On
rivers could organize a naval militia. said
snIistia to be composed OF seafarin. mea:
men engaged N the navigation OF the
lakes and rivers, snip owners and their
empleyes: yacht owners and members az
yacht clubs. and persons engaged In the
construction and management OF ships
Besides providing for tho usual crews
OF blue jackets and engineers necessary 10
man . war vessel. tho bill included
vrov.sion for organizing a naval RESERVES
artillery and r naval reserve torpedo corps.
Had the Intentions OF the navy depart
ment been carried ous this country would
now have an auxiliary naval force ready
20 man any Anarscan vessels Although
this bill failed tn pass. the discussion Of
81 served to stimulate interest In this nat
Ter ard action was Immediately taken ia
several states.
Massachusetts was the ;lrs,. and. 10
isss. passed the pioneer measure establish
ing a naval battalion 20 be attached 10 the
volunteer militia The next year Penn
sylvanin. Rhode Island and New York
passed similar laws. although the Penn
syivafia battalion was aot recognized for
several years afteTward. ard the work Of
organizing state naval mlit'ss was first
begun. The year 1891 saw California,
North Carolina and Texas added III the
nst and. on October Of that year there
had been enrolled Ite officers and men
The Texas battalion had been made up
from the old Galveston artillery company
ard was enrolled as battery for seaeoast
lefense'
Congress now appropriated 81. coo TO te
expanded on the naval militia. ana the
navy department lent every aid ard asSlst-
ancs 20 these organizations ami enc ~ ~
rrEt ACTS was 60 loan shns Tor dTn pur-
poses. All the CID wooden ships lVinE in
the navy yards weee put IN repair and
placed at thu disposal ~ tha several states
congress-. arms aad equipment. excepting
uniforms was fsrws- sss>i % the diffsfess-
organizations, ry tsss three more states
had been added IS THE ilst ana the total
number - petty officers AID men was
s5sG Win these encouraging figures the
navy department. now unaerg ook - give
the militia practsc@ a. ssa aud when
ever practicable tha hatta,ions were given
a few eays ertisa On one q our modern
vessels ana then taught 20 handle TIE tfs
guns.
Tire naval militia wa- nay aa ga "
llssed fac; ard IN 1855 thirteen states and
ssA enlisted uer were an the navy ye-
Tsrtmrnt roll Regular yearly cruises
were established for saeA bsttaHor. Tsu,
The eattslions had snc~rsSed sa rapidly tAa.
the available SHIPS werA sgaN ~xhafssts a
ard tte c5 var MONITORS wars made use
o.. These. however. were rof feslr>i n Do
az much value. TAey wsre not modern
sHs 80" ffhF Sf3sAst - mount the T@Fe@SaFe
g7apS, 81 - carry a sufficient augnter ~
boats Congress ha< tssA urged - ets-e
fsiils several sg0a8 suMhos 8 - the naval
militia Besides taeae yearly cg9rsez p =
s1senea war when she h3g Rurs wr--
hsnd,e,t aai she genera work OF a nlvs
Jacket learned. !nstfung1gns were sssutd rs
sae department far sws# Ne4t 5r IS tss
sartry and ARTERY 3esilz on share. AID
TORPEDO ST. @sruat Tails Aaa when fsFa p
'ica}1e naval eff'cerR we're detailed - lr.
e'r0ct - ri ttSi!ana Yearly yree.f- r~ea-rs
s7t Inspections were NetG arr ia sa~e go
rSH&i militia wa~ rna6a IS aea~ "A uatssaa
reserve - 80 state !aNs would aljow
Growth Of the Reserve
TIE ,sss streeterv is<ge-s ~ she raw
department shows hew rsra1i tAs ~Av4,
militia has grown. saa A~~ usu-A s7:e-.