New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-05-16
NAVAL RECRUITS IN THE WEST
MANY MEN ANXIOUS TO SERVE THEIR
COUNTRY
LAKE VESSELS LAID Up AND CREWS OUT OF
WoRK-GOOD PLACES GIVEN Up
TO co TO SEA

TO co TO SEA
IsY TELEGRAPH TO THE rnInrNr1
Washington. May 15-Lieutenant- Commander
John NJ Hawley. who for the last month has
peen on recruiting campaign for the Navy
west or the Alleghenies, and has succeeded in
'hat time IN enlistins ard sending East $50 men
Tor the warshps. left Washington tonight after
nylng visit here, for Detroit where he hopes
to assemble about sixty men in the next two
days for duty on the cruiser Newark now ready
for commission AT Norfolk He will then go TO
saginaw. Mackinac City. Che5oygan Alpena
and other ports on the lakes where he is conf
dent that good men will he secured.
lie says it is a remarkable fact. according to
trustworthy information. that the war has re-
suited in laying IN as many vessels on the
Great Lakes as ii has on the Atlantic seaboard
perhaps attributable TO the fact that not so
much wheat is being shipped to Europe
He says the crews of ships and barges are thus
thrown out Of work, and. in his opinion no men
are superior for manning warshps He intends
10 establish a recruiting depot on the cruiser
Michigan. at Erie, IN charge Of Lieutenant J. F.
Morse Cretred). and will then begin enlistments
al Buffalo. where Lake Erie vessels are laid up.
Commander Hawley has been astonished at
the enthusiasm in Western cities. and instances
a number Of cases Of men giving up good places
to enter the Navy for purely patriotic
sons. He enlisted letter-carrier at Detroit
who was getting $1,000 year from the Gov
eminent and sent him East with a rating OF
f1rst-clasS machinst. which will give him 5000
a year in the Navy. Ten or twelve men from
the Illinois Naval Militia went over TO Detroit
and enlisted ordinary seamen He says
these men had been attracted to Chicago from
Rock Island and other places. under the i'm
preston that the Naval Militia organizations
would he called to the front They had given
up their places and We're practically stranded
in the Western metropolis. As they did not
want to go home and suffer the humiliation OF
applying for their old jobs before seeing
some service. they concluded take their
chances in the forecastle of any ship TO which
says they we're splendid. intelligent fellows. and
he has no doubt they will quickly become good
sailors and hard fghters
Among the recruits secured at Detroit was
the lighthousn-keeper there. who turned over
the light to his wife by permission Of the Treas
ury Department At Cleveland one Of the re-
cruits was man over sixty years Of age who
mad been captain of the afterguard on the
cruiser Portsmouth when Hawley was a mir
shpman. thirty years ago The old fellow was
in comfortable circumstances. and his wife. who
came down to the train to see him off, told
ildNlcS INA Hel NuSpdnu lounu II lnposslule
10 stay at home as long as the Navy needed
men.
Commander Havley found in the West many
men who had been in the Naval apprentice
ships in their youth but had left the service
when they became Of age. These men. who are
valuable on account Of their previous expert
cree. had no hesitation In swearing into the
service again when they found out how great
was the demand for sailors in the Navy.
On Wednesday Commander Hawlcy. with two
assistant surgeons. will begin the examination.
phySlCdl professional. members
OF the Illinois Naval Militia for entry into the
service In order that there may be delay In
assigning them TO duty after a decision is
reached to call Them out