The times., 1898-04-26
NATIONAL NAVAL RESERVE
Rear Admiral SeIfridge Has a
Plan to Man Ships.
NEED OF EXPERIENCED MEN
1t Is Proposed That the Reserse
ShnII He Made Up From Regulars
Whose Enl;stments Have Expired
and From the Crews Of Merchant
men-Seven Thousand Men.

One of the greatest embarrassments
| of the Government in the pending crisis
| is the difficulty of promptly securing
| enough experienced men to man the
| new vessels being pressed into service.
| To overcome this state of affairs in the
| future Rear Admiral Thomas Selfridge,
Jr.. has plan under winch the Navy
! VIII always have a naval reSrve of per-
sonnel as well material to draw upon
| The peace establishments of seamen
and marines the rear admiral said yes
| terday are at present JnIy sufficient to
| man the five batteships in commission,
| with the cruisers, etc, of the active list
| AS soon as this number of vessels is aug
| mented by the purchase of auxiliary
steamers great delay is experienced in
| obtaining crews for the eXtempOriZed
| fleet 1t is not deemed necessary that
| the present peace establishment should
| be increased if there is a reserve to fall
back upon; neither is it desirable to keep
all our battleships in commission.
when war comes the preliminarieS
that lead up to its declaration leave no
time to obtain and drill the recruits
necessary to man the offensive force that
has been constructed during the period
of peace. The crews for these mobilized
battleships cannot be drawn from the
present so-called naval reserve which is
in reality naval militia.
| This latter body is d most valuable
| force to assist in the protection of the
| harbors of the States of whose volunteer
force they form part, but their useful
ness is restricted. and, owing to the ma
ture of its organization, it never becomes
a factor in a plan which cOntemplates
the immediate manning of our reserve
| battleships.
Crews of these ships must be made up
principally of men who have already
served their time afioat in active ser
LIT. -, TlNyzf,
perience, can be at once nodded into
shape. Here must come the national re-
serve of Seamen, without which it will be
useless to go on building warships trust
ing to luck TO obtain the crews to man
them, and inviting insecurity and perhaps
disaster when opposed to the well-drilled
crews of the European powers.
These facts have long been known to
the naval officers, but up TO the present
| time no practical plan has been proposed
to meet the difficulty.
Il propose that the reserve shall be
drafted partly from the enlisted naval
force and partly from the crews of our
coastwise trade, yachts and fishermen.
The total strength would be placed at
1909 men. This would be sufficient to man
twelve battleships and a number of tor
| pedo boat destroyers and torpedo boats
OF this number 5000 would be composed
of men who had served at least three
years in the Navy and 1000 from the
merchant class, constituting a first and
second reserve.
THE crews of our ships are now COM
posed of men enlisted for three years and
apprentices bound to serve until twenty
one. 1t is proposed that Congress shall
enact a law that men enisting in the
naval service shall bind themselves for
three years in active service and five
| years in the reserve. A second cOntinu-
Gus enlistment shall be equivalent to the
five years in the reserve.
THAT apprentices upon entering shall
bind themselves to five years in the re-
serve after reaching twenty-one. but a
second re-enlistment shall be equivalent
to the five fyears in the reserve.
THAT the pay of all men in the first
reserve shall be 50 a month. That for
one month in each year they shall be
called upon for actual service. during
which they shall receive the pay of their
rating. as if belonging to the active Navy
THAT they shall be provided with
transporta ton from and to their homes
That the Navy Department shall keep
the address of every man of the reserve
that crews for the battleships shall be
stationed and kept filled, and each man
notified of his rating and the ship OF
whose complement he will form part
THAT eight battleships shall ne kept In
semi-commssion with small crews most
" OF the artiicer class, by whom all nee
essary repairs will be made and the
highest efficiency maintained by frequent
Inspections
"One battleship each would be perma-
nently stationed al the ports Of Portland
Boston, Philadelphia and Port Royal. and
two each al New York and at Hampton
Roads or Norfolk, and one at San Fran
cisco and one in Puget Sound. This
would constitute a force of eight battle
ships on the Atlantic coast and two or
the Pacific coast.
THE method of the proposed plan is
compulsory without which | believe II
will be impossible to establish any reliable
reserve But the plan is rendered at.
tractive by the pay and position attached
to il and the reserve would be called out
only by proclamation of the President
and it IS not to be doubted that wher
understood it will be received with favor
by the class from which it will be re.
cruited
without such n reserve as sketched il
will not be possible to assemble feet o
homogeneous ships for fleet manoeuvres
and exercises.
What a school of practice for our off.
GERS. And with what pride would the ma.
ton witness the yearly assembly of eight
magnificent battleshps prepared II
every respect for instant service, and ye
in themselves requiring but a moderate
expenditure to keep them in commits
sion!
Dress Reformer Dead
Vineland, n. j., April 25.-Dr. Mary f.
Tilotson. author and dress reformer, died
| CIaDc IraIIs