The record-union., 1898-07-24

| generation, Admiral Stephen B. Luce
| then Captain. revived and invigorat-
ed by earnest effort the naval appren-
tice system.
That was in 1868, but it was twelve
years later before the success Of the
system was practically assured. In
1919 the United States navy was al
| most entirely manned by foreigners.
The whole civilized world contributed
men from the ''other half of their
population, and American sails were
| set by Scandinavians, American guns
cared for by deserters from the Eng
| lish, French and German navies, and
American decks trodden by all sorts
and conditions of European beach
| comberS.
To illustrate, it issaid of certain offi-
| Ger then on duty on board a wooden
cruiser in Montevideo Harbor, that one
| day while acting as officer of the deck,
he approached group of sailors in the
port waist and called out: Il say,
| there, if any of you men speak English,
! just tell the officer of the forecastle
| that l would like to see him.
To-day, little over twenty years af-
ter the successful Inauguration of the
naval apprentice system, the proper
ton Of foreigners in the service is not J
per cent. That this encoura ging state
of affairs is due solely to the training
Of certain number Of our youth as
| naval apprentices cannot be disputed.
And the good effect Of having Ameri-
can hands on the firing lanyards Of our
guns has been witnessed on more than
! one occasion during the past few
months.
Admiral Luce did not rest content
with one success. Having seen the ap-
prentice system in good working order,
and fully approved by the hitherto
doubling AUTHORITIES at Washington he
went a step further in his patriotic plan,
| and ably assisted by Commander Fol-
ger, inaugurated the Naval Gunnery
School at Washington
Commander Folger was Superintend-
ent Of the Washington gun factory at
the time, and he entered into the plan
with the enthusiasm characteristic of
naval officers. Rear Admiral Sicard,
now on special duty at the Navy De-
partment. also took great interest in
the new project.
1t was in 1895 that the Gunnery
School finally became an acknowledged
factor in the training of our naval
marksmen. For many years it had been
the rule in the service TO keep a more
or less careful record Of the individual
members Of every guns crew. The off,
GERS of division were supposed to watch
their men, and to note if this man or
that apprentice displayed any aptitude
| for the work. These records were sent
| to Washington, and the degree of pro-
! ficiency noted on the mems papers.
| With the establishment of the Gun
merry School orders We're sent through
| the service to the effect that limited
number of first-class apprentices would
| be admitted for instruction. Those in
charge soon found themselves deluged
with applications. The records were
| carefully examined and fifty of the best
| applicants selected to form the first
class of the school. a competent gun
ner was placed in charge, and the in
struction commenced. The term lasted
| six months. and at the expiration of
that time those who successfully passed
the three weeks examination were sent
to the Torpedo School at Newport for
| a postgraduate course.
| 1t did not take long to convince the
naval world that the Gunnery School,
| like the apprentice system, was a pro-
nounced success. 1t excited interest
| both in the individual officer and the de-
! partment at Washington, and it con-
| tinued to flourish. Stringent rules re-
garding the class Of students We're put
| in force, and only those apprentices
who could show record without blem-
ish We're admitted An entrance exam
| ination, based on a common school ed
ra crn
of intelligence among the students be-
came higher each year.
| The length of the term was finally re-
duced to four months. permitting of
| three classes annually. but the four
months We're periods of hard, earnest
work: Each week had its separate task,
generally in some one of the shops at
the Naval Gun Foundry. The instruc-
| ton was practical, and al the conclu-
sion of the term. if the student could
not show a hand hardened by actual
toll it was because he shrked his duty.
| The examination at the end of the
course usually weeded out the incom-
petents, and the successful graduates
were sent TO Newport to study torpe-
does, the making of smokeless powder,
primers. fuses and other parts of ord
struction in electricity and diving. In
the latter connection it is we'll to say
that all the under water examinations
Of the Names wreck We're conducted
by naval divers, superintended by Gun
| ner Charles Morgan, himself an ex
apprentice and a graduate Of the gun
merry school at Washington
The star graduates Of the Newport
course are now sent to private gun fac
tories for two weeks instruction in the
making Of rapid fire guns and small
arms. At the conclusion of this they
are returned to the service-not as pro-
fessors a a high salary or as commits
stoned or warrant officers, as you would
naturally suppose from the foregoing
description of their studies-but simply
as seaman gunnerS, to again don the
blue uniform of the enlisted sailor and
at a monthly salary of 500, $40 or S35
according to their class.
They are the chosen among many;
they have been we'll grounded in
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