The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-03-27

over plans for the Improvement of the
Navy, even when such work is outside the
strict requirements of his duty.
Commander Francis w. Dickins. al
though a red-hot American citizen, is the
most finished Spanish scholar in the Ma
w Not very far below Commander
Dickins on the list is Commander Edwin
White. " no. while temporarily in charge
of the Kansas in 1872. found the Spanish
man-of-war Pizarro blocking the Ameri-
can steamer NiTginius in the harbor Of
Colon. The Virginius was accused of run
ming the Spanish blockade of Cuban ports.
White did then very much what Leary
did at Samoa fifteen years later He put
his ship between the foreigner and the
American merchantmen, and told the
captain Of the Nirginius 10 go whore he
pleased. The Nirginius went out of the
harbor, the Kansas followed and the Pr
2aTro lodged along behind, When the
Nirginius was well out of reach Com
nander White went about his business at
Colon.
Then there is Commander willard II.
Rrownson, whose appointment to special
duty abroad in connection with the Dur-
chase Of ships has made familiar the Sto-
~ Of his GOODNESS in the harbor OF Rio
Janeiro when he called the bluff Of the
insurgent admiral. He is another of the
men who smile when they see trouble
coming. and he is respected accordingly.
Commander Charles Herbert Stockton
commanded the Thetis on her famous
trip into the Arctic Ocean. when she went
nearer the North Pole than any other
warship has ever been.
One might run on through the list Of
Iieuteuant-commande and lieutenants
and find just as many more men who
have done things that are every bit as
. creditable. Down at the foot of the
list Of Heutenant-commandeT is the
name of William P Day who entered
the Navy as an enlisted boy-an appren-
tice. There are perhaps three or four
other naval apprentices in the list of
Heutenants. The naval apprentices are
growing to be the backbone of the rank
and file Of the Navy. They are enlisted
al the receiving ships between the ages
Of fourteen and seventeen, and are
taught the trade Of following the sea
until they are twenty-one In the mean
time they receive a good common-school
education. When they are discharged
they are invited to enter the service as
seaNen. A few years ago few of them
! accepted the invitation. but il is one OF
the many signs Of the establishment OF
/ the Navy that almost all of them who
are graduated in these days re-enlist at
once, because the Navy is attractive to
them. They are rapidly promoted to be
! warrant officers. O,It of more than Isl
! warrant officers now in the Navy a ma
| jOrity are former naval apprentices
/ They are nearly all American-born, and
! the time viIl come before long when
! the Nay viii be ofIicersd through and
! through By Americans trained in ma
/ tional schools.
The Navy Department six years age
! sent to the Fifty-first Congress re-
port which said that out of 1876 enlist
} ed men, only 1865 were of American
/ birth. Since that time the recruiting
( officers ha We been instructed to make
! every possible effort to enlist American
citizens only, and even then 10 give pref
! eEce to those born in this country.
One OF the recruiting officers in thj
! New York navy gard is the authority foi
the statement that two-thirds Of ia.
men in the Navy now are American CHI
! Zens, and that nearly half Of them ar
native born. It is very difficult 10 linr
/ nativC-borp American sailors Amerf
can ships in the merchant service ar
! manned for the most part by Scandina
VANS Almost the only American-bori
I sailors that can be found NOWADAYS COM
! from the northern New England Coast
and they are men who are too old mos
of them, to be easily taught conrorInit,
! 10 discipline. The list of the crew o
/ tho Maine. which was so widely publish
Cd after the disaster, was. it will be re
ncmberec. almost an unbroken success
ion OF Scandinavian names. But the me-
| themselves We're in great number O
! instances American citizens
II is a fact that recruiting officers vii
rot. if they can help it. enlist man o
English birth. In the first place. the
say, English sailors are so we'll treate
| at home that if a man is Of any use a
all he viii stay at home; in the secon
! place, he viii never get over his ide
that the English way Of doing things
the only way, and that in an America
! ship he is almost bound to assume tina
he knows great deal more than In
/ men who are over him; and thirdly. h
| Is bound to quarrel. sooner or later. wit
every man Of American birth in the shin
! The Navy Department has for year
contended that it would be impossible /
time Of war to increase the number q
men in the Navy without taking in niue
material in the rush and hurry tina
would do more harm than good In tn
present state Of affairs recruiting off
. GERS are popularity supposed top be takin
, all men who present themselves and ar
in any way fit But they are not do
ing 50.
The sIowness with which men are bein
enlisted would seem TO prove that tn
standing contention OF the department
navy so far as saiormen gu) is only I
be had by keeping men on hand in time G
peace. But II is whispered about tn
navy yard that the recruiting officers ar
as anxious as any TO prove that goo
men cannot be collected in a hurry an
are exercising extraordinary care in NAL
ing selections from the rush Of cand
. dates. A single decayed tooth. no ma
ter how slightly it may need repairs {
a scar which indicates past operation
any nature whatever on the candidate
body, is said TO be sufficient ground f
instant rejection The great difficulty i
the way of making the newly purchase
ships instantly effective will be TO provid
crews for them If the standard is kept .
high at present. There are grea
number Of men in the Navy who have 81
listed over and over again and stay
the Navy because they like their shr
and their officers and the way they al
treated
The line officers and the blueiackets al
not the only men who go forth TO war
war comes. The marines, as a matter