The record-union., 1899-03-27
HOW SAILORS ARE MADE.
The Training School for Naval APP
prentices at Newport.

Every boy who reads 'St. Nicholas
for March will pay special attention to
the article on Apprentices of the Unit
ed States Navy" by Joseph c. Goff.
Many are the ways and means en-
ployed for the proper training of our
seamen, and it is only after many years
Of hard work that good results can be
expected. The Government, fully real
iZing this necessity, about the time that
modern vessels came into use, organized
the apprentice training system for
American boys who might wish to be-
come modern man of-war' s-men.
Headquarters for the apprentices
have always been at Newport, Rhode
Island, and there the boys are sent
from different parts of the country TO
receive their first lessons fitting them
to be able Seamen. There one of the
largest old-time sailing vessels of the
navy is fitted up as a receiving ship for
them. and aboard of it they are all
quartered The old Constellation, sister
ship to the Constitution lOld Ironsides)
is now in use for this purpose.
Boys who are enlisted ON receiving
ships at the several naval stations are
sent on to Newport to begin their work
at once. There are usually at the sta
tion about three hundred undergoing in
struction at the same time. Any
American youth between the ages of IA
and II, who has the consent of parents
or guardian, who can read and write
the English language, and who is pos
sessed Of sound physique, will find
no difficulty in being enrolled in the
navy as an apprentice. When
a boy first enters the navy he receives
as pay SO month, besides his rations,
and he Is also provided free with a
complete outfit of bedding and cloth
ing.
AS socn as the apprentices are re-
ceived into the service they are ar
ranged into classes, being known as ap-
prentices of the first, second or third
class, according to the length of time
they have served.
1t has been the custom of the Gov
ernment recently to detail apprentices
of the highest two classes first and
second) to the several modern cruisers
and battleships that are in active serv-
ice to do duty among the older and
full-fiedged seamen. AT first their
presence on board such ships was pro-
tested against by both officers and men,
as it was thought by the latter that
the apprentices were too young and too
light to do the work of seamen.
1t was very soon found, however, that
what the apprentice lacked in weight
and strength he made up for by his
agility aloft and by his quickness to
pick up and to master the important
details of gunnery, signaling and cleo
tricity, and by this time he has be-
come an indispensable part of the crew
-. T. a kl~f-
There are usually not more than
forty apprentices allowed to any one
ship; but in urgent cases, when the
supply of regular seamen on board a
ship is low, there are more apprentices
sent to fill up such deficiency.
1t may be interesting to know that In
the great naval engagements at Manila
and at Santiago nearly every American
gun-Captain was an ex-apprentice.
The Government, knowing that 1t is
difficult to make good gunners out of
raw material, recently hit upon the
plan Of laying open to the most de-
serving Of the ex-apprentices what
might be called a postgraduate course
in gunnery," which fits them to have
precedence over other seamen and to
be assigned as gunners where skill and
science are needed
In pursuance of this plan, the Navy
Department directs the Captain of each
ship at certain times to recommend
fixed number of apprentices on board
his ship whom he regards the most
worthy of trust and prominence, and
from these lists of names apprentices
are selected and sent to Newport for
advanced training.
Such apprentices are taught the de-
tails of guns, explosives, projectiles,
electricity, signaling and all the i'm
portant duties of a modern sailor They
are given several months of practical
work with all the modern armament
used in the service, they being sent on
short practice cruises aboard of either a
battleship or q double-turreted monitor,
on which are guns of every description.
from a small machine-gun to the large
twelve-inch gun mounted in turret.
AS soon as one detail of apprentices
has been put through the required
course, it is relieved and another Is
sent to take it's place; so In this way
there is always good timber from which
to draw competent gun-captains and
electricians.