The times., 1901-04-21
NAVAL WARRANT OFFICERS.
Retired Boatswain Tells OF Dif-
hcuities They Labor Under.
(From the Boston Evening Transeri

tFrom the Boston Evening Transcript.)
| 1t seems TO me that most people do not
understand the difference between a war
rant officer in the navy and commits
stoned officer saia BOatswain William
Jones tretired). who lives at $50 Fifth
Street, South Boston. Boatswain Jones Is
one of the men who came through the
hawSe pipe, and knows the duties and
feelings of warrant officers from actual
experience. The difference simply is that
the warrant officer is not in the direct lire
of promotion, whereas the commissioned
officer has the chance OF becoming ad-
miral. The great body of warrant officers
in our navy, not including the machnists
ana others who only recently attained the
warrant rank, are men who served their
time as apprentices in the navy mean
the bo'sns gunneTs, carpenters. and sail
makers Moreover, they are the pick OF
all the apprentices.
AN apprentice enters the service as a
lad, and is bound by his parents or guard
ian to remain in the navy until ne IS of
age. AT hrSt he is rated as a third-claSS
apprentice; later when he is qualified he
passes up to the second class, and. finally
when he attains the age OF twenty-One he
nnds himself firSt-cldss apprentice. Men
VINO enlist in the service after having
served the1r apprenticeship faithfully are
always given preference in making petty
ofncerS-bO s ms, guuners, aud sailmakeTS'
mates, quartermdSters, mdsterS-at-arms.
Ii is from the ranks of the eX-apprenticeS
who have achieved the rate of chief pet
" Officer-which is, of course, an enlisted
Srade-that the warrant officers are select
ed. They are sterling men, studious aC-
complished in all that appertains to man
o'-war work, and, almost without an eK-
ception. dignified fellows of perfectly cor
rect habits II takes dignifisd man and
one who knows his business thoroughly
to pass through all the grades from
third class apprentice TO warrant officer;
that's s fact | want you to bear in mind.
II young man is wild. there isn't one
chance in thousand that the officers
over him would not know it. and if they
do know 1t, he can never get recommen-
dation for promotion to the warrant rank.
The commissioned officers watch him for
years before he comes UP for appointment,
and they know his character perfectly
Why. il is fact that the officials in the
Navy Department at Washington have
recourse to records which will tell them of
all the little misdemeanors he has COM
mitted since his entrance into the service
as an apprentice boy, and they can often
tell OF minor events of this character
which he has forgotten. The warrant Of
hcerS habits must be much more correct
than those of the junior commissioned
officers. He must prove beforehand that
he will be q creditable officer; he must
walk Spanish in other words
In many ways the position of warrant
officer is neither happy nor desirable
one. know OF many warrant officers who
sometimes actually long to get back to
the enlisted grades they formerly held.
For, you will see, the warrant officer
in our service is neither fish. flesh. nor
fowl. He feels that he cannot associate
with his old friends among the enlisted
men as freely as he used to, because such
is contrary to the custom OF the navy and
would tend to lower their estimation of
him as an officer At the same time he
feels that the commissioned officers re-
gard him in somewhat the same light as
he does the enlisted men; he cannot par
ticipate in their social affairs. The war
rant officers wear the officers uniform
and are saIuted and treated as such by
all on board. Let me say right here that
if he knows his business the warrant Off
Ger is respected and treated courteousiy
by ALL from the admiral down. If he
does not know his business the warrant
officer had Better go ashore. On the large
ships the warrant officers have mess OF
their own. but on the smaller ships
warrant officers, they mess with the pay
clerk and the cadets.
Under these circumstances. the war
rant officer for years after his elevation
feels more or less like a fool in his deal
ings with his old friends the men of the
foe sic But they fully understand his be-
hayiOr and make due allowances for the
reserve. He, however, finds it
rather hard to meet his former mates ard
have them exchange saluteS for he re-
alizes that they know he is not looked
upon as a social equal by the commits
stoned officers of the ship. He feels like
a man who is being made fun of by his
aCquaintanceS. His conduct toward the
men with whom he formerly exchanged
tobacco and swapped stories must be as
dignified and reserved as that OF the COM
missioned officer In no way can he as
sociate on terms of equality with the men
of the fO'c'Sle
Cut OF from social companionship with
the commissioned officers and barred by
the regulations from mingling with the
men for'ard. the warrant officer in our
navy has pretty hard time of it. There
is not much fun in it for him. He's be
tween the devil and the deep sea- as the
aying goes. I think without a doubt
there are a great many warrant officers
In our navy who would gladly exchange I
their duties for those of chief petty Of /
icer. The chief petty officer gets good /
pay. knows that he is an enlisted man. I
can associate freely with his fellows /
among the enlisted force, and enjoys him |
self. Now. some of these enlisted men /
are among the most interesting characters |
bic, and TO deprive man Of their |
society after he has been used to it for /
years is hard sometimes"