The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-04
For Two or Three Weeks Young Men
Join Uncle Sans Service.
MANY ROMANCEs OF THE SEA
DESIRE TO LEAD SEAFARING LIFE
COMES TO ALMOST EVERY ONE.
Some of the Requirements Necessary
tn he n Jacktar-OppOrtunit
for Advancement.

At one time or another in the life Of
youth. there comes a desire for life on the
sea. In some it is ever dominant, Unborn
from generations of sea-faring ancestors:
in others. inlanders generally, it is trans
muted from stories and books of the sea.
The days of running away and shipping on
traders are we'll past, for the youth to-
day does not need to slip off in the dark
Of the night with small bundle of clothes
under his arm. He has only to secure the
consent of his parents and enlist in the
navy, in which there is ample opportunity
for adventurous voyages under the best
guardianship and good companions. Much
is read about Uncle Sans navy and the
maneuvers of the great iron-clad war
ships. but very little Is known by people
OF the interior about the routine work and
the life of the men aboard ship and his
duties behind the guns and engines In time
of peace.
Next Monday the United States navy
will open a recruiting station in this city
and upon special examination will enlist
recruits to during the next four
years. Advance officers, ID. NJ. Carroll,
master-at-arms, and Joseph II. Herbert.
boatswain mate, have already arrived and
are making preliminary preparations for
the opening of the station in the juryroom
Of the Federal building. Oct. L. The ex-
animation which candidates for enlistment
are compelled to pass Is entirely physical,
and any boy above the age Of eighteen who
is normally developed and in good health
IL <ba
needs about 5000 men, who will have an
unusually good chance Of advancement. as
it is said that within the year over 5000
men will be paid out About one-fourth Of
these will leave the service, and their
places will open the way for rapid adj
vancement of the new men.
EASY TO JOIN NAVY.
There are many young men who would
be glad to serve on any of the United
States wsrships if they knew how simple a
thing 1t is to join, and little about the
life of the sailor. Taking the battleship
Indiana, the routine life of the men is about
that aboard every war vessel. The In
diana is one Of the best battleships in the
navy and holds the worlds record for &C
curate firing with thirteen-inch guns. She
carries complement Of $50 men. represent
ing, besides seamen, machinists, electri-
clans, carpenters. plumbers, boiler makers,
copper-smiths, engineers, in fact almost
every kind of skilled labor. The great boats
are a complication of machinery and re-
quire the attention of men of many voca-
tions. Also there are many classes repre-
scented in the commissary department,
stewards, bakers, cooks and hospital stew
ards. The navy offers unusually good in
ducements for machinists, as there is a
great deal of this kind of work done, and
it requires skilled men to do 1T.
Young men above the age of eighteen can
enlist in the navy and in a few years work
up to positions of good pay and repsonsi-
biIity Their life. when once they have
donned the blue shirts and round caps, is
life around the world. for the ships do a
great deal of cruising, touching at most
Of the foreign coast cities. In many in
stances the men are given several days to
take inland trips to some point Of world
wide interest. One of the enlisting party
that will be here next week has been
around the world nineteen different times
since his connection with the navy.
ENLISTED AS LANDSMEN.
The men are usually enlisted first as
landsmen and are sent to Norfolk, Va,
where they receive about three months of
training in seamanship. The pay of a
| landsman is SIC month and all his ex-
| penses, so that his salary is clear money.
| From that his pay goes steadily upwards.
The salary of the machinist is fixed ac-
cording TO. the scale upon land, with board
furnished in addition. When the recruits
| are first enlisted they are equipped with a
complete outfit of clothes and uniforms
/ Upon every re-enlistment the men receive
an increase Of pay and after a certain
J period of service are retired with a pension
| for life. The salary of the electrician
sometimes runs as high as $40 month
| The physical examination includes meas
urements on the body as to height and
chest measurement. and examination OF
| the soundness of the body. Age also de-
termines which class the men are eligible
] to upon enlistment. They must be be-
tween the following mentioned ages:
| Rating yeorc ~