The Opelousas courier., 1904-07-30

- D. III
Best Men from the Interior-To Be
Given a Regular Schooling Before
Being ASSIGNED 70 a Berth on the
Salty ocean-May Cost a Quarter
of a Million.
The United States government Is
preparing to spend a quarter of a mil
lion dollars on the establishment of
a training schooT7 on the r -EaKes,,
announces the Philadelphia Records
strange would it be were there not
the markings of many al irtpp,rblueaT
Jacket among the young men who re-
side in the eight States which border
on the Great Lakes. II They, grow up
under the progressive influence of this
remarkable arinezhighway,.1000 miles
in length and Observation-Disclosures ne
fresh water onssthe globe, Z and past
their DOORS 50 to-. speak, sails : the
greatest feet flying the, American fag
and carrying a commerce several times
as great as that which passes through
the Suez canal and bigger than the
combined traffic of, the, ports, t. New
York and London. '"F aseinatedqby SUCH
a glimpse of joys. on the wave the
strong, intangible magnetism ofdwork
before the mast each, yeaGsplIlEess mess 81,
a boy to the BERTH water
sailor, 'and.%smaii," wonder ,.thsr,affofs.
that when Uncle Sam held -cut.te these.
restless, ,red-hleoded goungt3,YaphSaae8s
the prospect of' actually.tseeing ratffe
world, mid ali the spsctaeu111ar.t 1pSpRp'
Of our navy they, foeked te,hissstand-
ard with enth4tLasm,:3 ; ' 80 =" -. -, ! So .., -,
When the 6facers "sof.athe tdUnibad
states navy. found Ties. q ear s.
| eyed, strong-Ffrnbede giantsafToml~the
interior. many, of them o0|ainttEg.~bo(fg s
wha had never seen saatawaterS made;
the best recruits. The ,serYiee mad ever
known, they speedily conceived the
idea of establishing d naval training,
station on the ~unsalted A, new.
incubator for 1aGtasshad re be egtab-
lished somewhere to meet the craving
demands of the navy, and what Better
place than this mid-contine fttsfnaritinle
realm, with its. traditions Of Perry's
victory, and 30 it is planned.te expendt
the sum of $500 0 in providing on the
Great Lakes, q naval trailing. station
that will be equal in every respect, if
not superior, to those at Newport, r.
l., and San francisco, fCaL.affa !iIh} 81
With the new naval preparatory
school in full swing attention. VIII per-
force be turned to the provision of
training ships. on the Great Lakes, for
ultimately it is desired to turn, out, at
this lake Station b~lqejackets with SO
full and practical "a knowledge, Of sea-
manship assigned direct to cruising
men-of-war, oeean-gdfng vessels ITO
be sare. it win. .undsr such circtiim-
stances require. a short time for these
newcomers. to get their HpseSaa legs, for.
be it Unknown abi1ityato ride. the short,
chopny waves Of tie Great. Lakes is no.
guarantee against -seasickness. under
the influence. 54off. b !. rolling
swell of theaocean, but this,inconveni~~
enc viii be minor and teHadpofairyr
Inasnlueh as 4tEfeTas@isra- treaty be-.
tween the United States and Great
Britain which prohibits either nation
from neutrality-suspicious. one war.
vessel on the IaRss,s-tt. is'rroB
able that the embryo jackies will have
to put up for the. time being with the
Anticipated. old gunboat Michigan,
which is now the sole representative
of Uncle Sa1a's,.iaaMaL Sovereignty on.
the inland seas. The Michigan, which
is an iron. and wooden craft; is one Of.
the oldest steam vessels m the United
States government She is a.schooner-,
rugged vessel, 1f33 feet ia-length, 27
feet breadth; draws 8, feet of. WateTs..
md dispfaces 1856 acknowledgements
have only 365 ..hDEsa power, and her.
best gait iseiittle bettefthan II miles
n.haur. She carries a crew Of so men,
and has an armament consisting of
six ~6Eponnder guns, two ane=pounders,
and two Calling guns. .-
The problem of floating training
grounds may 'aal1lSa5s be solved by. calling.
iRto requisition several Of the convert
ed yachtsRoW in the navy, such as. the.
Hawk, which is7now stationed on Lake
Erie for the use OF the Ohio naval. mil.
itias However, in the case of snch..
vessels the batteries would have ia be
removed, which would prevent instrue-
ton in gunnery being given. IN the
end probably the-treaty will be inodi-
fed so that Uncle Sam. may. Increase
HIS fresh water naval fleet, or else the
Michigan will be; replaced by an-up.to-.
date cruiser. The latter is the more
probable now that Canada.sls building.
for lake serviees-ae fast stesI~cruisers.
which will be capable of steaming at a
speed of more than 18:lmfles an hour,
and will carry severaf.powerfl rapid
fire guns. - IS "
The principaleproduct of the snew-na-
val training station on the lakes Will
be what are known in the navy as
landsmen. II all probability there viii,
also be classes for apprentices, as the
more exclusive and more highly spe-.
cialized recruits are termed. but-most
of the graduates from the fresh wa
t6T lH6lILuGlOH VIII De iaffuSifeH. Ih1S
is in accordance with the needs of the.
navy where the lands,nen outnumber
the apprentices two to one, making
it necessary to TepleHisht the supply IN
like PROPORTION. In order to distin-
guish between the two classes sof. re-
oraits it may be pointed out that app
pfentices are accepted only between
the ages of IA and 17 years, and in.