The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1904-12-07
CANADA'S INFANT NAVY
CONSISTS OF FOURTEEN VESSELS
MANNED BY 400 RL0EJAcKETs.

. 4 .@"ou care 10 Avoid = 4Ifem-AlsO LOOl
After the Fishing Interests. il Ill
: The fame. of the Northwestern
Mounted Police of Canada has attrac
ed considerable attention to. plctul
esque arm of our northern neighbor'
Z war department., and since the Sout
! African war the Canadian regular
andevolunteers have been accepted b.
:, the world as fighters and strategist
: equal to any turned out Of the mill
tary schools of Europe. But of Cana
da's infant navy little has been heard
, due probably, to the fact that the op
portunity for distinguishing itself ha
not yet occurred Yet in way hi,
DlueJackets of Canada are performin,
work that trains them for duty on
larger scale fully as arduous and diff
cult as that which falls to the lot OF
the Mounted Policemen.
The navy consists Of no battleships
OF armored cruisers. but Of fourteen
vessels with a total number of blue
jackets and officers to man them OF
less than 400. Most of these war YES.
sells would be classed with our mos
quito feet which the war with Spain
created, and some would hardly be
worthy of such high classification.
There are at least two schooner sail
crafts In the fleet which have no other
power OF propulsion than that fur
nished by wind and sails. Yet the
Kingfsher and Osprey are fine models
of their class, and armed with their
small calibre guns they cruise up and
down the coast so -threateningly that
smugglers take good care to avoid
them. More than one heroic feat has
been performed by these two relics Of
an age when warships were all sailing
craft.
The two fagships of the navy are
good-sized gunboats, named respective
ly the Acadia and La Canadienne.
These ships are seaworthy boats, and
make good time when in pursuit of
the enemy. The Constance, the Cur
lew and the Petrol are also effective
little gunb0ats, which chase up. and
down the coast, keeping unlawful
crafts from plying their nefarious busi-
ness with the colony. | se
A good deal of the work of Canada's
navy is devoted to the prevention of
piracy and smuggling. Smuggling is
more common along the Canadian bor-
der than elsewhere on this continent.
and there are plenty of queer looking |
crafts engaged in smuggling goods |
into Canada without taking the trou-
BILE to pay duties. These smugglers
are shrewd and desperate men, and
they resort to tricks and evasions that |
deceive the ordinary officers Their
methods are all conducted in the dark,
and along lonely parts of the coast
On dark nights they smuegle kegs Of
liquor from the French island Of 81.
Pierre to the Canadian coast, and one
good ship load landed viii pay for all
the danger and anxiety run. Fortunes
have been made In few years in this
way, and the temptation is SO great
that many engage in it, and great are
the resources Of the smugglers.
Against these desperate men, who do
not hesitate Mt murder if necessary for
the maturing of their plans the little
navy directs a good deal of its atten-
lion. Some of the smugglers carry
arms with them, and several times
hey have boldly resisted arrest. But
not once in these encounters has the
1apy been defeated. There is a gced
leal of smuggling en- the sea. as well
IS on the land, between Canada and
he United States, and Canada's blue
jackets have their hands full both on
he sea and the lake coasts II keeping
lown this unlawful trade.
Another important duty of the navy
$ to look after the fishing interests OF
he country. Regulations have been
made by the Canadian Government to
reserve the great fishing interests
long her coast and to enforce these
avs both for native and American
shermen the little navy It's hands full. {
Foreign vessels persist in approaching
carer than the regulation three-mile {
init, and the Canadian gunboats and !
ruisers have to warn and signal to a
hem repeatedly. The same gunboats I
ave to look out for the buoys, bea- |
ons. lightships and lighthouses along q
be coast. This lighthouse work is ,
monotonous, but sometimes b
IS full Of danger and picturesque. {
ess. The stanch little gunboats have f
} weather the fiercest weather aud Is
eas Imaginable, to reach some of the q
utter beacon lights. So rough, barren
nd deserted are the immense stretches
coast along the Canadian sea-border =,
lat the Dominion Government has es. I
lblished at various points places Of 4
'fuge for shipwrecked mariners. II !,
ship should 20 ashore anywhero 4,
ong the coast there would lee ref :,
ge station somewhere in the vicinity. :,
be gunboats visit these stations regu- :,
rly to provide more provisions, and =,
take away any mariners that may
I've been wrecked. Hundreds of ship :.
rocked are rescued In this way every /.
sar either from starvation Or drown =
The bluejackets Of this lect are as \,
oroughly drilled I'D disciplined as =
ose Of any other navy. bur they gain 7. =,
ore experience IN their wild life than =
n.