The Ordway new era., 1906-09-14
that An Omaha Boy Has
10 Say Of the Nayy
canal Aceoun. Of His Experience From tn. p, .,
til He Was Made Chief ouarterm,.,o ""S'men un

n the lIle VI as 'rr "
" navy is written by Ed. Benson,
sha boy. who enlisted about five
and who rose during his
%" Years to the rank of CHIEF
@ @meeter. which post he now
- Inc United States Ship Hi
7, will be found very interest
Indicating the opportunities in
aboard, going west" so
,be conductor of a Union Pa
IN as Il began to move slowly
,be setting sun. Sixty-iive
msn hopeful, Americans looked
nc hack from the fast-receding
\, ~ omaha, as II became blurred
/, the distance. and friends and
rfs faded from view. becoming
.,,ct in the revolving landscape.
rs, call for supper In the
,,,g c.a.r, Boys, you shall have
-, table" so bawled the Pullman
car waiter, as he ushered these
men TO their seats at the table,
they were instructed to help
~ by the grinning waiter and or
srythIng they wished. That wist-
al soon disappeared as the "por.
,.se steak and mushrooms"
"A the boys. who soon began
tinr and talking. discussing their
y careers In Uncle Sans navy.
roo days and two nights on the
rorpIa Limited. which meanwhile
| bssn speeding through the bad
A" Of Nebraska, the sweet clover
,ed hills OF Wyoming, the snow
Rockies and the seemingly bound
American desert, thence climbing
pretty plne.clad Sierra Nevadas.
amongst the big trees and red
country, over beautiful Califor-
| The small boys who sold cherries
fuit. which abound SO plentifully,
"a they ncard that young sailors
aboard the train, refused to ac-
tay. and II was useless to try to
l. money on them.
Reception at Goat Island.
3te train slid down the western
l. Of the Slerras and ran on the
rest ferry In the world at Porta
Ia and In one hours time II glided
! the station ut Oakland Mole,
,e all embarked on the San Fran.
10 ferry named Oakland and received
|int ride on salt water and our first
" Q. our future home and training
INers-GoIt Island.
Ce were met at the ferry station at
Francisco by a real blue jacket.
J.. we'll put up and manly. who cs-
|ed Us TO the tug. which took us
y 10 Goat Island. Many OF us felt
s1lty on that ride that We thought
could smell the spray OF the sea.
4 did make us feel good to think
!, We were TO be soon real sailors
offenders Of our country's rights.
NJ arrived at . p. m. and dinner
! Immediately served, the officers
bvlEg very well that we had eaten
: o'clock nt Sacramento. California,
! FIRST navy meal-how good II -as,
Of corned beef apd cab
e. and I'm sure 1t received full jus.
{ a. our hands. Some one asked:
here Is the sea blscuit?" Surprised?
H. guess we were, when one of the
. who waited In the table said: I'VE
II eat sea biscuit here. Have some
this iam2'
We were told that our quarters
ald be on the old ship Pensacola.
which We had our first navy meal.
nmocks were served out TO us, and
b had two nice white blankets and
air mattress.
learning to BE Sailors.
'e each received station billet.
ing us our duties and station ut
quarters and collision drill. gen.
quarters tbattle exercises). and
tue division We were I'm aud our
Gu number. Now. n ship has more
ches than one: there are two tbut
!, don't keep time except to the
NC at drills), called the port AMI
board watches. These watches we
10 later constituted the foundation
nc ships routine: and l was de-
ID on the port watch.
the evening before taps" the
played and the boys danced and
AZ nome because everybody felt
ao!e. At . o'clock came taps" and
nus out" Everybody turned into
hammocks and were soon fast
ep' rocked In the cradle of the
S'So in the morning "reveille"
uiown on the bugie-"Can't get |
up, can't get 'em up In the morn.
etc, and all hands turned out to
shered into a real tiled bath room
provided generously with towels
soap.
$50 breakfast call went, and
10 our surprise ham and eggs
'ne meal. 1t now began to dawn
mat the old navy was no longer
Asence. We were now among
Young Americans and all of us
ied TO appreciate the kind treat
and food we were getting. You
oeiore We enlisted everybody
'eo 10 know all about the navy and
oid ladylike: "You mark my
=, you'll get starved and bullied
ETC.. and now we saw
people who were never in the SER
,. refe In no position to Judge at all.
mat their advice was the result
a"eep-set prejudice fastened by un-
rai stories and books describing
!. n,rchant marine and not our
oiue jacket or his career.
Acttf,I n..Af--