Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-01-30
aovERH,fEar LIBERAL
Men of the Navy Can Buy Some
 Things Very Cheap.

l WesusABtOn, D. C., Jan 3O-Iu some respects. Uncle Sam is liberal
 with the oiilcers and enlisted men of
 tne navy They are supplied with
 the best of stores of all kinds. in-
 cluding provisions and clothing, and
 are enabled to purchase many
 articles on shipboard that would cost
 them considerable sum if they were
 bought at any store on shore. Ar
 ticles of neck-wear, hat-ribbons with
 the name of the vessel in gold thread
 letters, silk handkerchiefs, shoes and
 similar things can be purchased by the men abroad ship for less than
 half the price the same articles would cost at any shop" on land. In addition to this advantage the government supplies to each warship library which contains standard works of all kinds. The library in cludes works of fiction, of course, but the books, generally, are of a practi- cal kind, dealing with subjects which
 have a direct bearing on naval af- fairs.
 The bureau of equipment has , charge of purchases of this kind, and the sum of $50,000 is expended every year in providing reading matter, in permanent form, for the officers and men of the navy. It is regarded as an important feature of the bureau ! to keep the various vessels supplied with good books in good condition. Of course, this bureau supplies many other articles in constant use on war ships, including all sorts of stores, except commissary stores, sails, an chors. navigating instruments, cook ing utensils, searchlights, stationery, logs, flags, in fact everything with which warship has to be fitted. Books are an important article of equipment and every vessel in the navy is supplied with its own library. When a new vessel goes into com mission, 1t is furnished with a IT, brary, the size of which is dependent, in measure. on the number of men on board. The books, generally, are purchased in New York, through the Brooklyn navy yard. For the small vessels, in which the space for the accommodation of a library neces- sarily is limited, the library consists of works that have special reference to navy matters. On the big battle ships the library usually consists of many hundreds of volumes, selected with care as to the needs and de- sires of the seven or eight hundred men on board. The latest ship to be fitted with library is the Yer mont, one of the finest battleships in the navy. Her library cost the gov ernment in the neighborhood of s. 900. In addition to works on tech nical subjects pertaining to the navy, 1t contains books on travel, biogra- phy. history. religion, poetry, the drama, with the best of American and English fiction.
 While the men on shipboard are not considered generally as great readers, many of them occupy prac- tically all of their spare time with books from the library. It is not an uncommon sight to see stoker sit ting in front of his furnace in the fire room. under the glare of an elec- tric light. reading some book from the ships library. A yeoman of the ship acts as librarian. and. as the works are taken from the library. he charges them to the officers and men who get them.
 When book becomes worn from usage. 1t is retired" and later Is sent back to New York to be "docked and repaired" If 1t should be con sidered beyond repair, 1t Is either sold or destroyed and replaced with a new one.
 Many of the officers and men of a ship study for their promotions while on cruises, using the ships library for works which bear upon their studies. Every encouragement Is given them to use the library freely, as reading not only induces satis- faction among the men, but pro- notes discipline in the naval ser vice.