The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-08-30

enlistment. possessed some mechanical
trade large number of those filling
: positions aboard ship, where skill in
some such occupation is requisite
/ have been taught what they know in
the navy = Most recruits, enlisted a.
apprentice seamen or as landsmen, are
quite young men-anywhere from eIgh-
/ teen to twenty years of age-and, in a
very great number of cases, have but
| little or no knowledge of any technical
calling. To many of them opportunity
comes with environment, and any man,
we'll conducted and faithful in his
duties, who shows aptitude for any of
| the various handicrafts as applied to
naval purposes, is sure to meet with
encouragement and help in its study.
| Combined with the influence of discip-
line, the habit of order, and the sur
roundings of clean, wholesome life,
many a young bluejacket has acquired
knowledge and skill that have stood
him in good stead when, the term OF
his enlistment ended, he has returned
to civil life; and all over the land there
are men in the employment of indus
trial concerns-notably where practical
experience in the use of electrical power
is desirable-whose first instruction in
service on National ships.
In the education of the bluejacket,
however, the possible development of
skill in some technical calling useful in
civil life is merely incidental The true
purpose of his training is to make of
him "a handy man." quick, ready, and
resourceful in the use of the tools with
which he works; an American citizen
faithful to his oath of enlistment, rend-
ering cheerful and intelligent obedience
to the lawful orders of his superiors,
ana, in whatever capacity he is serving,
loyal to his country and his duty, even
to the sacrifice of his own life.
Such would be the ideal man of-war s.
man; and there is no exaggeration in
the statement that there are hundreds
of men wearing the chevrons of the
petty officer or the white tape of the
blujacket on their sleeves, simple, brave
fellows, serving the flag on our ships
today, of whom nothing more true could
be said. These, mostly, are the men
would that there were more of theml-
who make of their service in the navy a
permanent occupation. Bred to the sea,
theirs is a life apart. Though some of
them have ties ashore, wives and chill
dren maybe, their real home is the ship.
and in their personal touch with their
shipmates in the great community of
the crew the influence of their expe-
rience and example is a powerful factor
in the promotion of efficiency as blue
jackets of the young men whose service
in the navy is limited to one or two
enlistments.
The bulk of the enlisted personnel is
made up of young men who "join the
navy from one cause or another
spirit of adventure or characteristic
restlessness; some, no doubt, from
stress of poverty-and the average
young American of the kind of which
the mass of the recruits consists, ae-
customed in his upbringing to restraint
of but a mild nature, has only a slight
conception, on entering the service, of
the actual conditions and duties of the
life before him. Yet the discipline of
the navy-one of law, and the obser.
vance of the solemn oath to conform to
it incumbent upon officers and men alike
though strict, is neither harsh nor I'M
bearable to the normal man; and while
punishment follows infraction of it's
rules, the rights of all, commander-in-
chief or bluejacket, are safely guarded.
Among the thirty-odd thousand en-.
listed men of the navy there are bound
to be, even with the care taken in re- ,
cruiting, certain number of weak and
a few vicious chara cters. These are the
men to whom the restraints of discipline
come hard, and from these-notabIy
among the first mentioned, and mainly
during the first misunderstanding most
of those who, faithless to their oath,
commit the crime of desertion. And it
is through the i'll conduct of the few,
in the uniform they dis
grace, that many good people, ignorant
of the true conditions, receive erroneous
impressions of the general character of
the whole.
The enlisted men of our navy are
better fed. better cared for, better |
treated, and, finally, better paid than
those of any other service on the seas. |
The relations of officer to man and man
to officer are, [ believe, closer and on a |
footing of more human understanding
than in most, if not all, other navies. |
There is not as much etiquette, perhaps, |
in the intercourse of commissioned and |
enlisted personnel; but if discipline |
means the ready, quick, intelligent |
obedience of subordinate to superior, |
then the men of the navy of the United |
States are disciplined men.
Taking him by and large, the Ameri- |
can bluejaeket of today is clean, de- |
cent man, sturdily and properly indie
pendent respecting himself and others
and with high sense of honor and duty |
as he sees it-a good citizen because of |
his trained obedience to the law. To |
my mind the United States possesses in |
her navy sea personnel which in in |
telligence, progressive spirit, and the |
will to serve the country is second to
none and superior to most.