The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1908-05-23
The American Navy
And What it Costs

And What it Costs
A flrst-class battleship. Of 14,948
or 16, 900 tons displacement, with
full complement. has Al officers. In
Guiding warrant officers and $40 men.
The pay OF officers is subject to cer-
tain allowances and increases for
length Of service, but to take merely
the bare sea pay, the lowest figure. is
as follows. giving the number Of
officers Of each grade aboard at pres
ent: captain. e5, 600: two lieutenant-
commanders, each 81. 500: i've lieu
tenants. 81. 800 to s2.400; four on.
signs. 81. 200; 13 midshipmen. $3.50;
surgeon. 90, 500: passed assistant sur
geon. 81 paymaster, %, 800:
chaplain. %. 500: captain, marine
corps. $1,000; flrst lieuteannt, ma
rine corps. 1.500. Warrant officers:
Boatswaln. chief gunner. chief car
penter, three warrant machinists, re-
ceiving from 81. 200 to 81 each.
The warrant officers promoted to
chief boatswain. chief gunner. chief
carpenter or chief sailmaker hold
commissions. to rank with but after
ensigns. Boatswains. gunners, carpen-
ters. sallmakers. pharmacists and war
rant machinists are warrant officers.
They are not commissioned officers.
but receive warrants and take prece-
dence next after midshipmen. After
six years from date of warrant. boat
swalns. gunners. carpenters and sail
makers. If duly qualified. are COM
missioned chief boatswains. chief gum
ners. etc. They are retired with the
rank of lieutenant. junior grade. and
when 80 retired take precedence next
after officers having the rank of lieu
tenant. junior grade.
Promotion in the seaman branch is
from apprentice seaman to ordinary
seaman. thence to seaman. to third.
secondhand flrst-class petty officer.
The apprentice receives SIG per
month ;ordinary seaman. SO; ;seamsn.
$24; petty officers, from $50 to $50
per month; and chief petty officers.
$40 per mouth.
A chief petty officer who has been
in the navy seven years is then quail
ifled to advance to the rank Of warrant
officer at 81. 200 to 81. 100 per year.
if recommended by an examining
board. From warrant officer the
specially qualified man may be pro-
noted to commissioned officer. and
while it is not easy to rise from ap-
prentice seaman to commissioned
rank. enlisted men have 80 succeeded
after -diligent application and are now
regular commissioned officers Of the
navy. There is, however. excellent
chance for promotion to the grades
of petty and warrant officer. There
are over 33. 600 men in the navy. and
of these over 5000 are petty officers.
{ When the sixteen battleships will
have ended their cruise of As. 900
miles they will have consumed a.
500, 900 worth Of foods and$1. sou, 600
of coal. Official figures Of the navy
department show that it costs S625.
600 to maintain battleship for one
year. II this il multiplied by six
teen it will be seen that the cruise
around the world will cost over 31O.-
600. 900. Flour alone will cost $780,
900. For fresh beef there will be ex-
pended 5000. 900. The Is. 900 men
need enough -four to I'll seventy five
railroad cars. and sufficient fresh
beef to load ffty refrigerator cars.
The potatoes for the ships will fltl
twenty cars. Other stores ranging
from cheese to turkey. apricots to
sausages. milk to sauerkraut. vinegar
to macaroni. and peaches to salt pork.
including forty-six big items. range
from one to four carload lots. max
ing about 225 railroad cars full Of
supplies, or nearly ten big trains Of
4 81 -
foods.
The biggest single item is coal. A
feet Of thirty odd colliers had noun
tains OF it stored at Trinidad. Rio
Janeiro. Punta Arenas. Oallao. Mag
dalena bay and San Francisco. and to
get the sixteen battiebips and the six
torpedo boat destroyers around the
South American continent, over 100.
900 tons Of fuel we're piled up at the
stopping places. At e5 ton. this
represents $500. 600. The battleahips
alone took aboard "a. 200 tons at
Rio Janeiro, 81. 600 tons ct Punta
Arenas, q. 900 tons ct Callao and
35, 900 tons at Magdalena bay. EiRhty
thousand tons were contracted for st
San Francisco. and now that 4 has
been decided to send the ships around
the world. mountains Of fuel muse
be depositsd along, the Asiatic. Indian
and Mediterranean coasfs- For
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