Evening star., 1909-06-03
Greatest Neurological Institution in
the World.
ELECTRICITY Is IMPORTANT
Midshipmen Have Very Little Time
to Think Of Anything But
Their Profession.
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
| Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
| Chicago cord.Herald.

|
/ ANNAPOLIS, Md. June 2, 1909.
The physical changes which have
been going on in the United States
Navy and the Transformation Of the
man -of-war into floating fortress and
machine shop have made it necessary to
change the character and the methods
Of instruction at Annapolis, and the
magnificent new buildings OF the
academy which I described in a series
OF letters not long ago are equipped
admirably for their purpose The ap
paratus, the laboratories, the shops
and other facilities for instruction
have'been brought up to date, and as
an educational plant the Naval Aoad-
emy Is unsurpassed. 1t Is the greatest
chronological institution in the world.
The curriculum has been modified SO
that it is entirely practical, the stand
ard has been advanced, and the instruc
| ton is quite as thorough as it ever
has been. Every midshipman who
spends four years here becomes an
expert engineer and electrician. lie
can not only operate. but is supposed
to be able to build and repair, the most
complicated engines and other ma
chinery, and to install and operate any
kind of an electrical apparatus. as we'll
as navigate ship and find the range
| Oh tWelVt-1nch gum
| Formerly the motive power Of Our
military marine was intrusted to an
| engineer corps, which was especially
educated; but its members have been
merged into the regular line of officers.
and today every man whose name aL-
pears in the Naval Register is supposed
to be not only a machinist, but an
Iengineer, and even wireless telegraph
| operator. Because the great leviathans
which H,5ds con compose our fghting feet are
Is necessary that everybody, from the
admiral down, should be a machinist.
The food is cooked. the helm is han
| died, the decks are scrubbed and the
guns of ship are aimed by machinery.
Hence "a per cent Of all the time of a
midshipman during his four years at
the academy Is now given up to in
struction in the science of engineer
ing In Its several branches.
Evolution Of Many Years.
The present curriculum is the evolution
Of many years which has kept pace with
the rapid development Of naval science
The department Of seamanship has been
modified with the altered conditions, as
well as the department of ordnance. as
the ships and the guns have become
| longer and more complicated. Two years
| ago board, consisting Of Admiral Rich
ard Wainwright. Commander r. s. Grif
nm, Lieut.. Commander A. L. Key and
| Lieut. A. w. Johnson, was appointed to
investigate and report upon the courses
| of instruction, and several important
changes were made in compliance with
their recommendations.
| Electricity has now become such an
important branch of naval science" said
the report that 1t Is imperative that
the instruction in 1t be so thorough that
midshipman, after graduation, should
be able to go into turret or a dynamo
room with the same familiarity with
things electrical as he now has with
| things mechanical In the engine room
For this reason it is recommended that
| the department of physics be known as
| the department Of electrical engineering
and physics, that less time be devoted
to the unnecessary branches of physics
and that the time thus gained be given
| up to applied electricity. That the cleo
trical laboratory be equipped with ap-
paratus and fittings as are found aboard
| ship. and that in general the course be
made as practical as possible. and that
the head of this department be a sea-
going officer, thoroughly familiar with the
practical operation. the care and the
maintenance Of electrical appliances on
shipbOard."
Practical Rather Than Theoretical.
Similar recommendations were made
concerning the other departments, all
| tending to the practical rather than the
| theoretical. and that is the accepted pol
icy of the institution. The board con-
cludes its report as follows:
ITO sum up. the principal recommended
tions Of the board are the combination
| OF the departments Of seamanship and
navigation, with the addition of law to
the new department.; the combination of
mathematics and mechanics and re-
vision of the text book; the combina-
ton Of the departments of English and
| modern languages. a. modification of the
course in rhetoric; continuous course
throughout the four years in French and
| Spanish; the creation of a department
of physical training; change in name of
the department of physics and chemistry
to that of electrical engineering and
physics, with an increase In the time de-
voted to practical electricity
In other words, the naval officer of the
future must be an International lawyer
| as well as a seaman and navigator; he
| must know more about mechanics and
less about mathematics than formerly; he
must be able to speak French and Span
| ish: he must improve his physical condi-
| ton, and he must know all about chem
| istry as well as electricity.
Midshipmen Kept Busy
Differing from all other colleges and
| educational institutions in the United
States. the students of the Naval and
Military academies commence the active
practice Of their profession from the day
they enter the gates, and upon their con- |
duct and proficiency in their studies from |
day to day depend their rank anu stand |
ing in the navy during the whole of their |
subsequent careers. And the midshipmen |
have very little time to think of anything |
else. Few people except those who are |
familiar with naval training realize the |
immense amount of ground to be covered |
during the four years course of study |
and practical work at the academy, and !
a layman shudders when he reads the |
curriculum the nine hundred young men |
here pursuing.
They closely confined to the |
grounds: they have little leisure for rec
reation and social contact: almost every i
moment of each day is assigned to some |
given subject and every midshipman eats,
drinks, studies, exercises and plays by |
schedule and the notes of a trumpet.
Nevertheless they have good deal of |
fun corpbined with their work. Wit and
humor OoZe through the regulations here
and there. They speak a language of /
their own, and some of their slang is
classic.
For example,, "biff' is to do thing
we'll; to '.bilge" means to be dropped from
the rolls of the academy for violation of
the regulations. for failure to pass ex
aminations, for a physical defect or for
any other reason; a bilger is an ex-mid
shipman. bat means that something is
well done; "bazoo" is 4 literary produc-
tion; bones is the local term for medi-
cine and hygiene; bust is to fail at a
recitation: a ''boojam'' is a perfect mark;
skinny is the synonym for physics and
mechanics; ann is the short for ex-
aminations,: "ad' is the short for the