Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-12-26
.MIDSHlPMEN OF TO-DAY.
Better Equipped Than Lieutenants or
Captains of Seventy Years Ago.

something more than a hundred years
ago the midshfpman was. indeed. the
"midshipmite" that he was popularity
called, for he was but Il mite lad,
usually receiving his appointment be-
fore he reached his teens. NAdmirals
Farragut and Porter We're midshipmen,
afioat and in pitched battles. at L years
of age. and Goldsborough. was appoint
ed when only I years old Nowadays,
however, the midshipman is quite a diff
ferent person. He cannot enter the Ma
val academy under 10, and is therefore
when on regular cruising ship, after
completing his four years academic
course, usually a well-developed man.
physically mature and athletic. and with
a trained mind. He is far better
equipped mentally than the lieutenants
and many of the captains of even 20
years ago.
The old-time middies were mere school
boys. All the warships of any size car
ried in their regular compliments a
schoolmaster, whose duty it was to give
the lads a S liberal an education as pos
sible in the odd periods between strictly
professional duties. This rating Of
schoolmaster was abolished, in fact, on
ly about 20 years ago; but after the es-
Enlistment of the Naval Academy, in
is4l, these officials devoted their energies
to the sailor apprentices only. the enlist
ed boys of the forecastle. Even these
now obtain their education ON shore
There is a tradition that the three~brass
buttons the midshipman wears on the
sleeve of his fun dress coat during his
four years at Annapolis originated CEN
or t,,n ae -}tEt, i.a;
was needed to discourage the youngsters
from brushing their noses with their
sleeves. This is probably a base Islander.
modern research indicating that the
buttons are relies of the days when
there was cuff-nap on the sleeve.
At all events the extreme youth of the
midshipmite used to be his most con-
spicuous characteristic. Instead of the
full-sized regulation officers sword that
he now carries, he wore little straight
bladed dirk about a foot long. lie was
to a large extent a messenger for carry
ing orders about the ship. but he also
took charge of boats and commanded
men, despite his youth. He was
frequently placed in charge of a prize
captured in war. taking her into port.
and not infrequently suppressing mu-
diApiiS tIt pFiSDHeFS on DOard.
Farragut was a prize-master at u, and
got his prize safely in.
The title "midshipman" is an ancient
one. He is above the seamen and the
petty officers forward. and below the
commissioned officers in the wordroom
aft-hence midship-man." There was for
merly higher grade called past midship-
man. but this was abolished before the
civil war. Then. about 40 years ago, the
grade was restored, but called midship-
man, the former midshipman being
designated as a observation-disclosures In
lSs2 the title of the latter was changed
TO naval cadet, which it still remains,
and the midshipmen were merged with
the enslgns. Accordingly, the time
honored title of midshipman no longer
exists officially in the United States
Navy
While officially naval cadet that
young officer is still regarded, and often
referred TO verbally, as midshipman,
for he is the same creature as of old, as
far as his duties go. But by the side of
his earlier prototype the 10Th century
mildly" is savant Trigonometry was
about as high up in mathematics as the
old-timer ever went. The Goth century
lad goes far beyond. He goes through
analytical geometry of three dimensions.
differential and integral calculus, applied
mechanics
Gunnery 100 years ago was little more
than loading, aiming and firing at short
ranges. 1t now involves metalurgy,
theory of the combustion of powder
gases, stress and strain, mechanical en-
gineering. manufacture and preservation
OF complex explosives, and other abstruse
subjects, in all of which the midshipman
OF the present day must be proficient.
Midshipmen were conspicuousu in all
our early wars, notably those with the
Barbary States. with the West Indian
pirates and with the British in 1872
They were equally conspicuous during our
conflicts with the Spanish and Filipinos
Midshipmen, naval cadets, had charge of
the extremely hazardous picket duty in
the Santiago blockade, close under the
Spanish batteries, and often under mus
kerry fire from shore. Cadet Powell ran
his open launch right into the harbor of
Santiago, after the Merrmac. remained
all night under the menacing guns of the
inner batteries, and steamed out again
under their fire in the morning.-N. Y.
Press.