Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1912-10-23
IS OUR NAVY REALLY
UNCHURCHED2
Facts Concerning the Problem Of
Chaplains in the Navy.
NOT ENOUGH TO GO AROUND.
Seamsn Have No Religious Services
on Ships in -Four Years or
Longer.

| states DatIleSnlp Kansas, 0naplail
William G. Cqssard went on talking
"Oh, yes," he said; 1T is easil,
| possible for a man to serve a full
term of enlistment Of four years il
the Navy in which time he will nevel
be on any ship where religious ser
vice is conducted.
1t was a statement t. startl,
| Christian America.
The Kansas was lying in the Hud
son River as q unit of the creates
American war fleet Fever assembled
With.her we're l2l vessels of all class
es, stretched in triple line for sever
miles. Their total displacement was
three-quarters of million tons, auC
| their officers and crews numbered
more than $1,000 men. The shrek oil
a bobbing gray launch interrupted the
chaplain for moment.
| 81 could take you forward now,
he added, land show you man after
man who has been in the navy from
three to seven years, and who, until
| came aboard a month ago from the
New Hampshire, had never heard q
service conducted on shipboard by q
naval officer.
The thing was incredible. One
protested.
Surely there are captains, for ex.
ample, who arrange for at least an
occasional Sunday service at sea.
Isn't that rather the usual thingi
Everybody supposes-"
The chaplain of the Kansas shook
his head.
II know of no officer of the navy
now" he declared, "other than a
chaplain, who conducts a religious
service on any ship in the entire
navy. Sometimes, in port, a Y. M.
c. A. or someone like that volunteers
to hold a service.
How many ships, of all kinds,
are there in the navy?"
Upwards of three hundred
And how many chaplains on these
three hundred ships?"
six"
From the deck of the Kansas one
saw succession of mammoth gray
hulks and towering lattice masts. A
fleet of submarines trailed past. Over
toward the Jersey shore lay the tor
pedo boats and destroyers. 1t was a
picture of devastation held in leash.
Every hull spoke terror. The river
was alive with thronged excursion
steamers, yachts, launches. Thous-
andJ and thousands and still thous-
ands of people crowded Riverside
Park and the river above, nodding
their heads at each other and bristling
with patriotism. Probably ten thous-
and of them had been at church that
morning Giving the matter no
thought, they would have replied, had
they been asked, that assuredly there
had also been service on all the big
battleships. besides the special SER
vices conducted on shore.
Its a Christian country, you
know" they would have said.
Swinging with the tide were the
new super-dreadnaughts Wyoming
and Arkansas, at that moment the
greatest commissioned warships IL
the world. Each cost more than 50,
soc, 600 for hull and machinery alone,
and each is the floating home of more
tnan 1000 officers and men. Meth.
er vessel has a chaplain. There is nc
chaplain for the 927 officers and mer
of the 20, ton dreadnaught Della
ware, and none for the officers and
men of her great sister ship, the
North Dakota. The $50 officers and
men of the flagship Connecticut have
no chaplain. The 500 officers anC
men of the battleship Michigan have
no chaplain. The 500 officers anC
men of the battleship South Carolins
have no chaplain. The $50 officers
| and men of the battleship Louisiana
have no chaplain. The $50 officers
and men of the battleship Vermont
have no chaplain. The $50 officers
and men of the battleship New Hamp
shire have no chaplain.
The s12 officers and men of the
battleship Virginia have no chaplain
The 812 officers and men Of the bat
tleship Nebraska have no chaplain
The S12 officers and men of the New
Jersey have no chaplain. The 81
officers and men of the Georgia have
Il CudpldtHs LuC OH OlAiCCIS anu tIlt I
of the Ohio have no chaplain. The
725 officers and men of the Idaho have
no chaplain. There is no chaplain OF
the battleships Maine, Missouri, Iii
nois, Wisconsin, Alabama, Indiana
Massachusetts,, Iowa, Kearsarge
Kentucky. Theirs is no chaplain OF
the armored cruisers Tennessee
Montana, Washington, North Caro-
lima. There is no chaplain on the
cruisers Baltimore, Montgomery
Salem. Birmingham. Chester. Ia
less conditions are changed or other
ships deprived, there will be no chap
lain for the monster super-dread
naughts Nevada, New York, Okla,
homa, Texas, now building. Lying
at anchor in the Hudson that DAY
wers thirty-one gray lbsttleships ant
nine cruisers, thirty-five Of the forty
without chaplains. There was a
chaplain on the Utah, one on the
Kansas, one on the Florida, one OF
the Rhode Island, one on the Mime
sofa. The only other vessel in tn,
whole United States Navy which car
ries a chaplain is the cruiser Penn
4 .vlvania. One wanted to know WIN