The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-02-05
MI so EASY TO
 GET INTO NAVY
Physical Examination Rigid and Certificate Is
 Required

phadcaHy lighting mach1nes He who enlists in it expects to be liable tos service on the firing line some where, with a death dealing weapon il1Ahis hand or assigned to one of the larger types of guns perhaps 8 machine gun or a piece of heavy ar hIlery. With the exception or the cofnparativeIy small number of helpers, the ordinary enlisted men expect to be direct combatants. In the United States navy. however, conditions are very different, so much so that only a small per cent of the ordinary enlisted men are enlisted for the purpose of having sea soldiers in case of a sea battle The modern war vessels are such huge creations of machinery and arrangements for / housing their men that they require large number of mechanical trades men, engineers and professional men. It slaas come to the pass that very many of the young men of New Eng land who enlist at the local United States navy recruiting station are do- ing so in order to learn one of, the ter being admitted to the service, and for the money-saving Inducements that the navy department holds out to thems Thens toos they know that them liable to service in some great International war is likely to take them only into more or less strenu- olIss police service in petty disturb- Rnces, in the course of which service. delightful visits among strange peo-i pies and in strange landss may be had without cost to themselves
 All sorts of applicants. therefore, ard attracted to the recruiting sta uons. and in this respect the Hart ford station is no exception. Many are successful in meeting the re-
 
 proportions of height. weight and chest measure must be pretty strictly adhered to. The minimum height for acceptance of 9 man. z1 years olds or over is, for instance five feet four inches. Such an appn- can cannot be accented If he weighs ,1esS than 128 pounds. No under weight IS allowed in minors.
 How Are Your Teeth Feet?
 An objection which sends away many young fellows from the local recx xuit1ng station as at the oth ers- edis an unsatisfactory condit tion of the teeth Every recruit must have at least twenty sound teeths including four opposed nolars and four op- posed incissors. livery man must declare on cath that he is not subject to hts, and has no disease conc ceaIed or likely to be inherited Even a&-footedness, if at all pronouncedS or<Euch as to cause foot ache when stan ding, bars one from the service. little water on the floor and requests the applicant to step into it. The latter is then required to walk across the room, and from the marks left on the floor from the wet bare feet the examining surgeon makes his de- cisieh on this matter. Toe-nai1s are not tremendously important in ordi- mary life, perhaps, but even these are not overlooked here Any abnor- mai formation is carefully scrutiniz- ed and closely inquired into.
 ssF'aErn1ers' Verif1es
 Amusing incidents have not been uncona1non at the local station hav-. ing tossdo with the requirement. that age and citizenship must be certi- lied in all cases If the applicant does not bring with him birth certificate from proper state, city, or a blank form filled out and signed by parent or guardian. The sig nature of the parent or guardian must be verified by postmaster or other United States official, mayor justice sheriff chief of police, court ofhceFs notary alderman, constable, marshal. pastor. or school superin- tendents who must write his official title after his name.
 One day, not long ago, a forlorn O. cal station, foot-Worn and dusty He had walked over from a country town near New London He had the required certificate in his posses sions and it was filled out. But the veridcation had not been made by one of the persons already specihed In the place for signature appeared a name as that of the witness His title was what made the veridcation worthless for the purpose. It was sffarrmeT- z
 Man With Flexible Age
 Another requirement. which re- minds those who have seen many incidents, is that which reads, ssRIo int odcated person shah be enlisted in the naval service,
 Most of the boys who appear at the station at the local federal build Ing are fairly well set-up, and in Fairly good constitutional condition But the exceptions are not few Dur Ing the present winter a number of men showing marks of alcohol have come for examination, and have. of course, been rejected. One of these unfortunates had a variable age During 9 few minutes it went from 80 to 31 years, and then down to 29 years, according to what seemed to be the most advantageous age ac- cording to the paSsing comment of one of the recruita officers who was sounding the max to get at the truth An applicant of this kind never is accepted
 What Navy Men Do.
 The largest number Of recruits at the local station are accepted as ap- prentice seamen, the next largest number for positions on slipboard as coal passers. If man is stoutlv built, and strong, and has liking for mechanical work, he often pre- fersl to go in as coal passer rather for promotion eventually to rank of machinistss mates and to other po- sittons. is good for the man who be- gins on one of Uncle San's ships as a coal passer.