The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-11-26
MARKING 4 SAILOR
Naval Arm Insignia Worn by
Uncle Sans Enlisted Men.

Naval Arm Insignia Worn BY
Uncle Sans Enlisted Men.
TELLS THEIR RANK AND WORK.
The B~iuejaoksts Are ,Pesxd Of Thsss
Class Symbols, and Only the Nev;oss
Are Without Thsm-Mavinss Havs
Their Own Special Insignia
Uncle Sam seems to be q wise old
boy. He has found the secret Of avert.
ing labor difficulties and raising the
dignity Of labor aboard ship by giving
the marines and sailorv who are as
signed to special duties arm insignia
to distinguish their callings and ranks:
Mechanics, clerks. carpenters and
deck men are given just as much u,
tentio0 when it comes to insignia as
are the admirals, captains, ~lieutenants.
ensigns and other commissioned men.
And Il the truth were only known the
jackies take even more pride In dis
playing the marks that have been con-
ferred upon them.
Uncle, San has Il peculiar method Of
marking his men. but lie has v
taken into consideration that the pub.
lie would like to lie taken into the Sc
| cret. The consequence is that the men
who have been llonoreu with the dis
| ,inguishing markS-and it is only the
nOvices or newcomers who have not q
mark of some kind-must suffer and he
prepared always while OH shore leave
to- answer the questions Of the curious.
The insignia. however. are simple
enough when. understood. \ symbol of
some sort is used to distinguish the
mans following. For instance. a chief
yeomun has two. crossed keys on his
coat sleeves. signifying that he has the
board the ship. ALI eagle appears e
every mark and; there are qualifying
| stripes under the symbol to show
whether the man is first class, second
| class or third class. II he is Of the lat
ter rank he. has only one stripe. II
he is u chief petty officer he wears con-
Meeting lines between the curved line
under the eagle and the stripes. 9th
erwisc he simply Years the eagle and
the stripes. This is true with all men.
In some instances. however. the
stripes under. the symbol typify the
mans distinctive Office. For instance.
a machinist of the first class wears
three stripes. 4 water tender has the
same mark under d propeller. A man
with two stripes IS either an oiler or u
machinist's mate.
A man with two crossed quilts Is n
pay clerk. A turret with II gun signi-
6es that the wearer is a tIlrct cap
tain. A globe means the man Is an
| electrician. A carpenter has two hatch
cts. 4 crescent is worn by IL commits
sary or q cOmmissary's steward. A
quartermaster in the navy wears q
wheel, while the man with the same
distinction in the marine corps has
crossed quills for his insignia.
Many of the naval men also a.
inglc stripe acruss the shoulder. ThOse
who wear red belong to the engineers
corps. II a man With a red stripe has
one white stripe Oh his cuff he is Il COAL
passer: if two. he Is D second class
fireman and II three. a'third class fire-
man.
The deck force wear Il white stripe
across the shoulder. III IL man has, two
stripes Oh his cuff he is an ordinary
seaman; If three. II seaman. and u SIN
I ..1n A~;,>. ,sA~,,,. krn * ~, .NVflsnnfi[so eSs
Il lanlsman.
All the petty officers wear blue rat
ing OH the white clothes and red oil the
blue. A man who has won three u
cessivc rating medals for good conduct
is permitted to wear gold. Those who
are in the special or the engineers
branch wear their rating Oh the lett
\ ARM and the seamen wear theirs on
the right. Enlistment stripes are also
worn. one for each four years. Chief
petty officers. besides having the con
Meeting lines over their insignia. also
wear brass buttons OF their coats.
The marine insignia are slightly diff
fcrent. In the first place the mark
ings are in gold and therefore much
brighter and are more noticeable. This
IL true only with the dress uniform.
With tue khaki clothes the men weat
field clcvrOns with narrow marks. A
marine corporal has two stripes and u
sergeant three stripes. A first sergeant
has a diamond under his stripes. and !:
sergeant major has additional stripes
under the diamond. A gunnery ser
ceant has a leaf and an under
his stripes: a quartcrmaster sergeant
has quilts: a drummer has cross sticks
and a trumpeter crossed bugles. ON
GERS in the marine corps have their in
sigma on both arms. = Philadelphta
North American.
Thaf,s All.