New-York tribune., 1917-12-03
Navy Marksmen to Get
Mariorie's Checks To-day

A. Andry, +. b. Taylor " W. n
r. n. Bartlett, c. p. Flener' H.
Beeghold. H. A. Gibson, $. X; MASON
W. d. Russell, c. Dugan, K. }. Cohho'''
F. Buice and o. Felts. u,uio.
4. s. s. BUFFALO--I L. Wil,Iams'
". H. Swcpe, II. W. hsllet, w.
Cro1by. c. L. Thomas, c. L. Young ~
II. Lambi'th, J. b, Cummings ahu w. "
Gordon
Bonner d. Boebel. T.. Coupal, 4. II.
Cameror. J. B. Core, W. ]. Freeley, j.
G. Flaherty. r. r. Freeman, u ~
Could. D. Galbraith, L. T. Jarboe' j.
lake. y, Murdcck, J. F. McDorman, B'
G Parker. J. Powers, j. i. Robins, \,
4. Talmagc. r. Walkey, Go W. Young
and G. Z. Metz.
These prizes ere new to the navy.
No similar prizes are offered 10 the
men individually under Ike condiIlo ;.
The government pays bonuses 10 tne
turret crews which surpass certain
efficiency standard, and also 20 the
men handling the smaller guns and tor
pedoes. hut no other cash prize IS now
offered for the best gun crew IN the
navy. The introduction OF this sys-
tom of avyL riding American sailors WIN
the income Of the Marjorie Sterrett
Fund ,particUlarly timely now IN
Wow of Secretary Daniels's opinion
that Americans cannot receive decora-
tioas from foreign nations.
Dime Started the fund
The original idea Of Marjorie. ~ eX.
pressed in a letter 10 the editor OF
| The Tribune on February 2. 1915, was
20 start fund to build battleship.
| The thirteen-y -year-old schoolgirl sent
| to the editor OF The Tribune dime
which she earned assisting her mother
"to help build battleship for Uncle
/ Sam" Marjorie's idea represented the
unexpressed desire Of thousands OF
/ other children-and growns-ups, TOO,
/ it became apparent. as dimes and dol-
/ lare began to flow into The Tribune
! Office for this purpose from all parts
/ of the country. The naive Wish OF
/ little girl soon became the symbol Oh
/ the determined purpose OF patriots an
over the land. The fund for pattle-
ship grew rapidly. Newspapers III
cities large and small IN many states
/ began to cooperate with Inc lTouhe
in receiving funds.
Patriotic organizations lndorsed lhC
/ plan and benefits were held to augment
J
! Secretary Daniels had expressed ms
inability to accept battleship raised
! bv public subscription and after II De,
came obvious that the bill INTRODUCED
/ INTO Congress By Representative VIII
lam 6. Bennet providing for its accept
ance would fail of passage the contrl-
buttons continued 10 arrive. Among
! their Sponsors appeared such names as
| Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison,
Roar Admiral Charles d. Sigsbee, John
Havs Hammond. Governor Martin u.
/ Brumbaugh of Pennsylvania, ). stan
wood Menken, then president OF the
National Security League; Miss Elisa
beth Huqhes, daughter OF ex-Justice
Charles Evans Hughes; Kitty Cheat
ham. the singer, and Charles Francis
/ Murphy.
The plan to use the income from the
fund as a prize for naval marksman-
shin met with instant approval, as ex-
messing in essence the purpose OF tne
/ contributors-to add TO the efficiency OF
the United States navy. Since, how
ever. it was not exactly the purpose Tor
which the fund was founded, The IT'D
une and the other newspapers support
. ing il offered 20 refund his contrlou-
/ tion 10 any contributor who was not IN
sympathy with the new proposal. Up
TO the time when the fund was hnally
/ offered 10 the Secretary OF the Navy
/ for the new purpose, over four months
after the announcement was printed,
/ The Tribune was called upon to make
only four refunds. one to partlcipat-
/ ing newspaper and three to individuals,
a total of s86.60. Four of the news
papers which started 10 collect for the
l fund withdrew before turning in their
money to The Tribune. Their total col
/ lections amounted TO about $500.
/ Marjorie Indorsed the Plan
! Marjorie herself indorsed the new
plan. In letter TO The Tribune she
| said
"Father explained all about your plan
/ for using the interest on the battleship
I fund for craftsmanship prizes for the
navy, so as to make what navy we have
more efficient. | think 1t is a dandy
/ idea, especially since only the interest
/ is used, leaving the fund still a battle
ship fund, which we can still keep
adding TO. | am sure all the contrib
utors will understand and agree with
the plan. Just the same as John Paul
Jones, | shall not give up the ship, and
when am a little older | am going in
for politics. The first thing | will do
when am elected will be to build the
chldren's battleship. Sincerely yours,
"MARJORIE STERRETT."
Final Standing of Fund
The final standing of the fund, in
GLIDING the contributions received and
refunded since the last complete report,
is as follows:
PREVIOUSLY ACKNOWLEDGED
From eighty-three newspapers .... $40 Ss9.91
Through The Tribune. e.....,....... 9496.Sj
! Total observation-disclosures. 1886. 7G
/ RECEIVED THROUGH NEWSPAPERS
Beacon journal ................. 5000
boston Record ........,....,..... l,79l.O5
butlcr CltlLen .................... 5.9b
Cleveland Leader .............. l.70|
Pelham Record ........,..... 1900
ipldl el,cD III
RECEIVED TIIROTTCH TIE TpUpITNE