The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1917-09-26
LIFE AND TRAINING
IN THE U. S. NAVY.

United States Navy. Ills mental,
moral, physical training is constant
ly looked after.
This statement is literally true but
the truth is realized by but few The
change is the manners, physique, and
appearance OF recruits, wrought by
six months Of training at one Of our
four Naval training stations is very
marked, and in some cases, extraor-
binary.
The life is healthful; The food is the
best the Government can purchase,
every ounce Of it having to pass the
inspection of Naval food inspector
before it is accepted; the gain in
weight and stamina under the regu-
lar regime is remarkable in the cases
Of most boys.
If such a system could be applied in
all the schools Of the country, the
gain in the State in the increased ef-
iiciency Of the existing generation Of
boys would be worth many times the
cost involved and would do much to-
wards Welding the navy mixed ele-
ments of population into an American
whole.
On an average, only II or Is per
cent of all the men who apply for en-
listment are accepted. A reasonably
high standard Of requirement is main
tanned and only good men are taken
in, man is rejected, just as quick, on
his character as he is for physical de-
fects. The material advantages Of
fered by civilian life to the class of
men who enlist.
Intoxicating liquor is not allowed
On any ship Of the navy, nor in any
Of the shore stations. Alcoholism has
declined greatly in the past few years,
The conditions Of life on board our
battle ships have steadily improved
and the drunkenness Of the past
would not BE- tolerated now.
United States naval training sta
lions are located at Newport, R. l.,
Norfolk, Va, San Francisco, Ca, and
Great Lakes, H., near Chicago, the
latter one just being completed at
the cost of $1OO00,OOO. All men who
enlist as Apprentice Seamen, are
sent Immediately to one of these
lraining stations and kept there, I'M
der training, for a period of six
months.
In addition to these training sta
liens, there are a countless number
Ct trade schools maintained by the
Navy Department, where trades of
Ill kinds can be learned, az Newport,
Il. l., in addition to the regular train
ing station for apprentice seamen,
there is the bookkeepers school,
looks and bakersr, at Norfolk, Va,
the carpenters blacksmith, plumbers
metal workers, painters, musicians,
end boiler makers school,
At New York, is the electrical
school where it is taught in all its
forms At Charleston, s. s., the ma
chinist and coppersmith school.
Last year 10000 men passed thru
The courses Of training at the above
schools, on the average, there are
about $500 men under training at
Newport, and about 1900 at each Of
the other stations, most of these men
are about is years of age.
One hundred men from the ranks
ire sent every year, to the Naval
academy at Annapolis, Md, to be
made Commissioned Officers, the new
ecademy having been completed only
recently at cost Of about $13,000,000
ony enlisted man under % years of
age who has served one year, can
take the competitive examination for
appointment to Annapolis. After
RAISING the required examination, the
candidate is admitted to the Acad
cmy bearing the title of Midshipman,
and he is paid by the Government
$4,000 per year, the course at the
cademy lasts four years.
On graduation the Midshipmen is
siven commission by the President
Ct the United States, as an Ensign,
which is The first rank of a commits
stoned Naval officer and CORES
ronds in rank to second Lieutenant
in the Army, the pay Of an Ensign is
I7C0O0 with certain additional al
iowances) per year. From this rank
officers are regularly pomoted in ac-
Codance with the laws Of Congress.
A boy at the age 1fg9rfhPueaieer
A boy at the age of IS who enlist
in the Navy as an Apprentice Seaman
ut once receives $4,000 per month
with board clothing, and medical at
tendance and with the opportunities
offered him by the Navy cannot be
beaten. The Navy is a school which
gives its pupils 4 priceless education
chat cannot be bought any where else.