The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-07
NAVY IS READY; ALL AVAILABLE
 SHIP PS ON DUTY
Mobilization Orders Bring 25,OOO Additional Men
 to Service.

 numbering about 12,0oo; the various classes of naval reserves, retired na- val officers capable of rendering eff fective seTvice on the active list, and all private motor boats and yachts offered to and accepted or bought by the Navy Department.
 Secretary Daniels expects the mill. tia units and the reserves to come for ward promptly and that within g. few days the mobilization of the fleet will be complete.
 The mobilization order also covers all merchant ships purchased by the navy for auxiliary purposes, together with members of their crews, who have been enrolled in the Auxiliary Reserve Corps. Other ships which have been surveyed and for the ac- uuisition of which tentative contracts have been made, will be added to the fleet from day to day. In many 1n- stances the owners of motor boats and yachts have volunteered their person al services and those of their crews.
 Will Bring in 10000 Men.
 The order will bring into the Fed eral service from 10000 to 25,00O men In order to provide additional facilities for the training of recruits the navy to-day began arranging to take over properties and ground adJa- cent to present reservations. The class of midshipmen graduated from An napolis last week were nominated as ensigns yesterday by President Will son. The President also sent to the Senate the names of many army, ma rine corps and coast guard officers, nominated for promotion.
 All plans for the mobilization have been worked out for weeks to the last detail. They include numerous automatic changes in officers. For example, one retired Rear Admiral will immediately assume charge Of station, relieving an officer on the ac- tive list, who will take the place in the line to which he had been assign ed in advance.
 Admiral Benson, chief of ava1 op- erations, is in immediate charge of the mobilization of the fleet Ad- miral Mayo remains as Commander in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. Secretary Daniels is highly gratfled at the way the young men of the country are responding to the call for their services. For the past few days enlistments have averaged about 500 a day. Yesterday nearly 800 came forward. Great congestion has de- veloped at all recruiting and training stations, and the recruits are assign ed to duty just as soon as they are pronounced fit
 Ships in reserve with 40 to 50 pe1 cent. of their crews will be able to take their places in the active service as the Naval Militia and the various classes of reserves are mobiliZed. The constantly increasing number of en- 1istments already is contributing ma teria1ly to relieving these ships from the reserve status.
 Scene of Bustling Activity There was a bustling scene in the corridor outside of Secretary Daniels 1 office as he entered following the Cabinet meeting. Rear Admira' Palmer rushed up with 0 bundle o, l papers from the Bureau of Naviga, | tion, which has supervision over ques tions of personnel. He left MT. Dan fels's office a few minutes later, say l ing mobilization had been ordered Meanwhile, other officers had beer running here and there. It was tn, l first surface sign of excitement O. the day in the Navy Department
 At the end of four months, indeed ! the War Departmet expects to hay, lcompleted the mobilization on a wal footing of the regular army and thu National Guard, with a total of abou 100000 men under arms.
 By that time the process of regis tering men between the ages of nine teen and twenty-five will have beer completed and everything will b. ready for the training of the frs 100000 men to be chosen under "se ]ective conscription."
 By fixing the age limit for volun teers at from eighteen to forty year the War department has aimed t give an opportunity for the men iron thirty-five to forty to show their pa triotism and their enthusiasm.
 While the War department doe not at present contemplate raisin any new units in the regular arm beyond those called for by the Ma tionaI Defense Act for the next in crement, all the organizations now il existence will be raised to wa strength and put on war footing.
 This will mean that regiment less will be raised to 2,O00 or over.
 Training of the 50O,OOO
 While the War Department has no made public any details of how tn, first 500,000 men will be trained, tn plan is to divide the country into six teen districts, selected solely for thei strategic and geographical value. Each district will be under tn charge of 8 general officer. The mel will be quartered in cantonments, ant not in tents, as the latter are ia more expensive in the long run. I is generally believed that men of twen ty-four and twenty-five will be frs called.
 The creation of sixteen training cen tres would provide for two infantr! divisions at each post. Presumably the centres for the four cavalry divi sions would be somewhere in the re l zion of the Mexican border, so tha 1 this mounted force can take over tn border patrol work to a large extent relieving the majority of the 60,00t 1 regulars now assembled there.
 The War departments scheme vii 1 create thirty-two infantry and foul cavalry divisions, which will be dis tributed among the sixteen training | centres.