New Britain herald., 1917-11-08
FACTS ABOUT THE AMERICAN NAVY
Figures
ZHUGH GREEN, U. s. N.
BY LIEUT.. FITZHI

Waist measurements mean. Clothes may make the man. Certainly they improve his figure. And it IS fg- ure that really counts, sometimes at least-as I shall presently show.
 First you must understand that a battleship's crew is apportioned to the parts of the ship in companies or di- visions of about 100 men each. A lieu tenant usually commands one of these divisions. He corresponds to a cap-. tain in the army.
 These divisional officers have been termed the N. N. .C.-the Naval Nurs- ing Corps, because their duties in- clude care of the mems general well fare. with particular attention to clothes, living quarters, work, play, health, hammocks, messing; and, not infrequently, marriage. divorce, and keeping out of seaport jails. The name Nurse is thus rather apt.
 Actually the term is too narrow. No nurse ever bothered with such annoy ing trifies as answering a battle call by diving into 8 steel turret through a two-foot hatch; or wormed through the stinking steel catacombs of a freshly painted double bottom; or per formed a gastro-interostomy on the peloric valve of a boilers belly; or risked heart failure with complications by racing daily to the top of basket mast by way of such a maze of lad ders and stages that one forgets some- times whether he is going up or com ing down.
 These and few others were the jobs of two young Heutenants in our Navy. As a rule the Navy Department does not have to bother with such small fry. Unquestioned loyalty and obedience are an officers first con- tribution to his service. Iieutenants Smith and Jones, however. aroused unusual curiosity, not only among their shipmates, but throughout the fleet and even at headquarters in Washington.
 Smith and Jones were rich mems sons. And their fathers had good press agents. People always wonder how rich nen's sons are going to work out.
 The two youngsters were stationed on the same ship. Smiths division manned the forward 14-inch turret. Jones earned his pay in the after turret. Turrets and guns and bar bettes were identical to the fraction of an inch and to the decimal Of an ounce. Gear which operated the gun mechanisms was duplicated for each. Wires. bolts, braces, cogs, pinions- wen the shade of paint-were exactly | the same in Smiths turret as they were in Jones'.
 Also, the rest of their work was 1 hfty-ffty. Both took their lookout | tricks in the mast. Each shot his big gun string -in the yearly target prac- tice Each trained his division for every emergency from battle to boat l races, from drawing liberty checks to fighting for liberty itself. Both had men and decks and boats, and the hatches or ladders in between.
 Smith made good. Jones didn't.f No one said II told you so,' for no one knew why they didn't both make good Jones was an efficient officer. He kept the ship in good position when he was "the bridge in fleet column. His guns didn't jam, or miss fire or flzzle. His men didn't desert or overstay their leave. His parts of the ships decks were clean. But when it came to comparing the two men, Jones wasn't in 1t with Smith.
 Smith was bear-cat of @ naval of- f1cer. His guns smeared the target. His gun crews had their pictures taken with heads through the holes they had made in the canvas screen. General alarms and emergency calls only gave him a chance to show the others up Indeed, his records to the masthead or through the ships compartments had to be made several times before his shipmates would believe them. His reports came in minutes ahead of those of any other officer or man aboard.
 Truth will out. The captain wished a smart ship. Smith was the smartest officer. The admiral complained bit terly about his flag lieutenant. " If I only, had young smith, he grumbled Even the powers behind the throne of Neptune heard of Smith, came to be- lieve in his possibilities and other -bilites. !