New Britain herald., 1917-04-28
CHANCE AGE LIMIT
 FOR NAVY RECRUITS
Seventeen Years Is Nov the
 Minimum Limit

Chief Radio Electrician M. $. Brain ard, in charge of the naval recruiting station ill City hall. has received a telegram from the naval department at Washington stating that the min- 1 imum age limit for apprentice seamen has been raised to seventeen years and under age waivers below this age will not longer be granted. Sev- eral additional applicants have visited the recruiting office since yesterday, but in almost every instance the ap- plicant had some physical defect which rendered him ineligible for service.
 The recruiting officer states that the young men who are interested in the navy are particularly impressed with the various opportunities to learn trades while in the service which will insure them good positions in civil life. The electrical branch of the service. in which MT. Brainard served an enlistment, is divided into two parts, he states, general elec- tricity and radio Cor wireless.) In explanation the officer makes the fol- lowing explanatory statement:
 Applicants for enlistment in this branch are enlisted as landsman for electrician (either general or radio,) and are detailed for a course of in- struction at one of the navy electrical schools, either at the navy yard, Brooklyn, N. Y., or at the navy yard, Mare Island. Cal. The pay of 9 landsman for electrician while under instruction is $17.60 per month, in addition to which he is furnished a complete outfit of uniform, board, lodging, textbooks, tools and mater ial with which to work.
 General Electrical Course.
 Applicants for enlistment as lands men for electrician (generaD must be electrician by trade, must know the names and uses of the various parts of the dynamo and dynamo engine, must he familiar with the ordinary types of switchboards and methods of wiring, must be able to write legibly and understand elementary arithme-, tic, must be between the ages of IS and 25, and must pass the same phys ical examination required of all other recruits.
 Radio Operators.
 Competent operators of the Morse telegraphic code, or men with 8 suf- flcient foundation in radio telegraphy may be enlisted as landsman for elec- trician (radio.) The applicant must be able to take dictation at a speed of 25 words a minute. and pass a creditable examination in spelling and penmanship. The problems in arith- metic will include multiplication, di- vision, simple proportion, percentage and square root. Testimonials as to good character and skill as an oper- ator must be presented, either from former employers, or from the prin- cipal of a trade school where the applicant has been a student in te1- egraphy or radio. The applicant must be able to receive 20 words per minute.
 .sUpon satisfactory completion of the course of instruction at the elec- trical school (which lasts about six months) recruits in this branch are rated electricians third class (general or radio,) and if their conduct war rant, they are allowed leave of absence before being assigned to duty. Electricians (generaD will probably be detailed on board ship, radio operators will be assigned to radio duty, either on board ship or at a. radio station ashore.
 '.The pay of electricians, both gen. eral and radio, after leaving the school is as follows: Electrician third class, $33 per month; electrician second class, $44 per month; cleo trician first class $55 per month; chief electrician (acting appointment) $66; permanent appointment SIT per month This pay is increased with each re-enlistment, as described in the booklet '.Enlistment. Instruction, Pay and Advancement in the United States Navy"
 ..The physical and moral qualihca- tions prescribed for entrance to the naval service apply in all respects to this branch.
 "If the recruit is unable to com- plete the course of instruction at the electrical school because of incompe- tency or ,inaptitude, he will either be transferred to such rating in general service as he is qualified to fill, or he will be discharged from the navy |