Evening star., 1918-01-14
CHANCES MANY TO
CLIMB IN THE NAVY
!
Mrs. EuIa McClary Finds That
''Keeping Hand on Num-
ber" Will Win.
MUST WATCH CONDUCT
BY MRS. EUIAA MeCLARY.

MUSI WAICH CUNUUCt
BY MRS. EuIA MeCLARY.
tThis is the last of series of thirteen articles
written by Mrs. McClary. who spent number
Of days with The Atlantic feetD
Keep your hand on your number.
heard this remarked again and
again among the officers and men of
the Atlantic fleet. But ! didn't un-
derstand what they meant. BY the
time 1 had become conscious of the
phrase 1 had been aboard ship long
enough to know several things about
navy life. l had learned that every
bluejacket is given number when
he goes aboard ship-a number which
is his as long as he is member OF
the ships crew. 1t is painted on his
ditty box. on his hammock, on ms
canvas clothes bag, and on his clothes
But 1 didn't connect the phrase ana
the traditions for some days, primer
pally because 1 didn't ask what IL
meant to keep your hand on your
number" Finally I took courage ana
asked a good-natured officer. Keep
your hand on your NUMBER mas ho'nsn n :,
receives upon joining the ship This Is
what he told me:
I'm navy life, every advancement
counts so many numbers Every oe
motion takes SO many away. me li,?ar, n,S
er the numbers the better the position
and the pay. Every officer. as wen a.
every enlisted man. tries to hoid ms
number and add to it, SO every ,iial,
tries to keep his hand on his mum per,
or to serve and act and live that he may
mr. ha
rather placed higher up.
Ran Ship Aground.
The navigator of a ship ran his ship
aground one night. He was brouSh.
up for court-martial. This happeneo
while l was with the meet Soaf
martial does not necessarily mean as
missal or disgrace as / supposed II did
1t sounds terrible, doesn't it? court
martial" And it is terrible to the man
who is guilty
In the Navy it is tradition that any
captain or navigator. no matter what
his rank. who runs his ship aground
must be denoted, for navigator IS
supposed to he stronger than the eie-
ments themselves. He must sail his
ship through wind and tide and storm,
past rocks and shoals and bring II
safely to port. He dare not allow the
elements to prove the master; ne
would escape court-martial. If he can
not outwit the elements, his number IS
lowered; he is just so much farther
away from his goal-the rank ne de-
sires. The other fellow gets just SO
much more of a chance to get there
ahead of him with his desnotion-
Navigators are not the only ones who
are denoted. Any of my sons who have
won officers stripes of any degree are
liable to this punishment. Those who
haven't won any rank cannot be de-
moted. but they can have black marks
against their names, which means their
number isn't clean and ready to be
raised.
watch Your Conduct"
Keep your hand on your number"
In other words. watch your conduct;
never forget yourself; attend to your
duty; respect and obey your officers. II
you will follow this advice you will be
an obedient. reliant. respected member
Of Uncle Sans fighting ships. credit
to yourself ana your country In the
book where you are recorded as No. So
And-So. your page will be clean. There
will be no D. D. recording drunk and
dirty" There will be C. o. for "clean
and orderly
For many days, while with the fleet,
watched these 10000 men keeping
their hands on their numbers. The
we'll scrubbed decks. the gun drill. all
II. 1t was not difficult to know which
were succeeding and which were fail
ing.
Automatically, those who can't keep
their hands on their number" will be
eliminated from the Navy. There is
something about the traditions of the
Navy. a power from within which can
be felt but not seen. which forces from
the fleet the man with yellow streak.
That man cannot keep his hand on
his number
Opportunities Are Many.
The son who keeps his hand on his
number these days has the greatest
opportunity for advancement ever Of
fered in the history of the Navy. OPP
pnrtunity for promotion awaits the
ssnt h man i,,s the dnser man Tno fno MEYER h,s
ber. Never has Uncle Sam so needed
competent. responsible, able men who
can accept a position of authority as
he does now. As fast as the ships
Of intensive training in some special
branch Of seamanship. those crews are
sent to man the ships now idle be-
cause there are not men enough to fill
fcers enough to meet the emergency.
The Navy needs officers today. tomor-
row and the next day until the war
ends. This is the enlisted mans big
chance. Opportunity is knocking.
One evening 1 saw three officers
walking arm in arm on the quarter
deck of the They were not as
cultured in manner and bearing as
the officers l had met But they had
splendid faces and seemed to be
earnest, bright men. / made inquiries
and found that the three had been
raised from enlisted men to the rank Of
line officers. A recent emergency ruling
made this advancement possible. Think
of it and realize my feelings when I
knew the great advancement those
three men had made-advancement
never before possible. Step by step
they had climbed. Petty officers, War
rant officers! Now line officers! All
three had clean records. Each had
kept his hand on his number.