Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1918-05-23
HARSH PUNISHMENT
IS NO LONGER RULE
Commandant at Goat Island
Naval Training Station Out
lines His Treatment.

san Francisco.-Iarsh punishment
for "incorrigibles' is a thing of the
past in he navy. According to Capt. E.
a.. Durell, commandant at Goat Island
the naval training station in San
francisco bay, punishment will NOT
help n condition which kindness
cannot cure. Hundreds of fine, up.
standing young Americans are turned
OUT mere every few weeks to man this
ships of the United States navy.
Captain Durell takes keen interest
in the boys rated as "incorrigiblesI
n turns nan of them out to be first
class fighting men.
The question of morale is always
uppermost. After inspection on Satur-
days the men are lined up in a great
square, with the band standing a little
10 n side. A song master takes his
place in the square and leads the men
in popular melodies. with the band
playing a subdued accompaniment.
This tends to keep the boys in good
spirits at all times.
Hard work is always accompanied by
music. If the men are hcaving coal or
engaged in other trying labor the band
is close by, playing constantly. ut
makes them work twice as hard and
twice as effectively" Captain Durell
said.
In addition the life of the island is
SO adjusted that every just complaint
is traced to its source and corrected.
Justice is melted out by the small
group of officers on the island and
acute cases Of wrong doing are few
and far between.
During the detention process the
mar is selected for the schoo in which
he is best fitted. If he has had eXpe-
rience as a seaman he is given a
chance in the yeoman's school,. In adj
dltlon there are wireless, cooks and
bakers n diverse other schools, and
a hospital corps that has grown to be
one OF the biggest and most important
a%djuncts on the island. This corps has
its wn quarters on the top of the
island, Its tents being placed under
straight rows OF trees that afford pro-
lection both in winter and ummer.
There is a station hospital and three
big isolated wards for the treatment
OF contagious and infectious diseases.
The hospital plant includes a fully
equipped laboratory, drug and store
rooms operating rooms, dental offices
and rooms for the treatment of eye,
ear, nose and throat diseases.
The operating rooms open up to the
corps quarters on the floor above, per-
uniting the corps members to look
down directly on the tables and get an
intimate view of all operations.
lii addition a semi-circular trench
containing a first aid dugout has been
constructed for the hospital corps near
its special parade grounds. This trench
is an a reproduction of the
trenches n Flanders, and in it the men
are given the identical first aid work
that they expect to be gwen abroad.
Goat Island is one of the five major
training stations in the United States.
Only its geographical limitations pre-
vent 1t from being one of the biggest Of
the five. Every available inch of land
on the island is being utilized for the
purposes of the big school. Because of
these limitations overflow schools have
been established at Mare Island, Cal,
and San Diego, Cal, under separate
Jurisdictions.
The drills On the island consist of
caiisthenics, the usual nav manual Of
arms and instruction in the use of ma
chine guns and the small artillery used
by landing parties. The island now ac-
commodities approximately six times
the number of men it was first Intended
to serve. but Captain Duren has found
room for all of them and is sending
them out efficiently trained at the end
OF a four months course.
At he end of the training period
the men are placed on board ships or
are sent to the four corners of the ma
ton on land duty,