Imperial Valley press., 1918-05-17

Washington May 1.-THE sea
- calling again to American youth.
As the new ships OF the merchan
marine glide down the ways the nee
for men grows more pressing. Album
dant opportunity to aid in winning
the war is offered the crews of tn
new vessels, with the certainty tina
when peace comes there will be fur
ther adventure and good pay in car
rying American commerce through
out the world.
Recruiting of the boys and mer
must go down to the sea if America
is to regan her old place among the
maritime nations is in the hauds OF
the Shipping Boards enlistment ser
vice, headed by Henry Howard, with
headquarters at Boston, VINO has out
lined to union men and steamship
companies what already has been ac-
complished.
About a year ago, we realized the
shortage that was going to arise
when the new fleet was Finished
Mr. Howard said, "and swe started
the training of officers, both deck
and engineer. We established a
train of schools extending along the
Atlantic coast, the Gulf of Mexico,
the Pacific coast and the GHat
Lakes, to enable us to get hold of the
men who had had experience at sea.
We then got the cooperation of the
Steamboat Inspection servite. No
man ives admitted to the school for
officers unless he could first qualify
for experience required by the rules
of the Steamboat Inspection service.
That obviates the training of any
dead material
After men get their licenses we
place them, as far as possible, on
board steamships as junior officers,
to get actual bridge experience, for
thirty to sixty days. During that
period they get S75 e month, with no
bonus, paid by the Emergency Fleet
corpol alton, so that the only expense
to the steamship companies taking
these men is the food they eat.
"We have aurned out officers so
fast that a great many have not been
finding positions in the merchant
marine, and have gone into the ma
Wy. 1t has been, to certain extent,
a short cut to a commission in the
navy, going through our schools, ow-
ing to lack of cooperation in many
! of the steamship lines in taking the
men on. We believe, however, in
view of the action that was taken by
the American Steamship association
some weeks ago, that this will now
! be Strengthened out, and that we will
get the places.
"There have been licensed since
the first of June, something over
! 5000 officers both deck and engineer.
engineers have been giving train
ing in various technical Institutions,
! the Massachusetts Institute of Tech
nology, in Boston, the Johns Hopkins
in Baltimore, Case School of Applied
Science in Cleveland, the Tulane I'm
iversity of Washington, in Seattle,
Then outside of those institutions we
have been giving special engineering
course in Philadelphia, in connection
with the ice breaking steamer, the
Governor Weaver, loaned to us by the
City of Philadelphia for that pur-
pose. We are also giving some
courses at the Seamen's Institute in
New York. We are starting an ad-
ditional school in Berkeley, Califor-
MIA.
I'VE have been in touch with the
Officers association in England, and
if any shortage develops here, we will
bring offivers over TO fill the places.
We have an offer of cooperation
from the English Officers associa
ton. We have felt from the very be-
ginning that we ought to develop our
own material, but it loks now as if
it might be necessary to call on the
foreign officers, to have a reserve
force on hand to meet any emergency
that may rise.
for training sailors, firemen, cooks
and stewards, oilers and water tend
ers. We have in operation the Gov
ernOr Dingley at Galveston and the
Governor Cobb is at sea. Our pro-
gram calls for giving these ships five
days out of each seven at sea, so that
it gives the men their sea legs. The
old army transport Meade is being
used as a receiving ship.