The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1918-03-03
]. S. NAVAL TRAINING
STATION IN IRELAN
YOUNGSTERS ARE CLOSELY
GUARDED AND WILL BE-
COME u BOAT FIGHTERS.
Correspondence of the Associated
PresS).

DdSe OF American FlOtllla IN BTlt-
ish Waters, Feb. 5.-About as far
up the river from here as Yonkers
is from New York is the first United
States naval training station in Ire
land. 1t is built along the bank
under cliffs and reminds the Amer
leans Of the palisades of the Hud-
son. Here naval recruits from all
over the United States are being
trained for the American destroy
ers, the most recent arrivals being
200 boys from Pensacola, Fla.
This naval barracks, which some
OF the older men call Cob Dock,
after part of the Brooklyn navy
yard, was formally commissioned
with the arrival the other day from
the United States of its command
ing officer, a commander who came
TO the navy from Louisiana. He has
"a staff made up of a lieutenant, two
enSigns, a paymaster and several
surgeons who can take care Of sew
eral thousand men. They are in
/ structing men still green to things
OF the sea in methods OF fighting
the submarines.
To the station, which covers five
acres, come the recruits from train
ing stations in the United States.
There are regulars, reserves and
state militia, but their identity as
such is lost here, and they are all
alike while the war lasts. Most OF
them were in civilian life a few
months ago. Here and there is a
college man; a few were secretaries
TO railroad presidents, the paymaS-
ter himself being the son of a rail
way magnate who owns lSO-mile
line of railroad in North Carolina
Big Home of Rough Stone.
These wartime sailors are housed
in big old granary which was
the home OF a famous Irish regi-
ment. When the Americans came
along the soldiers cheerfully moved
on, for the submarine still is re-
garded as the most dangerous en-
emy over here, and men who come
to fight it are welcomed. The gran
airy is really four large buildings
joined together They are of rough
stone which makes the barracks ap-
pear not unlike some American pris-
ons The walls are three feet thick
and there are tour floors. The
Americans have whitewashed the
walls and made a wonderful trans
formation in the place.
The men sleep in hammocks
swung from the rafters in the cell
ing. They eat at long mess tables
from enameled dishes and get the
same food as those on the Ameri-
can ships, which is hard to beat
nowadays in this part of the world.
At first there isn't much discipline
in these new arrivals, but after a
few days they know how to salute
an officer and how to speak to him.
Reveille is sounded at $50 o'clock
and while outside it is still dark
and cold. But these new wartime
sailors rise without a murmur, dress,
pack their hammocks out of the way
and march to breakfast below as if
they had been born to it. All the
cooking is done outside the bar
racks, where the Americans have
set up few field kitchens. They
also use trench stoves for cooking
bean soup and stews. The adapta-
bility of these men is what first i'm
presses the visitor. Many have
given up lives of comparative lux
ury and ease to submit to naval dis
cipline which probably is less com
Portable here than in the United
States.
Men Remain Under Guard.
The station is shut in by a high
wall upon which armed sentries are
posted. No liberty is permitted for
visitors in the village, which boasts
IS saloons and a shipyard. The
only time the Americans are seen
in the village streets is when a com
pany of them passes through from
cross-country hike, part of their
4 daily routine, and on Sundays, when
those who desire can attend serv-
ices in the Protestant and Catholic
churches. But the men are always
under guard on these occasions.
4 The only liberty granted the re-
ieruits is to the more pretentious
village few miles down the river
which is the base OF the American
destroyer hotilla. A seagoing tug
boat makes one round trip a day
with the liberty party. At the base
village the recruits are free to visit
the United States naval clubhouse,
the British Y. M. c. A. hut or the
two village movie shows. The lib
erty men leave the barracks each
afternoon at five; the curfew rings
for them at II at night when they
board the tug for the return voy-
age. For those not on liberty taps
are sounded as the usual hour OF
nine.
The state of health of the men
continues excellent, despite the raw,
damp climate peculiar to this part
of Ireland, and the sick bay does a
small business. The drudgery of the
daily routine of training and the
swabbing down the decks of the
barracks over, the men retire to
their dormitories for quiet reading
or rehearsal of some of the latest
Broadway melodies. Once a week
the brass band from the fotilla