Arizona republican., 1918-07-23
VALLEY BUY UPON SAN DIEGO SAVED
 AS SHIP |S SUNK

as known the only Salt River Valley man on the San Diego at the time it was sunk off New York harbor either by torpedo or mine. is among the rescued. nothing the woEse for his thrilling experience. This word, to- gether with a most interesting docu- ment, has come to Mrs. Grey Nichols.
 The document alluded to was ad- dressed to the members of the crew of the San Diego and was issued at the close of the first year of the war be- tween the United States and Germany. In this the commanding and executive officers tell something of the noble r work the ship had done since the United States entered hostilities. The document is as follows:
 The Second Year of the Great War
 In looking over the past twelve | months it might be well to take count | of stock and apprise the crew of how | they have stood the test. Many a let | ter of praise could have been safely | mentioned heretofore but the acid test | has been thoroughly applied and I am pleased to state beforehand that the | crew of the San Dieeo has stood it well | and come out with flying colors.
 In the early part of 1917 when it was imminent that Uncle Sam must take | J department started recruiting drive which was responded to with such overwhelming numbers that it was necessary by July to cut down the number of new enlistments by eighty per cent
 The response was not sectional nor a flash in the pan, but young men all over the country felt the call and will ingly left the blow. the school room, %l@s- c~f1 what this country has always stood for LIBERTY.
 These same boys running from six teen to eighteen years old became men over night and were soon put on board ships to do their bit They tackled a big job but they did so willingly. They reported on board the various ships with the spirit, Here I am ready for anything. Tell me what to do and how to do it'
 It is long jump from hills and dales and little streams in California and Utah and Arizona and Tennessee and other states with story buildings and trees one hundred feet high to a big fighting machine two blocks long, masts ITO feet high, making twenty knots an hour across the ocean at times and at others being buffeted about by the wintry blasts and gales of the bowling north Atlantic with constant eye for Sub" or a raider.
 The traditions of the navy are of long standing and it took years of con- stant grinding to bring the navy up to what it was when the recruiting drive , started. Advancements in ratinr~ were slow, a man considering himself for tunate to be rated seaman before he shipped over at the end of four years.
 All that has changed. With the enor- nous increase in the navy, more rat ings were required and the young men of today are nobly rising to the oc- casion to meet the demands and are filling the breech.
 The crew being willing, it is then up to those in charge to organize, direct, supervise. command and instruct in such manner that an organization will be developed wherein each indi- vidual acts as his part in the machin- cry of one big smooth running ma chine, one defective cog of which ma tchine can put everything out of bus mess when it is considered that one lookout failing to see sub" in his arc would thereby let the torpedo come through a distance of one thousand yards in twenty seconds.
 The perfecting of this machinery is easier said than done. It takes con- stant supervision, days and days and days of extreme vigilance and planning on the part of the commanding, execu- tive, division and other officers. The men are not treated as a crew or by di- visions but the individual is studied in order to make up as near as possible the ideal crew. Daily conferences are held by the commanding and executive | officers with the other officers, always with a view to the supreme test, the preparedness to meet the enemy and defeat him when he is met. Years and years are spent in this intensive train ing, the actual test of which will only occupy a few short minutes. There are so many angles to this game which involves not only the crew of one ship but the loved ones at home, friends, our own country and at pres ent the Allied countries.
 The right roads to the main road of success are many and each has to be surveyed, scrutinized and travelled most carefully. Loyalty obedience | willingness, health, comfort, content ment, cleanliness, and possibly hap | piness.
 Before these roads are tackled, they | are previously gone over by the com manding officer and the officers con- | cerned and every possible nook and
 
 The men of today are of a fine type and are given every consideration by their superior officers because they de- | liver the goods and are deserving and worthy
 It is not always possible to explain
 why no is given as an answer wher 1t IS the desire to say "yes" but the
 crew realize that this is a real wal
 and reasons are not demanded. We are all in for one big idea-to defeat the enemy, which we will do
 All possible leave is granted, the pax
 department are untiring in their ef.
 forts to supply the crew with thu
 choicest foods on the market at sea a: well as in port. the medical force art
 unrelenting in their efforts to ward of
 all diseases and willingly work all dal
 and all night when the illness doe. come, which is demonstrated by tn,
 fact that under the most trying condi
 tons of weather, sudden changes O
 climate and various wide spread con
 tagious diseases, a sick list of twt
 hundred and fifty five at one time a
 sea, only one death has occurred.
 Other officers are continually plan
 ming for the betterment of their mel
 in their drills and their personal com
 forts, obtaining graphophones, maga
 zines, papers, winter clothing, etc
 etc.. etc, giving smokers, sleigh rid
 parties, dances, moving pictures ant \ other forms of amusement and enter \ tainment.
 On the other hand which is more i'm
 portant and a natural answer to tn | above tactics the crew have occupie,
 the top rung of the ladder in every