The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-11-09

used for transport purposes will be turned back to
their original uses as commerce carriers, and will
call for merchant crews.
The work of manning the merchant marine with
all-American crews thus becomes one of the great
est of the governments present activities.
1t is being carried out entirely by the United
States shipping board through its own recruiting
service. This service has national headquarters at
BostOn-a famous old seaport and a natural CEN
ter for American sallors-and has training sta
tons also at New York, Norfolk. New Orleans, San
Francisco. Seattle and Cleveland. 1t maintains
q fleet of - training ships and is training 5000
men a month.
The system of securing recruits for this service
they are not enlisted, but sign n contract to serve
for the duration of the war, with the privilege Of
serving as much longer as they like-is exceed
ingly simple.
Observing the effectiveness of establishing
branch post offices in drug stores, the shipping
board applied the idea to recruiting and estab-
lished its recruiting stations in each store of a
well-known chain throughout the country. There
are 1854 of these stores, and in each the proprie-
tor or head clerk is sworn in as Il 'dollar-a-year
man" to work for the United States shipping board
as q special enrolling agent of the merchant ma
rine.
These enrolling agents began their work last
spring. They got to going strong in August of this
year, as the figures already quoted indicate.
The men whom they sign are sent to seaports
for training, the government reimbursing them for
their railroad fare.
The young men entering the merchant marine
through the shipping boards training service be-
come the special charges and wards of the shipping
board for the duration of the war.
Their welfare is looked after from the moment
they enter the serviceA They are placed on board
big training vessels, where they are put into uni
form-a special uniform, differing from that used
In the navy-and are given a scientific course of
training in the rating for which they "sign on"
Some are trained as sailors, others as fremen,
others as cooks or bakers or stewards. For the
cooks and bakers special schools are maintained
aboard ship, there being one at Boston and an
other at New York.
Firemen are given a special school course also,
on the character of coal, combustion, care of boil
es and the like. The shipping board maintains a
large school for iremen at Chicago and another
at Boston.
Water-tenders and ollers-the assistants to the
engineers on a ship-are also given special school
training before being taken TO sea, at a Chicago
school of engineering.
When the young men thus trained-and some
are quite young, as the minimum age limit is
eighteen-have finished their special courses they
are sent to sea OH merchant ships, In proportion
Of four to each six able seamen carried.
Anoat or ashore they are responsible always to
the shipping board. and every time they return to
an American port they report their whereabouts to
the recruiting service headquarters.
In this manner Uncle Sam keeps a paternal eye
on the young men making their first voyages. He
knows them. and knows that he can trust them.
They are part of a big family Of young American
sailors of the best ort-Amencan whose loyalty
is beyond question, and whose bravery and devo-
ton give the lie every day and every hour of the
day TO cruel ISLANDERS that have been circulated
since the war began against the character of Amer
lean merchant crews.
The young American merchantmen faces grave