Omaha daily bee., 1920-05-02
Active Half of Atlantic Fleet,
Manned by Boys Who Had
Never Been to Sea Before,
Back From Caribbean Sea.
DANIELS GIVES DETAILS
OF NEW SALARY BILL
'0ecretary Promises Bill Will
Become Law Within Fort.
night-Talks to Crowd 10
Miles Away by Wireless.

BY AMIHUN SEAMS HENN1NI.
ChssAss Tribune Omaha <Dee Leased Wire.
New York, May 1.-The active
half of the AtiaAtic feet, consisting
Of 8 drcadnaughts and 50 destroyers,
manned chiefly by boys who never
before had been to, sea, returned to
New York today from the winter
maneuvcrs i'm Caribbean waters.
Secretary Of the Navy Daniels. ac-
companied by score of reporters
and photographers. jQined the flag
ship Pennsylvania as the fleet passed
the Virginia capes yesterday morn
ing. The secretary spent the day
with Admiral Wilson, commander
in-chief of the Atlantic feet, and
ADMIRAL Coontz, chief of naval op-
crations, checking up the results of
the first cruise since rehabilitation
disorganized the service.
During the afternoon there was an
hours speed test of the battleships
operating on two-thirds boiler ca
pacity, which was won by the North
Dakota in the coal burner class at
something better than 20 knots and
by the Pennsylvania, among the oil
u burners, at lo> knots without smok-
sdng.
Announces New Pay Plan.
The secretary addressed mes
sage to the fleet announcing the de-
tails of the new navy pay bill which
he promised would become law
within I fortnight and, entering the
Hudson river this morning, he
,sgreeted by wireless telephone and
nlagnifiers crowd in Times square,
nearly 10 miles distant.
I'VE. soon shall have a navy two
and half times as large as we had
during the war;" Mr.. Daniels assured
the multitude assembled before the
lnagnifiers of his voice. As result
of the serious undermining of the
navy, the ships returning today
constituting less than half of the
Atlantic fleet, which, in turn, is hall
the navy, are all that are available
for immediate defense of the eastern
seaboard and even these. on accoun,
of the inexperience of the crews
are far from prepared for war. OF
the l6 battleships in the Atlantic
fleet, eight are tied up for want ol
men to operate them, their crews
having been depleted to furnish a
sufficient personnel for the eight
sent to the winter maneuvers Simi.
iarly there are more than 90 destroy
erS and all the cruisers stripped oi
men to operate the 80 destroyer:
which steamed into New York to-
day. Even the shore stations were
combed Of men to take these ship.
to sea.
Pacific Fleet Depleted. I
La the Pacific fleet, the other hall
OF the navy, even fewer ships are
available for immediate active serv,
ice because of the large numbers tiee
up for want Of sufficient men.
Admiral Wilson and the command
ers of the dreadnaughts and destroy
.ers did not conceal the anxiety whicr
has weighed upon them since ths
feet sailed for the drill grounds a
Guantanamo bay, Cuba, four month;
ago, and the relief with which they
returned without any great mishap
The ships that participated in thu
msncuvers are about 90 per cen
fully manned, 80 per cent of tht
crews are boys averaging l8 year:
and practically all without sea train
Eng.
With the officers and veteran COB.
struggling desperately to teach ;
horde of land lubbers how to opera.,
the intricate and delicate mechanism
of these floating fortresses, the fee
crept southwark i'll January at ;
speed never exceeding 10 knots
The officers felt as if they were play
ing with dynamite, not knowing
what moment green hand nigh
become bewildered, and pressing tn,
wrong button, or pulling the wrong
lever, cause fatal accident or de
stroy millions of dollars worth o
machinery. if not wrccking the ship
Elementary Maneuvers.
Arrived at the drill grounds, tn
fleet went through elementary man
euvers, which were all that coult
be attempted with so large a per
centage of novices. For example
/ there was short range but no lon,
range practice and even then nj
competition between the ships wa
permitted.
The land boys, however, proves
willing, obedient to discipline, cage
and enthusiastic in the main as !
demonstrated by the comparativel.
small number of undesirable dis
charges today, and they have learn
led the ,rudiments of their duties.
Earth Tremor Recorded