Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 June 1896 — TRAINING NAVAL CADETS. [ARTICLE]

TRAINING NAVAL CADETS.

they go to sea on the revenue BARK CHASE. She l» to Spend the Summer on the Baltic. Work and Play of the Cadets While on a Cruise. Somewhat similar to the English method of training midshipmen is that by which Uncle Sam educates his officers for the revenue service* In each case says the Detroit Free Press, the effort is to teach by practical work. The English youths are spread throughout the British navy. The revenue cutter cadets are taught on board the bark Chase, a sailing vessel. The Shase. while being fitted in Baltimore for a trip to the Mediterranean, was visited by the writer a few days ago. She is rather small, but Iteing painted white, looks the prettier for it. Her length is 150 feet, breadth 26 feet, depth 20 feet. But each cadet has plenty of space for his goods. The English middy, on the contrary, practically "lives in his chest.” Few ships have a pleasanter steerage than the Chase. The panellings of quartered oak. with the blue and white of the ceiling, give the room a most cheerful air. The cadets’ rooms are in white, with ceilings covered by canvas painted a dainty blue. At present there are twenty- four cadets on the Chase, though the ten that compose the senior class will soon receive their commissions as third lieutenants, and be replaced by new cadets. The Chase has quarters for but twenty-four cadets. They live in the twelve rooms that line the neat little steerage. But first we must visit the genial Captain Hamlet in his cabin. The commanding officer’s quarters consist of a reception room, dining room, office, two staterooms and bath room. They are finished in cherry, the ceiling being of a lighter color. Plenty of easy sofas and a number of plants made the writer quite forget that ships have a habit of rolling at sea. The ship’s library, well supplied with books, technical and instructive, as well as the dispensary are between the cabin and wardroom. How so small a ship contains so large a wardrobe puzzles the writer. Beside the office of the executive officer there are five state rooms to the wardroom. The wardroom proper is finished in cherry, the whole effect being cheerful and light. Occupying the body of the ship, the steerage extends from wardroom to fo'castle. One descends the companionway to find himself in the center of a room lighted by skylights over two long tables, and flanked on either side by six state rooms. Al the after end of the steerage is an ornamental mantle over a fireplace .in which no fire is ever lighted. Against the forward bulkhead is a piano in quartered oak to match the finishings. Several cadets have assured me that the piano Is easily worth a million dollars, if its value be measured by the pleasure it has given. Cozy is the best word to describe the rooms. All are alike, each accommodating two cadets. The cadets have each a bunk, a luxury by the way, tliat some of the junior officers of the navy that sleep in hammocks might appreciate. Every bit of space, over the bunks, under them, the ends of the rooms, the corners, all is utilized, and turned into ingenious lockers and drawers and clothes closets. The steerage is for two years the home of each class of cadets. Here they sleep, eat, work and play. Over these long tables they recite their lessons. From the half-darkened steerage, with its one swinging lantern, they creep out unwillingly to stand their night watches at sea. And into the same steerage they tumble noisily after a good time ashore or a hop in some foreign port, Here, too, they scribble for commissions during the dreaded final “oceans” that end the course on the Chase.

Forward of the steerage is the fo’castle in which live the petty officers and seamen, thirty-three In number. Below this are the chain lockers and continuing aft, come main hold, water tanks, store rooms and sail rooms. For main battery the Chase has four Hotchkiss three-inch breech-loading rifled guns of the old pattern. The secondary battery consists of one flpounder rapid fire Driggs-Schroeder; on the top gallant forecastle and aft are two one-pounders of the same make. The cadets are drilled quite regularly at these guns. Also during pleasant weather, at sea and in port, the junior cadets are taught the setting up drill and infantry manual. Being constantly exercised in the duties of a sailor during the first year, and having charge of the deck at intervals during the second year, the cadets acquire a practical knowledge of seamanship that is not to lie had by any other method of instruction. At sea, all the cadets are on watch in the day from 8 to 8, and they stand quarter watches at night. The old saw, ‘{practice makes perfect,” is well illustrated by the proficiency shown in seamanship. The severity of the entrance examinations, which require arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, history, grammar, physics, chemistry, geography, literature, general information and either French, German or Spanish, insures candidates who may at once be taught those branches required to equip them as officers of the Revenue Cutter Service. The course includes gunnery, seamanship, navigation, signals, revenue law and international law. In port recitations are held five days of the week, study period lasting seven hours per day. The Chase has just returned from a trip to the Bermudas. After a few needful repairs she will sail for the Baltic where summer is to be spent. Later a cruise in the Mediterranean will be taken. The w’inter will probably be spent in the Mediterranean, as the present expectation is to be gone a year.