Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 205, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1913 — UNCLE SAM'S SCHOOL FOR SEAMEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

UNCLE SAM'S SCHOOL FOR SEAMEN

UNCLE SAM. is a schoolmaster of the old typo. He neither spares the rod nor spoils the child. He has many pupils, those who enter his service in the government departments and the army and the navy. His course of training in the navy is rather severe, for he requires every man who enlists for service under the Stars and Stripes on sea to become a skilled artisan. Probably the most interests ing of all of Uncle Sam’s trade schools Is the school for seaman gunners, at the navy yard in Washington. It is here that the men who aim and fire the great guns learn their principle and mechanism so thoroughly that the efficiency of the (United States navy is unequaled by any navy in the world. There are more than 125 men in the seaman gunners’ class at the present time, enrolled for six months of the hardest kind of study in the shops and in the classroom. Every one of these mesa is picked, and in the service it-is considered a great honor to be chosen to join the class. Only men who have been in the service four years are eligible, and then only when their conduct and service record are exceptionally good. Graduates of the school are the backbone of the navy. Here the men are taught the only really distinctive naval trade, and it is hero that the men who load, train and fire the immense guns are made. Requires Much Btudy. ' They learn the making of the large and small guns. They lean! by practical experience how to take them down and assemble them again. The breech mechanrem, everything to do with the practical part of ordnance, the manufacture of Bhells, fuses and powder and torpedoes all require thorough and extensive study. , The work Is equally divided between the naval gun factory shops and the classroom, where they have instruction at the hands of skilled ordnance experts and special instructors. In addition to the ordnance they are required to become proficient in the science of metallography and skilled in the manufacture and principle of the storage battery. Work on the big guns start from the raw casting. This huge, 75-ton cylinder of steel is bpred out, trimmed and grooved. The casing, another huge cylinder of steel, is bored out, heated white hot and shrunk onto the grooved lining. The. manufacture of this part of the monster 14-inch rifles takes about four weeks. ! Then the gunnery force enters the forge and hammer shops, where they remain for two weeks. After this the class is divided into small squads, some of them going into the blacksmith shop, others to the machinists’ bench, the carpenter shop, the tinsmith, the coppersmith and the plumber for instruction; Each man must hammer and turn out from raw metal every piece of steel which goes Into the complicated breech block mechanism and the firing devices. Projectiles and smokeless powder also get a great deal of attention, this last phase of the work taking the school to Indian Head, Md., for several weeks’ work. ' When these men graduate and leave Washington for the various ships of the Atlantic fleet to thdm falls the duty of keeping in repair every portion of the ship's armament. If during battle practice a spring or bit of mechanism breaks, these seaman gunners must enter the ship’s machine shop and forge or turn out a new piece. The gunner is in absolute command of his gun. He.haß under him an assistant. in the big dreadnaughts of today, there are six turrets, with two guns to each turret. Each turret is supplied with ammunition for two magazines. Also there is a gunner in charge of the magazines. Besides these, there are smaller five-inch rifles, six and one-pounders located on various portions of the ship. To these smaller guns the recently graduated class is always sent In time they are promoted and placed in charge of a big gun or even a whole turret. Sevei'e With Btudents. Uncle Sam is exceedingly severe with his students. They must turn out promptly at 6 o'clock in the mornigg, roll up their hammocks, sweep out their quarters and be washed, shaved and cleanly clothed for breakfast at 7 o'clock. At 8 o’clock they enter the shops of- the naval gun fae-

tory for their various duties. At 11:30 o’clock the students “knock off” for lunch, but promptly at 1 o’clock they are again' in the shops or in the lecture room hard at work. At 4:30 an hour’s drill under arms Is held. This takes place on the drill ground of the'navy yard and keeps the men for three-quarters of an hour. At 5 o’clock comes the event of the day, dinner. Dinner to the seaman gunner’s class is always something to look forward to. The menu is large and the food, although simple, is the best that money can buy. The class has a caterer who makes it his business to see that the same dishes are not served too often and that the food is of the best quality. From dinner until 10:30 o’clock the men are at leisure to come and go as they please. They may “go ashore" or visit friends in Washington, or they may remain in quarters., and study their lesSons for the next day. The men are allowed to. use ciyiliar clothes. For the most part, the students restrict their liberties to not more tbhn two nights a week and all day Sunday. It is so great an honor to be sent to the school and the advancement, after graduating, is so rapid that none of the lucky oneß care to risk their chances/of being dismissed and returned to the service under their old rank. Then, as many written problems are required, and several oral recitations occur each week, they burn a great deal of midnight oil. A visitor to the navy ward any night except Saturday will find forty or fifty clean-cut young men working out ordnance problems, studying from a dozen text books, and quizzing each other on the questions that the officerinstructor iB sure to ask them the next day. Josephus Daniels, secretary of the navy, is particularly fond of the seaman gunners’ class. To Tils mind, the rushing dreadnought and the crash of mighty guns are not all that go to make up a perfect naval service. He believes that a four-year course in the navy should be equal to « four-year course in the best vocational school in the country. As far as tbs seaman gunners’ class is' concerned, they get an excellent vocational training in just six months. A graduate of this wonderful school can take raw metal and turn out the most complicated steel mechanism; turn sheet copper into symmetrical pipe and ducts; make and charge a storage battery; wire a turret for electricity; make a set of plans for about anything, and make and use smokeless powder.