Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 January 1919 — American Boy Again Goes to sea on American Ships [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

American Boy Again Goes to sea on American Ships

*y*HE American boy again goes I to sea on merchant voyages I to distant ports. The old r<»uianee and glamor of seaports and vessels is again beiOS fe,t b -V thy youth of the country, as it was in the adventurous days of the square riggers, from the forties to the sixties. The United St at os sh i ppi n g Ttoa rd. which has in hand the work of manning the ne.w merchant marine—the “bridge of ships” with which the Atlantic has been reduced to the size of an inland lake —reports that more than 150 young Americans are now coining forward every day- In the month to serve on American merchant steam-, ers—-a greater number of bids “signed on” in a day than sailed oiiLof Ainerl--can ports in a month In the "good old days” of tall spars and hemp rigging. History is thus repeating itself, with interest, and also witli some important differences. In the old days the adventurous boy who went to sea took up a life of hardship and privations. The social line was sharply drawn for him. for he was either "a common sailor.” aspiring to ’hing higher than lif- in the forecastle. or- he was a "gentleman's son.” perhaps the owner's, sent on a voyage to gain experience which should serve io introduce him -to lite in a sea iner'•hant's counting room. l>erhaps his MWMfc' ■' - ■ - ". _ ' • -Twhty sm h social <TTsf motion Aloes “BoTexist. Rich 'and p. >< >r. rmi ch find gentle, the worker and the college student. are among, the youths whom the - new era in American slapping has roughs forward to serve op American vessels. One aspiration moves them •all—serve their country in one of its most vital activities in the greatest of all wars for human liberty. Bdck‘ ; of that purpose fs the mainspring of natural inclination toward the sens its a sphere of action, an in- | clinatioiwthßt is expected to lead thousands <>» thes.* to remain permanently in the merchant marine, many of them as officers, after peacfc returns to Carry the ting ahead ot that - of other nations In a nice for the * world's trade. » Romantic Appeal Strong at 13. The return of American boys to the sea in large numbers? while due primarily to war conditions, is made possible only by a recent ruling of the shipping board reducing the minimum , age at which men are accepted for the merchant service from-twenfy-one to eighteen years. , * This jailing has acted as a marvelous. at|Tnnlnm to recrmtlnc for the merchant marine —for in these days men are reerni ted for th! s servi<*e all over the country, the shipping board having 6.000 stations, in ilrug stores, in the ’various states, where the sea-goer may “put ids fist’’ to an application for service. It has been found that the Americafi youth of today between eighteen

n'nd twenty-one Is extraordinarily, active, impetuous and ardent. Adventure appeals to him then as it never will again. The call of the sea at eighteen is well-nigh irresistible. It may not be romantic to apply for sea service at a drug store, but the American boy tinds It effective. In a very short time he finds himself on to a Seaport-Hit the governmeat's expense—ami once there an hour is enough to change him to sea clothes and to the outward semblance *>f a sailor. The moral effect of this clumge is greater even than the physical—for the novice feels that he has entered a new world fn some magical way —as indeed he has. when all is told. Old Ways and New Of adventure the American lad has plenty. froj®the moment lie puts on his the training ship. It is not, however, the kind of adventure that he. has read about. He does not wear tile loose duck trousers. and “superabundance of checked

shirt'' ami a "low-crowned, well-var-nished hat. with half a fathom'of black ribbon hanging over the left eye,” described by Danq in "Two Years Before the His uniform is of blue, somewhat different from that- used in the navy, and fully as natty. His quarters on the training ship are neat, and he has a comfortable bed, with spring, mattress and blanket, in a stateroom other apprentice, or in a row of pipe berths,Contrast this with the bed of Dana on the Brig Pilgrim, bound around Cape Horn In 1834: “The ■ steerage in which I lived was filled with cotte of rigging, spare sails and ship's stores, which had not bpen ■SWivetTaway Mo r eoy er; Th ere had been—no berths for— us —(the laws) —to sleep on. . . . The sea. too, had risen, the vessel was rolljng heavily, and everything was pitched about in grand eoid tision. My-hat, boots, mattress and blankets had all fetched away and gond over to leeward and were jammed and broken under the boxes and coils i>f rigging. To crown all. we were allowed no light to find anything with, and I wa§ just beginning to feel strong symptoms of I lay down on-the sails, heard th*' raindrops falling on the deck thick and fast —the loud and repeated, orders of the mate, brainpling of feet. creaking of blocks, ami all the accompaniments nppri?f5 r *T* < * t g Tn 51 minutes the slide of the hatch was thrown back, and the cry ‘All hands ahoy! Tumble up here and take In sail!' saluted buff ears.” Seasick and miserable, the boy was sent aloft, u here he “lay out” v on the yard and held.on with all his strength, "making wild...vomits into the black night.’’ - ■*** Modern Type of Sailor Lad. The sailor'lad of today is not only [a new type, but he works under new Samjitions. He is not thrown abruptly -abd untrained into a rough crew and expected to hold hix own with seasoned sailors. He is first trained for liis new job, just AS soTdiers are tralfeedTn camp. In his case the training Is done on a ship —a big training ship operated by the shipping board. Here the inexperienced boy taking his first steps as a sailor is given careful instruction under a system that lists been scientifically devised to make him efficient in his new calling. Six weeks of intensive schooling 8 hours a day.is enough to give meowstyle sailor lad a pretty broad groundwork for hte future knowledge as a It also serves to give-him his “seh legs”—an important item —for. the training ship makes cruises in the Atlantic or Pacific as* the case may be, and the boy gets enough rocking in the cradle of the deep to cure him of seasiekness’before he is tisked to take an offshore voyage as a sure-enough sailer on a merchant steamer.;