Part 10

In all history there is not an instance of such great victories with so small a loss of men and ships as in this war with Spain. In less than three months the United States had driven the Spanish power from the western hemisphere. It had added new possessions in both hemispheres and had shown that it was entitled to rank with the most powerful nations of the earth.

As soon as the people of the United States felt that peace was assured they held great jubilees in Chicago and Philadelphia. Triumphal arches were erected under which marched the heroes of the war, cheered to the echo by their fellow citizens.

Several new battleships more powerful than any that had taken part in the recent splendid victories were launched, with imposing ceremonies, at Newport News, Virginia.

From all this it would seem that the people of the United States at last realized that at all times, whether in peace or war, the country should have a powerful navy. This navy should be in keeping with the position that the United States has won among the nations of the world, and worthy of the brave officers and sailors who spend their lives in its service.

X.--LIFE ON AN AMERICAN MAN-OF-WAR.

When a battleship is hurling shot and shell at an enemy, the brave deeds of the officers and men on board are told from one end of the land to the other; but how many people know how these men live from day to day, when the great ship is lying in the harbor, or cruising peacefully about the seas?

Who makes the lieutenant's bed and buys his food? Most people think that the government provides all that he needs; but this is not so. He must carry his own bed linen to sea with him and arrange for his own food.

The officers choose one of their number to buy the provisions, and he must give good meals at one dollar a day for each man. At the end of the month, every officer pays this amount out of his salary.

The first meal of the day is always eggs, and is served at any time from 7:30 until 8:30 in the morning. If ever a naval officer invites you to breakfast, he does not expect you to come to this meal. He calls a twelve o'clock luncheon breakfast, and will give you a substantial meal at that time. Dinner is served at 6 or 6:30, and, on the flagship, is accompanied by the band.

The ward-room boys who wait upon the officers are almost all Japanese. Because their names are so hard to pronounce, every one is called "William." When the big ship is hurling shot and shell in time of battle, where is William? In the pantry washing dishes? No, indeed.

Somebody must be down in the magazine putting the powder on the hoists which carry it up to the guns. This is William's work. In time of fire, it is he who holds the nozzle of the hose, or who brings hammocks to smother the flames.

Now "Jacky," as the sailor man is called, does not provide his food or his bed-linen. His bed is a hammock, and it is a very different one from those we swing on our porches in summer. It is made of canvas, with ropes in the ends. He has a mattress and a blanket in his bed, and he always keeps them there.

At five o'clock in the morning the bugle calls, and Jacky has six minutes in which to scramble out of his bed and get into his clothes. Then he must roll up his hammock and stow it away. Jacky then has some hard tack and coffee before he goes to work.

From half-past five until six he does his laundry work. He wears white suits and must wash them himself; untidiness is never excused. The clothes are then hung so as to be dry for the inspection drill which will come at half-past nine.

Then for one hour, the ship is scrubbed. Water pours over the decks in streams. Every nook and cranny is numbered, and each man has his own number to keep clean.

By half-past seven there is nothing cleaner on land or sea. The ship shines from prow to stern, and the decks are clean enough to eat from. Every piece of metal is polished until it glitters in the sunlight.

When this is finished, Jacky has his breakfast. The government allows thirty cents a day for the rations of each sailor. The paymaster serves out food enough to last several days or sometimes a week, and if the cook does not make this last the crew must go hungry.

The sailors are divided into "messes," each mess having its own cook who is under the direction of the general ship's cook. Jacky has no table-cloth or napkins. He washes his own tin plate, cup, knife, fork, and spoon, when he has finished his hasty meal.

At eight o'clock, he is dressed for the day, and the colors go up. From then until six o'clock in the evening he is busy with different drills and duties about the ship. In the evening, from six until eight o'clock, Jacky has an easy time. It is then that he takes his ease, smoking his pipe and singing his songs.

At nine o'clock "taps" are sounded, and once more he rolls up in his hammock for the night.

Saturday is mending day, and every man must do his own work. Some of the men make their own clothes, although there is a tailor on board. In the ship's crew there are also barbers, shoemakers, and printers.

On Sunday morning, the captain goes about the ship and gravely inspects the men, and it is then that each one tries to look his best. Then they must all attend religious services, after which they rest most of the day.

The marines on a ship-of-war are men about whom most people know nothing. A marine is not a sailor. He is a soldier who does duty on a warship. He is a kind of policeman, and sees that Jacky behaves himself. He wears a soldier's uniform and has soldier's drills.

The marines have their own mess and their own sleeping space, forming a community of their own.

Perhaps some boys and girls may think that the captain and his officers have a much easier time than Jacky or the marines. This is not so. In the first place, they had many studies to master before they could be officers. They had to learn a great deal about mathematics, mechanical and electrical engineering, navigation, gunnery, and international law. And then these studies are never ended; the progress that is made in them, each year all over the world, must be known by each officer.

The officers are responsible for the lives of the crew and the safety of the ship. They must be ready to think and act quickly in emergencies. In hours of peril they never leave their posts.

XI.--SOME FACTS ABOUT THE NAVY OF 1898.

The Constitution of the United States provides that the President shall be commander-in-chief not only of the army but also of the navy. His chief assistant in the management of naval affairs is the Secretary of the Navy, who is also a member of his cabinet.

In 1898 the Navy Department of the United States was just one hundred years old, having been organized in 1798 with Benjamin Stoddert as Secretary.

The work of the department is divided among eight bureaus, as follows:

1. The Bureau of Yards and Docks, which is intrusted with the construction and maintenance of docks and wharves, and with all civil engineering work in the navy yards.

2. The Bureau of Navigation, which superintends the education of officers and men, controls the enlistment of men and apprentices, and directs the movements of ships and fleets.

3. The Bureau of Equipment, which attends to the manufacture of ropes, anchors, cables, and other articles required for the equipment of naval vessels, purchases coal for their use, and controls the Naval Observatory.

4. The Bureau of Ordnance, which has charge of the manufacture of guns and ammunition, also of torpedo stations and magazines.

5. The Bureau of Construction and Repair, which is charged with the building and repair of small boats and of the hulls of ships, and attends to the purchase of turrets and armor.

6. The Bureau of Steam Engineering, which directs the building and repairing of machinery in any way connected with the ships.

7. The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which designs, erects, and maintains naval hospitals and superintends their management.

8. The Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, which is responsible for the purchase and supply of all provisions and stores, and of the accounts relating to the same.

Each of these bureaus is presided over by an officer of skill and experience, who, while he holds the office, has the rank of commodore.

The United States has navy yards at Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Boston, Massachusetts; Brooklyn, New York; League Island, Pennsylvania; Norfolk, Virginia; Washington, District of Columbia; and Mare Island, California. At these navy yards ships are overhauled and repaired, machinery is adjusted and renewed, and stores of all kinds are provided. Here, too, on the receiving ships, the recruits are received and instructed.

There are naval stations at Newport, Rhode Island; New London, Connecticut; Port Royal, South Carolina; Key West and Pensacola, Florida; and Puget Sound, Washington.

At Indian Head, Maryland, is the naval proving-ground for the test of armor and guns.

The Naval Observatory is at Washington, and was at first merely a depot for naval charts and instruments.

In 1898, the highest officer in the American navy was the rear admiral. The other officers in their order, ranking downward, were commodores, captains, commanders, lieutenant commanders, lieutenants, lieutenants junior grade, and ensigns. All these are known as officers of the line.

At the close of the year there were seven rear admirals, ten commodores, forty-one captains, and eighty-five commanders.

The rank of rear admiral is equal to that of major general in the army. A commodore is equal to a brigadier general; a captain in the navy ranks with a colonel in the army; a commander ranks with a lieutenant colonel; and a lieutenant in the navy is equal to a captain in the army.

The law provides that when an officer reaches the age of sixty-two years he must be retired from active service. One who has been disabled in the service, or who has served honorably for forty years and requests release, may also be retired. Officers on the retired list receive three-fourths as much pay as when on active duty at sea.

Rear Admiral Dewey will be retired on the 26th of December, 1899. In 1898 there were thirty-three rear admirals on the retired lists.

The officers while at sea receive more pay than when on shore duty. The salary of an ensign at sea is $1200 a year; that of a rear admiral is $6,000. The salaries of the other officers range between these two extremes.

Previous to 1898 the number of enlisted men in the navy was limited to ten thousand. These men are received for a period of three years; and any one after serving continuously for twenty years may be assigned to duty in the navy yards, or on board receiving ships, or to other duties not requiring them to go far from home. All who have served thirty years are entitled to admittance in the Naval Home. The wages of enlisted men vary from $16 to $70 a month, according to the kind of work they perform.

The law provides that seven hundred and fifty boys may be enlisted as apprentices in the navy. These are received only with the consent of their parents or guardians, and are required to serve until they are twenty-one years old.

Besides the regular navy of the United States there is a naval militia organized in eighteen states. This militia is under the general direction of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy; and its duty in time of war is to man the vessels designed for coast and harbor defense.

At the beginning of the year 1898 there were more than four thousand men and officers in the naval militia. During the war with Spain, most of these were mustered into the naval service and did duty on the war vessels or in the signal service along the coast.

At the close of the year there were belonging to our government nine battleships, all of which had been built since 1890. Four others were in process of construction. The average cost of vessels of this class is about $3,500,000.

Of other vessels in the navy of 1898, there were two armored cruisers which cost $2,986,000 each; one ram, the _Katahdin_; six double turreted monitors; thirteen single turreted monitors; seventeen protected cruisers; four unarmored cruisers; fifteen gunboats; and ten torpedo boats. Many other vessels of different classes were being built.

All these were in active service, or soon to be so. But there were also several other vessels of the old-fashioned style which, although of little use in battle, were valuable in the various peaceful enterprises in which the navy is always engaged. Of such there were six old iron vessels and ten wooden frigates, all propelled by steam, and seventeen old wooden sailing vessels, some of which were used as receiving ships.

During the war with Spain, many temporary additions were made to the navy. Eleven merchant vessels were bought or leased and converted into auxiliary cruisers. Among these were the four fast steamers of the American line, the _St. Louis_, the _St. Paul_, the _Yale_, and the _Harvard_.

Twenty-eight yachts also were purchased and turned into auxiliary gunboats or torpedo boats. Among these was the _Gloucester_, which did such fine work during the destruction of Cervera's fleet. It had formerly been a pleasure yacht belonging to Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan of New York.

In addition to the vessels just named, the government also bought twenty-seven tugs to be changed into gunboats or cruisers; and it obtained seventeen steam vessels of various sizes to be used as transports and for many other purposes.

Altogether the navy of 1898 comprised an imposing collection of vessels of many kinds and of various degrees of efficiency. Of the work which it accomplished we have already learned.

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THE FOUR GREAT AMERICANS SERIES Biographical Stories of Great Americans for Young Americans EDITED BY JAMES BALDWIN, Ph.D.

In these biographical stories the lives of great Americans are presented in such a manner as to hold the attention of the youngest reader. In these lives the child finds the most inspiring examples of good citizenship and true patriotism.

VOLUMES NOW READY:

I. FOUR GREAT AMERICANS George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln. By JAMES BALDWIN, Ph.D. Cloth, 246 pages. Price, 50 cents

II. FOUR AMERICAN PATRIOTS Patrick Henry, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, U.S. Grant. By ALMA HOLMAN BURTON Author of The Story of Our Country, etc. Cloth, 256 pages. Price, 50 cents

III. FOUR AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES Paul Jones, Oliver H. Perry, Admiral Farragut, Admiral Dewey. By MABEL BORTON BEEBE Cloth, 254 pages. Price, 50 cents

OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY WERNER SCHOOL BOOK COMPANY The Lakeside Press R.R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY CHICAGO

[Sidenote: THE BOOK OF THE HOUR for THE YOUTH OF AMERICA.... Just Published.]

Lafayette, The Friend of American Liberty

The proposal to erect a monument in Paris to the early friend of American liberty, GENERAL LAFAYETTE, by contributions from the patriotic school children of the United States, has aroused national enthusiasm for the memory of this noble man....

In view of the great interest which this fitting and significant movement has awakened in the life, character and services of the heroic soldier and patriot, the Werner School Book Company has just issued, edited by Dr. James Baldwin,

"LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF AMERICAN LIBERTY,"

By Mrs. ALMA HOLMAN BURTON, The author of "Four American Patriots," "The Story of Our Country," Etc.

A TIMELY CONTRIBUTION OF GREAT VALUE TO PATRIOTIC EDUCATIONAL LITERATURE.

Werner School Book ... Company ...

Educational Publishers.

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EPOCH-MAKING BOOKS

TITLES OF SOME EPOCH-MAKING BOOKS, WITH PRICES AT WHICH THEY WILL BE MAILED, POSTPAID:

The Werner Arithmetic, Book I. (Hall) $ 40 The Werner Arithmetic, Book II. (Hall) 40 The Werner Arithmetic, Book III. (Hall) 50 Teacher's Hand-Book to the Werner Arithmetics 25 Hall's Elementary Arithmetic 35 Hall's Complete Arithmetic 60 DeGarmo's Language Lessons, Book I 30 DeGarmo's Language Lessons, Book II 40 DeGarmo's Complete Language Lessons (One-Book Course) 50 Brown and DeGarmo's Elements of English Grammar 60 The Werner Introductory Geography (Tarbell) 55 The Werner Grammar School Geography, Parts I. and II. (Tarbell) 1 40 Baldwin's Primary Lessons in Physiology and Hygiene 35 Baldwin's Essential Lessons in Physiology and Hygiene 50 Baldwin's Advanced Lessons in Physiology and Hygiene 80 The Werner Primer (Taylor) 30 First Year Nature Reader (Beebe and Kingsley) 35 Old Time Stories Retold (Smythe) 30 Legends of the Red Children (Pratt) 30 Baldwin's Biographical Booklets (each) 10 Baldwin's Four Great Americans 50 Burton's Four American Patriots 50 Beebe's Four American Naval Heroes 50 Cody's Four American Poets 50 Winship's Great American Educators 50 Burton's Lafayette, the Friend of American Liberty 35 Burton's Story of Our Country 60 The Werner Mental Arithmetic 30 Giffin's Grammar School Algebra 50 Adams's Physical Laboratory Manual 75 Hinsdale's Studies in Education 1 00 Hinsdale's Training for Citizenship 10 Hinsdale's American Government 1 25 Hinsdale's History and Civil Government of Ohio 1 00 Barnard's History and Civil Government of Missouri 1 00 Lewis's History and Civil Government of West Virginia 1 00 Niles's History and Civil Government of Minnesota 1 00 Seerley and Parish's History and Civil Gov't of Iowa 1 00 Smith and Young's History and Civil Government of South Dakota 1 00 Stetson's History and Civil Government of Maine 1 00 Beebe's First School Year 75 Jackman's Nature Study Record 60

OTHER EPOCH-MAKING BOOKS IN PREPARATION

WERNER SCHOOL BOOK COMPANY Educational Publishers NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON

* * * * *

Transcriber's notes:

Punctuation normalized.

Inconsistent hyphenation maintained as printed.

On page 82 "Stoddart" replaced with "Stoddert" in "Stoddert as the first Secretary of the Navy".

On page 247 "earn" changed to "learn". "They had to learn a great deal about mathematics".

End of Project Gutenberg's Four American Naval Heroes, by Mabel Beebe