Part 24 (1/2)

The marines have their own mess and their own sleeping s.p.a.ce, 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 s.h.i.+p. 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 Const.i.tution 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 a.s.sistant 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 s.h.i.+ps 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 s.h.i.+ps, 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 s.h.i.+ps.

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 Hamps.h.i.+re; Boston, Ma.s.sachusetts; Brooklyn, New York; League Island, Pennsylvania; Norfolk, Virginia; Was.h.i.+ngton, District of Columbia; and Mare Island, California.

At these navy yards s.h.i.+ps are overhauled and repaired, machinery is adjusted and renewed, and stores of all kinds are provided. Here, too, on the receiving s.h.i.+ps, 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, Was.h.i.+ngton.

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