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important principle of cleanliness in everything,- person, clothing, equipment, and surroundings.

Many of the drill movements, such as the physical exercises, for example, are timed to music, which is furnished by the Station band.

To a sound, healthy boy, the entire course of training is probably more like recreation than anything else, and he absorbs this preliminary technical education almost without effort. He has opportunities to read and study on any special branch of the naval profession that he may find most congenial. The Station has a good library, including, besides lighter literature, books on technical subjects of all kinds,-electricity, mechanical and naval engineering, ordnance, gunnery, accounting, and other subjects in connection with the service.

The recruit has also his base ball, foot ball, swimming pools, and theatrical and musical entertainments, pro

vided free of charge by the Government.

His pay of $17.60 a month, may not, indeed, appear very much; but when it is considered that a complete outfit of clothes is provided for him at the outset; that his food and lodging are furnished by the Government, as also his medicines and medical attention, if he require any; a free hospital with capable nurses and everything most modern; even that his athletic gear and base balls cost him nothing,-- it will be realized that he is being most exceptionally cared for, and very well paid at the same time.

The course of training at the Station is four months; after which, the qualified apprentice seaman becomes an ordinary seaman and is then transferred to a man-ofwar, and his pay goes up to $20.90 a month; after which, his promotion and increase of pay depend largely upon himself.

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CHANGES IN Ttarget practICE OFFICE

SERVICE ITEMS

Lieut. Commander T. T. Craven, formerly staff fleet ordnance officer, Atlantic Fleet, has been detailed as Director of Target Practice and Engineering Competitions, and Lieut. John W. Timmons has been detailed as Naval Aid to the President.

ADMIRAL NICHOLSON ON GENERal board

Rear Admiral R. F. Nicholson, late chief of the Bureau of Navigation, has been temporarily assigned to duty with the General Board of the Navy and the Office of Naval Intelligence, preparatory to his departure next month for the Far East to assume command of the Asiatic Fleet.

NEW NAVY DEPARTMENT AIDS

Rear Admiral Charles E. Vreeland, recently Aid for Inspections, has relieved Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright as Aid for Operations; Admiral Wainwright, retired, has been assigned to duty on the General Board.

Rear Admiral Charles J. Badger, who has been in command of the Second Division of the Atlantic Fleet, has been appointed Aid for Inspections.

SILVER SERVICE FOR THE BATTLESHIP FLORIDA

On December 18, the people of the State of Florida presented the battleship Florida with a handsome silver service, the presentation being made the occasion of elaborate ceremonies at Pensacola. The legislature of the state appropriated $10,000 toward the fund, the remainder being raised by popular subscription.

The designer made careful studies of the history and traditions of the State of Florida, working his ideas into the silver, the principal piece of which is a punch bowl having a capacity of twelve gallons. It is ornamented with historic panels, one of which shows Ponce de Leon landing on Florida shores, seeking the fountain of perpetual youth; another shows a group of Seminole Indians. Oaks, oranges, palms and magnolias decorate the bowl, as well as the seals of the Navy Department and of the State of Florida.

Besides the punch bowl, the set contains a center piece, candelabra, waiter, coffee set, pitcher, cigar chest, platters, and smaller pieces.

WINNER OF THE PRESIDENT'S RIFLE MATCH

The President has recalled his letter of congratulation to Capt. E. H. Eddy, 8th Infantry, Ohio National Guard, as the winner of "The President's Match," at the 1911 Camp Perry Tournament, and he has sent a letter to Corporal C. A. Lloyd, U.S.M.C., who actually won the match, with a score of 281, congratulating Corp. Lloyd, and explaining that a mistake had been made by

the Secretary of the National Rifle Association in furnishing the name of Captain Eddy as the winner of the match.

Capt. Eddy was one of the first to call attention to the mistake, when he received the letter of congratulation from the President, and promptly disclaimed the honor.

This recalls the fact that Sergeant Fragner, of the Marine Corps, won the President's match in 1910, and Corporal George W. Farnham, of the Marine Corps, was the military rifle champion of the United States for

1910.

NEW BATTLE PRACTICE RULES

A number of changes have been made in the rules to govern battle practice in the spring. Following the conference of officers with the Director of Target Practice and Engineering Competitions, it has been decided that the minimum range of gun fire shall be 12,000 yards, instead of 9,000, as at the last practice.

Reserve fleets of battleships and torpedo craft on both coasts will be placed on a competitive basis as to engineering. New competitions as to consumption of coal will be required for steam launches, evaporators and dynamos.

Battleships will be used as targets for torpedo practice by both destroyers and submarines, the torpedoes used to have exercise heads. Submarines are to submerge at a minimum range of 10,000 yards. All destroyer practice will be at night. A submarine night run will also be held. With a view to minimize the damage caused by splinters, two battleships, not yet selected, are to be stripped as far as possible of combustible material, such as woodwork, planking, tables, chairs, etc., which might take fire. or produce flying splinters, in an effort to determine just how much material of this class can be dispensed with when a ship is cleared for action.

RETIREMENT OF PAY DIRECTOR SIMPSON

Following an examination by the retiring board, Pay Director George W. Simpson, U.S.N., on sick leave for several months, has been transferred to the retired list.

He was a type of the real sailor-paymaster and it is pleasant to recall one of his exploits during the SpanishAmerican War, when he was made prize master and placed in command of the Spanish prize Tres Hermanos, off Cardenas, with instructions to take her to the most available American port.

He found there were on board the prize no charts or navigation instruments of any kind, and although he encountered a gale lasting several days, he managed, nevertheless, after groping among the Florida reefs and feeling his way, sailor fashion, to take his prize safely into Key West.

STATUS OF LIEUT.-COLONEL PERKINS, U.S.M.C.

Retired on his own application, after 30 years service, on December 31, 1907, the House Naval Committee has under consideration a bill providing for the reinstatement to the active list of Lieut. Col. C. M. Perkins, U.S.M.C., and a subcommittee is making an investigation of the circumstances which led to his retirement. Colonel Perkins claims that he was virtually forced on the retired list.

The Department, as is usual in such cases, does not approve of special legislation in matters of this character, and has therefore withheld its recommendation from the bill.

MARINE CORPS OFFICERS

Capt. F. M. Eslick, M.C., has been placed on the retired list, dating from December 18, following his fifth examination by the retiring board.

First Lieut. R. S. Keyser, M.C., has been appointed as attaché to the United States Embassy at Tokyo for the purpose of studying the Japanese language.

OBITUARY

Rear Admiral George F. F. Wilde, U.S.N., retired, died at his home in North Easton, Mass., on December 3. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1864.

the time of the Boxer trouble in 1898, Capt. Wilde, while commanding the U. S. S. Boston, landed the first body of U. S. Marines in China, and led them into Pekin, where they kept guard over the American Legation until the arrival of the allies.

Capt. John H. Shipley, U.S.N., naval attaché to the American Embassy at Tokyo, Japan, and Pekin, China, died at Tokyo on December 13, 1911. He was born in Iowa City, Iowa, March 29, 1858, and entered the service as a cadet midshipman September 30, 1874, graduating with the class of June, 1878.

Mr. William Wallace Bates, president of the Shipping Society of America and one of the foremost authorities on the merchant marine, died November 26, at Denver, Colorado. Mr. Bates was the author of a number of books and numerous magazine articles on marine questions and had for years been a leader in the fight for preferential duties for American shipping. During the Civil War, he served in the Union army. In 1889 he was appointed United States commissioner of navigation by President Harrison, and served until compelled to resign by failing health in 1892. In 1897 Mr. Bates organized the American Shipping Society and was president of that organiation at the time of his death.

THE ITALIAN-TURKISH SITUATION

The Italians have pushed through and driven the Turks out of the environs of the Tripolitan coast cities, to a considerable distance inland; the Turks always opposing with stubborn but futile resistance, and appear to have retreated to Gharian.

With England guarding the neutrality of Egypt on the east, France that of Tunis on the west, and Italy commanding the sea, Tripoli is effectually cut off from Turkey, and Turkish military activities are confined to anticipatory measures of resistance against the further aggression of Italy.

The sending of strengthening detachments to the islands of the Aegean and to coast points on the mainland where danger is considered to be threatened, has been continued; but Turkey has been helpless to relieve the situation of her troops in Tripoli, which, under the circumstances, are becoming less and less able to dispute the occupation by the Italians.

There may be always some unforeseen possibilities, but the Turkish administration fully realizes the helpless outlook; nor can it find much encouragement in hoping for intervention by neutral nations, every one of which, so

far, shows a determination to confine itself to a strict neutrality, and to attend to its own affairs.

The Netherlands, for example, has just shown that it means to enforce a rigid adherence to the spirit of the law in the case, and has refused to allow the passage of aeroplanes for Turkey through Holland, and, furthermore, has recently seized all documents relative to supply of aeroplanes and air men to Turkey, as a breach of neutrality.

It is probable the report of a cessation of hostilities would have assumed more definite shape, were not the Turkish administration embarrassed by the resolution adopted at the Salonica Congress, by the leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress, of carrying on the war to the bitter end.

The Thetis and Derna, which were captured from the Turks, have been renamed Capitano Verri and Bengazi, and have been added to the Italian navy.

The former has been named after Captain Pietro Verri, who fell gallantly leading his men on October 26, at Sciari-Sciat; and the latter, to commemorate the bloody fights at Bengazi.

THE CHINESE SITUATION

A. K. HILL

The closing of the year 1911 witnessed the election of Sun Yat Sen, the leader and greatest force of the Chinese revolution, to the presidency of the Chinese republic.

The events of the past month, which have thus culminated, may be briefly stated as follows:

Early in December, the Prince Regent resigned and the Dowager Empress issued an edict appointing two guardians for the young Emperor, one a Chinese and the other a Manchu.

An armistice had been arranged between the contending forces, to exist during the discussion by the delegates from the imperial and republican parties, concerning the future form of government of the Chinese Empire.

In the conference at Shanghai, the revolutionary delegates refused to consider any form but that of a republic. Tang Shao Yi, who represented Yuan Shi Kai at the conference, announced his willingness to accept a republic, but he considered it necessary in a matter of such great importance to communicate with Pekin.

Yuan apparently considered Shao's statement equivalent to a desertion to the rebels. His answer was delayed until December 27, when he informed the conference that the members of the imperial court had signified their willingness to abdicate, realizing that there was no hope for the Manchu dynasty. At the same time, he suggested that the question of the form of government should be settled by a conference of delegates elected by the several provinces.

In making this proposition, the Premier was probably merely trying to gain time; as he realized the republican representatives gathered at Shanghai would not accept his plan, which would require a delay of two or three months.

Yuan has practically acknowledged that affairs have passed beyond his control. In a last appeal to the foreign nations for a loan of $10,000,000, he states he will not use the money for an offensive campaign, but will leave the republican provinces to work out their own destruction; and will only defend the country north of the Yangtse, in case of attack.

On December 20, an identical note from the governments of the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Germany, France, and Russia was presented at Shanghai to Tang Shao Yi, the representative of Yuan, and to Wu Ting Fang, by the consular corps, deprecating the present condition of affairs in China and urgently advising both parties to find some basis for peace. In replying on be

half of the republicans, Wu Ting Fang said no peace could be permanent unless it was based on the highest justice.

Notwithstanding their protestations to the contrary, both Great Britain and Japan are exerting their influence against the establishment of a Chinese republic. Japan fears a development of socialism at home in the event of the formation of a successful republic in China, while Great Britain fears Russian designs against the border provinces if there should be disorder in Mongolia, Turkestan, or Thibet. In fact, Mongolia and Turkestan, both of which have proclaimed their independence, are even now under Russian influence, and it would not be surprising if the already bruited Russian protectorate were announced in the near future. Russia would thus be able to construct the Trans-Mongolian railway, the concession for which she has long sought from China. In that way Russia would turn the Japanese flank in Manchuria. As a preliminary step, Russia, on December 29, requested China to promptly resume the administration of affairs in Mongolia; in reply to which the Chinese government could only state that at present it was unable to do so.

On December 29, the republican conference at Nankin unanimously elected Sun Yat Sen to the presidency of the Chinese republic, thus ending the peace conference between Wu Ting Fang and Tang Shao Yi. The president at once assumed charge of all negotiations with Yuan Shi Kai, and will continue them only on condition that all so-called imperial troops be withdrawn immediately from all points of contact with the revolutionaries.

President Sun states that he will treat the Imperial Court as a thing of the past, because eighteen provinces have already voted in favor of a republic, which he claims should be sufficient proof that a republic is the form of government desired by China.

President Sun has named the following cabinet:

Premier, Gen. Li Yuen Heng; War, Wong Hing; Interior, Tong Fai Leong; Navy, Admiral Sah Chen Fing; Foreign Affairs, Wu Ting-fang; Colonial, Fung Chi Yue; Finance, Chin Chin Poa; Agriculture, Chung Chin; Communications, Wong Chung Yue; Education, Yee; Attorney General, Fow Gow Ying; Chief Adviser, Chung Tai Yuen; Assistant advisers, Wong Moo and Ah Fung See.

The western press, at first rather universal in deprecating a Chinese republic as being unsuited for the

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