Uncle Sam Reaching 150,000 Men A Week.

New York Times 100 years ago today, December 29, 1912:
Gigantic Publicity Work to Boom Naval Enactments Handled by New York Bureau.
STRENGTH NOW 4,000 SHORT
Youngsters All Over the Country Recipients of Letters Telling of Glorious Life in Warships.
    In the big office building at 153 West Twenty-third Street one whole floor is rented by the United States Government as an office for the Publicity Bureau of the Recruiting Service of the Navy. There Commander George C. Day, U.S.N., is supreme, and under him he has a corps of picked enlisted men whose duties involve among other things the sending out of about 150,000 letters every week to young men in various parts of the country, to whose attention is called the advantages offered by an enlistment in the navy.
    In the record rooms of the bureau are the names of more than half a million American boys and young men who have been reported to the navy as good material for the enlisted personnel of the service afloat. These names have been sent in by postmasters, by enlisted men who have sent in the names of friends, and by friends of the service everywhere in the country. At present the enlisted strength of the navy is about 4,000 mon short, but the indications are that within the next few months the full enlisted strength will have been reached, for the recruiting forces are bringing the average of 1,200 young men into the service every month.
    Whenever Commander Day or one or his subordinates receives the name of a likely youngster who may turn out to be a good bluejacket, a letter is mailed immediately to that young man, in which he is politely asked to consider the advisability and advantages of a tour of service in the navy.

Calculated to Arouse Interest.
    This is a copy of one of the letters sent out this month to young men and boys who have been recommended as good naval material:

        United States Navy Recruiting Service
        Publicity Bureau, 153 West Twenty-third St.,
        New York, Dec. 10, 1912.
    Dear Sir: Do you know that within the last few years there has been a wonderful change in the character of the men who man our battleships? No longer do we have the old type of man-o'-warsman whose behavior while ashore was often such as to bring disgrace to the bluejacket's uniform.
    How different it is to-day! Now our ships are manned by young Americans coming from all States in the Union; most of them graduates of the grammar and high schools, and not a few have attended the leading colleges ane technical schools. All of them bright, gentlemanly young follows, of whom our people are justly proud. Their conduct, abroad as well as at home, is universally praised. They are students, too, constantly studying to fît themselves for higher positions in the navy or in civil life when they return to it, and learning much from their travel which is an education in itself.
    The navy offers young men permanent employment at good pay, with excellent opportunities for advancement to numerous positions paying from $600 to $2,400 a year. It pays them not less than $17.60 a month while they attend the school for apprentice seamen or the various trade schools which the navy maintains for turning out the hundreds of technically trained men which it requires. Their pay is practically clear money, as there is no board, doctor's bills, &c., to pay.
    You cannot fail to be interested in learning what the navy offers you, so fill out at once the inclosed blank and mail it in the accompanying envelope, which requires no postage. In return you will receive, without any obligation on your part, the free booklet describing life in the navy, the opportunities to learn trades, and how to secure a steady job where you can save money. To enable you to visit your home, frequent furloughs with pay will be granted, and your life in the navy will be an interesting one of travel and education.
    No one less than 17 years of age can enlist, and those under 18 must have the written consent of their parents or guardians. Foreigners cannot enlist; all must be American citizens, native or with final naturalization papers.
            G. C. DAY,
            Commander, U. S. Navy, in Charge.

    With the letter also goes a neat little book illustrated in colors entitled "The Making of a Man-o'-Warsman." This book, published by the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, is written in a style that is sure to appeal to many young Americans. For instance, there is a short article on the fascination of a bluejacket's life.
http://www.history.navy.mil/museums/greatlakes/manowar/index.html
    "There is a fascination," that part of the book reads, "about a life that follows the sea, from port to port, country to country, from ocean to ocean, amid ever changing, ever shifting scenes as compared with the quiet, stationary, though commendable life in the factory, farm or office.
    "There is a fascination about being one of the crew of a ship of the United States Navy; the navy that carries the Stars and Stripes; the navy that produced a John Paul Jones, a Lawrence, a Decatur, a Perry, a Farragut, a Porter, and a Dewey; the navy that gave birth to such expressions as 'I have only begun to fight,' 'Don't give up the ship,' 'We have met the enemy and they are ours,' 'Damn the torpedoes, go ahead,' 'You may fire when you are ready. Gridley' — expressions that will live in the minds of men forever."
    Then, the little book goes on to tell of the fascinations of a navy life other than those of the spectacular and patriotic side, such as the boxing and fencing bouts for fleet and division championships, the football, baseball and rowing championships, the minstrel shows, the band concerts, &c., recreations that have become a part of the life on board every American warship.
    After the fascinations comes the chapter on the hardships of a bluejacket's life. Here is the way the Navy Department talks about the hardships that come, into a life in the navy:
    The Navy Department does not wish to misrepresent the life of a man-o'-warsman. He must endure hardships, the same as any other human being, although it is believed that his hardships are fewer than those of the landsman.
    The man who goes to sea is separated from his family, which is not entirely agreeable. He is confined to small quarters, though he has more room than he who dwells in a city apartment. He is subject to military discipline, which is a fine thing for every boy, though many of them dislike it. He can't quit his job when he gets tired of it or when he is angry with his "boss." He has got to stick to his job until the end of his enlistment, unless he purchases his discharge. It may be unpleasant at times, but it teaches a boy "stick-to-it-iveness," a thing for which he will be thankful in later years. Sometimes he must "stand watch" at night. This may prove irksome, but he is allowed to regain his lost sleep the next day. There is homesickness, which is a painful experience, but the necessity of enduring it will make a man of him, and teach him to brace himself for hard knocks later in life. As to seasickness, well, many millionaires frequently pay large sums on ocean greyhounds for that experience, and most bluejackets must endure it at first, but they soon get their "sea legs."

Good Food an Argument.
    Then comes the story of the fine meals the navy serves to its men on board its ships, with sample menus from some of the battleships, and then much about the splendid training schools now maintained for the instruction of bluejackets in electrical work, in mechanics and other useful occupations that will be of great benefit in civil life when the period of enlistment expires.
    Another interesting bit of information refers to the financial benefits of a life in the navy. On this point the book points out:
    Regarding financial benefits, we will suppose, for example, that a man enlisting at the age of 18 years reaches the rank of petty officer by the end of his first enlistment (four years,) and chief petty officer at the end of his second enlistment (four years more.) Any man can do this if he is willing to work. If he saves half his pay during thirty years, from the age of 18 to the ase of 48, and invests it in the Navy Savings Bank at 4 per cent. interest, and re-enlists immediately on the expiration of each enlistment those thirty years, at the end of that time he will have in cash $27,486, and may retire on three-fourths of his pay, which will be about $105 a month, or $1,260 a year. Thus he will have $27,486 in cash, which he can, invest at 4% per cent., which will bring him in over $1,236 a year. Add this to his retirement pay and you will readily see that he would have $2,406 per year income from the early age of 48 for the balance of his life.
    The percentage of men who are able to accumulate an income of $2,000 a year after thirty years' employment is not large, as every one knows. Nor do very many bluejackets save half their pay during their entire career, for they are proverbially generous and open-hearted; but it is possible for them to do so. This statement shows what can be done if the bluejacket is reasonably frugal.
    This story only briefly recites some of the interesting information that the Publicity Bureau in Twenty-third Street is sending out to the youths of the country. Any boy or young man who wishes to find out more about the service afloat has only to write to Commander Day at 153 West Twenty-third Street, and the information desired will be promptly forthcoming.