218 MEN IN NAVAL RESERVE UNIT

Of the 218 men who have joined the Volunteer Naval Reserve for Civilians, 137 are undergraduates or graduates of the University. These men are training two evenings a week on the battleships Georgia and Virginia, now lying in the Charlestown Navy Yard. The instruction is given by the regular line officers of the navy. Owing to the small number of officers who are able to devote time to this training and the limited space which can be utilized, there is already a waiting list of men ready to go into training as soon as vacancies occur.

The men in this reserve sign up for a period of four years during which they must devote at least three months to training under any one of four or five provisional ratings, such as quartermaster, engineer, ensign, etc. The work may be done during any part of the four years so long as not less than three weeks' training is taken at one time. In case of war the men in the Naval Reserve will be ready for immediate and more thorough training.

At present the work of the civilian unit is being carried out through separate classes organized to instruct in the different departments of naval science. The class in engineering is now studying marine engines, the one in gunnery is learning gun mechanism, the one in fire-control, how to give orders for loading and firing, and the one in signaling is working with the semaphore and wig-wag.

As yet the Government has made no definite statement as to what positions, in case of war, will be open to men who have taken the civilian course for naval training, but the men who fit themselves for this work before the opening of hostilities are certain to get officerships ahead of those who wait until after a declaration of war before starting to train.