MERCHANT MARINE NEEDS MEN

According to an announcement by the United States Shipping Board, since the establishment of its squadron of Merchant Marine Training Ships in January, 1918, to April 1 of this year, 22,523 American citizens have been accepted for training on the ships as apprentices, of whom the majority were under 25 years of age. The course of training is two months and graduates are shipped in crews of both coastwise and ocean-going vessels under the American flag.

The board has now issued a call for 2,000 more men; which includes both-seamen and apprentices for deck officers' positions. Henry Howard, director of the Shipping Board's recruiting service, states that there never has been a time in the history of American shipping when the demand for merchant crews was so great as it is now. The positions, on going to sea, command salaries of from $55 to $75 a month, according to the rating, and in addition, board and living quarters are furnished free.

The merchant marine fleet of the United States will have grown to a considerable size within a short time, and efforts are being made throughout the nation to recruit a sufficient number of men to take care of the new program. Retention by the United States of all German ships seized after the declaration of war, will, according to information from Washington, make it certain that this country will be the second maritime power in the world, with Great Britain in first place and Japan in third. When the war began in 1914 American vessels carried only 9.7 per cent of American exports and imports.