Joplin High School - Joplimo Yearbook (Joplin, MO)

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all classes go for a three months' practice cruise on battleships, and then they receive a month's leave to visit home. THE CGMING OF STEAM The invention of the steamboat was perhaps the most important factor in all history which brought about the complete revolution of navigation. In spite of the fact that popular history has accredited Robert Fulton with the building of the first steamboat, his claim is somewhat questioned. Two years before Fulton's Clermont appeared, John Stevens of Hoboken built steamboat propelled by a screw: and even before that John Fitch of Pennsyl- vania had made a crude one and attempted to force it upon public favor. Fitch was unread and uneducated, and his invention was of the purest originality. Although struggling against poverty, he labored during his entire life in the effort to perfect his invention: but his work was in vain. He died leaving behind the bitter words that at some future date a more powerful man would be given credit for his work. In the attempt to make amends for the injustice to Fitch, some modern historians have even gone so far as to overestimate his work and give him more credit than he actually deserved. Without doubt Fitch applied steam to the propulsion of a boat long before Fulton, but it is doubtful whether Fitch himself was the first inventor. Records have been found which claim the invention of such a device as early as 1543. This is uncertain, however, and perhaps it would be better to say, as Willis J. Abbot has stated, that Fitch first scented commercial possibilities of steam navigation, while Fulton actually developed them. The first years of Robert Fulton's struggles met with the same misfortune that Fitch's had. He was faced with ridicule and scorn. Scientists on every side, including the Institute of France, opposed the work. Fulton was not doomed to failure, however, and while in France he met and formed a partner- ship with Robert Livingston, who Iinanced his invention. In 1806 Fulton came back to America to construct the Clermont. The state of New York granted him and Livingston a monopoly of steam naviga- tion on the rivers in that state, and gave them until 1807 to prove its feasibility. Since Livingston had had an engine built for it in England, it did not take so long to complete the building of the ship as might have been expected, and it was on August 7, 1807, that the Clermont made its famous voyage from New York to Albany, a distance of one hundred Hfty miles, in thirty-two hours. In less than a year steamboats were sailing up and down the river, and since Fulton and Livingston strove to protect their monopoly, a new impetus for the extension of steam navigation was aroused. Without doubt the steam- boat has proved invaluable and has made the world smaller. IRON AND STEEL FOR SHIPS The famous battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac is not im- portant merely because it was a battle of the Civil War. Indeed, it has the dis- Twclur-

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THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY A hundred years ago boys who wished to become naval officers obtained, if possible, appointments as midshipmen, and were sent aboard war vessels to carry messages for the officers. No one looked after the boys unless they got into mischief, and then, of course, they were severely punished. Under such conditions only the most determined were able to become officers. Later, schoolmasters were appointed, but they had no co-operation, so the lessons were interrupted by orders from the captain and other officers. Matthew F. Maury, one of those who favored a naval school, wrote so much on the subject that he has been called the father of the naval academy. Finally the famous historian, George Bancroft, for whom the enormous dormi- tory at Annapolis is named, became Secretary of the Navy, and determined to found a school for training officers. Although Congress did not appropriate any funds for the purpose, the War Department gave the abandoned Fort Severn, at Annapolis, Maryland. and nine acres of land to the Navy Department, and here, in October, 1845, a naval school with three instructors and fifty midshipmen was established. The present name was adopted in 1850, and the old Constitution was given as a training ship. During the Civil War, for greater safety, the academy was moved to Newport, Rhode Island, and although it was returned in 1865, students were not encouraged to enter until the Spanish-American War brought about the building of new ships and the need for more officers. The school has grown: much new equipment and many time buildings have been added. Severe exam- inations and strict, impartial training make it necessary for our naval officers to be the finest of America's youth. SECURING ENTRANCE TO THE ACADEMY Since the sea has such a lure for men and'boys of all ages, it is necessary to have some means, aside from the examinations, to keep the number of entrants down to a manageable group. This is done by means of appoint- ments. Each senator and representative is allowed to make three appointments, and as an appointee resigns, is dropped, or is graduated, another is appointed for the vacancy. The President may appoint fifteen men each year, and twenty- five may be appointed from the Navy or the Marine Corps. The newly-appointed midshipmen take examinations at many places throughout the country. If they pass these tests, they report to Annapolis in June for a physical examination. If they are admitted there, they become 'lplebes , and the summer is spent in drill, gymnastics, management of boats, and gunnery. Discipline is very strict, but impartial, and the men have a good time. The course at Annapolis requires much mathematics and physics. There are also classes in English, history, and Spanish or French. Every summer Eleven

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tinction of being the first battle of ironclads, and it ushered in the iron battleship, immediately out-dating wooden vessels. Although the idea of the usefulness of ironclad vessels had been touched upon through the designs of builders in the United States and in Europe, it was the Confederacy that took the initiative and brought the first ironclad ship, the old Merrimac, into actual conflict. The Merrimac, a forty-gun frigate which had been sunk at the Norfolk navy yard, was raised, was cased with iron railroad rails, and was pierced for cannon. A strong iron ram was attached to her bow and steam was used as the motive power. It was, as we would say today, streamlined, and easily resisted bombardment. This powerful ship, rechristened the Virginia, easily destroyed two of the finest wooden ships possessed by the Navy at Hampton Roads on March 8, 1862. She was confident of victory and only waited for the next day to complete her work of destruction. On the next day, however, a new foe appeared, the Monitor. Reports of the repair and reconstruction of the old Merrimac had reached the Navy Department at Washington when the work was in its infancy, and had aroused a great amount of alarm. Federal authorities began to realize the danger of the affair, so that it does not seem strange that the Secretary of the Navy influenced Congress to create a board of naval officers who were to examine plans for iron- or steel-clad ships. The result of this was the construction of this Monitor by the ingenious Swedish John Ericsson. The Monitor, described by a spectator as a Hcheese- box on a raft, consisted of a round turret about nine feet high mounted on a flat deck. This turret revolved and carried two guns which could be aimed in any direction to combat the enemy. It was so nearly a raft that the Merrimac's ram had no effect. Then, in time of need, the Monitor might run into shallow water where the Merrimac could not follow. In spite of the facts that the Monitor had the advantage, and that the Mer- rimac finally retired from the combat, neither vessel had been able to injure the other. The main feature of the battle was that it revolutionized naval warfare. As one author has said, The day of the wooden warships was over, and the era of ironclads had come. The oak-ribbed and white-winged navies that had ruled the ocean for centuries became obsolete, and all the world began to build Heets of steel and steam. In addition to the idea of steel ships, each ship contributed another factor to modern battleships. The Merrimac gave the armored citadel, and the Monitor brought out the revolving turret. After the Civil War American citizens were so anxious for peace that they put all thought of a navy out of their minds. It was nearly twenty years before men began to realize that the United States would be helpless if attacked. In 1883 Congress ordered four armoured ships to be built, and two years later four more were ordered. Every year the number increased, and in 1890 Con- gress ordered three large battleships. The Spanish-American War convinced the government that more ships were needed, and by 1918 the United States Navy had forty battleships. Thirlw.-n