US Naval Reserve Midshipmens School - Capstan Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN)

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and other oflice equipment from Rockne hall up to the second floor of the new Navy building. The fellow on the other end of a file cabinet philo- sophically remarked that if he should be shot at sunrise some morning for too many infractions of the rules, at least he would get another couple hours, sleep that day. Succeeding weeks Call two of themj of indoctri- nation were much like the first as to routine schedule, Seaman Door discovered. There were always innumerable new things to learn-and on the double. But even after the first week, he found his grip tightening on this new and confusing way of life. He decided that he liked the Navy's syste- matic way of doing things, and reflected that he could have accomplished a great deal more as a civilian with more of the Navy's place-and-time- for-everything attitude. Most important of all, he found himself taking a fierce pride in being a Navy man, and in living up to its standards for their own sake-not to mention escaping the ignominy of being dubbed a landlubber. Though still, and for months to come, a dry-land sailor, Seaman Door already could feel a responsive thrill to the glorious traditions established by such men as john Paul Jones, john Barry, Commodore Perry, and Admiral Farragut-and, by lineal kin- ship, Ferdinand Magellan, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Lord Horatio Nelson. All in all, he felt like an old salt, and put full steam on living the part to the extent that he might fulfill the definition of The blaster of a Ship of WVar,,' as set forth in X'Vard's HThe Wfooden World : f'His language is all heathen Greek to a cobblerg and he cannot have so much as a tooth drawn ashore without carrying his interpreter. It is the aftmost grinders aloft, on the starboard quarter, will he cry to the all-wondering operatorf' 40 'QV iff'

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make a long list, but some of the more noteworthy items were: That in spite of considerable legwork, to put it mildly, sailors' shoes are likely to wear out on the top as soon as on the bottom, due to in- cessant shiningg that it is possible, nay, judicious, to distinguish a commissioned ofhcer at 500 yards with the naked eyeg and that you will always know where you are going when you get there. Well over a thousand men comprised the in- doctrination class which matriculated on Oct. 5, and was due to become the first midshipmenis class at Notre Dame. Colleges and universities in all parts of the country were represented, Seaman Door found, and there was such a variety of accents that a muster sounded like the Biblical confusion of tongues. The first Saturday at 12:30 came the anxiously- awaited proclamation of liberty. Striding freely along the broad and bustling streets of South Bend, 39 Seaman Door thought he knew now how Atlas must have felt when someone spared him off for a few hours. South Bend residents were so anxious to be pleas- ant and helpful to men in uniform that Seaman Door, one week on active duty, felt like an ancient and honored mariner, grown hoary in the service of his country. The city's Servicemenls Center, operated by a group of public spirited people, con- tained all that a young man could ask, vizg, a goodly stock of beauteous damsels, food and drink, reading and writing materials, and the speedy and cheerful solution of almost any personal problem. lXfonday was an evil day for Seaman Door, who found himself on a work detail because his ashtray had been left on his desk, his soap dish was dirty, and his locker was somewhat out of order. By way of penance, he put in two hours lugging desks, files,

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