NAVAL MILITIA 



4092 



NAVAL RESERVE 



surveyor, and well acquainted with steam, elec- 

 tricity, and ordnance. He must also have a 

 good knowledge of his own language and know 

 some Spanish and French. The course is com- 

 prehensive and progressive. International law 

 is an important branch of study; and when 

 finally graduated an ensign from Annapolis is 

 mentally and physically equipped to fill any 

 position he is called upon to occupy. 



From the first of June until the first of Sep- 

 tember the midshipmen are embarked on prac- 

 tice ships, a battleship temporarily detached 

 from the fleet generally taking a certain num- 

 ber, while others go to a training ship. 



The administration of the Naval Academy is 

 vested in a superintendent, who is a naval offi- 

 cer of high rank, appointed by the President. 

 As the equipment was found inadequate to 

 meet requirements, an appropriation of $8,000,- 

 000 for improvements was sanctioned by Con- 

 gress in 1905, as a result of which old buildings 

 were remodeled and new ones erected. 



Nearly every naval leader of the War of Se- 

 cession was from his youth attached to a naval 

 vessel and in that environment his education 

 was secured; such men were David Farragut 

 and the two Porters. The men in the navy 

 who achieved fame in the Spanish-American 

 War, however, were graduates of the Naval 

 Academy, almost without exception. Among 

 these were Admiral Dewey and Rear-Admiral 

 Sampson, Schley and Evans. F.ST.A. 



Consult Benjamin's The United States Naval 

 Academy. 



NAVAL MILITIA, milish'a. See NAVAL RE- 

 SERVE. 



NAVAL OBSERVATORY, a United States 

 government institution which is a division 

 under the bureau of equipment in the Navy 

 Department. It is situated at Washington, 

 D. C., and consists of not only an observatory 

 with the usual telescope, but a large scientific 

 library and numerous astronomical, meteoro- 

 logical and photographic instruments. It was 

 established as a government institution in 1838 

 to observe the positions of the various planets 

 and stars, for computing time on United States 

 ships, to correct daily the local time, to test 

 naval instruments for computing location at 

 sea and to spread astronomical information 

 among the American people. 



Though it was not officially recognized until 

 1838, it really originated in a depot for charts 

 established by a naval lieutenant in 1830. In 

 1833 another lieutenant built at his own ex- 

 pense an observatory to be connected with the 



chart depot, but in 1838 the Navy Department 

 began to make annual contributions for the 

 maintenance of such work. Four years later 

 Congress authorized the erection of a special 

 building at Washington for the observatory, 

 and when this was finished the institution im- 

 mediately began to take a leading position in 

 the scientific world. In 1846 the Astronomical 

 Observations was published, the first American 

 book of this character. 



In 1893 new buildings were erected at George- 

 town, near Washington, and there some of the 

 finest astronomical instruments in existence are 

 to be found. One of these is the great tele- 

 scope with a twenty-six inch lens, which at the 

 time of its completion in 1874 was the largest 

 in the world. With this instrument Professor 

 Asaph Hall discovered the satellites of Mars 

 in 1877, and with other instruments in the 

 building important observations of Neptune 

 and discoveries of various planetoids, meteors 

 and distant stars have been made. Since 1912 

 the observers have been working in harmony 

 with European observers in matters useful to 

 all nations. The library of about 30,000 vol- 

 umes is the most valuable collection of astro- 

 nomical books in America. 



NAVAL RESERVE, a reserve naval force 

 that may be called into active service in time 

 of war or during the existence of an emergency. 

 Every country having a navy maintains a naval 

 reserve formed of officers and seamen whose 

 terms of enrolment in the navy have expired, 

 or who have been honorably discharged. 



The naval reserve of the United States was 

 established by act of Congress in 1915. All 

 citizens of the United States who have served 

 in the navy for four years or more and have 

 left the service under honorable conditions are 

 eligible for enrolment. The term of enrol- 

 ment is four years, and application must be 

 made within eight years from final discharge. 

 Those enroling within four months of dis- 

 charge are placed in Class One, and all others 

 in Class Two. Members of Class One aiv re- 

 quired to keep on hand such uniform as may be 

 prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy, and 

 all members of the naval reserve are provided 

 with a badge to be worn when the uniform is 

 not required. 



Naval Militia. The naval militia constitutes 

 a supplement to the naval reserve. It is or- 

 ganized and managed by the state governments, 

 under the direction of the Department of the 

 Navy. The term of enlistment is three years, 

 and in 1917 the District of Columbia and 



