176 



Popular Science Monthly 



equipments, rammers and turret turning 

 equipments are made the subject of 

 study. 



The thirteenth, fourteenth and fif- 

 teenth weeks are devoted to the study 

 of the theory and practice of hghting 

 and interior communication. The sub- 

 jects listed are instruments, circuits and 

 fuses, incandescent and arc Hghts, tele- 

 phones, wires and wiring, wiring appli- 

 ances and fixtures, search lights, signal- 

 ing apparatus, interior communication 

 cables, switchboards, telephone circuits, 

 telephones and fire controls. 



During the sixteenth and seventeenth 

 weeks the theory and practice of pri- 

 mary and secondary batteries are studied. 



The last two weeks, the eighteenth 

 and nineteenth, are spent in a general 

 review of the entire course, and any 

 points that have been missed by the pu- 

 pils are made clear in their minds. 



Radio Telegraphy 



For the first six weeks of the course 

 in radio or wireless telegraphy, the 

 study closely parallels the study of mag- 

 netism and electricity, dynamos and mo- 

 tors, alternating currents, batteries, and 

 internal combustions which is pursued in 

 the course just outlined. 



From the seventh to the nineteenth 

 weeks, the pupil is constantly practicing 

 at the instrument, becoming efficient at 

 sending and receiving. He also devotes 

 one week each to the following subjects: 

 Condensers, inductances, oscillating cur- 

 rents, primary circuits (transmitting), 

 secondary circuits and closed oscillating 

 circuits, radiating circuits, transmitting 

 sets, receiving apparatus, receiving cir- 

 cuits, Fessenden sets, wireless specialty 

 companies' sets, and Telefunken sets. 

 The nineteenth week is spent in review, 

 as in the other course. 



Immediate entrance to these schools 

 is, of course, obtained onh' by those who 

 already have some knowledge of the 

 trade, but every enlisted man who wants 

 to take up a trade of which he may be 

 utterly ignorant at the time of his en- 

 listment has only himself to blame if 

 he does not eventually acquire a chance 

 to obtain this special shore instruction. 

 He has only to state to his superiors on 

 the ship what line he would like to fol- 

 low and provided there are not too 



many already having the same desire at 

 the time on the ship, he will be assigned 

 duties on shipboard which will give him 

 a certain familiarity with the subject. 

 After a year's service, he can make ap- 

 plication for a special course of training 

 at the school, and, if he has shown suffi- 

 cient intelligence and progress in his 

 work on board ship, he is certain to 

 have his request granted. 



With such inducements and with a 

 daily school on shipboard where the sub- 

 jects to be found in every public school 

 on shore are taught him as well, it is 

 not surprising that, instead of a lack of 

 men of the type desired, the Navy now 

 finds it a difiicult matter to choose from 

 the host of applicants those best suited 

 for the service. Judges no longer sen- 

 tence ne'er-do-wells to the Navy as a 

 punishment, nor are such men received, 

 and desertions in the last three years 

 have decreased thirty-two per cent. 



In this way has the doctrine of sub- 

 ordination of everything to military ef- 

 ficiency been carried to the very begin- 

 ning, and we are certain of efficient 

 crews on board our ships because we 

 have efficient recruits to begin with. 



Iron Industry Gains in Germany. 



DESPITE the smothering eft'ects that 

 the war has upon industry of all 

 kinds, the production and manufacture of 

 iron implements increased considerably in 

 Germany since the opening of hostilities. 

 During the last year of peace, 1913, the 

 German iron industry mined approxi- 

 mately 35,941,000 tons of domestic iron 

 ore, from which, after exporting 2,613,- 

 000 tons and importing 14,019,000 tons, 

 a total of 19,300,000 tons of crude iron 

 was smelted. During the month of Au- 

 gust, 1914, when the war started, the 

 output of iron products sank to 18,310 

 tons daily. During 1915 this daily aver- 

 age has increased to 33,000 tons. A 

 large percentage of the iron being pro- 

 duced in Germany is finding its way into 

 war implements of various sorts. 



THE commission form of govern- 

 ment is in eflfect in eighty-one of 

 the two hundred and four cities in this 

 country of over thirty thousand inhabit- 

 ants. 



