SS Young America

“ De Forrest tried again with the name of Captain Wolff, of the Tritonia, in order to throw out Lincoln and Cantwell, and Beckwith seconded his motion.
"I don't think this is a fair thing, Mr. Chairman," said De Forrest. "A great deal has been said about fair play; but now the ship's company of the Young America want to nominate for commodore, without giving the students in the consorts any voice in the matter." ”

“ As the vessel went from port to port, new scenes were opened to them. Those who could be trusted were allowed to go on shore in their off-time; and as all their privileges depended upon their good conduct, they were very careful to do their duty, both as students and as seamen, cheerfully and faithfully.
The Young America dropped her anchor in Brockway Harbor on the 5th of March, on her return from her southern cruise. The first term of the second year was to commence on the 1st of April, and it was understood that the ship would sail for Europe on the last day of March. ”

“ The Young America was to be officered and manned by the students. They were to work the ship, to make and take in sail, to reef, steer, and wash down decks, as well as study and recite their lessons. They were to go aloft, stand watch, man the capstan, pull the boats; in short, to do everything required of seamen on board a ship. Mr. Lowington was to lure them into the belief, while they were hauling tacks and sheets, halyards and braces, that they were not at work, but at play. ”

“ The report created a sensation, as it always does When a sail is seen; for one who has not spent days and weeks on the broad expanse of waters, can form only an inadequate idea of the companionship which those in one ship feel for those in another, even while they are miles apart. Though the crew of the Young America had been shut out from society only about three days, they had already begun to realize this craving for association—this desire to see other people and be conscious of their existence. ”

“ The story includes the experience of the officers and crew of the Young America, eighty-seven in number, though, of course, only a few of them can appear as prominent actors. As the ship has a little world, with all the elements of good and evil, within her wooden walls, the story of the individual will necessarily be interwoven with that of the mass; and the history of "The Chain League," in the present volume, of which Shuffles is the hero, will, it is hoped, convey an instructive lesson to young men who are disposed to rebel against reasonable discipline and authority. ”

“ THE YOUNG AMERICA MUTINY.
It was impossible for the advocates of the mutiny to determine what success had attended their efforts, when the crew were piped to supper. Howe and Little were delighted to find the work in which they were interested progressing so finely. Nearly the whole crew were arrayed against the new captain, and in half an hour the grand explosion would take place. Not more than twenty of the students were expected to respond to the boatswain's call to get under way, and it would be impossible to go to sea. ”

“ They were the twelve runaways who had been transferred to the consort. Little had succeeded in inducing them to engage in the plot, but the rest of the crew would not follow their vicious example, even with the assurance that the mutiny was general on board of the ship. Under these circumstances, none of the crew of the Josephine could be spared for service in the Young America, and the boat returned without them. The principal decided that the ship could be handled with the available force, which might include a portion of the cooks and stewards, some of whom were sailors. ”

“ Shuffles had coined the expression himself, while at the Brockway Academy, and introduced it on board the ship. Without concealment or palliation, they were bad boys. By the discipline of the ship they were kept in good order, and compelled to perform their duties.
As in every community of men or boys, where persons of kindred tastes find each other out, the bad boys in the Young America had discovered those of like tendencies, and a bond of sympathy and association had been established among them. ”

“ For eighteen hours, all hands, even including the two women, had labored incessantly at the pumps and the buckets, to keep the ship afloat. They were utterly worn out when they discovered the Young America, were on the point of abandoning their efforts in despair, and taking to the boats, in which most of them would probably have perished. ”

“ It was generally understood that the third lieutenant of the Young America was a fighting character, and that he could whip any officer or seaman in the ship, though his prowess had not been practically demonstrated. ”

“ Lowington believed that the students of the Academy Ship would be as safe on board the Young {245} America as they would on shore. He had taken a great deal of pains to demonstrate his theory to parents, and though he often failed, he often succeeded. The Young America had just passed through one of the severest gales of the year, and in cruising for the next three years, she would hardly encounter a more terrific storm. ”

“ I hope we shall have an opportunity to go on board of her."
"I hope we shall; but that is hardly to be expected."
"They do not exhibit her when she is in English waters, but I think they do when she is abroad."
"All ready to moor ship, Mr. Terrill," said Paul, as the Young America gave the signal.
The Josephine ran up to a point near the ship, and within a couple of cables' length of the royal squadron let go her anchor. Port officers came on board, and explained the harbor regulations; among them, one whose duty it was to determine the amount due the pilot. ”

“ Young Lowington had a taste for the sea, and his father finally procured a midshipman's warrant for him to enter the navy. The strict discipline of a ship of war proved to be the "one thing needful" for the reformation of the wild youth; and he not only became a steady young man, but a hard student and an accomplished officer. The navy made a man of him, as it has of hundreds of the sons of rich men, demoralized by idleness and the absence of a reasonable ambition. ”

“ Humanity won—won through that Master Spirit. That Master Literary Spirit, says another great woman, has “won the hearts of the women of the world.” She not only “walked like a benediction of her God amid the desolate, the stricken, the hungry and despairing,” but she walked and talked and lived “in pulses stirred to generosity.” Her pathos of sentiment and elegance of diction won the hearts of the American people, won Congress, won the President, won the Red Cross for America. ”

“ Clara Barton. The soldier is lost in the citizen. Clara Barton.
The proudest of America’s sons have struggled for the honors of a soldier’s name. Clara Barton.
Their glory, bright as it shone in war, is out-lustered by the nobleness of their lives in peace. Clara Barton.
I shall never take to myself more honesty of purpose, faithfulness of zeal, nor patriotism, than I award to another. Clara Barton.
What can be added to the glory of a nation whose citizens are its soldiers? Whose warriors, armed and mighty,—spring from its bosom in the hour of need, and peacefully retire when the need is over. ”

“ HEAVING THE LOG. Return to Table of Contents
The Young America, under topsails and top-gallant sails, was making about ten knots an hour. After passing the last island in the bay, she was headed to the south-east, which brought the wind over the starboard quarter. The ship was of the clipper class, though not as sharp as many of this model. It was found that her sailing ability was excellent, and Mr. Lowington and Mr. Fluxion expressed much satisfaction at her performance, both in respect of speed and weatherly qualities. ”

“ You have been very kind, but we must not tax your hospitality further. We want to get back to America.”
“And I say you shall not go!” fairly shouted the captain. “I am not going back to the United States until I come again with a fleet that will destroy all their ships!” ”

“ In March of the following year the ship was at anchor in Brockway harbor, ready to receive her juvenile crew. {27}
CHAPTER II. THE YOUNG AMERICA. Return to Table of Contents
With Mr. Lowington, the Academy Ship, which was the name he usually applied to the idea he had matured, and thus far carried into effect, was not a speculation; he did not intend to see how much money could be made by the scheme. It was an experiment in the education of rich men's sons, for only rich men could pay for scholarships in such an expensive institution. ”

“ Efface from memory the twenty, or fewer, immortals of Carthage, of Greece, of Rome, of Italy, of France, of Germany, of England, of America, then in the centuries hence over the tomb of every such nation only could be written “Nation Unknown.” In all the world destroy a score of “the Immortals” respectively in religion, in literature, in science, in art, in the heroic,—a hundred names and their influence,—and wealth greater to the human race shall have been destroyed than if were destroyed every public structure possessed by one billion six hundred millions of people now living. ”

“ Between ninety and one hundred per cent of the seamen of the enlarged navy were American born. The most of them were of that fine type of young men, educated and intelligent, who become, a little later, of consequence in their communities. In their training the fact that they had had no “sea legs” in their ancestry, or in their own minds and hearts, did not seem to matter in the least. They took to the training and to the life on the sea-washed, rolling decks of destroyers, chasers and other craft as ducks take to water. ”

“ Nothing so much as the dependence of one seaman [Pg 77] upon another, in the hour of shipwreck and disaster, unites the seamen of all nations in one fraternity. Young gentlemen, you have done something for your ship, and something for your country; for every true American feels proud and happy when he learns that an American vessel has saved even a single shipwrecked mariner. ”

“ Upon one occasion, [Pg 61] many years ago, when the question of increasing the United States Navy was under discussion by Congress, a rough western member, opposed to the measure, stated that his section of the country could supply droves of young officers whenever they were needed. The United States Government must have "corralled" lots of youngsters, without regard to their fitness or capacity, to send on board the ships of war during our civil conflict. ”

“ Klauss had really saved their lives. “We are only doing this,” Bob’s uncle went on, “to protect ourselves. If you would agree to set us ashore, or on some vessel that would take us to America——”
“No—no! You must not go!” screamed the commander wildly.
“Then we cannot release you,” said Mr. Sheldon firmly. “But understand, we mean you no harm, and as soon as we have landed we will restore your liberty—or allow your friends to do it for us. Then you may do as you please with your boat!”
Dr. Klauss struggled as only a madman can, but the chains were too strong. He could not escape. ”

“ As Europe loosed its hold upon the earlier arts of Greece and Rome, was dismembered, and was for centuries plunged in darkness by the incursions and dispersal of barbarians, and then, as it revived, developed a new artistic sense and greater strength, so America passed through a precisely similar ordeal.
Two thousand years ago—possibly many more—art and civilization existed here, and continued to expand until Europeans came and checked their farther growth. America is not even singular in this, that a broad chasm divides the old from the new. ”

“ From all over the country, Mid-Western and coastal regions alike, young men began to pour into the naval recruiting stations, and it is well within the truth to say that the majority of them came from homes and from regions in which the navy had hardly been even mentioned or thought about by any one from year’s end to year’s end. Moreover, they were mainly men of old American stock. The navy for this war did not become a fused mass of nationalities, as the army did, but returned to a condition even more thoroughly native-American than it had recently shown. ”

“ But above all, what this Congress can be remembered for is opening the way to a new American revolution--a peaceful revolution in which power was turned back to the people--in which government at all levels was refreshed and renewed and made truly responsive. This can be a revolution as profound, as far-reaching, as exciting as that first revolution almost 200 years ago--and it can mean that just 5 years from now America will enter its third century as a young nation new in spirit, with all the vigor and the freshness with which it began its first century. ”

“ When the people of the United States had finally discovered that patience ceased to be a virtue, that the time was arrived when we as a nation should protect our own seamen against Great Britain’s press-gangs, my uncle and cousins decided that the good ship America should take part in the struggle, by teaching the Britishers a much needed lesson at the same time that she brought in many dollars to her owners. ”

“ The second mate was on deck, but about half-asleep, while one of the Waring’s original crew was at the wheel, and two of the prize seamen were on duty near the bow. Taking the hatchet which he used in splitting wood for the galley stove, the negro killed the prize captain and the two mates, when the Confederate seamen surrendered and agreed to help work the ship back to New York. There was no one on board who understood navigation, but the negro knew enough to lay a course that would bring “the broadside of America in sight,” and after that he followed the coast until he reached New York. ”