To the Mountaineers of the U.S.S. West Virginia -- Congratulations ! The Iron Man must hare found a happy home aboard since he has decided to shipover on the W.Va. for another one-year cruise. Winning the is coveted prize meant cooperation of all hands --retaining this trophy for general excellence in Athletics meant that the entire ship had to work together with every man doing his part and doing it better than any other man on any other ship in competition. Well done. Mountaineers. The final standing of competing ships is as follows:

Enlisted men of the first three pay grades, otherwise entitled to money allowance for quarters for dependents, will be credited with such allowances in their own right, the Navy Department has stated. This decision will simplify the status of enlisted men, since if they are receiving the allowance because of dependents, the nature of their own assignments will not affect payment of the allowance as long as quarters in kind are not provided.

Every ship must cooperate to train petty officers to meet the needs of the expanding Navy, the Navy Department emphasized recently in a letter sent to every ship and station. In spite of strenuous operating schedules, the department said, the greater part of the burden of training and rating men to meet existing and prospective shortages in all ratings must necessarily be borne by the forces afloat. "It is necessary," the department stated, "that every unit set up a concentrated training program to, train men as petty officers" and take steps "to assure that every man who is a graduate of a service school is placed in training for the rate for which the school prepared him. Each ship and station, large and small, must become a training center. From the non-rated men of today must come the petty officers of tomorrow. Every non-rated man must be considered potential petty officer material"

Tile Navy department announced that all enlisted men of the Naval Reserve on active duty will be retained for the period of the national emergency. This is in accordance with articles signed at the time of shipping into the Naval Reserve. The instructions were contained in ALNVA number 59, and was released by the Secretary- of the Navy. There are approximately 33,000 Naval Reservists on active duty with the U. S. Fleet.

Have you ever stopped to think of the enormous trust the Uncle Sam puts in you and you and you? You, the farm boy from Oklahoma; you, the cow-puncher from Texas; you, the city boy from New York; you the men from all the different walks and callings of this life; you, the men who wear the uniform of the United States Navy. The Navy takes you from civilian life, asks your pledged word, binds it with an oath to Almighty God, puts you into a uniform and immediately accepts you as one of her own. You are not only part of the Navy--You are the Navy!

Consider for a moment how casually you take the privilege of being able to walk unhindered and unchallenged through the great ship yards of the Navy! And why? Because you are good looking? Because your uncle is the mayor of your town? Because you know a man who knows a, man? Because you were the star half-back at Squeedunk? Not at all. It is because you wear the uniform of the United States Navy. You are somebody. But that is just the point. With too many people knowledge and power go to the head. They just can't stand prosperity. Being in the Navy means you are in the possession of a lot of information that is by no means common knowledge. Too many men get themselves into a frame of mind which can best he exemplified by the case of the little boy who lords it over his play mates because he is in the possession of certain information that they do not have--"I know something you don't know." Even if he never said another word he has made it painfully evident that there is some information aboard which should be discovered.

A closed mouth never got anyone into trouble, on the contrary it has earned for more than one man in this world the reputation for being very wise.-----------------------Pelican.

The following is a copy of a letter from a former service man to his son now in the service. It is worth the attention of every young man in the Navy.

"Dear Son:

I have wanted to say something to you in regard to the life you are about to enter.

"You will no doubt find a few things not to your liking. Everything will be new and strange; you will get homesick--that is natural and the best recommendation to Prove that we have been kind to you and that you have had a good home--you will also become lonesome and disgusted and you will want for sympathy. There are always a few fellows who expect to get the world for nothing, and they are chronic kickers. They would not be satisfied if Uncle Sam gave each of them a battleship for his own.

"I give you credit for having at least average intelligence but a little advice of the right kind should not be distasteful to you or come amiss. So my advice to you is, to cultivate the acquaintance of the boys who are satisfied with the Navy and who appreciate what the Navy is doing for them, who are trying to make themselves better, physically, morally, and mentally, so they will be fitted to step into a position in civilian life.

"Remember that you need the Navy infinitely more than the Navy needs you. Men are plentiful. Opportunities such as are given to you in the next year are only to be found in the UNITED STATES NAVY, and if you do not take advantage of this one and only chance, I am going to be sadly disappointed, and you are going to regret it to the last day you live.

The first thing you will be called upon to learn is discipline, which will probably come hard; you will, perhaps think as I did-that your Division Officer or petty officers have taken a personal dislike to you and are giving you the worst of it. Just forget it. You are just a small cog in the greatest machine in the world. At the same time do not underestimate the value of that little cog, for every tiny part of the machine must function properly or the machine is no good. So try and make the Navy and incidentally yourself, better for having a part of it.

"And now, my boy, I want to wish you luck. Just set aside 15 minutes a week and drop me a line. I assure your letters will mean a lot to me for I don't mind admitting to you that I will worry and perhaps lose a little sleep, wondering how you are coming along and hoping you are contented.

"Remember your mother, and try to do as she would have you do.

---------------------------------Your Dad."

'Way back when men were made of steel,
And sailing ships had wooden keel,
The Sabre flashed and cannon did peal
And Davie made room for recruits.


I saw the decks all slippery and red,
I saw the Bosun counting the dead;
And then the Cap'n bowing his head
As Davie received his recruits.


Some were the verterans of many a fight,
Some but young men pale with fright;
The' all were gay, free hearted and bright,
Still--Davie got the recruits.


Those were the days when sailors were men,
With everyone drinking their rum and gin;
And all their pasts were black with sin,
Yet Davie still got his recruits.


But men today who sail the seas,
Sleep in pajamas, say "thank you," and "please";
A shot of good licker unbuckles their knees--
Still Davie ain't short of recruits.
------Ace Holton, 5th Div.

That in the Kajoi Providence of Tibet, New Years is celebrated the first week in June? Men are asked to start the year off right by getting married ,at that time. Wonder if that has any bearing on America's June bride idea?

Sugar is made from bones in China. Bone sugar is considered a luxury and is only used by the very rich at the cost of $50 per ounce.

That seventeen men and two women were frozen to death a few years ago in a canyon approach to Death Valley while the temperature for the same day in Houston, Texas was 78 degrees.

That an American made axle grease was synthetically flavored and sold for butter to eskimos in 1927. The axle-grease-butter merchants were arrested and sent to prison.

That a rag picker in New York City found a wallet among rags he gathered in a tenement district. The wallet contained $18,000 in bills of large denominations. The dress, it was learned, had been worn by a female recluse who was buried in a potters field.

That a pencil sharpener was equiped with a tear gas thrower in Chicago. During a holdup, Mrs. Mae Idlekai was standing near her desk. She turned the crank as bandits approached the cashier. The turning of the crank also touched off an alarm system.-------D. J. M.

The Secretary of the Navy has announced that all mail sent and received from the recently acquired bases under the agreement with Great Britian will be subject to United States Censor. The bases involved will be Newfoundland, Bermuda, Trinidad, Jamaica, Santa Lucia, Antigua, the Bahamas, and British Guiana.