ea of the requirements in either case
may be gained by reading the articles headed "The Nautical School of
New York City," in No. 35, Vol. 8, and "Uncle Sam's Ships," in No. 18,
Vol. 10. The school-ship boys serve but two years, while the naval
apprentices remain until they reach the age of twenty-one, unless sooner
discharged for misbehavior or disability.

134.--1. In military or naval parlance, a ration is a portion or fixed
allowance of provisions, drink and forage, assigned to a soldier in the
army or a sailor in the navy, for his daily subsistence. Its component
parts are established by law, but may be varied by the Secretary of War
or of the Navy; or, when necessary, by the senior officer present in
command. The latter may also diminish the allowance, in case of
necessity, but of course the persons whose allowance is thus lessened
are reimbursed according to the scale of prices established at the time
of such diminution. 2. The regulation chest measurement required of a
seventeen-year-old applicant for admission on a training-ship is 29
inches.

F.B.H., MIDSHIPMAN and W.H.E.--1. As there are but two _schoolships_
in the United States, and none but New York and Pennsylvania boys are
admitted on them, non-residents' applications for enlistment would not
be considered under any circumstances. Boys desiring to enter the U.S.
navy can do so by enlisting on a _training_ ship, which is a government
institution, and intended as a means of fitting our youth to perform the
duties of sailors and petty officers in the regular navy. The schoolship
boys, on the other hand, are trained for the merchant service. The Chief
of the Bureau of Equipment and recruiting, Navy Department, Washington,
D.C., is the one to whom all applications for enlistment on the training
ships should be made. 2. No premium is offered for U.S. pennies coined
in 1858.

GENERAL NAPOLEON.--1. A graduate of the schoolship Saratoga might be
able to obtain an appointment as quartermaster on an ocean steamship
at a salary of about $30 per month. The other officers on these vessels
are shipped on the other side of the Atlantic, and have to show a
certificate of service before being appointed as mates or to any other
official position. The schoolship boys should experience but little
trouble in getting some minor berths on coastwise vessels or other
crafts sailing under American colors. The chief idea in establishing
the two schoolships, St. Mary's and Sarato