aintenance of
telegraph and telephone lines; planting of land and submarine mines;
handling of torpedoes; erection and demolition of bridges; building of
roads; knotting and splicing of ropes; handling of heavy weights;
fitting of gun-gear and the various methods of slinging and transporting
ordnance, and the mounting in suitable shore positions of guns of 3, 5,
and 6 inch caliber.

In their service on battleships and cruisers, the marines form a part of
the ship's complement for battle, manning the 6-inch, 5-inch, 3-inch,
and 6-pounder guns of the intermediate and secondary batteries. They are
trained and fully equipped for instant service as landing-parties for
duty on shore.

Great mobility and facilities for quick action are required of the
marines, and they must be kept in readiness to move at a moment's notice
and be prepared for service in any climate. They have seen service in
Egypt, Algiers, Tripoli, Mexico, China, Japan, Korea, Cuba, Porto Rico,
Panama, Nicaragua, Santo Domingo, Formosa, Sumatra, Hawaii, Samoa, Guam,
Alaska, and the Philippine Islands.

Lieutenant P. N. O'Bannon, of the Marine Corps, hoisted the first
American flag ever flown over a fortress of the Old World when Derne, a
Tripolitan stronghold, was taken by assault on April 27, 1805. The first
regulars who entered the fortress of Chapultepec, in Mexico City, when
it was taken by storm on September 13, 1847, were marines, under command
of Major Levi Twigg. Under command of Robert E. Lee, later commanding
the Confederate Army, marines captured John Brown at Harper's Ferry, in
1859. A battalion of marines under Captain John L. Broome, occupied New
Orleans upon its surrender, and hoisted the American flag on the custom
house, April 29, 1862. A battalion of marines, 646 officers and men,
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel R. W. Huntington, was the first American
force that landed in Cuba in 1898, when it established a base for
Admiral Sampson's fleet at Guantanamo, holding their position against
Spanish regulars who were said to number 7,000.

The United States Marines of the battleship _Oregon_, Captain John T.
Myers commanding, were the first American troops to enter Peking just
before the Boxer insurrection broke out in 1900. Lieutenant-Colonel
Neville's marines were the first ashore at Vera Cruz in April, 1914.

It will thus be seen that the Marine Corps of the navy is a highly
useful organization, and that it has played a large part in carry