ded from the Naval Reserve
receiving ship "New Hampshire," lying at a dock in the East River, to a
number of young men, members of the Naval Militia, residing in New York
City. These summons contained simply a request to report at once on
board the ship, but they resulted in a most curious and interesting
transformation--in fact, they formed the foundation of a chain of events
which was destined to amalgamate into a common grade--that of a naval
bluejacket--several hundred young Americans, who, in their natural
characters, were sons of rich men and of men of moderate means, of
doctors and lawyers and brokers and clerks and bookkeepers, and of all
sorts and conditions of respectable citizens. Patriotism was the
incentive which called these youths of various stations together, and
sheer love of country and the courage to fight her battles formed the
cement which bound them cheerfully to their duty. To fight for pay and
as a profession is one thing; to offer your freedom and your life, to
endure discomforts and actual hardships, to risk health in a
fever-stricken foreign country, and to sacrifice settled ambition for
mere patriotism, is another. It is the latter which the Volunteer Naval
Reserve of the United States has done, and every American citizen with a
drop of honest blood in his veins will surely give the organization the
praise it so richly deserves.

On the third of May, while Cervera's whereabouts was still an absorbing
mystery, the "Yankee" (an auxiliary cruiser, converted from the
steamship "El Nort") went into commission at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She
was manned entirely, save for the captain, executive officer, navigator,
paymaster, and the marine guard, by members of the New York State Naval
Militia. For four months she remained in commission, weaving the threads
of a glorious record which will ever redound to the credit and honor of
the Volunteer Naval Reserve. Truth is ever stranger than fiction, and
the simple story of the boys of the gallant "Yankee," as set forth in
the diary of Number Five of the After Port Gun, should appeal to the
heart of every reader in this great country of ours--a country made
grander and better and more potent in the world's history by the
achievements of such brave lads as those who formed the crew of the
"Yankee." Number Five's diary was written simply for his family, but the
fame gained by the "Yankee" leads the publishers to believe that it will
prove interesting to America