A Gunner Aboard the "Yankee"

In the execution of its purpose to give educational value and moral worth to the recreational activities of the boyhood of America, the leaders of the Boy Scout Movement quickly learned that to effectively carry out its program, the boy must be influenced not only in his out-of-door life but also in the diversions of his other leisure moments. It is at such times that the boy is captured by the tales of daring enterprises and adventurous good times. What now is needful is not that his taste should be thwarted but trained. There should constantly be presented to him the books the boy likes best, yet always the books that will be best for the boy. As a natter of fact, however, the boy's taste is being constantly vitiated and exploited by the great mass of cheap juvenile literature.

To help anxiously concerned parents and educators to meet this grave peril, the Library Commission of the Boy Scouts of America has been organized. EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY is the result of their labors. All the books chosen have been approved by them. The Commission is composed of the following members: George F. Bowerman, Librarian, Public Library of the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.; Harrison W. Graver, Librarian, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Claude G. Leland, Superintendent, Bureau of Libraries, Board of Education, New York City; Edward F. Stevens, Librarian, Pratt Institute Free Library, Brooklyn, New York; together with the Editorial Board of our Movement, William D. Murray, George D. Pratt and Frank Presbrey, with Franklin K. Mathiews. Chief Scout Librarian, as Secretary.

In selecting the books, the Commission has chosen only such as are of interest to boys, the first twenty-five being either works of fiction or stirring stories of adventurous experiences. In later lists, books of a more serious sort will be included. It is hoped that as many as twenty-five may be added to the Library each year.

Thanks are due the several publishers who have helped to inaugurate this new department of our work. Without their co-operation in making available for popular priced editions some of the best books ever published for boys, the promotion of EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY would have been impossible.

We wish, too, to express our heartiest gratitude to the Library Commission, who, without compensation, have placed their vast experience and immense resources at the service of our Movement.

The Commission invites suggestions as to future books to be included in the Library. Librarians, teachers, parents, and all others interested in welfare work for boys, can render a unique service by forwarding to National Headquarters lists of such books as in their judgment would be suitable for EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY.

Signed

Chief Scout Executive.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Acknowledgements are due to J. Harper Skillen, Stewart Flagg, George Yardley, W.G. Wood, and E. Howe Stockwell for the use of photographs; and to C.B. Hayward and Allan H. Seaman for the use of notes and diaries.

[Illustration: THE NAVAL RESERVES LEAVING NEW YORK--GOING OFF IN THE TUGBOAT TO MAN THE "YANKEE".]

THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY

RUSSELL DOUBLEDAY

NUMBER FIVE OF THE AFTER PORT GUN OF THE YANKEE

TO THE NAVAL RESERVE ORGANIZATIONS

THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, WHO HAVE MADE SUCH

AN ENVIABLE RECORD DURING THE SPANISH-AMERICAN

WAR AND BEFORE WHOM SUCH A

GLORIOUS FUTURE

OPENS AUTHOR'S FOREWORD

1898 April 1917

The successors of the crew of the "Yankee" are now "somewhere in the service." The boys of the First Battalion New York Naval Militia were just as eager to get to sea in the service of Uncle Sam to do their part for the great cause, as we were in the Spring of '98.

The old frigate "Granite State" (formerly the New Hampshire), living through three wars, has resounded to the tramp of hundreds of tars in the making. She is the school ship, the home ship of the First Battalion. Down her gangways went most of the "Yankee's" crew and between her massive decks they returned after their job was done.