PARLIAMENT DAY BY DAY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12561, 14 July 1910, Page 5

PARLIAMENT DAY BY DAY.

A N. 2. TRAINING SHIP.

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter.)

WELLINGTON, July 13

An interesting reply to a question was given in the House to-day by the Minister for Marine, who said: " The Government (has already approached the Imperial autiioritiss in regard to obtaining a larger and more suitable vessel for a training-ship, when it wa^ advised by the Admiralty that it had no woode?i ships which are healthy enough to satisfy modern hygienic requirements, and that the iron and steel ships of which the modern Navies are composed are not suitable at all in the same degree for housing anl training boys. The only available ships at all suitable which the Admiralty had were some'second-class cruis 'er. c; of the Apollo Class, and it would cost about £14., 000 to repair and make ono of thase fit "for i/he boys, but it would not be possible to accommodate more than 115 boys, in addition to a suitable crew. The Admiralty added that in the case of the Royal Navy it has been found necessary to build barracks on shore to accommodate the seamen and boys, and that 10 or 12 training ships which vere full a few years ago have, except one, which is temporarily retained, all been abandoned and their complements transferred to tho shore, and that the same process is gradually going on in the casa of ships lent for training establishments for the Mercantile Marine. So far tha Amokun, which accommodates 60 boys, has been able to take all that have applied for admission, and in no case have applicants had to wait long for vacancies on the ship. Should it be found in future that more boys are offering tha,nj thie ship can take, I think the best plan would be to build barracks on shore fo- the training, which can be given there, and keep the Amokura or other small ship to take them to sea in batches for sea trapning."