By the middle of June the company was in fairish shape in regard to uniform and equipment, but was shy of flat caps. On the evening of June 24 the first petty officers were appointed, the selections being awaited with the keenest curiosity. The appointees were: First Class—Boatswain’s Mate, Daniel S. Morrell; Gunner’s Mate, Louis B. Wilson. Second Class—Boatswain’s Mate, Edward H. Crowell; Gunner’s Mate, Walter L. Meek; Quartermasters, Thomas S. Cheney and Edwin R. Gilbert. Third Class—Gunner’s Mate, Charles D. Rice; Coxswains, Robert C. Northam, Frank H. Peltier and Herman F. Cuntz, and Bugler Herbert G. Bissell. On the same June evening, orders were read to stand by for the division’s first cruise. That duty was on the U. S. S. Cincinnati, a protected cruiser. ❦ COURSE ONE ❦ THE CINCINNATI At 6:45 Saturday morning, July 11, the division to the number of forty-six entrained for New Haven and by 8 o’clock was on board the Cincinnati, as she lay off the breakwater. An hour later the cruiser weighed anchor and headed down the Sound, landing the divisions of the battalion on Gardiner’s Island, where they went into camp. Till late Sunday evening it was hard work and plenty of it, but the mettle of the division was shown in the test. Part of Sunday evening was spent in “hustling ice,” as one member expressed it in a letter. Near by were naval militiamen from Rhode Island and New York. Monday morning found the division embarking for the Cincinnati, on which instruction was given during the day in gun, fire and collision drills. For the great majority of the men it was their first real experience in work on a warship, and the novelty and excitement were fascinating. The following day there was drill in pulling boats with the new coxswains on their mettle. A couple of days more of life in camp and on the Cincinnati with good weather did much towards starting the men toward man-o’-war form, or so some of them began to think. Tanned faces, pipes and plug tobacco came into full evidence. For some it was, perhaps, a picnic in the open salt air, but an outing in which discipline was strictly preserved and much practical information was acquired. Thursday morning reveille was sounded at Camp McAdoo at 5 o’clock and simultaneously rain began to fall. After mess the battalion struck the tents, turned to on camp gear and transferred nine boatloads from the island to the Cincinnati. Most of the men were in water to their waists. Between the fresh and the salt they were not incompletely drenched, but their hearts were gay and when the boats were hove up they tailed on the falls with a will.