The young naval captain

By Captain Ralph Bonehill
Author of With Taylor on the Rio Grande, Boys of the Fort, The Tour of the Zero Club, etc.
THOMPSON & THOMAS CHICAGO
Copyrighted 1902 By THOMPSON & THOMAS
My object in writing this imaginary tale of a war of all nations in years to come has been two-fold.
In the first place, I wished to draw the attention of my young readers to the fact that naval science, as well as science in all other branches, is making wonderful strides, and that for the future hardly anything seems impossible. In years gone by electric lights, the telephone and telegraph, not to mention wireless telegraphy, navigable balloons, and even our railroad trains would have been laughed at as impossibilities. Yet to-day we have all these things, and many others equally wonderful, and each day we look forward to something even more startling.
In the second place, I wished to draw attention to the fact that our country is growing with marvelous rapidity. From thirteen States we have multiplied to several times that number, and our flag waves from the coast of Maine in the East to the coast of Luzon in the West, and from Alaska in the North to Texas and Porto Rico in the South. What a truly great country it is, and what glorious freedom it grants to millions upon millions of people! In these days it is truly worth while to be an American, and in the days to come the honor will probably be even greater.
There is an important lesson to be learned from all this, and I would that every lad who reads these lines would take that lesson to heart. The opportunities for boys and young men were never greater than they are to-day. The future lies with you, and you can make of it, and of our grand country, what you will. The path to success is open to rich and to poor alike, and even the humble rail-splitter or the canal-boat boy can become President. Will you take hold of that opportunity or will you let it slip by?
Captain Ralph Bonehill.