The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-12-15
ETC., ETC.. ETC.. ETC., Etc. Etc.
Nor the Rreninn Tekenrnph.

FOr he EUening Telegraph.
Since the time waen men first went down TO
the sea In ships the sailor has been pet subject
for the study and speculation of young and old
and of both sexes. There appears to be a sort of
romantic halo thrown around the lives Of those
who face the storms and terrors of the deep,
that makes one irreslstibly drawn towards
them. In childhood who has not had the
longing for life on the ocean, where every
thing tells OF the great God of nature, and all
partakes of the sublime and infinite Who has
not eagerly sought for all that relates to the
sailors life, TO its hardships and its pleasures,
to the exciting incidents in storm and ship
wreck? Who has not, in his young, impressible
years, devoured with teverlsh interest the his
tories of the wonderful careers of the hardened,
yet gallant robbers OF the sea, or the wander
ings upon strange and unknown shores of the
shipwrecked mariner. Robinson Crusoe, the
castaway, is but a sample of the exciting tales
that are so dear to the youthful mind. But as we
read those high-colored accounts of The SAILORS
LIFE, touched with the rich coloring of fancy,
and embelllshed with all the powerful aids of
rhetoric, we can gain bat a faint appreciation
of the real life on board ship, such as it is and has
been In nineteen-twenteths of the ships that
sail the ocean. On land man is ourbed by the
presence OF his fellow. The dread penalty of
the law hangs over his head like the sword of
Damocles, ana he dare not swerve from the
path of jusrice without danger OF its falling
upon his gully head. The restraints of society,
also, aid in keeping the passions of men within
bounds He dare not commit acts of open in
justice, when there are so many jealous eyes
watching his actions-when there are so
many hands ready to interfere in the
cause OF right and Law. In the great
mass of combatant humanity he is but unit
and he is self-conscious of it. But when he bids
farewell to the shore-wheu the dim, hazy out-
line of the solid earth looms family up in the
far, far distance, and the green water changes
to the clear that tells of vast depths and of
the separation from the world that is so dear to
the true sailors heart-it is then, when in their
own little world, and under no government but
that of the Almighty, that the true impulses
and passions of men, and especially men in
authority, show themselves, untrammelled by law
and society's restraints. Then it is that the poor
sailor, in his dependent position, feels the
scourge of the cruel and heartless officer
who may be placed above him. Then it is that
the scales are removed from the eyes Of the
unin,tiated, and the golden halo of romance is
dissipated by the horrid reality.
Reforms In Sea Life.
l. is not many years since the life of the
sailor was far more arduous, far more brutal in
its cruel hardships, than it is at present Then
the cat-o-nine tails hourished in the different
navies, and the men were beaten like dogs, and
self-respect was utterly deadened in their
breasts. Indeed, in our own navy, within the
life OF the present generation, the American
man-o'-war's man has been "spread-eagled,n
and his back lacerated with the lash. But now,
thanks to the efforts of enlightened reformers,
all that has been done away with. The lash is
heard no more IN our navies, or even in our
merchantmen. And now, even greater clog
on the onward wheel of progress has been
thrust aside. The grog has been dashed way
from the sailors lips, and new step taken in
the way of reform that, for power and inAu
ence, is greater than all others.
Jack Ashore.
But it is not Of the sailor as he is at sea that
we would more particularly dwell upon. 1t is
when he arrives at the END of his stormy voy-
ages, and, like the hying-fsh, fees from his
native element only to meet new dangers in
another. 1t is when his vessel casts its anchor
in port that Jacks real dangers begin. The
storm aud tempest the hidden rock and the
shark, are dangers that beset him but seldom.
But when he casts his lot among those who
should be his brothers, on the shore, then begins
his hardships and his trials. Before the anchor
has barely touched the bottom, and before the
ship is cleaned, the boat of the landshark is
alongside, and his fshy eyes are seen to look
ever the rail as he Is on his search for
his prey. Not that he cares for poor
Jack. Oh, no! not at all. He only
wants to relieve him of the care of his money,
and that in the shortest possible space of time.
He selects his victims. Like meek lambs they
are led to the slaughter. We will try to tell
how this is done. If we we're going to describe
the sailor boarding-house in the city of Gotham.
1t would give darker view of the sailors shore
life than in our own city, although here it is bad
enough. Within the past thirty years much has
been done to ameliorate the sailors condition
ashore as we will show hereafter; but stlll there
remains great work before u.s. But. to "return 10
our sheep"-the LAND-sHARK, or SAILORS
BOARDNG-HoUsE KEEPER, boards the shin.
and brings off his prey. There is no
resistance, and why? you ask. Because
he is like the fly in the web: there are toe
many threads that the sharks have wound
around him, until he is like Gulliver pound
down helpless, and at their mercy. These
Wretches, the land-sharks, are united together
sort of association or ring, for the better
carving out OF their infamous system o.
plumber upon the defenSeless sailor. They