The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-10-31
LIN the SfeerAge.

III thO hItOOhhbVs
One who has made trip in the steer
age of an ocean steamer gives us some
idea of its discomforts He says aftel
passing the doctor we went below to ar.
range our possessions, and the first mea
on board was supplied us. With great
can each, the steward and his assistant
came round and ladled out soup to al
who called for it. There is oatmeal and
pearl barley in it, which thickens il
slightly, otherwise it is no better thar
the sonp l have seen supplied in the
French prisons. Afterwards, in another
great can, the meat was brought down
cut up into slices and Jumps, and served
by the aid of a fork and fingers. A dirty
hand full of potatoes was thrust toward
me. They were more filthy than when
dragged out Ut mother earth. L did not
wonder when subsequently l saw the
way in which they were prepared. A
sack of potatoes was hauled up from the
stores, dragged to the galley, emptied
into the copper, when cooked they were
emptied back into the same sack and
dragged down to the steerage ana turned
into the cans for serving out. 1 have
seen horses and hounds in England
served more decently than the emigrants
were, and what makes this worse is that
in many cases the food was good and
there was wasteful supply of it, but
the cooking and serving out made each
meal repulsive to the most hardened
stomach. Tea was served out in the
steerage shortly after six o'clock. The
tea was simply without taste, but with a
large amount of grease floating On the
top of the hot water which composed it.
The butter was good, but the bread very
bad and sour, and so it continued all
during the voyage, for the very good
reason that the bakers were always
drunk and frequently fighting in the
galley.
1t was late at night, and we were well
down the channel before l summoned up
courage to go "forrad" and make my
way down to the steerage. At the bot
tom of the stairs, gasped for breath.
1 made my way to my berth, and, climb
ing in, laid down on my rugs 1t was
horrible, simply uncomfortable. Touching
me on each side were two of the mass of
snoring, groaning, perspiring humanity.
could not contemplate sleep; thought,
after q moment, that l must be suffo-
eating, and flew to the deck, where 1
passed the night under.the cover of the
hurricane deck forward.
The next morning we were well out
at sea. l early took my can to the pump
to obtain my allotted three quarts of
water. A washing-place was provided
in the latrines, but as they were always
crowded, a good many al .tresco toilets
were made on deck. found my water
can worthless; but this did not 1nateri-
ally matter, as there was no difficulty in
obtaining water at any time from the
pumps, at which sailor was always
placed.
Breakfast was coffee (sweet, dirty,
greasy water), sour bread and butter.
The morning was one of horrors the
demon of seasickpess was abroad, and
men, women and children lay on the
deck Ito which they were all banished
for an hour after breakfast, that the
sailors might ventilate and sweep the
steerages) like animals, all sense of shame
or decency lost in the agony they en-
dured
At Queenstown we took in some eighty
passengers, all boisterous and many
drunk; but only short delay ensued,
for everything that seamanship, steam,
and sail can do were TO be brought to
bear on this trip, as many heavy bets
were pending in Liverpool on the result
of it as to speed. Shortly after getting
outside Queenstown we were driven aft
and our tickets collected, search at the
same time being made for stowaways,"
three boys and one man being found, and
set to work their passage. The demon
of sea-sickness was soon abroad, the next
day, worse than ever. Few of the pas
sehgers were hardy enough to take din
ner that day. One meal was the same
as another. The provisions, in many
cases good and wholesome, and in ample
quantity, but spoiled by the want of
proper cookery, was served out as if to
pigs. One of the officers of the ship
said to me, afterward: Before l could
touch food served out like that, would
lie down and die of starvation" For
two days tried the experiment; hunger
could not force me to eat but after that
1 thought l had done enough to prove
personally what l write about. The
possession of gold everywhere inspires
respect, and 1 am glad that l was not
only able to live well myself, but also
that l could procure many " comforts "
lOI uelpleSS WOIncli dllu ChlluIeH.
1t was some days before l ventured
down the aft steerage devoted to married
couples and single women. According
to the contract, expected to find them
in separate rooms, but such was not the
case. With the exception that their
steerage was on the first deck, it was the
enlarged counterpart of the forward one.
On one side were the married couples
berths on the other side the single wo-
mems; not the slightest separation be-
tween them not even curtain or screen
at the little passages between the berths,
which at least would have allowed the
single women to dress in semi-privscy.
Consequently, all the decent women did
not remove their dresses during the voy-
age, as the married men and the stewards
would be passing about at all hours.
VENTILATION OF SHoPs.-I am well