West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1880-02-21
West India Docks

You approach the West India Docks
through the Great Eastern Railway Com
pany's terminus ut Fenchurch street: and
nowhere in England are railway appoint
ments more abominable. Greasy platforms
under rickety sheds; trains like that ''string
of secondhand collins" in which Artemus
Ward travelled to the south; servants who
look as If they had been rugged out at ran
dom by contract with the second hand slop-
dealers in Houndsditch. The mixture of
your fellow passenger is picturesque, though
you may be surprised 10 meet most OF them
In first-class carriages; and already you are
conscious of some reflections OF the sunshine
OF Eastern lands. The diamond that adorns
the middle finger of that shipbroker oppos-
lite has barbaric look; and the talk of the
gentleman in shaggy pilot cloth, with the
slight gold circlsts In his rosy ear IS of reefs
In the Red Sea and the bars of Chinese riv-
ers. 1t is characteristic by the way that
he presses full favored MANILA ON the
good-humored woman who is Rugged under
his arm and who is evidently his lawful
wife; while as for the lady, she bites the
end of the cigar as il she were used TO il,
and laughingly proceeds to light the weed
at her lords. The steep descent from the
platform of the dock station is like diving
down the companion hatch into the fore
castle, except that you emerge into space
and comparative light. The sun is blinking
feebly through watery fog, and as yet the
scene is intensely British. There is cease
less roll OF heavy traffic on the thorough
fares; the driver of the trucks and wagons
and frollies are swearing with Anglo Saxon
energy as they choke in the gulf stream be-
fore the narrow bridges; there are gangs of
laborers busy under the cranes that creak
hoarsely from the dock lofts overhead As
you pass the gates where the policeman
stand sentinel, the first appearances are de-
cidedly depressing. Considering the damp
that pervades the murky atmosphere. YOU
do not wonder that the adjacent public
houses are doing a lively trade. Dimlv
through the veil of vapor you distinguish
the masts and spars of the tier of shipping,
while the solid cordage of their riggings
shows like the delicate tracery work in a
cobweb.
But, in connection with the East, what
strikes ore most in the docks NOWADAYS
especially in the Victoria Docks-is the en-
ormous number of Oriental seaman. ALI
the steamers passing through the Suez Canal
are manned by crews OF Lascars; and the
Canal and the Lascars together have wrought
complete revolution iii the Eastern traffic
Within the memory of man il has passed
through three distinct stages First were
the golden days of the East India Company's
navy, when happy officials were shaking
Tie pagoda tree, and freights OF priceless
value were being shipped from country
that was popularity believed an FL Dorado
The very pickings of the trade were SO val
Gable that a captain could gam a compel
ency in a single trip; and we believe that,
after making the fortune that three VOYAGES
insured him, he was compelled to retire in
favor of his Juniors The came Waghorn and
his exploration of the Overland route, and
the establishingo the Peninsular and Orient
al Company. The men who used TO furnish
their cabins sumptuously for the long vow
age around the Cane, who used to victual
themselves with all manner of private de-
hcacies and lay in cases of wine and casks
OF aerated waters, We're precisely those 10
whom time seemed valuable and who did
not grudge the prices of the new route. The
Peninsular and Oriental Company for years
had a monopoly of aristocratic business:
and, 1t may be said. they well deserved il.
III they charged hig they gave value for
the money in the sha of swift and pune
tual passages, with every reasonable luxury.
The passage paid, you travelled en- grand
sefgneur. 1t gladdened the heart of the
shareholder after the railway had been
opened across the Isthmus, to see the crowds
OF passengers at the meeting of the tides
that overfiowed the hotel accommodation of
Alexandra. And, though their vessels
were built for the accommodation of pass
engers, what freight they carried-in handy
hItle packages OF silks and muslins-Was
extremely valuable. M. Lesseps, in his
character OF cosmopolitan benefactor knock
sd that lucrative monopoly on the head.
Henceforth the company had to compete
with rival associations whose steamers had
been built especially for the canal trade.
1T has been forced TO rebuild its fleets. re-
duce its charges, cut down the salaries and
pay OF its employees, and man its ships with
Lascars on both sides of the IsthAus The
public generally have cause 10 be grateful.
except for the single drawback that the
comfortable old paddle boats are done away
with. II must be allowed, however, that
several of the newest vessels, such as the
kaIser-i Hind, with her saloon that can dine
lSOpassengers, herspacious sleeping cabins,
and her ten bath rooms, are mapnificent
And the Kaiser, for example, lis built to
carry 5000 tons of cargo without in any
way affecting her speed. 1t used to be SAID
that the bascars were irritable and revenge.
ful, 80 that they were generally kept in a
minority in the crew. So far, However. it
has been found in practice that they are
sober and amenable to discipline. Bet
the first thing done with them is to deprive
them Of the knives they carry. They are
oerthed tier over tier in great saloon i'm the
iorecaslle, screened Off from the quarter
master cabins behiRd by canvas that may
De raised Tor purposes OF supervision. They
include men Of ali the manlier Indian races
oikhs, Pathans, and Afghans among the
Test-aDd no fewer than IS, 600 of them
have been passed already through the books
OIL the Peninsulu aRd Oriental Company
alone