Connecticut western news., 1884-06-04
SAILORS SNUG HARBOR.
TUE HOME OF POOR JACK AS IT Is
 FOUND ON STATEN ISLAND.
How The Veteran Old Salts Enjoy Their Lnst
 Days Before Going AIoft.
[From the Century for June

lEIpul tuo NtlNull lbl 0hhts
 One portion of the basement, of the Sailors Home on Staten Island, that from which daylight is debarred, is given over to the blind men. Here they sit all day working, telling stories, or listening to some old mariner who, so crippled as to be unfit for work, is glad to read aloud to them for a few pence a pay. Under the caves of the western most building score of cripples are busygpon fancy netting and work-bas- kets. Looking out upon them from be- hind the iron bars of "the cage" is the only prisoner in the institution. His mates say he is neither ill nor demented, but is troubled with a complaint which Is as common among landsmen as among sailors. They describe it as ''pure cuss- edness." One of its symptoms was that upon arising in the morning he was in the habit of going from room to room and pulling the aged and decrepit mari ners out of bed and otherwise disturb ing the peace.
 Those who make baskets, mats, and nets are by no means the only artisans in the institution. Scattered through the building are men engaged in the con- struction of finely modelled miniature vessels, while others paint marine views on clam and other shells. This taste for art is carefully fostered by the gov ernor, who recently gave old Captain Davis carte-bIdnche to decorate the walls of the reception room with nauti- cal designs, sea-serpents, and other ma rine monsters; and through his instru- mentality at least one of the old masters has been placed in every room-in some cases two.
 Ranged side by side at long tables in a well-appointed dining-hall, the wealth er-beaten old salts are served by mum. Der of their comrades, selected by the governor especially for this service. There is no stint-no fixed quantity or ration beyond which an inmate may not go. The tables are loaded down with weil-selected, we'll cooked food, and it is pleasing sight to watch the fine old fellows as they "huckle to, so to speak, in dead earnest. That nice distinction that obtains on shipboard between the position of inmates of the cabin and the forecastle has no place here. Men who have Eeen disabled while serving before the mast sometimes find it difficult to comprehend this, and 1t is said that in- stances are by no means rare where new corners have shown an inclination to keep on the lee-side of the dining-room in deference to the presence of captains under which, they have served. They soon eutgrow this, however, and learn to sit at the table beside their former com. manders with composure. Thus it not infrequently happens that the once master of great ship finds himself in company with men who, during the tempest and the gale, were wont to do his bidding. When skies are clear and freshening breezes drive the prov through glistening seas, the great war ship strides haughtily past the peaceful merchantman or humble fishing-smack; but when clouds lower and tempests threaten, they seek alike the shelter of the same harbor, and ride side by side at aRchor as members of one common brotherhood. So at Snug Harbor the captain, the inmate of the galley, and Jack before the mast forget their former stations. Shattered by the same gales, they have dropped anchor here till the storms of life are past.