, 1884-11-13
CHINESE AS SAILORS.
What an Old Trading Captain HAS
to Say of Their Capabilities.


Capt Davis OF the steamship Pembroke.
shire has had years Of experience in trading
at Chinese ports, and has employed the Chi
nnmsn regularly on board his ship In variou,
capacities. In speaking OF the characteristic.
Of the Chinese whena hoat, he said yesterday
that they are unexcelled as iremen on board
steamers They work twelve hours out Of
twonty-four in the stokehole, where the tenn
perature averages over 100 degrees constantly.
The labor Of shoveling coal Is very severe.
As seamen on deck and aloft they are not 50
good. They have the physical strength to
pull on a rope but they are not sailors.
"How will they compare with Frenchmen
In that respectP was asked.
"They are not as good sailors, but they
have greater endurance
@Have they any pluckf7
@Plenty Of it in defending themselves
about decks. The white sailors do not i'm
pose on them aboard ship. They can take
their own part every time. II you compare
them in this respect with Frenchmen / should
say that in u stand-up fight the Chinaman
would knock out his opponent. But when
you come to man a ship with Chinese and
expect them to make a first-class crew, you
find yourself in a bad predicament. The
Chinese navy has ne show whatever against
the French. Their navy is composed OF two
'ANS' VI nAAl0t Ahc nun ht,ulntTo nLlu lud
junks. Tho junks are well represented by
the pictures you have seen in books Of
travel They are all armed with six or eight
guns each, but what can they dot So far they
have served as cofins for their crews, who
were drowned after they had surrendered.
Many OF the iron steamers were built In Eng
land. They were constructed ON excellent
principles, and are very fine ships. They
are armed with heavy modern guns. White
mel were engaged to train the crews. But
with all that the ships and the crews are not
a match for the great ironclads OF the French
feet. The number Of iron steamers in the
Chinese navy Is very large. They have
launched six or eight gunboats themselves at
Shanghai the past year, 70 my knowledge.
These boats were built under the direction Of
European and American naval architects.
They are first-class OF their kind, but they
are too small. China has no hope at sea-"
Are there many men among the croNsf1
mo. They have never had more than
three or four to a ship, say a master, d chief
officer, and a gunner. These nave been
gotten rid of rapidly the past year"
what do the Chinese sailors look likefn
The captain called TO a passing officer.
send one OF the Cinnamon here be said.
Soon n round-faced Celestial, clothed as II
just from a laundry, came t~rotting along and
stopped at the door Of the chart-room, where
he smiled very cheerfully and salutei by
bobbing his head down and punching his
RICH. fore finger up past the brim OF a blue
cloth cap. Then he stood still, with his knees
and toes turned In, his hands limp, and with
the knuckles TO the 'front.' and his shoulders
crowding his lungs very hard. The captain
laughed. The spectacle was comical.
"Are all the Chinese sailors like thatln
@He Is a very good Chinaman. Kong Asing
can give any white man on the ship a good
tussle IL forced to it."
"You have seen the Chinese troopsl1
~Yes. They are uniformed in the hues of
the rainbow, besides black and white. Imae-
inc 100 laundrymen in scarlet blouses and
royal-purple trousers drawn up in line. ad-
joining them a company in pure white, then
a company in bright green, and then one in
light blue, and you AVE u Chinese regiment
When they walk they lift up their feet like
cats In the snow. But in spite OF their pecul-
~iarities, they will make Il warm for tho
French on shore. Their number Is legion,
and II their officers have profited at all by
the Instructions they have received
in tho last twenty years, they will
make a good fight. 1 judge of their
pluck by what | have seen Of them. On
shore, in the open field, they viii have some
chance TO snow what they can do. They will
fight then as they do singly when forced to
it. In those miserable junks and in the small
steamers no one could hope TO do anything
but sink with colors flying"
"Do the Chinese still believe in the efficacy
of stinkpotsr.
II think not. 1t is one of the few Weapons
they have discarded as relics Of barbarism,
but there is no doubt but what they viii
strive to strike terror into the hearts of the
enemy by making loud and unearthly noises,
just as we used TO read they did in the wars
Of 100 years ago. A description Of u battle
between Cinnamon and Frenchmen, IL de
scribed accurately and in detail, would
make very interesting reading"