The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1885-03-19
YE "srowAwAY.v
HOW HE WORKETH HIS PASSAGE AT SEA.

| HOW HE WORKETH HIS PASSAGE AT SEA. COL
LECTING ''SIIN TAN"
eyes," said an eX-mate of one of the
coast line steamers, to representative
OF the Alta, yesterday, "stowaways are
great annoyances, especially to the Off
GERS of sea- going vessels; and it some
times happens that their presence on
shlpboard is the cause of much trouble,
expense, and frequently disaster"
II suppose some of your experiences
IN that line would prove interesting to
the public, would they not ?" asked the
reporter.
"Well," replied he, II don't know how
interesting it might be to the public to
read about such experiences, but | do
riders have made it very interesting for
me before now"
"Would You be averse to relating some
OF these experiences "
'tNo;" replied he, mot if my name can
be lett III its pristine obscurity."
On being assured that he would be thus
favored, he proceeded to give the follow
ing interesting bits of history from his life
as sailor on the high seas
THE FESTIVE "sTOWAWAY."
~ hardly know where to Begin said
he, stroking his grizzled beard, thought
fully, "but guess my experiences on this
coast are about as peculiar as any
The general supposition,' he contin-
\ ued, sis that all stowaways crawl of into
some obscure and unfrequented part of
the vessel and stay there until the ship Is
we'll out to sea. This is q wide mscon-
ceptiOn of the ways Of the average stow
away, although such plan is sometimes
adopted 10y them.
1--WE are not so much bothered now as
formerly, owing to the strict rules adopt
ed to thWart them. Their usual and
most successful plan is to manage in
some Way to get Oh board a few hours be
fore the ship starts and then stay out Of
sight as much as possible until the pas
sengers begin to come on board They
then come boldly out and minglc among
the passengers, no one knowing but that
they have tickets. On this end Of the
line when tickets are taken up it is too
late to put the stoWaways ashore, and the
/ Captain is compelled to take them to the
first port, which happens to be Astoria,
distance of 800 miles. Sometimes they
are put into the coal bunkers and made
to work their passage but this does not
usually pan out satisfactorily, as they get
sea-sick. The dear public is seriously
at fault again in the matter of the class
OF stoWaWayS We have. They honestly
believe that these troublesome indiYidu-
ais are always of the genus tramp-rag-
ged, hungry and dirty-but strange to
say such is not the case for nine out Of
ten are Well-dressed, well fed and evil
IDENTIFY of that class Of individuals who
travel on shape, or more properly,
cheek"
FEMALE STOWAWAYS.
"Are you ever troubled by female bum
mers Of this class ?" interrupted the re-
porter.
''Aes, but not near as often as by men
! remember one case in particular where
the culprlt was a young and rather good
looking woman. The c plain was very
angry and made her think he was going
to put her ashore on the bleak Oregon
coast. She, OF course, reSOrted to tears
and suppication, and the result was that
the passengers made up a purse and paid
her fare to San Francisco.
"These internal young Nharf-rdtS,
street gamins and boot-backs trouble us
as much as anybody, and they are sharp
enough to get away with us right along.
One Of the frequent lodges practiced is
to get aboard and stay till the ship is well
at sea, and when their ticket is demand
ed declare that they came aboard to see
some friends Off and were too late to get
ashore. There is no help for it, and they
are carried to the first port"
THE "CALlFORNIA's" ESCAPE.
A few years ago, when the State of
California was new, and first put on the
line to Portland, she had an experience
with stoWaways that was very costly to
her owners. She was on her down trip
from Portland and had reached Astoria
behind time, with the tide nearly too low
to start out, and might say it is danger
Gus to attempt to cross the Columbia
river bar at half tide. Well the Ship was
badly delayed, and at last started out,
late in the afternoon, to cross the bar
with the tide running like d mill tail, and
when they got opposite Fort Stevens it
ways Of one palty-tWO men and three
Women-snugly ensconced below, for
free ride. The Captain ordered the ship
stopped, had a boat lowered and sent
them ashore. 1t was the wrong thing to
do, as it was afterwards proved for each
OF the minutes wasted in setting them
ashore were precious as gold. It was de-
cided to cross out to sea that evening, as
they did not wish to lay at anchor all
night; but that decision came near cost
ing the company a magnificent steam
ship. Things went nicely until The ship
got midway on the bar, when all at once
there came terrible crash that seemed
like the jar Of an earthquake. All was
confusion among the passengers; the
men were sent 10 quarters at the life
boats, and the ship proceeded slowly, the
Captain and officers all hardly daring to
breathe. The next shock was more APP
palling than the first, and the carpenter
was ordered below to see if the vessel
had been stove in. 1t was a tight squeak
for her, and all that saved her was the
fact that it was sandy bottom and the
vessel did not drag. If she had dragged
one minute her fate would have been
sealed, nothing could have saved her
from rolling over like a log, and all would
have been lost, for that bar let's no one
escape. She struck eleven lighter blows
after that, but reached San Francisco
safely, having to 90 into dry dock for re-
pairs, at cost of several thousand dol
larS-all on account Of stoWaways.
"SKIN TAN"
con my first voyage before the mast
on China merchantmen | saw a stoWa-
way numerically whipped with ropes
end by orders of the Captain. He said
he would have the satisfaction of collect
ing a..'skin tax nyhow. The fellow later
became one Of the crew and made good
sailor.
II could tell YOU about these pests all
day, but win relate one more incident,
and that must suffice. Years ago | was
running on steamer from New York to
Havana. One day while standing on the
wharf as large copper boiler was being
hoisted aboard, heard a supposed sneeze
from the inside cf it, and knew had
stowaway. There was four-inch hole
in the side of the boiler and quietly
stepped aboard and ordered the men to
lower the thing overheard. The surprise
of that stowaway when a four-inch stream
of Gold tar in, L.