The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1886-08-05
Decline Of the Ooasting Trade.


CAPTAIN LARABEE MoRALIZEs ON THE COOP
TIMES PAST AND THE HARD TIMES COMING.
The coaster is familiar sight to every yachts
man and to every inhabitant of a seaport town.
The nautical dude, sailing in his trim vessel,
passes her with easy contempt. The steamboat
captain curses her with all the emphasis of sin
cerity, because her rcd-heatcd, coatess skip
per clings tenaciously to his rights, and will
not get out of the way of the big sitlcwheelers :;
and only the tugboat captain speaks her fair.
As that rowing son of Neptune cruises about,
he keeps a watchful eye out for the flag ilutter-
ing from her rigging, that signal being the
nautical equivalent for "Towboat wanted: APP
ply on the premises
The coaster has IL species of poetic inter-
est to the casual observer, as she floats laZy
on the CLASSY surface of the Sound, the sun
shine resting on the patchwork sails of many
shades of dirtiness that hang from her SparS,
and her slackcncd and venerable rigging droop-
ing in gentle curves. There is a lazy, if not a
dreamy, tint to the picture, but no poet has yet
arisen to sing the delights of lotoseating on a
schooner with deckload of brick, or to hymn
a day to keep the water from rising over the
decks of Il coal-ladcn threc-master. 1t is Just
possible that the poetic faculty does not thrive
on diet of hard tack and fried bacon, such
being the regular bill of fare on the coaster.
The life is Il peculiar one. compounded of hard
work and Incidence, monotony and danger, the
ntcnscst activity and the most perfect repoSc.
When the Sarah Jane is bowling along with a
fair wind, the crew dozc away the time on con-
Nenent coils of rope, only disturbed by the
henSman's drawing "IIard-a-lee,' as he comes
about on the other tack. That call only rouses
them TO the necessity of "standing by" for a
few minutes at this critical turning point in IL
vessels cvolutionS. When the schooner is
alongside the dock, however, and the crew are
busy passing brick or hoisting out coal there is
no lct-up to the hard labor. In the fairest of
the summer months, when ''the wind is piping
free, life is 4 sluggish succession of sunshine
and star light; but when the thun,er-heads sail
up from the horizon, or the bitter winter wind
howls through the ancient and icc-covercd rig
ging, supcrhuman eXertion is often necessary
to keep the Old craft right side up and her
sticks in her. In the golden days of the coast
ing trade all these yiciSSitudes were forgotten in
the contemplation of a goodIy cash balance at
the end of Il prosperous year. But now steam
Is running all the profit as well as the poetry of
the business.
- began coasting about thirty years ago.
said Captain Larrabee, the other day. The
captain is Il typical "Dowll-E East skipper who
has gone out Of the business. He fondlet the
wheel Of the Shore Inspectors steamer, Gov
ernor Hill, a> he told of the old days of coast
ing. For twenty-four wears | followed the
trade and in all that time was only home six
months, and most Of that was one summer af-
ter sold out my schooner and stayed on the
farm. It's Il most out-of-the way sort of IL
Efe; you never see anybody or know anybody.
The average schooner carries two or three men
before the mast, Il captain and mate. The
uISclDlup isn't nurtjpIi1rlE strict tlOuOb a
good deal depends On the size of the captain.
and how handy he is with Il bcIayin'pin. Gen
orally. if Il man does what he's told he can sass
the captain all he wants to while he's doing it,
In most cases lisa real happy family on board.
The mate tells Jim that he gle>ses he'd better
keep her of Il little. or give that throat-halya yard
an extra pull, and Jim gucS>eS it amt worth
while, but does as he is told. Just the same.
'When began running along the coast they
hadn't done the first blasting about Hell Gate.
lhe water used TO roar and boil over Pot Rock
in the strength of the tide Ikea young Niagara.
My brother was killed there. He was at the
tlller when they We're comm down to the Gate.
The Pot Rock eddy caught the rudCer, and the
old ticr gave Il kick that slammed him over
against the rail and he was never conscious af-
tcrWard. In those days we could make some
money. Coal freiyht> We're =. a ton, and II
vessel that could carry two OF three hundred
tons would earn IA handsome little sum on Il
voyage. The last cargo | carried only got 80
cents for and now they're glad to get it at 50
cents. When YOU take out towm', wharfage
and hoistin' charges from that, there isn't much
left Then you have to come back light, and
wages, provisions and repairs eat up what lit
tie YOU We made on the voyage. Wages and re-
pairs aren't such big item though. for the
crews nowadays are mostly made up of boys,
who @et from SO Il month up. They don't
pay able-bodled Seamen more than so. AS for
repairs, everything on board is spliced and
patched just as long as it will hold. Then there
is the risk of losing your vessel. had sloop
of mine lost once. She was in charge of Il man
who had sailed two or three Years with me,
and seemed smart fcllcr, but he was drifting
up through the Gate one day with the Hood
tide when she struck the Niger Head, and
down she went without Il cent of insurance on
her. Sometimes, though, Il little accident is
Just the best thing that can happen to Il man.
There was an old feller used to run a crazy
hulk of ballast lighter about the harbor. She
wasn't worth her weight in kindin' wood. but
She was all he had. One day he was Vim
alongside of brig off the Hook. lust below the
Grand Street Ferry in the East River. takin'
out her ballast. The steamer Continental, of
the New Haven line, came boomin' down the
river, and the eddy that runs strong off the
Hook swung her bows round and gave her IL
sheer toward the lighter. The steamers peo-
pie rang to stop. back and hook her up so As to
back ut full speed, but she had al awful head
way on and cut clean through the lighter, stop
Z.
That feller got 5000 out of the steamboat COM
pany for his old hulk. 1t was the luckiest
strike he ever made.
Its steam that has killed the coasting trade.
All these big companies that own barges and
tugs and the ocean collers that run out of
Philadelphia have cut rates down to nothing.
The crowd of hargemen and coastng captains
that used to hang out in front of Trinity
Churchyard lynn in wait for shippers is thin
ming out fast All the biz shippers own barges
and tugs of their own now, and the little ones
give their contracts to the companies. Its the
same with all sailin' vessels. The fishing
>mackS used to exc things out by going South
and bringing up a little fruit in the season. but
now the fast steamers built especially for the
trade, have knocked them out.'
Here the captain closed his tale of coasters
woes with a warning toot to Il reckle>, ferry
boat pilot, of probable Republican principles,
who seemed bent on running down the Gov
crnor Hill and all those whose fortunes She
carried. New York Tribune.