Connecticut western news., 1886-05-26
A PILOTS LIFE
Dangers of the Man who
 Guides Ships to Harbor.
Qualified Seamen who are Invested with
 Great Responsibility.

Qualified Seamen who are Invested with
 Great Responsibility.
 Whether there be dangers in the sea, sky or air, the perilous nature of pilots duties makes it imperative that he meet it with cheerful alacrity, for tho esprit du corps existing in the guild is impcrious in its influence. Cast among the broth erhood the pilot must not lose, or else he is indeed ruined man. Except in the matter of discipline, full command of the vessel is vested in the pilot. His respon- sibility is great; the general rule being that no owner or master of a ship is an- swerable to and other person for any loss or damage oocasioned by the fault or incompetency of qualified pilot acting in charge of the ship when she is within the district of the pilot and when his employment is compulsory; though the presence of a pilot does not absolve master from the consequences of any in jury that may be caused by his own care lessness or ignorance. He must be ready at call, and under all circumstances, to face alike the winters cold, binding s1cet and the summers heat, the storm and the sunshine; and blow high or low, in fair weather or in foul, the pilot must be at his station to guide safely all in coming vessels.
 And in Boston Bay this is particularly true. Said man who has lived all his life on Cape Cod to writer in the Bos- ton Record: ''We have had piled up on the shore during the past 100 days many vessels which are a total loss. The men who navigated them were saved, thanks to the gallantry of the life saving force, but thousands of dollars worth of prop erty are buried in the sand. What the further losses will be no man can tell, but we do know that unskillful seamanship and an imperfect knowledge of the coast is responsible for much of the loss. But while it is true that there has been this large loss, hundreds of vessels have sailed safely by and have been brought to an- chor in secure harbor. I have not heard of vessels going ashore that had a pilot on board, and I do not think there has been one."
 It is perhaps needless to say that the pilot is qualified seaman, thorough in all nautical accomplishments; for he can 'thand, reef and steer," navigate by sun, moon or star, and with the 'tmarks and deeps'' of the lead line, familiar to him as his own handwriting, he knows the intricacies and varying depths of the many channels. A technical knowledge of all rigs, too, is his, besides sign manual by which he can make himself understood by sailors of all nations. How relieved in mind must be the mas ter of a great ocean steamer, with it's hundreds of passengers and its precious freight, after battling with the stormy Atlantic for days, with scarcely single peep at the sun, and in doubt about his reckoning and position, to see, away of shore, one of these little pilots vessels making her way towards him. Gallantly she holds her course, heeling and right ing, pitching and ascending, and as she moves up under the snug canvas, looking like boxer stripped for the fight, there is seemingly sentient power in her every motion. It is the skill and training o1 years that puts the little craft so easily within two cables' length under the let of the steamer. Now comes the crucia test, for the pilot must board the waiting craft. The agile crew must grasp tn, little boat from the deck, and poising i on the rail, in the very nick of time launch it over into the seething foam alongside. In jumps the pilot and hi two oarsmen and soon the tiny canoe cal be seen-now poised in midair on an an gry wave crest and anon deep in tn, dangerous hollow, coming straight fo the ship. One misstroke, the slightcs weakening of nerve, and the hardy fel lows would be engulfed in the water, chasm with no stone to mark their graves It is with delicate care and skill that tn, frail craft is ranged alongside when rop is thrown, by which, grasping with mus cles of steel, up the side the pilot springs hand over hand, until he alights on tn,