The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1886-11-20
OCEAN TRAVEL.
Disagreeable Features of It Fifty
Years Ago.
Dark Staterooms, b ad Ventilation, Muddy
Water, Insu fiji cient Meat, Useless
Lifeboats and Exposed Berths
Then the Usual Thing.

When Samuel johnson said ga ship
Is a prison with chance of being
drowned" he in that aphorism gave
expression to the opinion generally en-
tertained by landsmen in his day In
fact, the discomforts, and even priva-
lions, which sea-traveling then involved
we're such that very few persons were
willing to expose themselves to them,
save when compelled by imperative cir
cumstances to do so.
When / crossed the Atlantic in 1841,
for the first time, the condition of things
had, in the three-quarters of a century
which had elapsed since Johnson's time,
measurably improved; but the disagree
mems to which passengers were even
then subjected were numerous. No
regular steam communIcat, on between
Great Britain and the United States was
in existence. The Sirius and the Great
Western had indeed crossed the ocean
in 1888, and the latter vessel had con-
tinued her trips at irregular intervals.
But for some little time subsequently,
no other steamer attempted to follow
her example, the Cunard line not hav-
ing been established until 1912.
At the period of which l speak, the
sailing packets running between Lon
don and New York, and between Liver
pool and that port, were ships of five to
seven hundred tons burden. The state
rooms-as the little cabins ranged on
either side of the saloon were termed
were below the sea-level. They were
incommodious, dark and ill-ventilated
In fact, the only light they enjoyed was
that furnished by small pieces of ground
glass inserted in the deck overhead, and
from the fan-lights in the doors opening
to the saloon, and this was so poor that
the occupants of the staterooms could
not even dress themselves without max
ing use of lamp. The sole ventilation
of them was that afforded by the remov-
al of the saloon skylights, which, of
course, could only be done in fine
weather. The consequence was that the
closeness of the atmosphere in the state
rooms was at all times most unpleasant;
whilst the smell of the bilge-water was
SO offensive as to create nausea, indie
pendent of that arising from the motion
of the vessel. In winter, on the other
hand, the cold was frequently severe.
There was, it is true, stove in the
saloon, but the heat from it scarcely
made itself appreciably felt in the side
cabins.
In other matters there was the same
absence of provision for the comfort of
the passengers. The fresh water re-
quired for drinking and cooking pur-
poses was carried in casks; and when
the ship had full cargo, many of these
were placed on deck, with the result
that their contents were sometimes inn
pregnated with salt water from the
waves shipped in Leayy weather. At
all times the water was most unpalata-
BILE, it being muddy, and filled with va
rious impurities from the old worm
eaten barrels in which it was kept. Not
only was the water bad, but the supply
occasionally proved inadequate; and
when the voyage was an unusually long
one, the necessity would arise of plac-
ing the passengers upon short allow
ance.
There was always COW on board;
but there was no other milk to be had
than what she supplied. no way of pre-
serving it having then been discovered.
Canned fruit and vegetables were
equally unknown. There was COM
monty fair provision of mutton and
pork, live sheep and pigs being carried;
but of other fresh meat and of fish, the
stock was generally exhausted by the
time the vessel had been few days at
sea, refrigerators at that period not
having been invented
But the arrangements on board these
ships were defective in much more i'm
portant matters than in not providing
good table for the passengers. The
boats-even when they were seaworthy,
which frequently was not the case
were so few in number that, in the
event of shlpwreck, there was no posi-
bility of their holding more than third
of the souls on board. The long boat,
indeed, was practically useless in an
emergency, as it was almost invariably
filled up with sheds for the accommoda-
ton of the COW, sheep and pigs; and it
would have been several hours work to
clear the boat and launch her.
The law did not then render it COM
pusory for every vessel crossing the
Atlantic to carry a surgeon, and the
owners of the various lines of American
packets would not incur the expense of
providing one. The consequence was
that. if an accident occurred or there
was serious illness on board, no medical
assistance was available. When l was
returning to Europe in the Mediator in
1912, sailor fell from one of the yards,
badly fracturing his right leg. The
commander of the vessel was a Yankee
that is, a native of one of the New En-
gland States-and he had the ingenuity
and readiness of resource which are
characteristic of the people of that Sec
tion of the Union. He so admirably set
the injured limb with splints, that, when
She ship arrived at London and the man