Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1888-12-28
MATE AND ROUSTABOUT.
HOW FREIGHT rs HANDLED AT ST,
LoUlS WHARVES.

Louis shows the arrival of ,36l boats and 1,272
barges at, and the departure of 1898 boats
from, this port, and the receipt Of s67, ,O45
tons and the shipment Of $4,000 tons of
freight, all exclusive Of the immense tonnage
transferred by ferry, and yet the river has
lost interest. and by many is entirely for
gotten All this is very undeserved. Life
on the river and in the harbor has all Of its
attractions still.
The time has been when the river front
was lined with steamers, nose to the wharf
while now they can crowd in so as to load
from the side, but the scene now is none the
less active The wonder Is Just as great now
where the great piles OF freight are slowed
away, and there is just as much commotion
in loading and unloading People with tender
corns are just as safe in remaining away
from a steamer just in or preparing to leave
port as they ever were They are just as apt
to have a barrel rolled on these same corns
or to feel the weight of a roustabouts No. l2
shoe
A large steamers crew is composed of a
captain, two mates. two engineers, two
strikers, six fremen, watchman, three
clerks, steward and ten to twenty assist
ants and a deck force Of twenty to forty. OF
these the mate alone has to push and ham,
ulbI "ubu bllllO lS NdludDle, eACeDJ On extra
ordinary occasions and except in the quiet
of his own precincts, where only the boards
of the boat and those people for whom his
words are intended will hear them. The first
mate has charge of the loading and unload.
ing, and in the absence of the captain takes
command Of the boat. A steamer like the
City Of New Orleans, for instance will carry
1900 tons Of freight very comfortably. The
mate must load and unload this In a very
short time as occasion often requires, but,
regardless Of the time in which the work
must be done, he must look after any weak
points In the boat and follow all rules laid
down for the even distribution Of a cargo. If
steamer has any weak points, they must be
loaded first Otherwise, the mate begins
back aft and loads forward in the center,
following this rule in the hold and on deck,
and being careful to keep the weight in the
center. Then he runs out into the wings and
along the sides, always keeping the weight
80 evenly distributed that the steamer will
settle down into the water as nicely as if
under the pressure of single piece of ma
chinery at all points. At the same time the
freight is loaded with due regard to points
of unloading, so that there will not only not
be any rehandling, but no strain caused by
removing freight from one point and not
from another.
The mate must have a clear, cool head, and
be man Of some executive ability Even
in an outburst of passion, he must keep his
wits about him He is at something of a dis
advantage In not always having the same
force to do his work, and thus in not know.
ing his mems capacities, for even day labor
ers have such things as capacities One man
may lift 800 pounds and another stall at $50.
but the latter may be so much more active
that he will move more gross weight in half
an hour than the former This is an object,
and in handling men it is of Importance to
consider it. The mate, however soon esti-
mates his men. At local landings he has
only his regular crew, but in all large ports
he has what is known as shore or hour labor
These do all the loading and unloading The
deck crew attends only to keeping things in
trim. If the steamer is just in, they are tired
out, and that is enough for them to do
The roustabout generally seems to have a
happy life, and he possibly has There is no
reason TO doubt appearances, except the idea
one not accustomed to it would have in an
ticipating it In port and OFF duty he is a
painter, generany-Jhat is, he does a great
deal toward making things in his vicinity
urid, by "malling Rome howl" When he
sleeps, if he sleeps at all, is often conun-
ululll, luOuBu uo tuuab steep SOlue place III
is, however, often with a load on" and he
IS fortunate if he turns up fol duty with a
hide free Of scratches and bruises IL is not
infrequent that he turns up at the hospital or
the morgue There are, however, good
roustabouts, just as there are bad church
men The life is not one calculated to make
them good. but that never seems to trouble
them while on duty, and they never seem to
realize that they haven't had a good time
and get on shore to warm up and see their
friends In the average steamboat no pro
vision is made for the rousters' sleeping
They ART expected to curl up on deck or
among the freight, and make the best of it
They are also expected on night runs to
turn out as promptly us soldiers on duty
when a landing is made Still they laugh
and sing the time away, and "guyn each
other in manner that should be profitable
to shore people
A wealthy passenger looking over the rail
and seeing the colored deck hand leaning on
the capStan, smoking a pipe, naturally won
ders what pleasures the world has for him
The deckhand turns and looks up, and the
passenger is surprised that his face bears as
contented n smile as his own, and probably
more so. The shore laborer is, il anything,
more OF "a curiosity IL Is a question 4 he 10
any touSueI' ueVauseN having more opportu-
mites for doing things up brown" the act
OF doing IL is not 50 much OF a novelty. He
will sleep any place, however, Just as the
deckhand does, and is as free TO laugh and
joke when he has a e00-pOund box on his
shoulder as when he has nothing but few
surplus drinks The mate, though, looks out
for this, and II he jokes or the laughter In.
terferes with or delays the work, or II, TO get
In a good one on another laborer, one OF them
stops in his work, he interfeTeS He gen
orally carries a stick, more like a club, and |
sometimes like bull prod, and the man who |
works slow or soldiers" is very certain 70 4
get punch In the ribs, or in some other part (
OF the body. This is river life in the harbor /
and through % New Orleans Globe Demo /
crat