Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-06-26
FORTY YEARS Aoo
~. ., nm Atlsatie voy...


sailing packets which RIM X. spesk, the
don and New York, and betw Tween Lon
pool and that port, were sh,ns sa !, Liver
SIX hundred tons burden n. : I'VE .
rooms-as the little cabins ra lug State
e . side. SIDE OF the SALOON were te sea o.
were below the sea-levcl. Thsv 's s,a'
commodious, dark, and ill.y.. wers IN
In fact, the only light tliey en; sa.liated
that furnished by small pieea. vyeo WAS
glass inserted in the deck ove sl0uAd
and from the fan-lights in ths s' ~
opening to the saloon, and fh;s uoon
poor that the occupants Of ~. was 9
rooms could not even dress IT, s'ate-
without making use Of a lan,n 'e "
sole ventilation of them was that .1 lns
ed by the removal Of the aslo NM aAord'
lights, which, of course, could ~, ny
done in fine weather. The conss 'y %
was that the closeness Of The a.'
phere in the state-rooms was !.
times most unpleasant; while ~ : ~
OF the bilge-water was so offeps;,a 'ue'i
create nausea. independent ~ ~. - %
ing from the motion of the yessa, -
winter, on the other hand, the co,d =
frequently severe. There wss way
true, stove in the saloon. Int H. y
from itsearcely made itself apprseI ssas
felt in the the side cabins. 'A''y
In other matters there was tba 4
absence Of provision for the com,a ~.
the passengers. The fresh wa,sr
quired for drinking and COOKING nv y
poses was carried in casks; and v ls
the ship had a full cargo, MANY ~ ,ha.a
were placed on deck, with tho ro.,.,.
that their contents were semet;r,.s :s''
pregnated with salt water from ~, -.
waves shipped in heay- weather 4.
all times the water was most unn.l.,.
Bile. it being muddy. and filled Win
various impurities from the old worm
eaten barrels in which it was tan,
Not only was the water bad. but ths
supply occasionally proved inadeouate.
and when the voyage was an n.l,r
long one, the necessity would arise y
placing the passengers upon short Al.
lowance.
There was always a COW on board.
but there was no other milk to be Ind
than what she supplied, no way Of pre-.
serving it having then been discovered
Canned fruitard vegetables were equal.
ly unknown. There was common,v
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 be, f,w DAYS at sea.
rcfrigcra:ors at that period not having
been invented.
But the arrangements on b ard 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 Gaze
were so few in lumber that, in the
event of shipwreck, 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, rs it was almost invariably
iilled up with sheds for the accomno-
dalton for the W, sheep and pigs; and
it would havr b 'en several hours work
to clear the GA and launch her.
If the ca in passengers had good
| cause TO complain that neither their
safety nor their comfort was sufficient
" studied, the condition of the steerage
passengers was infinitely worse. Men.
women and children are huddled Ike
sheep in the quarters assigned them. no
separation of the sexes being attempt
ed. The belths, which ran on either
side of the vessel, were not inclosed.
and were without curtains. The wom-
en- were compelled to dress and I'M
dress before the eyes of their male pas
sengers, and exposed to their course re-
marks and scurrilous jests.
The steerage passengers were re-
CURED to both supply aud cook their
own provisions. There was commonly
\ fierce stru rye for a place at the gal
ley fire, in which the sick and feeble
necessarily went to the wall; and some
times several days would pass without
any warm food being obtained by those
who were most in need of it. Again,
when there was storm, or even wheh
the ship experienced heavy weather
the matches were closed, rendering the
atmosphere of the Storage almost
sitting. In fact, the condition anu
treatment of this class of passengers
were simply abominablc, ard such aseo
reflect deep d scredit upon the Govern
ment for allowing so many years 10
collapse ere any attempt was mace 10
deal with the Chambers JoarHas'
The Utica Observer and Alpahy
Journal are Dragging about Their aseu
compositors. The Oldest type-seuer Oh
the Observer has worked on the case
-.