San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-11-12
MATE AND ROUSTABOUT.
HOW FREIGHT is HANDLED AT ST.
LOUIS WHARvES.

Scene at the River Front-A Steamers
Notwithstanding the Slow and
Lazy.
Statistics for last years commerce In st.
Louis shows the arrival of 2, 1861 boats and .273
barges at, and the departure of 2,32s boats
from, this port, and the receipt of s87, O45
tons and the shipment of 637 900 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 barrel rolled on these same corns,
or 30 feel the weight of a roustabout's No LEI
shoe.
large steamers crew Is composed Of al
captain, two mates, two engineers, twol
strikers, six fremen, q Waterman, threel
clerks, steward and ten to twenty assist |
ants and deck force Of twenty to forty OIL
these the mate alone has to push and ham,
mer when time is valuable, except 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 |
i,50O tons of freight very comfortably. The |
mate must load and unload this in q 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
a steamer has any weak points, they must be
loaded first. Otherwise, tie mate UeglnS
BACK aft and loads forward in the center,
following this rule in the hold ard on deck.
and being careful to keep the weight in Jbe
center Then he runs out into the wings and
along the Sides always keeping the weight
so 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 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 500 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, generally-that is, he does a great
deal toward making things in his vicinity
luTid, by making Rome howl" When he
sleeps, if he sleeps at all, is often a conun-
drum, though he must sleep some place. It.
is, however, often with a load on" and he
is fortunate if he turns up for duty with a
hide free of scratches and bruises. 1t 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 good time
and get Oh shore to warm up and see their
friends. In the average steamboat, no pro-
vision is made for the rousJers' sleeping.
| They arc expected to curl uD on dank m
TIA h Continual