The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-08-01
MATE AND ROUSTABOUT.
HOW FREIGHT IS HANDLED At ST.
LOUIS WhARveS.
scene 1t the River Front-A steams,,.
Crew--QnaiificstioDs Of Matc-iit. o,
= Roustabout-Punching the slow and
Lazy.

= Statistics for last years commerce in :,
= Louis shows the arrival Of :. 3jl boats and D,
barges at, and the departure Of 2.3ls bos,
y from, this port, and the receipt of s670g
4 tons and the shipment Of $4,000 tons "a
~ freight. all exclusive Of the immense toun,..
4 transferred by ferry. AND ye; the river h,.
A lost interest. and by many is entirely for
, gotten. All this is very uniescryed La
| on the river and in the harbor mas MI ~ ~
= attractions still.
The time has been when the river fro-,
was lined with steamers, nose 20 the ,yb,,f
while now they can crowd in so rs 10 load
from the side; but the scene now is none ~.
less active. The wonder is Just as great no.,
where the great piles Of freight are stowoi
: away, and there Is just as much commo,iou
In loading and unloading. People with tende,.
corns are just IN safe in REMAINING a,.ay
from steamer just in or preparing To leava
port as they ever were They are lust As aps
to have barrel rolled on these same oorns
or to feel the weight OF a roustabout's No ~
shoe
a large steamers crew Is composed Of a
captain, two mates, two engineers. two
strikers. six iiremen. a Waterman. three
clerks, steward and ten to twenty assist,
ants and deck force OF twenty 10 forty on
these the mate alone has To push aud ham.
mer when time Is valuable, except ON extra.
ordinary occasions and except I'm the ouiat
OF his own precincts, where only the bo,rds
Of the boat and those people for whom nj,
words are intended viii hear them The first
mate has charge of the loading and unload.
ing, and IN the absence of the CAPTAIN take.
command OF the boat 4 steamer Ike tia
City OF New Orleans. for instance will carry
| i,ooo tons OF freight very comfortably Thu
mate must load and unload this in q yer,,
snort time, as occasion often requro,. Inn
regardless of the time in which m, work
must be done he must look after any wo,L
points in the boat and follow an ruies lail
down for the even distribution Of 4 co,oo II
steamer has any weak points. they n,ts, N,
loaded first Otherwise. tho mate herins
back aft and loads forward in the confer
Following this rule in the hold AMI on deck
and being careful to keep the weight i'm tb,
center Then he runs out into the wings and
along the Sides always keeping the weight
SO evenly distributed that the steamer viii
settle down INTO the water as nicely as if
under the pressure OF a single piece " ma.
chlnery at all points At the same time the
freight is loaded with due regard 10 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
he "A 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 ,lay labor
ers have such things as capacities One man
may lift 800 pounds and another stall at 80.
but the latter may be- so much more active
nat he VIII move more gross weight in half
IN hour than the former This is an object,
md in handling men IL is Of Importance to
consider it. The mate, however soon es;i-
mates MS men. AT local landings be has
My his regular crew, but in all large ports
e has what is known As shore or hour labor
'hese do all the loading and unloading. The
eek crew attends only TO keeping things in
rim If the steamer is just in, they are tired
ut, and that Is enough for them 10 do.
The roustabout generally seems 10 have a
Apply life, and he possibly has There IL no
aason to doubt Appearances except the idea
ne not accustomed 10 IL would have in an.
clpatlng IL. In port and off duty be Is a
linter, generally-that is he does a great
eal toward making things in his vicinity
rid, by making Rome howl When he
eeps, If he sleeps at all, is often O conun.
Tum though he must sleep some place IL
. however, often with load on and be
fortunate If he turns up for duty with a
de free Of scratches and bruises It not
frequent that he turns up at the hospital or
70 morgue There are, however, good
just as there are bad church.
en-. The life IL not one calculated TO mako
EN- good, but that never seems TO trouble
EN- while on duty, and they never seem to
alize that they haven't had n good time
I'd get on shore TO warm up and see their
lends. In the average steamboat, no pro-
sion IL made for tho rousters' sleeping.
iey arc expected to curl up on deck or
nong the freight, and make the best Of it.
ley are also expected, on night runs, TO
TN out as promptly as soldiers on duty
ben landing is made Still they laugh
ID sing the time away, and guy" each
her In manner that should be profitable
shore people
A wealthy passenger looking over the rail
q seeing the colored deck hand leaning on
e capstan, smoking u pipe, naturally won
rs what pleasures the world has for him
ie deckhand turns and looks up, and the
ssenger is surprised that his face bears a.
ntented a snle as his own, and probably
IRE So The shore laborcr is If anything,
ire Of a curiosity. IL is question IL be Is
Y tougher, because, having more opportu-
les for doing things up brown the act
doing 1t Is not 50 much of a novelty. H.
Il sleep any place, however, just as tho
'khand does. aud Is as free To laugh and
e when he has a 2U0-pound box on his
'ulder as when he has nothing but u few
plus drinks. The mate, though looks ort
this, and II be jokes or the laughter in
feres with or delays the work, or II, to get
4 good one on another laborer, one OF them
ps in his work, he interferes He gen
lily carries a stick, more like a club, and
ietimes like "a bull prod, and the man who
rks slow or soldiers is very certain %
q punch In the ribs. or in some other part
the body. This is river life in the harbor
through TO New Orleans. Globe Demo
I.