Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1889-09-21
OCEAN STEAMSHIPS.
Tho Military Precision with which y,
tails Are Carried Out by Their Crews.


Few, even Of New -Yorkers, realize
how many communities weekly depart
from the metropolis, each bound to-
gether by inexorable limits for a week
at least, and each under the absolute
government Of one mana government
as despotic. at least in possibility, as
that Of an African chief. For on an
ocean steamer the captain is the em-
bodiment Of law. and from his indi-
vidual decision there is no immediate
appeal. These communities are OF nd
mean size either. for thousand souls
or more may be on a single one Of the
monster ''greyhounds of the sea" For
good or ILL for a smooth or perilous
passage to the Old World, they leave
In fleets on Wednesdays and Saturdays,
and there is no chance of secession un-
til the passage is finished.
Yet even this. striking as the thought
is, does not give the greatest stress to
the emotion that is apt to overpower
those who go down to the sea In
ships" as well as those they leave be-
hind. 1t is the sense OF parting that is
uppermost, and the decks and palatial
saloons Of the great passenger-carriers
are filed with pictures, each one
worthy an artists deftest work. The
general scene is familiar enough to the
public, at least through the medium OF
oft-repeated description, but there are
particulars well worthy OF careful at
tention.
First, perhaps. is the military precis-
ion with which details are carried out
In all the confusion apparent to tho
landsman's eye there is nothing that is
suffered to interfere with the exact per-
formance of every duty, exactly on
time, by every man and officer Of the
great crew. The decks are cleared as
if by magic. at the sound of the bell,
OF the crowd Of visitors, and the crowd
of passengers alone remain. Every
man is at his post The great wagons
bringing the European mails from the
post-otfice come laundering down the
dock, the mails are taken aboard, the
gang-planks drawn in. and on schedule
time the steamer starts. Tidas wait
for no man, and so closely are all the
conditions Of the ocean passage studied
that the tide is made to serve its utmost
purpose in facilitating the departure OF
the ship.
Next in interest is the magnitude OF
the preparations necessary for so i'm
portant matter as the conveying OF
thousand persons across the seas, aud
their maintenance in comfort for the
time of the passage. The ship itself
has cost million or a million and
half, the service is maintained at cost
of thousands OF dollars daily, and the
luxury. that is provided for the first
cabin passengers is on a par with that
found in frst-class hotels. Perhaps
the easiest way to illustrate this is to
take few figures from the stewards
list Of provisions laid in for single
trip. Before the ship starts there have
been put on board (among many other
things) about seven tons of beef, little
of which is corned, two tons and half
of mutton, ton of fresh fish, $50
pounds of lamb $50 of veal an equal
weight Of pork, IL, 500 eggs, 10 tons Of
potatoes, five or six hundred fowls
chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese
200 brace of grouse, 80 crates of vege-
tables, 1000 quarts of milk, 1900
pounds OF coffee, ESQ OF tea, $50 OF
sugar, 1.500 OF cheese. a ton of butter,
over two tons of ham and bacon, and
some $4,000 or 10000 bottles of wine,
ale, and the like
Last but not least. to the eye at any
rate, is the beautiful picture on the
bay. Clumsy and unmanageable as
the monster ships seem while half
dozen tugs are busy with each one,
dragging 1t slowly from its berth in
the docks to mid-stream, they take on
a majesty that must be seen to be ap-
preciated when their huge screws be-
gin their work, and they fairly begin
the voyage.
Dwaried to the eye by distance and
the wide stretches of water on all sides,
it is difficult from the shore to realize
the great dimensions OF these artificial
leviathans. They need to be seen from
the deck of small boat near by. But
no eye can fail to note the exhibition
of enormous force as they plow
steadily through the water, adding a
beauty to the harbor that is already
fitted by its beauty, as we'll as its size
and its safety, to be the open gate 10
the great New World. -Harper's
Weekly.