Morris tribune., 1889-03-13
BOYS LIFE AT SEA.
PRENTICE MILFORD TELLS A BIT
OF YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCE.

OF YOU HFUl EXPERIENCE.
FIRST Lessons Taught on Ship Board-Sail-
ors' Gin o: Facc-Learnins Good Man
re-s-IA i>,.lIy in Authority-An "Ordi-
'.aly Seaman"
There were on board six ''boys" besides
myself, and all from the same village as
our captain. That was the principal rea-
son for chipping on his vessel. 1t was
not good thing to do, as we soon found
out. To be known on board as friend
or prOte,ro Of the captain is to draw at
cn"e prejudice unfavorable to you from
crew and officers. They think you are
trying to creep in at the cabin windows.
The motto on shipboard is that true
sailor must come in through the hawse
holes. That may Or may not hold true,
according to the kind of boy or material
that comes in either way. If man has
cot the sailor in him it will come out
anywhere.
/ was in the second mates watch. He
was born brute. But he swore half of
ny sickness out of me, and the fresh air
and enforced exercise of pounding the
rust from the chain cable before it was
slowed away did the rest.
Our experience was rough. But it was
useful. We learned in short time many
things our parents had neglected to teach
us, such as the art of mending and wash
ing our own clothes. Up, that time
had no id Of the eternal necessity Of
repairs on clothing.' My first efforts
with the needle, one sunny morning as
IIo1 IL oI1,,ri
sions regarding my lack of skill from
the third mate. lie 'condescended to
teach me. Our earlier efforts at wash
ing called forth contemptuous expletives
from the old sailors, who said that such
badly washed clothes hung in the rigging
were disgrace to the ship. We resorted
at times to a sea wash, which consists In
tying a flannel shirt to line, finging it
overheard and letting it tow after the
ship. Sometimes we hauled in our lines
less the shirt from badly tied knots, and
sometimes, when the ship was surging
along at the rate of ten knots an hour,
we hauled in shirt less good deal Of
the warp, for a bit of cloth won't last
long when treated in this manner.
SAILORS BILL OF FARE.
Our sea fare was "lobscouse" and
fluid called coffee for breakfast; "salt
horse" and hard tack for dinner on Mon
day, pork and beans on Tuesday, salt
beef again On Wednesday, salt fish on
Friday, and beef again on Saturdays and
Sundays; fluid called tea, sweetened in
bulk with molasses for supper, and on
duff days" Thursday and Sunday
limp Of plain boiled flour, without
plums or other fruit to give it the true
inwardness of pudding. This taught
IL Lo1 loov, bJ1roo1.oH on1 ne
percd at home. For the first time in our
lives we really appreciated the value of
our home breakfasts, with milk in our
coffee, bucEwheat cakes, and score OF
other things, which we thought came as
easily as dew from the clouds and must
be everywhere. Some of us had be-
| longed tothe Observation-Disclosures
cub order Of boys-grumbled at the
coffee for breakfast, turned up our noses
at this or that dish, and made mother
| hustle to get us something fit to eat"
Three weeks at sea cured us of that.
Even the smell Of real coffee, as it was
carried by the black steward from the
galley to the cabin table, was a treat,
and an occasional cold breakfast roll or
a discarded bit of any cabin dish that
found it's way to us was q luxury not to
be described in words. These were
''benavlins." That is the sea phrase for
the crumbs that fall to the boys from the
captains table. 'Lobscouse" is made of
hard bread, boiled short time with
shredded salt beef. It is a relishable dish
anywhere. A midnight luxury for a sea
| lunch is q biscuit, an onion and slice OF
raw pork It sounds rough to the lands
mans ear, but have seen sailors, after
being q month ashore, longing eagerly
! for this coordination"
LEARNING GOOD MANNERS.
l am almost ashamed to say that it
was necessary for us boys to go to sea in
order to learn some necessary manners.
For instance, when spoken to by an elii-
Ger or ordered by him individually to do
any duty it was required of us to say
cave, ave, sir" in order to show that we
| had heard what he had said and not go
| off without saying word, as we had
| often done in somewhat similar circum-
stances with our parents, leaving them in
doubt whether we had heard them or
not. Then we were required to show
certain Difference, even to the older
sailors, but we had not been in the habit
| Of doing to many of the grown up men
of our village. II q boy on shtpboard
was too fresh, as the modern saying goes,
with the old salts of tho forecastle and
too much inclined to move his tongue
glibly when in their company, either
with them or his own mates, he was very
quickly reminded that his chaff and
verbal horse play must lie reserved for
his own special company and for time
and place. .,
Our ship was furnished with bully
second mate. He was knocking some
body down much Of the time. This was
during the flush of the era Of fast Call.
fornia clippers, high sailors wages and
fast passages to San Francisco. Men
shipped, claiming to be able seamen,
who had not mastered their trade. Be-
cause an able seaman's vocation Is q
trade as much as is that of a shoemaker:
He should know all about knotting and
splicing and be equal to any repairs or
work required aleft. An Ordinary sea-
man" is expected to ''hand reef and
steer" which, In substance, means he
''should know the ropes" be- able to
make himself useful on yard in reefing
and not hang on useless encumbrance
as did. He should know also how to
steer a ship properly, which, In the case
of great square rigger, possibly having
all studding sails set, is a very different
and more difficult affair than the steer
ing ola fore and aaftg yegsel. A1j!sboy,"":