The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1889-06-19
A PILOTS ARDUOUS WORK,
HARDY MEN WHO BRING BIG OCEAN
STEAMERS INTO PORT.
The Pilotage System Under Strict
Government Surveillancc-Work
Done by Pilots and Their Pay.

pilots tell a story of the sea more dramatic
and interesting by far than ever fell to
the pen Of a novelist to relate. They are,
for the most part, a set Of hardy men,
bred almost from their birth, to the pur-
suit of their precarious professions and
Injured to hardships which the most heroic
landsman would shrink from experiencing.
The pilotage system of this country is
governed by strict rules, enacted by Con-
gress and administered by a Board of
Commissioners of Pilots, consisting of five
persons, having offices at No. 40 Burlng
slip. Three of the members are usually
appointed by the Chamber of Commerce
and two by the Board of Underwriters,
which has so much at stake on the safe
coming and going of our foreign and
domestic craft. Through rain and shine,
summer and winter, the pilots are ever
on the watch, some cruising close to shore
in the vicinity of our harbor, while others
go as far east as Halifax, N. S., and south
to Cape Henry. These two routes are
called the Eastern and Southern cruises
respectively, and cover most of the waters
of our coast inside the Gulf Stream.
Strange to say, no pilot boat ever crosses
that singular sheet of water, and the only
vessels of the sort to be met with off
shore are the daring little clippers, with
their intrepid crews, who hail from New
York.
, Sometimes our metropolitan pilotboats
cruise around for weeks without sighting
vessel. At other times ship after ship
is picked up in rapid succession until the
supply of pilots On board is exhausted
and she is compelled TO return to New
York and take a new and fresh force.
When a vessel is hailed by pilotboat the
law requires that man from that boat
shall be taken on board. Some shipmas-
tiers, however, prefer plotting their YES
sells in for themselves, although by doing
this they risk their claims for insurance
in case Of disaster. If they reject a pilot
after being hailed they must still pay at
the regular rates at the office of the Pilot
Commissioners.
While a pilot is on board a vessel
within the pilot grounds he has the con-
troll of it, and is answerable for any injury
that may happen through his fault, and
this liability was carried to such an e,;-
tent by the early maritime law of some
European countries that the pilot if un-
able to render full satisfaction, atoned for
hts negligence with his life. While the
pilot is on board the power of the master
of the vessel is not, as is enormously sup
posed, wholly superseded. It is his duty,
in case of obvious and certain disability
or dangerous ignorance or mistake on the
t,,f 4hn ,,,l,t 30 ,,FI T.,
authority. So it is the duty of the mas
ter to see that a lookout is kept, and gen.
orally while the orders of the pilot are
imperative as to the course the vessel is
to pursue, the management of it is still
under the control of the master.
When a great ship, half dismasted and
deep laden with precious freight, is feel
ing its way through storm and rain, like
blind man, toward its goal, when every
moment threatens destruction, the pilots
voice coming through the darkness, in
which only a couple of dancing lights
denote the pilot boat, sounds like the
salutation of a specter.
''Ship ahoyl Do you want pilot?n
is the usual cry which often rings out
through fog so thick that no sign of a
vessel, if we may except the little light,
can be seen anywhere about. At such
times the pilot leaves the deck of his lit
tie craft at the risk of his life His cookie
she'll of a boat dances on the huge waves
under the streaming side of the laboring
ship. A rope is thrown him, at which
he grasps, and is hoisted up the ships
side, while the boat disappears in the
darkness. Sometimes he misses his hold
and plunges into the black water to rise
no more. AT Others the miserable shell
of yawl perishes midway between the
pilot boat and the vessel for which it is
bound and all hands are lost.
Every sailor on a pilotboat is eligible to
the post of pilot, in due turn, if he can
pass an examination and demonstrate a
proper knowledge of the distractions of
the harbor and the elementary principles
of navigation. Even if he has not money
enough to purchase a share in a pilot
boat, he is appointed to service on one,
and usually, in the course of a few years,
saves money enough to buy portion Of
her.
The average gain of a Sandy Hook
pilot 10 cHOuO year. Inc pay Oh u DOdJ-
keeper is $50, of a seaman S25, of a
steward $50 a month. This money is
first subject to a reduction for expenses.
The 2 per cent. is deducted for the Board
of Commissioners and a small sum for the
owners of the boat for rent and repairs
The pilot boats in the New York SER
vice number twenty-five. They are built
of the best material, sheathed and fast
ened with copper, and rarely cost their
owners less than $40, 900. They are
usually manned by twelve men-six pi-
lots, five seamen and a steward-and are
commanded by one of the seamcn, who
is known by the generic title Of boat
keeper"
The pilots are classed according to
their service and record. The B class is
the highest, and comprises men who have
seen the longest term of active service in
these boats. Others are rated at 16 feet,
eighteen feet, ETC., which means that
they are restricted from plotting vessels
of greater draueht than that to which
their rate assigns them. These latter are
all young pilots, who, as they gather ex.
perienee, are rated higher in proportion
to their merits.
There are two schedules of rates fol