The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-12-20
ENTERTAINMENT
NIGHT At Sea-
A Pleasant Event Oh Board Ship for a
Charitable Object.
Fands Raised for the Support of the American
Blue Anchor Society and the English
Sailors Orphan Home.
srecial to THE SUNDAY GAIL

dim sort OF way, the real OBJECT OF the i'm
| promptu diversion, or have any manner of
| idea as TO what becomes of the large sums
| thus frequently realized.
| On some one night of each voyage the
great dining salon of the ships transformed
into concert hall. theater and lecturc-room
| combined. Among from two hundred to
| thousand passengers there are always found
men, women and youths who can do some
| little or big thing well. The witty man, the
| sarcastic man, the elocutionist, the poet
| and the storytelling man, are all on ship
| board. Then there are the misses or mes
danes who play Or sing or both. And there
| Is always found the rubicund clergyman,
| the brow-wrnkled Senator or the bland,
unctuous Judge to preside.
Again, scarcely voyage of the mail
| ships occurs when there are not professional
people on board, usually the best of Euro
| pean actors, singers, instrumentalists and
| all manner of specialists, from danseuse to
freak, who are travelling from one CONT
nent to another to fill their various engage
ments. These are folk with hearts quick to
respond TO anything genuine with charity
at the end of it. So that with the amateur
| performers willing to be distinguished and
tue distinguished artists willing to perform,
Entertainment Night" brings programme
often of very great variety and merit, ana
|
who are on this night for the first and last
time IN full dress on shipboard.
The transformation of passengers them
selves is not the least interesting feature
of this concert in midocean. The most
| genuinely ariStocratic people on ship
board are usually the shabbiest of all pas
sepgers at all other times than this. Even
this night many dress richly but soberly.
But the rule is to make the occasion one of
at least partial display In dress. and a ma
honor
Jewels befitting the most select social gath
erings in any land. To the first tripper"
1t is an affair of unique interest and de-
light. The oldest travellers awaken from
their ordinary tolerative lethargy and per-
NIT themselves to be drawn into the bril-
liant salon, after the manner of hlase
theater foyer loungers. Even the officers
and stewards Of the ship welcome the affair
as a relief to the mOnotony of the voyage.
And, as | have taken the pains to find out,
the generous sums secured from the sale of
programmes and the irreyocable "collec-
ton provide for one of the most needful
and deserving of all charities patheticaIly
suggested by the endless and doIorous
tragedies of the sea. The proceeds Of these
g ENTERTAINMENT NIGHT"
| Collections secured on all steamships plying
between New York, Philadelphia, Balti-
more, Boston and Liverpool except one are
turned over to the officers of the Liverpool
Seamen's Orphan Institution. which is al
most exclusively supported in this manner.
The exception noted is on tile part of the
Imam line. This line having American
affinities, and being largely the property of
| American owners, beStows half oil the
| sums thus collected upon the Liverpool in
sttuton and the other half upon the Amer
lean Blue Anchor Society's charity, a kim
dred institution. Whether they go to Liy-
erpool or New York no -one should ever
hesitate about giving literally when distin-
guished actors, clergymen, jurists or simple
citizens pass the hat' at sea, for these
seamen's orphan homes are among the no
blest charities Of our time.
Every American tourist to Europe should
visit the Liverpool institution. Its offices
are IA Water street, not 800 yards from the
steamer landing, where the Secretary, Car
tain Edward Stubs, r. N, will extend
! every possible courtesy, as all the officers of
the orphanage are peculiarly grateful to
Americans, for without their contributions
the grand work of this charity would wholly
fail; and everything possible is done by
Captain Stubs, Sir James Poole the
Treasurer, and Rev. G. Z. Gaussen, the
| Chaplain, to make Americans feel that they
have acquired personal interest in and re-
gard for the Institution. ! know of no
other place in all Britain where an Amer-
can citizen can experience the same de-
lightful feeling.
The orphanage was founded in 1869 to
feed clothe and educate the destitute or
necessitous children of all classes of sea-
men, or seaiarlng men. 1t is not restricted
to any nationality, though children Of sea-
men who have sailed five years out of the
port of Liverpool have the preference The
frequent recurrence OF such names as Lund,
| Lundgren, Schavii, etc, indicates the Sean
dinavian paternity of many OF the children,
| Recipients OF relief are divided into two
classes, the children admitted to the nsti-
tuition, and theses placed on the outdoor
list"
Inability of the widow to support these
| children is the only qualification. Relief of
some kind has never been refused. The
boys are retained to the age of Il, and are
then sent out to trades and other vocations,
many securing comfortable clerical posi-
! tiOus. The girls, if their mothers wish it.
| are kept in the institution until they are Is:
the last year being passed in receiving train
| ing in all branches OF household work
while school instruction is also continued
Children on the outdoor list are those
| whose mothers desire TO retain them under
| their own care. 1t frequently happens that
there is not in the widowed family child
old enough for public scnool life, or religious
| difficulties may intervene. Again there are
deaf and dumb children and those who are
unfortunately mentally incapacitated from
receiving instruction. To meet such cases
as these the Institution grants an annual
allowance of clothing and boots, and
| MONTHLY ALLOWANCE
| OF ten shilings. | know of many instances
where this cash allowance pays the entire
rent and actually keeps a roof over the
desoiate family's heads. There are no red
tape and official captiousness about this.
The sole condition of payment of the money
is that the child shall produce a certificate
of school attendance, providing it be able
| to attend school.
OF these two classes there are at the pres
ent time $50 children in the orphanage and
| nearly the same number on the outdoor
list. An idea of the expenditure for so
great and practical a charity can be had
from the fact that the annual cost of main
tanning each child in the orphanage is a
trifie over $50. and the annual expense upon
each child in the outdoor relief class incud-
ing cash allowance and clothing, is $40
About $500 children have been cared for in
one or the other of these two ways since the
organization OF the charity. Noble as has
been the work accomplished the need for
the extension is pitiful indeed. | have not
the figures at hand as to the loss of American
seamen, but the returns from the English
Board of Trade are appalling in their evil
| dence Of loss of life at sea- for they show
that in the nineteen years following the es
adjustment of this orphanage, no less than
81. 500 seamen died in English ships abroad.
OF whom 81 l56 were drowned. The elo-
| quence OF all these simple facts appeaIs
stirringly to every tender heart. Tie i'm
providence of seamen is proverbial. The
suffeTings of many of their families on this
side of the water, even with the mitigation
OF this benehcent charity, is nexpressible.
The bare hint of ii all one gets from the
glimpse given on ''paying-of" day is heart
/ breaking.
went with Captain Stubs the other dav
and sat with him while over $50 orphan
children, or those who represented them.
were paid their monthly allowances. we
took pretty heavy bag of yellow half
sovereigns, and pushed our way through
the great throng which on the first Satnr-
day of each month gathers at the an
trance to the Old Church School, Moor
fields. just off Dale street. The outer
room was packed, and the society's old in
spector, who is a Liverpool ex-Police H.
spector, and knows the ms and outs of
every family receiving these payments, was
acting the part of bulwarks against the
surgings of the crowd We passed into the
masters room and were in few moments
joined by Chaplain Gaussen. Captain
Stubs and myself paid out the money and
checked against each payment. The old