Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1891-07-11

II
~ Klna q Re. tn.s 60. -.
Clsar-headed. brainy, driving man =.
these master mariners, and bearinr -
dently responsibility that needs IN
irou viii and . courage faiter;nr ~
nothing. There Is no roysl rod -
their station, nor can willing h.nd.
make them what they must be- They
cannot crawl through cabin windows
nor. for that matter, come fyino in =
pier-head jump through the esnovav
with one leg forward and the other at
They have to fight their way over the
bows and struggle out of the rock and
smother in the fo'ks'le by sturdy buffet
ing and hard knocks. by the persistent
edging OF stout shoulders backed by
strong hearts and steady brains. If Il
is in them they will make their way in
the end surely, and may set the course
and stump to windward as they please,
while others haul the weather-earrines
and drink their grog protestingly.
No; master mariners are made. not
born, and, unlike many of their broth
ers in the government service, have to
rise by energy, pluck, merit-why
enumerate m?-by hundred quail
ties the world is better for owning. In
the stoke-hole, however, one leaves be-
hind the formal and mathematical, and
sees the picturesque with all its dirt
unvarnished. with all its din and clangor
unsubdued Under the splintering
silver Of the electric lamps cones of
light illuminate great spaces garishly
and leave others in unbroken masses Of
shadow.
Through bulkhead doors the red and
gold of the furnaces checker the reeking
floor, and the tremulous roar of the
Gagged fires dominates the sibilant splut-
tor OF the steam. Figures nearly naked,
gritty, and black with coal, and pasty
with ashes, and soaked with sweat, come
and go in the blazing light and in the
half gloom. and seem like Nightmares
from fantastic tales of demonology.
When the furnace doors are opened
thirsty tongues of fire gush out, blue
spirals of gas spin and reel over the
bubbling mass of fuel, and great sheets
of fame suck half-burnt carbon over the
quivering fire wall into the fues. With
averted heads and smoking bodies the
stokers shoot their slice bars through
the melting hillocks, and twist and turn
them until they undulate like serpents.
The iron tools blister their hands, the
roaring furnaces scar their bodies; their
chests heave like those of spent swim
mers, their eyes Jingle in parched sock
ets-but work they must, their is no
escape, no holiday in this maddening
limbo. Steam must be kept up, or
perhaps cruel record must be low
cred.
Facing the furnaces, the hollow up
scooping of the stoker's shovel echoes
stridently on the iron floor and these
speed-makers pile coal on coal until the
fire fairly riots, and, half blinded, they
stageer backward for cooling respite.
But it is only a moment at the best. for
their taskmasters watch and drive them,
and the tale of furnaces must do its
stint.
The noise and uproar are deafening;
coal-trimmers trundle their barrows un-
ceasingly from bunker to stoke hole, or,
if the ships motion be too great for the
wheels, carry it in baskets, and curing
the four long hours there is no rest for
those who labor here.
First class ships muster from twelve
to fifteen men in each watch, and all of
these are shipped as seamen. Ofcourse
the majority are such ouly in name,
though there is always a definite num-
Der OF sailors among them. Indeed, to
fly the blue flag at least ten of the crew,
in addition to the captain, must be en-
rolled in the naval reserve. and to be an
A B there one must hand, reel and steer
deity.
These are the people who in port
stand by the ship; that is, who take, as
required by law, their discharge in Liv-
erpool on the return voyage and con-
tinue to work on board at fixed wages
per day while the ship refits and loads.
All hands. from the skipper to the soul
lions mate, must ship at the beginning
of each run-must sign ARTICLES" as it
is called-before board of trade ship
ping master.
As the law has always regarded Jack
as particularly in need of it's
pfOtectlOn, because ne Is Particularly
exposed to the wiles of sharpers," great
stress is laid in these articles
upon his treatment, and Therefore they
exhibit in detail the character of the
voyage, the wages, the quantity and
qualits Of the food, and dozen other
particulars which evidence the safe
guards thrown about these wards Of
the admiralty by q quasi-paternal gov
eminent.
Jack knows all this, and be sure he
star4s up most boldly and assertively,
ut times with great deal of unnecessary
swagger and bounce, for all the articles
Ibis articles" allow him.
The boatswain selects the ships com.
pany. and the sea-birds futter on board,
usually . few hours before the vessel
hauls into the stream. They fly light,
these western ocean sailors, and their
kits are such as beggars would laugh
ct, even in Radcliffe highway.
Generally they are in debt to the sail
ors' Home-they pay seventeen bob q
weak f0P fhoIp 1~l~ m~4