The morning call., 1894-12-08
GENERAL ORDERS ARE ISSUED

The sailors on the revenue cutter Cor
win, which is anchored off Folsom-Sfreet
wharf, received a piece of information
early yesterday that did not make them
feel AS we'll satisfied with the revenue
service as they might be expected to be.
They were notified by their commander
that after January l, 1885, there will be a
general reduction of salaries on all rev.
enue boats, lighthouse tenders and light
house steamers stationed on the Pacific
Coast.
All employees of the revenue and light
house service except captains, IieutenantS.
engineers and commissioned officers. will
be affected by the new order OF things.
Sailors, able and ordinary. cooks and
cabin-boys will have to be satisfied with
few dollars less every month. The sailor
suffers less than any, because MS wages
will be reduced only So per month in the
case of an able seaman and 81 in the case
Of an ordinary seaman. Under the old
system these men have been paid $2S and
S24 per month respectively.
Stewards and cooks have been reduced
from $50 10 S37. This is the heaviest cut
of all. Boatswains have had s. Topped of
their monthly allowance.
The wholesale cutting of wages in the
two services does not appear TO be done so
much with a view to economy as it is to
get the wage schedules down to the ruling
rates of the Atlantic seaboard. Even
with the revised appropriation the aver
age is a much higher grade of salaries
than is paid in the East to crews of revenue
and Eighth ouse boats. At one time able
seamen got $50 on the cutters on Pacific
coast duty.
at San Francisco the vessels whose
crews will suffer from the latest effort at
Democratic reform are the Corwin, Bear,
Manzanita, Madrono. Rush and Macarthur.
Not all of these vessels are in port now.
but their headquarters are here. On the
sound are the i. S. Grant and Oliver
Walcott. In all about 400 men are en-
ployed who will feel the reduction.
Captain Hsaly of the Bear. when dis
cussing the matter last night. called atten-
ton TO the fact that the wages in the Gov
eminent service on this coast were much
higher than those in the coast merchant
marine.
Coast seamen do not get any such pay
as our able and ordinary seamen. Cutter
men, with the exception of the crew of the
Bear. have the advantage of being able to
secure permanent work. There are men on
some of the boats that have been with
them for ten years steadily.
The Bear discharges her crew when she
goes into winter quarters, but [ usually
ship nearly the same crew of men every
year. l have men on board that have been
in the service eighteen years.
''The new schedule OF wages has been
received by me. 1t goes into effect Janu-
airy 1 next All the ships of the light
house service will have to reduce salaries
also. The sailors won't feel the cut very
much a dollar or so more or less never
bothers a seaman"
One of the Corwin's men was seen and
asked what he thought of the new order.
He replied that the men did not like it
very much, but that it would not drive any
one out of the cutter.
1T is just this way" he said by way of
an explanation, revenue cutter and light
householder men are the best cared for
of any of the Government naval en-
ployes. We get better pay than the men
on the warships and fare better. because
we are in port so much. A cutter, except
when she is on patrol duty, never has to
make any very long voyages. We live
well and are treated well.
'Ihe couple OF dollars cut from our
wages will not hurt us very much
although they would be just as good in
our packets as in the Governments treas
ury, Pm thinking. But tie boatswaius,
ships carpenters, cooks and stewards
have had to suffer pretty severely. A re-
duction of $40 in the salary of the cooks is
pretty severe
An officer of the revenue service re-
marked last night that the service is q
very expensive luxury. at cannot be
made any smaller, however," he added
''for even as it is there are not enough
boats for duty on the Pacific station.
Then there are times when the cutters,
with crews under full pay. have to lay idle
for weeks and even months at time.
''lhe Secretary of the Navy evidently
intends to bring the service to an equal
footing with that OF the Atlantic coast"
The announcement of the cut was made
known yesterday.