The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-18
THE SAILOR AND THE oRDI
NANCE.
Two Sides of the Question Which
Should Be Carefully Considered.
Editor of the Morning News:
Be thou as chaste as ice

Two Sides OF the Question Which
Should Be Carefully Considered.
Editor of the Morning News:
Be thou as chaste as ice
And as pure as snow,
Thou wilt not escape calumny,
Is succinet statement of one of the
greatest minds and greatest students of
human nature this world ever knew,
which idea may have come from an older
saying still, that no good thing escapes
attack"
How very true this is, especially in the
commercial world, where one man climbs
upon and over the shoulders of a brother
to reach the desired goal, all men know
and the attack is almost Invariably made
by those who expect to make something
out of it, with little or no reference to the
rights, or justice or humanity of the case
in question.
Some years ago the good citizens of
Savannah, with the welfare of their fell
bowman in view, finding that during the
/ summer months sleeping upon the low
bottoms and river front was likely to
| produce malaria, especially to the unac-
climated, passed an ordinance that sail
ors in port during these summer months
| should, as sanitary precaution, sleep on
/ shore at night.
] il captains OF vessels cared 1Or and
| looked after the welfare of their men
] there might never have been the neces-
sity for such an ordinance; but it is the
! same old story-it costs the vessel some
/ thing, and the captains sleep themselves
ashore, and the health and comfort of the
I poor sailor 20 down before the dollar and
/ cent problem, as it always does, when
= somebody else has to pay for it.
Jack may get sick, and Jack may die,
7 font 70 h ~,
town-knows nothing, and cares less,
| about poor Jack until the time for sailing
/ comes, and then, if the crew are sick and
unavailable, why the humane employer
| ships another crew, and leaves the suffer-
/ ers to their fate, and that's one reason
( why some captains are so little interested
I in the actual health, comfort and content
ment of their men. In port like Savan.
nah shipping new crew is a compara-
lively small matter, in the doing of which
! the sailor IS, again, the only sufferer
Well, the ordinance was passed-appa-
rently the sailor was at last to be pro
tected and given safe and wholesome
sleep. But the sailor has enemies on
shore as well as aboard ship. The sailor
boarding house runners saw an opportu-
nifty for more Fleeing of these uncared
for men OF the sea, and their surround
ings on shore were almost as dangerous
and unhealthy as the malaria of the
river.
Again the good citizens of Savannah
Z put their heads together and the Savau-
nah Port Society came 10 the rescue.
Good, clean, comfortable, healthy lodg.
ings are furnished them at the minimum
OF reasonable charges. All is going
on nicely everybody satisfied - for.
eign captains all pleased the men helped
and benefted-until, suddenly, this year
rev American captains, aided and
a hort tod bxy phf
gether to fight an ordinance which has
done, and does, such wholesale good. And
why do they fight itl Because the ordin.
ance is pernicious or harmful Not at all
Because they want to help anybody or do
any good' Equally not so. But simply
and solely because they want to save a
few dollars for their owners, and them
selves they being part owners themselves,
IN many cases, at the expense of the
very men who make their investment a
paying one, and who ought to be- but
hardly ever are, a consideration in the
matter at all.
If, as these few captains claim.
IL is so decidedly healthy and
safe for these uuacclimated men
to sleep aboard ship, il might be- a
pertinent question to ask, how many OF
these follow out their belief and sleep
aboard themselves 1t is pretty generally
known that they do nothing OF the sort
And u might be as well 10 state here that
the foreign captains, as a rule, take a
much more liberal view of this matter
ana OF the comfort health, etc, OF their
men imam our own captains, experience
with sick crews, etc, having taught them
what the humanity side should have sug-
gested. But now TO the facts in the case
is u unsafe or is il not to sleep on the
river Facts are stubborn things, and
the opinion Of anyone who thinks more of
commerce and its advancement than of
the health and lives Of the men who bring
ana make II, is not always a sure guide or
lnialhble Judgment. Several ideas have
been given 70 the public as facts which
DO not stand the fire Of investigation
REPORTS concerning the Ocean Steam
| snip company is one Of them For fifteen
years that company has required rs men
W sleep ashore from June 10 October. re-
| gardlcss Of ordinance, the sole and only
reason being sanitary one and not
only has II been done, but II Is " con