Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-29

| before he was 81, might remain on the
| steamer as a cadet after passing that age
| OF course in many instances before reaching
| II cadets will have been promoted by the
| company to permanent positions in their EN-
| ploy; already one such case has occurred
| where a boy, taken as a cadet, has been
made full quartermaster on the American
line, with the salary of $35 month. AS the
| months pass and the system comes into
smoother working there will doubtless be
| many such cases of promotion.
On the four steamers OF the American
line the cad5ts are divided into watches
with the officers and stand watch, -four
hours on and four hours Off On the Paris
busy on the bridge or in the wheel house
where it is their duty to polish the brass
work, to mend the flags and to keep every
thing spic-span clean. Besides this they are
given every opportunity to learn to steer,
to use the sextant and to signal with the
flags according to the code. In the main
their duties are similar to those of the
quartermaster, although they are unable
for many months to cast the log or heave
the lead On the st. Louis and St Paul the
cadets are not given such free access to the
bridge and the wheel house, but are kept
under the direct authority of the boatswain
or the boatswan's mate, and are required
to work on deck in the wash downs and
to lend a hand at "holystoning" and at
cleaning scuppers in the waterways or on
deck.
NJ THEY ARE KEPT BUSY.
1t must be admitted that the cadets are
kept busy, and no boy should seek one of
these positions unless he is prepared to work
every day until he will be glad to fall
into his bunk when sleeping time comes
Some of the boys who have come from
comfortable homes do not take kindly to
handling the broom, and think it beneath
their dignity to stand cut in bad weather
and "squilgae" the decks, but after all there
is no royal road to seamanship any more
than there.i to other things worth having
and boys with the right stuff in them do
what they are told to do with brave face
knowing that 1t is for their own best in
terests a practical sailor was never made
by looking on while some one else did the
work.
Sometimes cadets are stationed on the
deck to shift steamer chairs or sweep away
falling cinders, one Of them is always on
the lookout on the lower bridge and on
each of the four ships of the American line
certain number of cadets are assigned to
the engine room, where they are divided into
three watches, and stand four hours on and
eight hours off The reason for this differ
ence In the watches IA that the work in the
engine room is more laborious, on account
of the heat, the smell Of oil and the con-
finement The engine room cadets generally
work under the fovrth engineer their duties
being in the nature ( repairing pumps, re-
packing cylinders and doing the endless odd
jobs that are always coming up in this
strange region, where monster engines throb
and turn INCREASINGLY.
There is one kind Of work that cadets are
never called upon to do, that is the washing
of the decks, which is done by the common
sailors, between whom and the cadets there
Is a marked difference Of station. The cadets
are treated as petty officers young men who
will one day develop into full officers, quarter
masters, lleutenants, perhaps captains. They
are entitled to the pride of their possiblli-
hngi1GS hat
than common sailors, eat better food lin fact
they eat the same food as first cabin pas
sengers), and enjoy various privileges, not
extended to ordinary sailors. When In port
leave Is often given to visit their families,
although the period In port is by no means
one of idleness, since the cadets are re-
quired to be down in the holds while the
cargoes are loading and unloading, to see
that everything is done properly.
1t mu2t be remembered that the cadets
who enter upon service in American liners
are in no sense bound over as apprentices
to the company nor do they
go through anything like enlist
ment for a fixed period of time. They are
perfectly free to leave whenever they please
after the completion of voyage, and, If
they find the life uncongenial or the work
over severe they need never continue il
for more than three weeks. 1t is satisfac-
tory to know that, while at the start, the
boys of less desirable class were continually
leaving and, indeed, were frequently dis
charged, since Captain Shackford has adopted
his plan of more careful selection, the cadets
seem cOntented with their positions and
show every disposition to pursue. the career
OF seamanshlp seriously as it was hoped they
would do OF the forty-slx cadets on the
four American liners, about forty have thus
far shown themselves entirely worthy of
results than these are expected in the fu-
ture. CLEVELAND MOFFETT.