New-York tribune., 1895-08-31
ONE YEAR BEFORE THE MA"I'
AN AMHERST MANS TRIP ON N1TRAlE
CARRIER.
NE HAD NO PARTICULARLY EXCITING ADVENT
URES But ALL HIS DAYS WERE FULL UT
INTEREsT-THE PHYSICAL BENEFIT.

UREs But ALL HIS DAYS WE'RE FULL or
INTEREsT-THE PHYSICAL BENEFIT
Charles O. Seymour. law student in wen
known firm In Wall Street. has story 10 teii oi nc
experiences on a trading vessel. He was graduate
from Amherst a year ago. and. until WITHIN ie"
weeks he has held the place OF boy on sai'hs
ship HIS means OF building up his constitute"
and of seeing the world before settling down 10 MS
l.fe work may furnish suggestions 10 other .o'
lege graduates who are desrous OF accomp"s"i"e
the same ends He tells the following story io'
The Tribune
II inherited a strong love OF the sea from my
father who set me the example OF going to sea.
Like him. after graduation from college, dec'deu
TO ship a boy American vessel ! iouhu
great difficulty in securing a BERTH most Captains
objectng TO being troubled with ereenhorn'
However by pure good luck, stumbled upon eN-
actly the right man and the right vessel The cap
tain was bluff, hearty Yankee, and spendn
seaman, with better education than nineteen ou'
OF twenty merchant shippers have His vessel Is
a tough old nitrate carrier, tight bottle. good
for ten knots on taut bowline. and acknowi-
edged by many seafaring men 10 be the hand.est
and best heavy-weather vessel out Of NeW-Nork.
From the first was set seaman's work. steer
ing. reefng. furling and repairing gear. and my
watches below were pretty well occupied with the
study OF navigation under the captains tutorship
THE voyage to Valparaiso and Caao, two nitrate
ports, with general cargo In ballast ana nome
with nItrates could scarcely have been improved
upon for gaining acquaintance with Father
Neptune in all his moods Most of the trip was
pleasant. but We had plenty OF heavy weather. al
though through remarkable luck had no long
periods OF it, 1t Is rather that vessels round
the Horn without being hove TO for five or six days
and 1t is frequently the case that they Obliged
TO heave to off the Horn for three weeks
OF the Rio de la Plata. perhaps the most dan
Serous region in the world for sailing vessel, be-
cause OF its sharp and sudden blows. frequently
arising from clear sky. exper-i.ced the worst
thunderstorm that expect 10 see. The GOO
cases OF dynamite In the hold made rather dread
the consequences that might follow a manifcsta-
ton OF Jovcs wrath
RUNNING UNDER TWO TOPSAILS
"ON the Horn We had heavy weather. of course
but it usually favored us. Coming home, just as we
turned the corner terrific hurricane struck
astern. and for eight hours under two lower
topsails making fifteen or sixteen knots an hour,
We ran up through the northeast trade winds max
ing 1900 miles in a week, but of Hatteras
met four gales. increasing In fury. During the last
northwester. had a good chance to the
superiority OF sailing vessel a steamer in
gale Of wind A typical Gu.f Stream sea made it
necessary for Us to hang oilbags over the weather
side. With these out. decks practically
dry and we were enabled TO head-reach at
three or four knots hour.
we had no especially remarkable or dangerous
experiences such w. Clark Russell founds his
novels upon. But every day full Of interest for
me. don't believe any one can get the remotest
realization of life before the on a sailing
vessel from all the novels ever written. Yet we had
some exciting times. We almost ran ashore on one
Of the Terra del Fuego group of islands because
had not caught the for four five days. and
had TO grope along by dead reckoning. That same
day struck something in the water. and when
drydoeked at Callao founl the plank
ing below the water line torn away badly that
it seemed providental that fatal leak had not
been sprung We must have struck a sunken wreck.
rocks charted that point.
TRAMP's PLIGHT.
"One day drove past British tramp. with
turning just rapidly enough % keep her
head TO the and drifting to leeward percept-
bly,. Almost every other made clean sweep
over her. AM II seemed impossible for 10
live or her decks II her engines had h oxen down
she would have noa,ed possibly half an hour.
while coasting up from Valparaiso ID Calao we
experienced the white which is famous In
old sca-capians' yarns. but is rarely met with. Il
one murky. black night with light breeze
and phosphorescent sea. Just at two bells in the
midwa,ch. the lookout sang out, White water
ahead We all rushed forward. and there sure
enough. a great bloch OF wnlteness fully as
brilliant the wake of the when at her full
Old Bill the Oldest man aboard said that II was
entered the milky area, myriads Of the fright
ened creatures darted away from us leaving streaks
of greenish flame spreading out from us like the
ribs of fan. Then when got well within the
school and the alarm had spread among the schoi-
ars' we found ourselves floating apparently on a
bed OF fine opal, while with its apex ahead and its
arms on either beam immense but perfect
para bola Of the sane ghastly greenish fame The
whole effect was immeasurably weird and beauti-
full. The light emitted was so strong that we could
easily each others features and trace the gear
nj dark
Then we were soon among several schools. and
Polar regions with their icedoes and and dark water
between. These phenomena last throughout the
ton of them Such bTrhness cond not Se due
simply to the phosphorescence OF the sea- brilliant
Il might have made a better trip for sightseeing
across the Atlantic: sti:l Valparaiso and callao
twenty-four hours Is the most delightful place to
live in that can be imagined While there. was
fight OF the season. 1t was intensely exciting but
caused me 70 thank heaven that I am an Amer
for Philadelphia. never sees a drop of rain, and.
surrounded as It Is by enormous sandbanks. prob
dence on earth, After all. my experience on the
the res, of my life in New-York among New-York-
ers.
IT DEPENDS on THE CAPTAIN
Il would not advise all yong men just out OF col
lege TO follow my example and take journey like
mine. The chances too many against getting as
good n captain / did Under captain ~
wouldn't take special Interest in him and ,oCf
out for him. young fellow would probably led
such life would influence him TO deser al the
first port touched. and then his condition would be
far from pleasant. the change from life at college
to that Of a ships boy decided | was
never exempted from even the most ar1uous ani
disagreeable work because had been brought up
and. In harbor. instead OF working cargo.
tailed it, but the mental strain Of keeping ac-
curate account OF large general cargo is fully as
exhaustng as the physical labor OF discharging.
shifting and loading Working ballast IL the most
heartbreaking labor have ever undergone. Then,
greater contrast be Imagined than that be-
tween college society and LIE In the forerastle.
Going straight from college to sea like enter
ing a new world.
Il have said nothing about merchant seamen. be-
cause after al they are far more snned against
than SHINING. except the British scamen. AT best.
however. merchant seanen are not NJ associate for
n young fellow fresh from home and college in
nuences But II he could be as fortunate in his
her, fa har nd