Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1895-04-20
rRAMPs OF THE OCEAN.
Dirty Non1ads Looked Upon with Great
Disfavor by Regular Liners.

which very little is generally known
and that is the tramp steamship, says
the Brooklyn Eagle. Every year num-
bers of steamers, some large, some
small, often ugly and dirty to look at,
and commonly called tramps from their
readiness to GO anywhere and take a
hand in trade that happens at the mo-
ment to promise profit arrive at and
leave orr shores. These ocean foot
pads are generally worn out hulks, dis
carded by the companies who own
them, and belonging to no reg
ular line and identified with
no particular class of cargo, and
are sent ont as matter of speculation
to pick up what freight they can from
port to port, like an old and worthless
horse turned out of the regular pasture
to find a living by the roadside. They
are the guerrillas of the sea. Some of
them leave their native countries, gen
orally England, Norway, Germany, and
Spain, a few months before their an
nual tickets of inspection expire, and
remain away sometimes for years with
out undergoing a new survey and in
spection. On such ships the boilers
may be on the point of explosion, the
machinery may be in a dangerous con-
ditiOn, inadequate in power to prOpel
the ship against great stress of wealth
er; the steering gear may be warranted
to jam at some critical moment; their
bulls may be in the last stage of decay,
and perhaps their boats are not fit to
float when lowered from the davits,
-
and after leaving one port arrives safe
ly at another, no one grumbles except
the crew, whose arrangements are
oftimes such that they can not leave
the vessel if they would, for care is
taken to ship, if possible, only married
men, and with an offer of allotment
notes, leaving half-pay to their fami-
lies, these seamen must invariably find
sureties that they will not desert the
ship during the period agreed upon in
the ships articles, There can be moth
ing worse in the way Of cheerlessness
and discomfort than life abroad such
craft, and the hardships and grievances
of these seafarers are peculiarly great.
The crews are usually of a mixed
character, and are made up of Scotch
men generally as engineers), Scandi
navians, English, Irish, Danes, Nor
wegians, Germans, Italians, Lascars,
and negroes. Chief engineers receive
from $50 to $74 per month; firemen,
$19.46; trimmers, $14.59; carpenters,
$29.19. The average wages may be
said to be about as follows: First
officer, $3.50; second officer, 5000;
chief engineer, $6S.13; second engineer,
$48.66; carpenter, $26.76; steward,
5000; cooks, 500. II; boatswain, $19.46;
donkey men, $2O.67; able seamen,
$17.O3; ordinary seamen, 1913; fire
men, $1S.25; mess steward, 1913. On
French ''tramps" the rates per month
are: Captain, $3.50 and 1 per cent. on
gross freight; mate $3S.6O; second
mate, $27.62; bOatswain, $21.23; able
seamen, $11.58; chief engineer, ST.. 20;
second engineer $36.S0; third engineer,
$28.95; firemen, $15.44; coal trimmers,
$11.58; carpenters, $15.44; stewards,
$14.48; cooks, $16.41; boy, 1919.
After having been laid up at Liver
pool or Glasgow for some time orders
will be given to prepare the tramp for
will be extraordinarily zigzag. Per
haps to commence with she goes to
Cardiff for cargo of coal to one of the
West Indian islands. Arriving at des-
tinatiOn orders are given to proceed to
Rio, where the captain finds cargo of
coffee for Cape Town, from whence he
proceeds to Shanghai or FoochOo for a
shipment of tea to San Francisco or
New York, if to the latter port, per-
haps there is another trip to Rio, and
thence journey to Antwerp. Eventu-
ally the ship gets back home, more or
less the worse for her journey round the
globe, and then, with a coat of paint
and polish to such metal as she may
have, this tramp is made to appear to
the Iandsmans eye a stanch and good
ship. Besides being able to carry car
goes and freight at much lower rates
than the ships of regular companies,
the fact of their being able to carry on
other business gives them a still further
opportunity to unfairly compete with
established lines.
The operating expenses of these
ocean tramps are reduced to a very low
lever. 1u0 COd1 Is SIud1l,
in many cases not over twenty-five to
forty tons a day; the crew is as small
as possible, and the other general ex-
penses are kept at minimum.
On the sea the tramp steamer is but
little liked. Blundering along with
bad lookout, perhaps none at all, the
tramp is a terror to the owners of small
sailing craft-yachts, fishing and coast
ing schooners-and, taking no notice of
their lights, often crashes into them,
remorselessly sending some of the oc-
cupants to a watery grave. The off,
GERS of mail steamers, also, profess
great dislike to the tramp, which may
be partly assumed and partly real, for
! they greatly dread collision with
some badly steered, carelessly man
aged vessel heavily laden with coal or