The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1895-07-05

of ali be SURVEYS. Into his hands are
given the keeping Of the destinies OF
the whole ships company, which often
amount to more than thousand
souls. The captain or sold man is
looked up to and respected more than
any petty prime IN the land while at
sea. Ashore h" appears snug In his
apartments aloud with every evidence
of luxurious comfort. But is he
happy man: The old SEA- dog who
was taking TO the ancient mariner was
inclined to the impression that while
the ship captain may be king he is
not unlihe the fellow who slept uneasy
because he wore IA crown. He pro-
duced:
"You see, it is this way There is
"a fierce rivalry between the different
lines for passenger business. Every
boat in the fleet possesses its own
peculiar reputation, and it is the
regular boat which does tho business.
Now let us see what regularity means.
A steamer leaves Queenstown let us
say. She pounds across the ocean at
bl eakneck speed. just as fast as she
can 90 she is driven. The owners
know just how fast she can 60, and
they expect the engineers to get every
inch of speed on of her that she is
capable of. If the seas are high she
is driven through hem. If the winds
are fair so much the better. Off the
banks of newfoundland we always
look cut for fogs. At certain season
of the year icebergs are also expected.
At all seas ols many sailing vessels and
fishing boats are 10 be looked for.
Well about this time the ships
officers get an obs-rva'lon. The officers
get an observation. The officer on
the bridge and the lookout peer with
all their might into the mist, which
on every hand surrounds them. Not
thing j. to be seen save the world Of
fog. 1t is case of 'ad reckoning
or sop. But there is not ship cap
ain IN an Atlantic line who would
dare stop his ship | will 60 further,
and say that there is not one who
would even slow her down without be-
ing called upon the instant he made
port for the reason of his being late.
And the owners of these ships are not
in the habit Of accepting DAYS Of fog
as an excuse. The officers keep the
bridge with their hearts in their
mouths. If a vessel looms up ahead
like dark shadow against the back
ground of gray fog it takes only an
instant to tell the tale.
''The big ship may be sheered off,
or the may pillow through her smaller
and less fortunate nelghbor. 1t would
be worse than useless to try to stop.
Such vessel, with such Roadway,
could never be stopped in time. The
accidents are not frequent. BE it said
to the credit of those men who sail the
Atlantic liners, they are splendid sea-
men. They navigate their vessls
through the fog on dead reckoning,
and they seldom are at fault. Their
skill in this IS the high art of naviga
ton. But the strain upon them, the
constant anxiety-that is what kills.
The passenger PAGES the promenade
deck and marvels at Ties pathbnders
of The sea. But they do no. know they
can never realize, the terrible tension
on the nerves Of the officers during
such hours. 1t Is not an unusual
thing fol a captain to remain on the
bridge for days at a time. He dare not
leave his post. So he stays there and
hopes for the best. But it is such
trials which make young men old and
for my part think that young fellow
was wise to seek IN the easy-going
tramp immunity from the trials OF!
an officer of a passenger ships. He
misses the plaudlts of the public and
The passengers, but he at least knows
it is to have peach at sea, unvexed by
the Creates anxiety a man could
know"
In the meantime the young officers
had passed out of sight, walking with
the air Of one who knew no regrets in
the absence of the gold lace and fine
ship he had left to 60 into miserable
little tramp"