The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1896-05-07
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THE SEA

What 1T Means to Run M Ocean
Greyhound.
Just as the government of the city
mayor, aldermen and boards and CON-
missioners of various departments, sc
the administration of a giant steam
ship Is divided into ~specialties. The
mayor is the chief officer Of the city.
The captain is the chief officer of the
ship. He is more than that. From
the time she leaves port until she ell
ters port he is master of the life and
liberty of every person aboard the
ship, as well as of all the property in
it. He is an a%utocrat. OF course he
must administer his authority wisely.
Upwise autocrats don't last long,
whether afOat or ashore.
The head of each department is re-
isponsible for all that goes on in it.
The first officer Is at the head of the
crew, or navigating department. The
chief engineer directs everything con-
nected with the engines. The chief
steward has full control of all that
has to do with the comfort of the pas
sengers and crew. Each of these
chiefs makes a written report at noon
every day. Thus the captain is kept
informed of everything pertaining to
the ships welfare.
Every one of the senior officers of
the ship is a duly qualified master,
capable Of taking her around the
world if need be. The day is divided
into watches" or tours of duty, of
four hours each. One junior officer is
~ +h1 1>xtl-. ,-;%l. - oh co,tNr flo
| on duty. The senior officer directs the
ships course He never leaves the
bridge while he is on watch. Should
he do so he would be dismissed at
Once. There is no excuse possible. 1t
would be Just as if he died suddenly.
| His friends would a. feel sorry, but
| nothing could be done to help him.
Two seamen are always on watch in
the bow of the ship, and two more in
the foretop. Twice as many are on
the lookout in thick weather. Observa-
tons are taken every two hours. In
the good old sailing-ship days the cap
| tain was content to take the sun at
noon every day. If the sky was
cloudy for a day or two, 1t really did
not matter much, for he could jog
along on the dead reckoning. But on
an ocean greyhound, rushing over the
course between New York and Europe
at the rate of more than twenty miles
an hour, it is highly important that
the ships position be known all the
time. Fog may come down at any mo
ment. observations may not be obtain
able for ten or twelve hours. The po-
, sitions of more than one hundred stars
are known. BY observing any one of
these the ships whereabouts can be
ascertained in a few minutes. OF
course the "road" becomes more oil
less familiar to a man who crosses the
ocean along the same route year after
year. Yet this familiarity never breeds
contempt or any carelessness. No mar
knows all the influences that affect
the currents of the ocean. You may
find the current in one place the same
forty times in succession: on the forty
first trip it may be entirely changed
Sometimes a big storm that has ended
four of five hours before the steamship
passes a certain place may have giver
the surface current a strong set in ont
direction. There is nc means of tell
ing when these influences may have
been at work save by taking the ship:
position frequently.-Harper's Round
Table.