The times., 1897-07-25
SEA CHECKERS.

hot edslly De stamped Out, so iOng as there
are deck hands desirous of ca ming shillings
and quarters, or pa ssengers willing to
spend them. Briefly, sea checkers is the
game 5y which our men add to their wages
by wooing money out Of our patrons
pockets. 1t took me years and years to be-
come acquainted with even the rudiments
of the game, and but for The information
received from smoking room steward
whom treated through serious Illness.
should still be in comparative ignorance on
the subject. From this steward, however,
l gathered enough to fill a book.
ITO the expcrencied deckhand there are,
i believe, as many as 254 moves in sea
checkers Each move, as handed down by
tradition or else recently added TO the
list, has number by which alone it is
known TO the checker players. For i'll
stance, move No. 1 consists in matches
wherewith to light his cigar, and, as II
by accident, offering him one or more
OF the desired fire-producers. If your pas
senger be liberal he is pretty sur to fish
out three-p penny bit, or perhaps a mic KEEL
siXpencc or dime for this attention The
smoking room steward has special facili.
ties for playing move No. 1. 1t lies in his
power to let the smoking room stock OF
matches run low and then to dispatch q
confederate IT, search Of would be smo kers
along the decks. The confederate comes
forward in the nick of time and subse-
quently shares the proceeds OF his venture
with the smoking room steward.
.'Move No. is one which all who have
played uuoits aboard will recall. 1t means
the hiding OF The quoits atop OF the deck
houses or in some other secure place when
ever passengers are heard asking for them.
This necessit dtes the sending for sailor
To find the wished-for implements. 1t is
surprising how, whenever the quoits are
missing, there always happens to be deck
hand within hail, who viii volunteer to
hunt out their whereabouts. Moves 20, II,
q and %, ct cetera, are variants in
the same cunning scheme Il. e., of inflicting
some Injury on the apparel or person of q
Of passenger, and then coming with the
means OF Strengthening out the damage.
Move 20 begins with the sly addition
Of some fresh paint or chalk to some par
ticnlar spot upon which liberal passenger
has been seen to sit The passenger In
question returns to his favorite seat. and
reads or runinates in fancied security un-
TIL upon the scene appears an innocent-loOk-
ing deck hand with the Mortified exeIama-
ton, Lor, sor, you've been and sat down
liz some paint Never mind, though, sir; I'll
get It off in two twos for you. i never
comes aboard without some benzine In
the case OF chalk, a whisk broom is pro-
duced with equal readiness, and the passen-
ger, moved by such thoughtful attention,
fishes in his pocket for a shilling or 50.
s.~y a "A
all feats OF show daring or brava,I0, un-
deriaken when the deck IS crowded with
curious folk A man viii lower himself
over the SIDE to scrape some imaginary dis
figureluent off the vessel. His proceedings
are watched by scores OF Idlers, and when
he gracefully swings himself back there is
nearly always a collection raised for him
by some goodnatured busybOdy
with a certain class OF passengers
moves 10t 10 / II are good ones. These are
all connected with the various lotteries,
pools, etc, which enliyen sucking room
life. The shrew deck hand picks out Il
passenger with Slight scrupIes, and tells
him in a whisper to buy in such z ticket.
say, for the daily pool on the ships run,
pretending to have accurate private infoT
NATION as to the number Of knots 10 be
''oyered during the forty-eight hours. II
the passenger be as uusportsmanIike as is
supposed be Is greatly tickled by this news,
and pays for the tip willingly OF course,
the private information rarely turns out
70 be correct, and during the rest OF the
voyage the deckband gives his victim u
wide berth.
s'Numher1O0 is a move of note. 1t con-
sists of yam spinning solely The deck
hand, OF steward. holds bimself in readiness
10 tell wondrous sea tales or yield up yalua-
bic Though doubtfuD Information regard
ing every subject connected with the ship
and the voyage from the abits OF the deep
sea fish TO the domestic relations OF the
officers.
alleged cures for seasickness are pro
ductive moves in sea checkers and these
are OF the most varied nature. Usually
the deck-hand physician prescribes some
nostrum Of which brandy or whisky forms
component part, and gets some Of the
spirit for himself in addition to financial
reward.
THE second cabin and steerage passen-
gers fall into the snares OF the sea-eheek
er player cruelty often. Indeed, I have
heard that more money is made out OF
elers in the cabin. All sorts OF small priv
ileges and Iuxuries are in demand with the
second-cabin folk, and many a ollar
makes its way from their slender purses
into the ready palms of the 'cheCker-play "
ers' Altogether, this old game, which has
existed, believe, since the earliest days
of the passenger packet, and which cannot
be stamped QUITS a highly interesting
study, and amusing withaI'
Petty officer James KurtZ, who has been
in the service of the big Atlantic and Pa
cific lines for over twenty-five seasons,
smiled gTimly when questioned about ~sea
checkers II Won't admit that l ever
played the game myself he said, but /
cannot deny the fact of its existence. 1t
had no particular name when l first went
to sea, but since then some wag callesl il
sec checkers and set forth a regular code
| of rules. These have become traditional,
and there are men who can rattle Off for
you every one of the 250 odd moves with
| out making a mistake. 4 very good move
| is to secure the washing OF the decks in
| the morning, and induce some passenger
| or passengers TO come up on deck for a
| day-dawn bath from the hose These
! baths become tremendously popular, for
| they are most refreshing. That is move
| No. 202.
Fastening mails, point upward, in con
] venient places for sitting used TO lie good
| move This was worked in confedefacy
with the bedroom steward. who afteFwa RI
| offered to mend the clothes torn in this
| way, or, If the rent was very bad 0ne.
| received the damaged garment as a gift