Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1897-09-16
THE sHIPKEEPER.
what His Duties Are-Coursc Of Life
ON ~ Ship In Port.

"hnt HIS Duties A~re-COurSc OF Life
On ~ Ship In Port.
New York Sun: The shipkeeper is the
caretaner of the ship while she is in port,
he 10 likely to be a man who has fol-
towed the sea; 1T may be in the employ or
tne mousse whose vessel he now looks
after. He may have sailed before the
mast or he may have been a mate or
perhaps the master of a ship. Every
nrm or large shipowners or shipping mer-
chants has a shipkeeper of its own. who
may have been thus employed by the
same house for years.
The s~hipkeeper goes aboard sometimes
Wnen the ship arrives in the harbor. but
usually when she is first tied up to the
wharf. The crew is discharged the min
ute the ships lines are made fast. n the
captain goes very soon. it is likely on the
same lay. The ship may have come from
d NINA voyage, or q voyage to some
otnef distant seas. and have been gone
Tor months, and he starts for home as
soon as he ~can-down East or wherever
IT may be-there TO remain until the shin
is nearly ready for sea again. Then the
shipkeeper is left in charge of the ship.
lie Is sometimes the sole o%ccuoan but
most owners keep one other person. a
man or a boy, aboard. IL the additional
person is a man 1t is likely to be the
SHIPS carpenter or one Of the crew en-
ployed for that purpose. The shipkeeper
lives aboard of the ship until sne goes to
sea again. He may cook and eat all of
his meals aboard, or IL there Is a res
taurant close at and ashore. he may
get his dinners there. He sleeps aft. He
does not sleep in the captains room, but
ne takes his choice of the rooms OF the
mate and the second mate, his being the
custom on the beach.
The shipkeeper is the Waterman of the
ship, and he looks after her in many ways
and sees that no harm comes to her. He
sees that the stevedore's men don't drop
blocks on deck and that no injury of any
kim is done to her inboard and ne sees
that no harm befalls her from tugs or
lighters or otner craft. And he keeps the
ship in order. He Is more han likely to
be n man who knows a ship allow and
aloft, and to take a sailors pride in her,
and a personal pride in the ships of the
house that employs him. There are ship
keepers who are not over nice. shipkeep-
ers are just like other people in this re-
spect; but, as a rule, they keep their ships
in perfect order.
Suppose you see in South street a fine
ship that takes your fancy and you walk
down the wharf TO go aboard of her. il
you find the gangway leading up to her
side bright and clean, not even any dust
on IL. the manrope a fresh, bright bit of
lpDc, DIdSS IlldillODt StdlGEllOl pidulEti III
the rail handsomely polished, strips OF
canvas laid upon the brass-covered treads
of the steps leading from the gangway
platform up to the rail of the ship. upon
the brass-covered rail itself, and upon
the steps down to the deck within. why,
il really wouldn't be necessary to look
any further TO know what kind of a ship
keeper was aboard here. But IL you look
down the quarterback into the waist OF
thu shin yill aaa thara a hrnaH ay-
panse Of deck as clean as any floor. III
you go forward and look, say, into the
hoisting engine house, you find the engine
and the tank and the room itself newly
and ~tastefully painted and everything in
perfect trim. Loo into the galley ard
you will find that just the same; as clean
a kitchen as any you ever saw. ahoa. or
asho 1t Is just the same everywhere
about the ship; the white paint Is ' hite
and the brasswork Is bright; and the
cabin IS in perfect order; and the veteran
of the sea who keeps the ship in this
shape is proud of her. as he has a per-
feet right to be. She may have been tied
I'D at three or four wharves. at as many
different points around the harbor, tow
ing here and there n discharging or
taking on cargo, but she's kept as trim
and handsome as though she were on ex-
hibition.
The ship is deep In the water when the
%shipkeeper first steps over the rail; he
sees her rise as they take the cargo OUT
of her. until she is light, and stands, on
high tides. with her side high above the
wharf. The shipkeeper stays aboard for
weeks. There may be days or longer
periods when there is nothing doing
aboard of her except what he does him-
Self. when the ship is silent; but sooner
or later they begin to fill her up again,
and from that on there is more or less
life aboard of her and alongside.
A week or ten days before the snip $
sailing day the captain comes to town.
He visits the owners ONCE. ana goes
down and sees the ship. He looks after
her stores and whatever other business
| he NAV have TO attend TO. All this time
as the ship fills up she Is going down IN
the water again. Two or three days De-
fore she sails the ringers come ABOARD
and bend her sails.
The crew was discharged the minute
sbe tied up; the new crew doesn't go
hoard until the last minute before she
sails II may be that the mate, the ex,
sc,tiva officer Of the ship. comes ABOARD
late. He must know where everything
;s and the ~shipkeeper can tell MIN. Ihus
a. banneas that sometimes the ~shipReepe.
aoos down the bay will the snip ana
comes off with the pilot; but ofterer ms
AMY is ended and he steps ashore as III"
shin leaves the wharf.