Washington sentinel., 1898-01-22

Ae"tPS' At Is dated SemiO. September
IL, and IA It NJ. Nichols says that hz-
has had great zeal Ct trouble with his
carriers, WHO constantly ran away }intO
the bush, abandoning their loads. YThe
track the letter continues, "is very
bad at this time of the year. It is now
the height OF the rainy season, the
grasses are very high, and fall right
across the path, bndering the carriers
progress The watercourses are full,
even overlooking, and form morasses
on both sides ofevery channel"
NAvIGAroRs AND WEATHER,
SyysH.
The British shipmaster Of today Is, we
| believe, hardly so much of a weather
| prophet as was his predecessor OF sailing
ship days. In bygone times the baron.
eter vas a much more studied instru.
ment than it is at present. But then
there was no sailing list published
vessels sailed when they were ready, and
not a minute before. Unfortunately,
however, this sailing OF steam craft in
| spite Of the weather has not Deen with
! out its Influence on sail and small
! powered steam craft, and hence II often
happens that thev leave port when a
storm is almost Immediately imminent,
are caught by it, and perhaps driven.
ashore. How many men. we wonder,
are there who make the barometer their
| special study, who try to account tor its
| minutest rise and fall, and cousci-
| entiously ATTEMPT to reconcile the
weather changes with its fluctuations.
II would almost seem as If the masters
Of vessels, both large and small, we're
united in esche wing, as If it were some
| superstltlous rite, ng OF the
barometer when 4 sailing.
| With a large vesse Of course)
| II does not matter with the
sailer and the sr
many cases tenn
| leave the shelter
in the face of ad
tlons. Perhaps, h lot, aIter
all, the shipmaste here is a
story told Of a ce er, since
deceased, who, Oh ...,eTnoOn,
was sitting in his private Office, when ne
heard a knock at his door, and to him
there entered the captain of one Of his
vessels which was due to sail. "Well,
what is it?" SAID the owner. "I have
just come" replied the skipper, Ito ask
If it is necessary I should sail this after
noon" And this was the reply that he
got: "Oh, no; not at all necafor =. asNTzee
you should sail-not at all-bGT-th ship
sailsl" And sail she did. although the
weather was such that it would have
been much safer to have kept the boat
| back.
| Every storm which visits England
catches on one Of our three shores
whole feet OF small vessels exposed to
all the horrors Of a lee shore. That
some Of then would have been in port
had the weather ,ndIces been more
closely followed goes without saying.
With such craft delay of a day or so
makes little material difference. Yet
the same lush and hurry characterizes
their movements as does that of steam
ships. Time spent in port--except in
receiving or dischargIng cargo-is
looked upon as so much time lost and
hence the vessel proceeds, regardless Of
a falling barometer and a iorecasted
gale, Perhaps the port of all others that
can furnish instances of the crash Jolly
and stupidity-to call 1t by no worse
name-of this plan is Liverpool. AS is
we'll known, the Mersey is the venue Of
a large Coasting trade, done in great
measure by sailing craft. Over and
over again these vessels sail on the eve
OF bad weather, only to be beaten back
again or to provide a case for lileboat
rescue. The loss OF a suit Of sails IS
quite a minor evil to the foolharC.y skip
pers OF this sailing fleet. And yet, in
view this pFnehaHI for prompt saiIings.
and the fact that betwixt Liverpool 80
Milford there is but one harbor OF reiug,
-HOlyhead-it will hardly be credited
that storm signals are hOisted in such a
position that every vessel proceeding
down the river.can read them. In marked
contradiction to the fatuous action of
these wlndiammsr slippers was that of
| the master OF "a llLklc SLCaul coaster
making weekly voyages--with a regular
sailing day, or rather night. Passengers
as well as goods were carried, and upon
a voyager making his appearance half
an hour before the vessel should have
been warped through the dock gates,
he was concerned to find that there were
no preparations for departure. Accord.
iugly, he proceeded to interview the
skipper. He found the "old man." a
veteran grown gray in the coasting trade,
calmly disrobing, preparatory to turning
in for the night, "What time will you
get away, captain" queried the passen-
| ger. "About this time to morrow night
| -ifthe glass will let ME" was the Tetort.
Further expostulation was useless, All
the satisfaction that could be got from
the weather wise one was a statement
that the glass had "simply fallen down
for big blow" and added he, What
is the use of burning Goals, being
knocked about. and getting nowhere'"
What is a day or two's stoppage com
pared with a weeks bufeting in narrow
waters, a return TO re6t, and protraCted
delay in consequence? And here again
the underwriters are concerned. We
think they would do well to insist on