Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-04-28
A SEA CAPTAINS PAY.
THE MASTER OF A BIG OCEAN STEAM
Err IS NOT A PLUTOcRAT.

Everything Considered He Is Poorly Paid
False Stories Printed-Low Wages Given
Other Officers For orcrous Duties-Pur.
ser and Surgeon.
1t is the general impression among
chose who Go not know that the duties
| and responsibilities of the average skip
per OF q regular liner are as many and
onerous as the successful bank president
| End that in addition his salary is just
| Gs large. The responsibility Of the one
Is about as great as the other, but when
1t comes to duties the sea dog has as q
rule much more to bear, while, unlike
the bank president, his salary is as
small as his duties are large. 1t may
surprise some Of the regular transat-
lantic travellers to learn that their beau
ideal ct q sea captain who in faultless
gold lace goes about the deck laughing
ard chatting with the tourists, pattipg
the half fare tots on the back and
doffing his cap 20 the rug clad occupants
Of an easy steamer chair between the
time that he spends in his berth, in the
chartroom or on the bridge, gets little
more money "a month than the detective
sergeant CT the average steamboat cap
tain. In many instances Mr.. Gold Lace
gets less.
Ono of the most successful lines run
ming between this Port aud Europe pays
its commodore, who has been over 20
years in this particular service, $50 a
month, or about $l75. This is about $40
a week. The other captains in this line
are paid the equivalent Of $125 for so
days labor. Any number of matter of
no fact stories have been printed with
tho object CT showing that the COM
manders CT the great liners received in
some cases sums ranging from 81, 900
to @l2, 600 Per year. But such talk is
idle. There is not a single captain Oh
tho ocean who enjoys such IN income.
That many Of them deserve to is anoth-
er matter entirely.
In an argument that master mariners
are well paid the point is advanced that
the officers are fed while at sea and
even alongside the wharf with the best
that tho market affords aud at the ex-
penso Of the steamship company. Yet
so per cent of these well fed gold laces
arc married and have big families that
demand food. clothes and home either
here CT abroad, whether Or not the ship
is il port, This establishment costs as
much while the master mariner is on
the bosom of old Neptune as it does
when he is playing dry cob at home for
a short period. His going Or coming
adds or deducts little from the general
cost.
There are few pursers on the Atlantic
who command a higher monthly salary
than el0. They must have years of ex-
perience, o host of friends aud be "top
sawyers, cs they say at sea. to COM
mand even this figure. Unlike the
stewards, and, in the majority of cases,
the ships surgeons, the purser is sell
dom made the recipient Of a generous
tip. Nobody seems able to explain why
it is so, unless it he that the purser,
handling all the money of the voyage,
which includes extra passage money,
the receipts from the smoker made
through tho chief steward, the vino
bills from tho tables, all amounting to
u pretty large figure, is recognized as
the financial end Of the floating hotel
and so treated accordingly.
Tho SMOKER and its many attachments
are luXuries which tho captain is not
permitted to enjoy, or If permitted rare
" INDUCES in. Any skipper who would
mako himself jolly good fellow in the
smoker would lose the confidence of
those under his care as fast as trout
taking Il May fly. Not that his appear
ance there would make him any less the
sailor, hut passengers for some reason
or another seem to believe that the
only place fer the master CT their ship
Is CD tho bridge Cr III the chartrCc "a.
And if they can picture him on this
bridge in oilskins and so'wester with
the wind aud sleet and ice clustering
around him 50 much the better TO the
perfection of their idea of the practical
and capable mariner.
The poorest paid iRan in an official
capacity Gu great liner is probably
tho surgeon. Some passengers have tie
opinion that as the company pays the
ships doctor these using him Gu trip
are not supposed to give financial recog-
nitiCn to lis aitentCn. 1t is true that
none is obliged to, but he should. The
demand Of u doctor at sea is in nowise
different from that demand on land.
Tho steamship companies give passen-
ger board, lodging and transportation at
n cost that could not be euualed on any
railroad Of the earth, when distance,
accommodation and attention are con-
sidered. The luxury Of q doctor, while
generally forced, is at the same time an
auxiliary OF sea travel for which the
company receives nothing, and which,
when free medicines are included, IS
they invariably are. costs quite a good
deal. Experienced ocean travellers sell
dom forget the surgeon when necessity
makes them call for his attention dur
ing L trip. But these experienced tour
lists are few and far between.
York Mail and Express.
-
S.en.Siewicz.
Father Bacabasz of Baltimore, who
visited his countryman. Henry Sienkie-