The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1898-01-24
RELIEF FOR SAILORS.
CAPTAIN hOOPER's PLAN TO REMEDY
THEIR CONDITION.

he Tells of the Mariners Woes and Makes
Suggestions Based on His Experience Of
Forty Years Sea Scrv!ce-says Merchant
Marine Men Are Overworked.
Captain Adelbert Hooper of Sedg-
wick, Me-, is in Washington. the guest
Of his daughter. Mrs. Edward ]. Bar
rett. Captain Hooper comes Of Revolu-
tionary stock, one of his illustrious an
cestors having been William Hooper, q
signer of the Declaration Of Independ-
ence.
The object Of Captain Hooper's visit
is to lay before Senator Frye the logged
results OF his experience and observation
during an adv%enturesome career on the
ocean as sailor, mate and captain aboard
warship and merchantmen for the past
40 years Although we'll up in the six
ties Captain Hooper's frame is as sturdy
as the pine knots of the forests of his
native heath.
Talking about the American seaman,
his needs, condition and necessities Of
today, Captain Hooper said to a reporter !:
II am aware that at nearly every SEES
sion Of congress there is a good deal Of
talk and legislation for the betterment
Of American sailors. They say he is
abused and half starved, but faint so.
except in rare cases. l am an old mari
ner in both deep sea and coast sailing,
and it's all moonshine about this abuse
and starving, except in rare cases. Now
about the grub, / want to say there is
no class Of sailors on earth that live as
well as those aboard American vessels.
who are now, however, nearly all for
eisn born, the few native Americans
hallins almost entirely from down east
Il the east shores Of Jersey and Nir-
sinia and Maryland. The great trouble
with US Is that u vessels are not prop.
erly manned, except ships and barks,
which carry "a full complement of men.
The men II schooners-and really this
class Of vessels is all that is left Of the
American merchant marine-are the
sufferers, and as they are worked to
death you can see why these saamen
who are foreigners used to working on
vessels with full crews CrOwl and abuse
Us because they are Oyerworhed night
and day. get only >lJ or sis a month,
hardly enough to keep them III clothes,
as II week Is averaged ashore. and 50
hard are they worked at sea that they
cont set time to smoke. \ schooner
c. 500 CT SEQ tc-s t--l-c will carry
at best only a mate, second mate, cook
and engineer, Is if SIZE has steam, and
four III 'Tain't 'nutf, as neither
cook nor engineer stands watch, and
with one man at the wheel this leaves
mate, second mate and three II to
reef and set all heavy sails. Many a
night have spent all the weary hours
doing 1t, and when the watch is below
It leaves the officers and one man to do
1t all, as there must tie some fellow al
ways at the wheel. 'Taln't much, no.
how,two mel can Go with big sails and
very often stiff, frozen ropes, with which
they can do little CT nothing. This re-
CURES the whole crew ca deck in bad
weather and practically two-thirds the
time IN fair weather. Then there is the
vessel TO keep clean and a thousand 9th
er things t. do which keep Jack on the
jump all the time. When in northern
ports, there is a lay off Of three or four
weeks, and when this is over Jack mon
~ Is gone, and he has to 90 on another
man killer to repeat the dose.
The way to better Jacks condition,
which | shall recommend to Senator
Frye concluded Captain Hooper,
would be to pass a law compelling
every vessel TO carry a full complement
Of officers and an ablebodied seaman for
every hundred tons register, with an
ordinary seaman or an apprentice for
the Fraction thereof, and pay them de-
cent WAGES. This done, and we will
hear yery few complaints from Jack"
AT the recent funeral Ct Admiral
Meade Captain Hooper was present as
the sole survivor Of the two GOAT crews
that stormed stony Point, when the
dead admiral was Il lieutenant. Captain
Hooper was co.>wain Of Neade's boat.
They crept il Under the incessant and
deadly fire from the fort, put the enemy
T. 1t and >piEed their guns. For this
gall c0uGUct in this stGrming party
Ee Ma. .&yCra!lv mentioned in the re-
20. AMI rc},%.aed BY Gideon Welles,
'-# # : : t"4 VI tl' navy, WILu Il
-. = II u masters mate. Captain
]. 1,td during the wa on the
=. ."at =, = gunner and Is one Of
Il rnwho refused to profit
by e. ~ a!t. : distress and refused to
acc, y q tGunry. still in the hands of
tie county treasurer Of Sedgwick, Me-.
Master and man he has followed the sea
over ~ years and IS well qualified to
speaG Ga the needs Of the American
merchant service and to point out the
steps necessary to the UNFOLDING Of an
American merchant marine. Washing
ton Post.
An nSotAAl N1n