The Portland daily press., 1898-03-11
NEW YORK TUG BOATS.
Row The Fleet of the Metropolis Is Owned
and Managed.
New York Post. }

49, -NS-@NNS
man. who looks but cursorily on harbor
life. to think seriously of tugboats. They
are like self-important individuals bust
limo about With ostentatious energy; at
one moment they strut through the har-
bor with an ocean-liner, with the mag
nificent assurance of those who thrust
themselves upon the great; at another
they are like pages in the Senate, or like
messengers on the floor of the Stock Ex-
change, as they steam their way actively
through the waters crowded with larger
craft. At times they are seen bringing in
dismantled and ice-oovered ships which
are the epitome of disability and distress.
In this case the tug is the good Samari-
tan, and its pompous manner expresses
efficiency. At other times fleets Of tug
boats are seen gathered around the sips
and piers in the lower part of the city
like a flock of sea gulls around feeding
ground, awaiting orders from one OF the
offices along the river front.
There was time when all the boats
were owned by their captains, but now
companies are generally the owners. and
the captains are paid like any other sala-
rieda employee. Orders for tugs are re-
ceiyed at the offices, and from there they
are transmitted to the captains. While
awaiting instructions the boats are tied
up at the docks to be within easy reach,
and the men are prepared to sail Mt mo-
ment's notice out to sea past san y
Hook, perhaps to Perth Amboy, or up
the Sound, or the North River, or maybe
only across to Brooklyn. The extreme
irregularity of the work keeps the life OF
the tugbcat captain free from monotony
He oan never count upon his time, which
may hang upon his hands for several idle
hours, and then, at tho moment when
his inclinations are turning toward his
home and family. the order may come for
a long undertaking, and he is out all
night, and perhaps for two or three sue
seding nights, with long or difficult
tow. In this the tugs are very much like
the licensed cabs that stand around the
squares up town waiting for hours for q
car, and are then hired by patron who
spares neither man nor vehicle.
Berths at dock are free to tugboats,
but the conditions are that the tug must
give place to any other craft that wishes
to make landing City docks are fur
nished with hydrants from which the
tugs draw water for boiler and personal
use. tax of $50 year is levied ON each
boat for water supply, and this gives rea-
son for the tying up of the boat at the
pier. A quiet berth is always sought,
but chance regulates that, as everything
else in tughoat life. 1t may be that there
will be continual getting out of the
way for other vessels, or it may be that
only tugs claim dock privileges. in which
case the original ting rests at its moor
ing, and newcomers throw hawsers to the
inside boat; thus three or four lie side
by side, and tugboat courtesy accedes
right of way over aH boats from the dock
to the furthermost tug. Each boat added
to the feet is an object OF interest TO all
the others, for the newcomers pass the
time of day, and If they have anything
to recount in the way of adventure, in
Justice or humor. they find an eager au.
dience. Good natured guying Is part
of the process Of making a landing. dur
ing which time n mans boat and meth
ods are both ridiculed without stint and
without malice.
But the most absorbing things to the
men on the idle tugboats are the other
boats, sail or steam, their names, their
characteristics and their histories. No
where outside of country town is there
such interest displayed in neighbcrs.
Where boat plies, its age, size, owner
ship. and oil either nautical data, are
matters which are acquired by years OF
careful observation and unquenchable IN
IA 10 for fhncn WI
business and pleasure lead them only in
to the crowded parts of the city to have a
personal knowledge of many of their fell
lows. and an Indifference is thus engen-
dered But it is very different on the
water, where crafts are not as numerous
as people. A stranger is as quickly rec
ogni3ed and classed in harbor life as the
summer boarder who enters the remote
New England village. There is much to
impress the various boats upon tho mind.
for some harbor happening attaches to
each one. Ocean and coast liners are, of
course, easy to become acquainted with
because of their conspicuousness and the
regularity Of their movements, but the
various barks and barkentines, and
schooIers are only known after long ac-
ouaintance Some one of those may have
been in trouble-through fire or fog or
storm, and thus have contributed to the
history of the harbor, at least that part
or 1G Wn1Cn llt0fSstS tH0 !HeA vi tllo bu
boats.
In the harbor waters there is the free
lance known as the cruising tug which
gains its business by whisking all about
with alert rapidity eager to seize chance
lob still unsecured by any of the towing
Offices. Boats of this kind are owned by
their captains, who naturally strive to be
ubiquitous, steaming around the water
near shore, and sometimes running far
out in the lower bay for incoming YES
sells. They also report at towing offices,
from whence they receive orders if the
company's business is in excess of its ac-
oomtnodations. Besides these boats there
are other tugs for specialized use, which
belong mainly, to railroad companies.
barges filed with cars from New York to
the Jersey shore, and back again. The
government, too, has its own tugs, and
all these boats diminish the business OF
the general tug boat.