Griggs courier., 1898-08-25
A SEA CAPTAINS PAY.

THE MASTER OF A BIG OCEAN STEAM
Err IS NOT A PLUTocRAT.
Everything Considered he Il Poorly Paid.
False Stories Printed-Low Wages Given
Other Omcers For Onerous Duties-Har.
ser and Surgeon.
It is the general impression amc,sg
those who do not know that the duties
and responsibilities Of the average skip
per Of regular liner are as many and
onerous as the successful bank president
and that in addition his salary is just
as large. The responsibility of the one
is about as great as the other, but when
it comes to duties the sea dog has as o
rule much more to bear, while, unlike
the bank president, his salary is as
small as his duties are large. It may
surprise: scme of the regular transat.
lantio trsrelers to learn that their beau
ideal of o sea captain who in faultless
gold lace goes about the deck laughing
and chatting with the tourists, patting
the half fare tots on the back and
doffing his zp to the rug clad occupants
Of an easy ateamer chair between the
time that be- spends in his berth, in the
chartroom or On the bridge, gets little
more money a mouth than the detective
sergeant or the average steamboat cap
tain. In many instances Mr.. Gold Lace
gets less.
Ono Of the nSest successful lines TUE
ming between this port and Europe pays
its commodore; who has been over 70
years in this particular service, G35
month, or about 8T75. This is about $40
a week. The other captains i'll this line
are paid the equivalent Of $l25 for so
days labor. Any number Of matter Of
no fact stories have been printed with
the object Of showing that tho COM
manders of the great liners received in
some cases sums hanging from $1,000
to $4,000 per year. But such talk is
idle. There is not \ single captain on
the ocean who enjoys such an income.
That many of them deserve to is anoth-
er matter entirely.
In an argument THAT master mariners
are we'll paid thepnint is advanced that
the officers are fed while at sea and
even alongside the wharf with the best
that tho market affords and at the ex.
penso of the steamship company. Yet
so per cent of these we'll fed gold laces
are married and have big families that
demand food, clothes and home either
here or abroad, whether or not the ship
is in port. This; establishment costs as
much while the. master mariner is Oh
the bosom of old Neptune as it does
when he is playing dry cob at home for
short period. His going or coming
adds or deducts little from the general
cost.
There are fewpursers on the Atlantic
who command a. higher monthly salary
than el0. They must have years of ex-
perience, a host Of friends and be stop
sawyers, as they say at sea, to COM
mand even this. figure. Unlike the
stewards, and, i'll the majority of cases,
the ships surgeons, the purser is sell
dom made the recipient of generous
tip. Nobody seems able to explain why
it is go, unless it be that the purser,
handling all the money Of tho voyage,
which includes extra passage money,
the receipts from the smoker made
through the chief steward, the wine
bills from tho. tables, all amounting to
a pretty large figure. is recognized as
the financial end Of the floating hotel
and 60 treated accordingly.
Tho smoker and it's many attachments
are luxuries which the captain is not
permitted to enjoy, or if permitted rare--
ly INDUCES in. Any skipper who would.
make himself jolly good fellow in the
smoker would lose the confidence Of
those under his care as fast as front
taking May fly. Not that his appear.
ance there would make him any less the
sailor, but passengers for some reason
or another seem to believe that tho
only place fer the master of their ship
is on the bridge or in the chartroom.
And If they can picture him Oh this
bridge in oilskins and so'wester with
the wind and sleet and ice clustering
around him so much the better to the
perfection Of their idea Of the practical
and capable mariner.
The poorest paid man in all official
capacity on a great liner is probably
the surgeon. Some passengers have the
opinion that as the company pays the
ships doctor those using him on a trip
are not supposed to give financial recog-
nition to his attention. 1t is true that
none is obliged to, but he should. The
demand of doctor at sea is in nowise
different from that demand on land.
The steamship companies give passen-
ger board, lodging and transportation at
cost that could not be equaled Oh any
railroad Of the earth, when distance,
accommodation and attention are con.
sidered. The luxury of a 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, as
they invariably are, costs quite good
deal. Experienced ocean travellers sell
dom forget the surgeon when necessity
makes them call for his attention dur
ing trip. But these experienced tour
lists are few and far between.-New
| York Mail and Exnress