The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1899-05-20
DANGERS OF A SAILORS LIFE.
In II There Are Dangers and Draw
backs That Are Not Gener-
ally Appreciated.

"There are dangers to seamen aboua
which landsmen never think" said the
captain of one of the Baltimore heeu
engaged in the Rio coffee trade. "You
wouldn't consider the apparently sim
pie process Of weighing anchor risky
one, yet there is a part OF the job sol
disagreeable, not TO say dangerous,
that the men always draw lots to see
who shall perform the duty. In the
ships bow there is a compartment
hardly big enough to hold two persons
comfortably, and here the anchor
chain 10 slowed. The seaman who is to-
do the slowing and the under officer
who is to oversee the work reach the
place down q httle ladder through an
aperture scarcely large enough for a
fellow to squeeze himself. 1t Is so
dark there that you can't see your
hand before your face, and lantern
has to be taken along. The odor at
this time 10 bad enough, but when the
chain begirs to come In IL becomes al
most unbearsble. Some Of the harborA
in the tropics-indeed, most of them
are filthy, and there is brought up from
their bottoms all sorts OF disagreeable
souvenirs OF your visit When l was
first before the mast on more than one
occasioneI almost succumbod to the
frightful odor, and have known
hnicky young tars who actually had
to leave The ship because they could
not perform this part Of their duties
without fainting.
"But of the real danger. Each link
has to be carefully placed in its proper
position as the chain comes slowly in,
for otherwise when II came to drop
ping anchor again the whole side of the
ship might be torn out, Sometimes
through the sarelessness Of the men on
deck the windlass 10 allowed to slip
and the chain begins TO run out at
great rate. Then fellow has to be
quick, OF he will be dragged up through
the chute and his life crushed ou He
is warned of the da niger by the metallic
rattle and the smoke arising from the
friction as the fast-moying chain comes
In contact with the chute, and he
presses as far back as he can from the
iron mass, for he knows too well that
| a terrible death awaits him II his cloth
ing should become entangled in the
chain at such a moment. Only few
voyages since on my ship a man was
caught in this way. The mate, who
was by his side, managed to rescue him,
but In doing 20 was himself carried
along with the chain and had his life
squeezed out. 1 bad q pretty close call
myself once. While slowing away the
chain accidentally kicked over the
lantern and the light was extinguished.
OF course could not stop In my work
to let those above knowhThat had hap
pened, for the misplscing of single
link, as have said, might result in
disaster, and the mate, unfortunately
was not then near at hand. To bs
alone In the darkness and the horrible
stencil was far from pleasant, but of 9
sudden ! heard sound that filled mt
with terror-the rattls of the chain a
Il began 10 swiftly pay odts 9 ams -
had blundered, and there ] was In thai
black and loathsome hole, the victim
Of the blunder. shrsnk back pale and
trembling. for II was only few
months before that q poor devil had
met the same fate thatit seemed await
ed me. Remember, was only a few
inches removed from that rushing,
rampant mass of iron, and there was
no little likelihood tha,in some vagary
OF motion 1t might ensnare me in Ito
tolls. The awful noise, the stencil, the
odor of smoke, the sparks as THE chain
strained against the chute, all these
had their effect upon me, and my mind
became blank. When the mate came
for me with lantern had swooned
and fallen across the compartment
where the chain had lain a few mo-
ments before. The chain had run It's
course before tainted, else 1 should
have been ground to pieces,
Sometimes the cargoes brought
from the hot countries play havoc by
the fumes they give forth. On one yoy-
age the sugar we had aboard made
everyone sick. Matters finally became
SO bad that we could not live below
deck l chased a big Newfoundland
dog out Of it's kennel aft and used the
place as a berth, while the crew threw
themselves around the deck, at the i'm
minent risk of being washed overheard.
The cook had to go into the hold occa-
sionally for provisions, and when he
did so he tied a piece Of cloth over his
mouth and nose. After several such
htitried visits he was overcome, and
two other men similarly protected
went down and secured him with ropes
and he was hauled out, The hatche,
could not be battened down, for fear
the cargo would spoil, so we had to put
up the best we could with the fumes
until we reached port.
"The usually pleasant aroma of cof.
fee becomes siekening. indeed, when
; a man has to sail for weeks in a ship
:: loaded with the grain. Pine lumber
T - "OiSVb anu PcIohVum 10 - pau az
} pine lumber. You taste the stuff il
everything you eat, and meat and
bread are the same, so far as YOU
4 palate is able to distinguish, all SAVIOR
! ing strongly of whatever the cargo
happens TO be. Under the influence o.
the tropical sun these fumes get to be
0 simply terrible. Once we left port Will
/ our drinking water In pine casks W,
had been out only few days when thl
, water began to taste resinous, AM
: from day to day the taste becam,
, more disagreeable At last we wer
4 forced to stop drinking altogether AM
!; make for the neares: port, which hap
! pened to be in the island Of St. Helena
There We changed the wooden recep
tacles for others OF a material not 81
! easily affected by heat. But in tn
! meantime we had suffered cruelty To-
) our Ignorance. e."-Washington Star.
B The Bicycle Trust Formed.
Trenton, N. j., May lS.-Articles o
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