The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1899-11-02
Written for The Prison Mirror.
The Deckaneers.

1t you were ever down among the
docks of a large lake city, you could
distinguish in very short time that
among the many classes of men found
there, one class Of them were evidently
the pariahs of their degree of society.
These persons are called the deck, or,
as some say, deckaneers. The deck
hand is the humblest employee on a
steamboat. He never raises to any
higher position than deck hand. A
steamboat usually carries four: two
pass coal to the firemen, and in port
they handle the lines-that is ropes
and freight; the other two scrub decks,
cabins, etc., outside, and in port they
do the same work as the ones that pass
coal to the firemen. They are every
body's dog on steamboat. The cap.
tain curses them, and the mates, engi-
neers, watchmen, wheelman, and fire.
men all help.
The law gives the utmost protection
to the common sailor; and the officers
of boats today find that the oldtime
method of adding kicks to curses, do
not pay. AS rule, they are contented
to curse them without striking. These
men get the smallest wages paid to
sailor-fifteen to eighteen dollars
month and board. For food they get
the same as the rest of the crew, which
is always of the list. : = e - s-'--- -
Among the deck hands, you will find
every condition of man from a college
professor to poor fellow that was
raised in the slums and never had any,
thing better. But the reason why they
are looked down upon is that they are.
as class, the LATEST, most degraded
and dirtiest grade of American man.
hood there is, and the cause OF it gen.
orally is drink.
Buffalo, where so many package
freight boats run to, is the place to see
them. There are hundreds OF them
there. They form themselves into
cliques of twenty. Ten of this num-
ber are out on boats, and the other ten
are waiting for them to come into port.
Now boat generally takes ten days to
make trip, so every day one of the
gang comes into port. His friends
always come down to meet him about
dinner time, and they generally man.
age to get their dinner in the mess
room with their chum. Well, he quits,
draws his pay, buys keg of beer for
the gang, and the man whose turn it is
to make trip ships in his place.
This thing goes on all summer.
When these men are on board, and
outside, they are as lazy as spotted
dogs you have to try every way posi-
BILE to get them to do their work. They
are not unsusceptible to kind word.
or a package of tobacco-perhaps,
though, they will not work with that.
When they act that way with the fire.
men, they generally have to take or
give a licking. An old coat, an old
shirt or any discarded clothes will gen.
orally win them over so that they will
work. When they come aboard they
never have enough clothes to wad
gun, but when they quit they have
quite few, which are given to them
as bribes to work. They generally
wash and sell them, which often paws
for their lodging while on their regu-
lar vacation.
But with all their bad characteris-
tics in fair weather, they are almost
always loyal when the boat is in dan
ger; it seems to bring out their best
nature. One little incident to illus
trate. A deck hand was passing coal
on passenger boat. He was about
the worst character around the docks,
They were outside on the lake. The
boat had tubular boilers; (boilers that
are like large coil of pipe) the steam
space is in the pipes, and they stand
pressure of 25O pounds and more.
Well, the fireman and his coal passer
were in the fire hold, when one of the