Evening star., 1899-03-04
DANGERS OF A SAILORS LIFE.
Some of the Drawbacks That Are Not
Generally Appreciated.

Appreciated.
There are dangers TO seamen about
which landsmen never think" said the cap
tain of one of the Baltimore fleet engaged
in the Rio coffee trade, to a little company
at the Riggs. You wouldn't consider the
apparently simple process of weighing
anchor risky one. yet there is a part OF
the job so disagreeable not to say danger
Gus, 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 is slowed The
seaman who is to do the slowing and the
under oIncer who Is to oversee the work
reach the place down a little ladder through
an aperture scarcely large enough for n fel-
low to squeeze himself. 1t is so dark there
that you can't see your hand before your
race ana lantern has to be taken along
Inc door at this time is bad enough hut
when the chain begins to come in it be-
comes almost unbearable. Some of the
harbors in the tropics, indeed most of them
are flthy, and there is brought I'M from
their bottoms all sorts of disagreeable SOU
Eenlrs OF your visit. When | was first he
Iore the mast on more than one occasion L
almost succumbed to the frightful odor and
nave known fnicky young lars who ac-
tually had TO leave tie ship because they
could not perform this part of their duties
without fainting.
But of the real danger Each link has
10 be carefully placed in its proper position
as the chain comes slowly in for otherwise
% wien IL came TO dropping anchor again the
Shole side or the ship might be torn ont
sometimes through the carelessness of the
men on deck the windlass is allowed TO
SIP ana the chain begins to run out at a
great rate Ihen fellow has to be quick
or he Will be dragged up through the chnte
ana his life crushed out. He Is warned Of
the danger by the metallic rattle and the
nSi,e "[tslns from the friction as the fast
moving chain comes in contact with the
chute, and he presses as far back as he can
from the iron mass for he knows too we'll
MAJ ohaI terrible death awaits him If his
oiothihs should become entangled in the
chain at such moment. Only a few vow
ages since on my ship a man was caught in
thls way. The mate. who was by his side
managed to rescue him. but in doing So us,s
himself carried along with the chain and
mad his life squeezed out L had a T,ret,v
ciose caIl m.'self once. While slowing aWay
u, tne CT, enaln l accidentally kicked over the
lantern and the light was extinguished. OF
course, could not stop in my work 10 Ter
those above know what had hammered Co.
the mlspiacing of single link. as / have
SAID mlsht result in disaster and the mate
unfortuna tely, was not then near at han6'
10 be alone in the darkness and the horri
Die stench was far from pleasant but Of n
suuoen l heard sound that filled me with
terror-the rattle OF the chain as il began
to swiftly pay out. Some one had blundered
and there | was an that black and loath-
some hole, the victim of the blunder
L shrank back pale and trembling for il
was only few months before that a poor
devil had met the same fate that il seemed
awaited me. Remember, / was only few
inches removed from that rushing, rampant
mass of iron, and there was no little likel-
hood that in some vagary of motion il
might ensnare me in its tolls. The awful
noise, the stencil, the odor of smoke, the
sparks the chain strained against the
chute. all these had their effect upon M,
and my mind became a blank. When the
mate came for me with a lantern | had
swooned and fallen across the compartment
W he h1i hn al fakN fu
before. The chain had run its course be-
fore | tainted, else 1 should have been
ground to pieces.
Sometimes the cargoes brought from tho
hot countries play havoc by the fumes they
give forth. on one voyage the sugar We
had aboard made every one sick. Matters
finally became so bad that We could not live
below deck. / chased a big Newfoundland
dog out of its kennel aft and used the place
a berth, while the crew threw them
selves around the deck at the imminent risk
of being washed overheard. The cook had
to go into the hold occasionally for provis-
ions. and when he did so he tied piece of
cloth over his mouth and nose. After sew
eral such hurried visits he was overcome
and TWO other men, similarly protected
went down and secured him with ropes and
he was hauled out. The matches 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 coffee be-
comes sickening, indeed, when a man has
to sail for weeks I'm a ship loaded with the
grain. Pine lumber is worse and petroleum.
as bad as pine lumber. You taste the stuff
in everything you eat, and meat and bread
are the same, SO far your palate is able
to distinguish, all savoring strongly OF
whatever your cargo happens to be. Under
the influence of the tropical sun these
fumes get to be simply terrible. Once we
left port with our drinking water in pine
casks. We had been out only few days
when the water began to taste resinous,
and from day to day the taste became more
disagreeabIe. At last we were forced to
stop drinking altogether and make for the
nearest port, which happened to be in the
Island of st. Helena. There We changed
the wooden receptacles for others of a ma
terial not so easily affected by heat But
in the mean time we had suffered cruelty
for our ignorance"