The times., 1899-08-10
JACK TAR ON sHIPBoARD.
How He Spends the idle Moments of
Long voyage.
From the London Leader.)

How He Spends the Idle Moments of
Long Voyage.
From the London Leader.)
On board ship sailors pleasure" is a
well understood term with only one mean
ing. instead of the general catalogue that
might have been expected. 1t is the turn
| ing out of the sea chest or donkey" the
sea name for .overhauIing the contents and
putting them back again. Il is most salts
/ factory when ehum looks on, to whom
you can tell the history of each article, and
who will refrain from injudicious comment
upon any photographs of your lady friends
And, indeed, where a man has been fairly
steady and secretive the old donkey often
contains q most interesting assortment OF
odds and ends, each with matter for chat
pertaining to 1t, so that review Of these
treasures is quite pleasant way OF pass
! ing an idle hour
But, except in rare instances, most men
have some hobby or another which they
will ride with the utmost energy and per-
severance, no matter what may be the difii-
cuities in the way. One of the chief OF
these is model making. With no other
tools but a knife and an awi made out of
d broken sail needle some men will turn
out model worthy of place in any mu-
scum. Entirely absorbed in their work,
they will sacrifice much needed sleep,
whittle away in the bright moonlight OF tie
tropics, and seem to have no other object
| in life but to turn out a piece of carving
that shall be a credit 10 their patient tai
ents. The pathos of these labors often lies
in the fact that they are friendless men
who have no one to give their pretty handi-
work to-no one, that is, who Will value II
for the giver's sake; and consequently
these long elaborated models may be found
in great numbers in waterside boarding
houses and public house parlors-and IN
worse places AS to selling them, | doubt
! if the idea ever enters their heads. But
doubtless the doing of the work is what his
poetry was to Coleridge-its own exceeding
great reward-and the same may be said
with truth of the many directions in which
| the sailors ingenuity and industry md
vent.
One particular hobby that 1 have seen
carried to great lengths is the making of
| photograph frames out of an enormous
| number of tiny pieces of wood one in
4 particular that l remember contained over
4 three thousand pieces of mahogany, pine,
/ deal, and ebony, none Of which were
! quarter of an inch in thickness and six
i inches long. There were openings for
/ eight photographs. and the whole fabric
! looked like Gothic church front. II took
/ the artist three months steady applica-
I tion in watches below and at night TO fin
ish it. and then one night in port he got
/ drunk. took it from its shelf in his bunk
| and Jumped on il. Another form of pleas
ure largely INDUCED in is the making Of
mats Some men-only few, though
! will buy a few pounds OF gayly coiored
carpet thrums from the ship chambers,
and, begging a piece of tarpaulin canvas
| from the sail maker. or whoever has the
power to grant the request, will stitch the
! thrums into the canvas in carefully de-
| signed patterns leaving a pile when fin
ished half an inch deep, the whole forming
I a most handsome and durable hearth rug
| Others, however, swho cannot keep sober
| long enough while ashore to lay in a stock
| of thrums, and yet must make mats, use
homely rope yarns, and, putting the best
work into them for the love of it, produce
doormats of a variety OF patterns aud the
| hardest wearing qualities. Like the mod
els, these fine pieces of work generally
! fall into the hands of unworthy recipients,
! who sneer at poor Jacks folly when he has
| gone to sea again.
| Some men are never so happy as when
| mending clothes or transforming one gar
| ment into another. 1t is a positive passion
with them. We had Swede. of Gothen-
| burg. on board the Dartmouth on a China
| voyage who was remarkable instance OF
! this He could never resist the temptation
| TO steal piece of canvas, new or second
| hand, although 1t must be admitted that he
mer. But any old piece of canvas as Iona
as it would hang together, he could not let
pass him. He would make ii into garment
of some kind, simply of itself for hot
| weather, lined with threadbare cloth or
| flannel for cold, yet at the same time he
never lost an opportunity OF acquiring good,
serviceable clothing as we'll.
But not for wear. Canvas was his only
wear at sea, and his chief of joys to open
his chest and gloat over his aecumulat
ing stock of good garments. They were TO
him what gold is to a miser, and he never
! seemed weary of taking them out of his
chest, unfolding them. passing them low
iugly through his hands and carefully
slowing them away again. He hadn't much
clothing when he came aboard but when
on the conclusion of our twelve months
VOYAGE he was discharged in London he had
| a splendid stock He went TO the Sailors
Home having been paid off with G25, and
on the second day got drunker than usual
| While In this condition he demanded 45
from the bank in the Home, where he had
lodged his money. They very properly re-
| fused TO give il to him while he was drunk
which so enraged him that he kicked UP 1.
tremendous row. winding up by demanding
his entire balance Finding that reason
ing with him did no good, the officials paid
him out He left the Home at once. and
in eight days after that l saw him aboard
of an outwardbound ship with just ths
clothes he stood upright in and no more.
Reading. of course, fills most important
part among sailors pleasures. Seamen are
omnivorous readers, in spite of the miseTa
Bile gloom that usually characteriZes the
fo'c'sle When / was before the mast !
used TO lay in a stock of candles. so that
| might be able to read in the only apart
ment | had to myself. my bunk but ii was
not a very safe practice As to what sail
N I %f,,
of a ships library for long time-I mean
those boxes of books that are put on board
ship by missions to seamen and such insti-
tutions with the most benevolent intentions
But | have often seen such boxes OF books
in which there was not one that it wasn't
| an insult TO offer men for Tecreative read
ing many hardly up 10 the requirements o.
the junior portion of Sunday school. Blu
with the enormous spread of cheap litera
ture that. / trust, is thing entirely o
the past.