The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1899-05-17
TASKS WHICH ENDANGER LIFE THAT
sEAMEN MUST FACE.

ono DIsncreeable and Hazardous Job
For which Lots Are Always Drawn
odors That sicl<cn and Fumes That
Stine the sailors.
"Thcre are dangers to seamon about
which landSmcn never think, said the
captain of one of tho Baltimore fleet en-
gagged i'm the Rio coffee trade. You
wouldn't consider the apparently simple
process of Weighing anchor risky one,
yet there Is n part of the job so disagree
able, not to say dangerous, that the men
always draw lots to ste 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 tho underofiicei
who Is to oversee the work reach the place
down Il little ladder through an aperture
scarcely 'largo enough for fellow to
squeeze him self 1t is so dark there that
you cant SEQ your hand before your face
and lantern has to he taken along. Tho
odur at this time is bad enough, but when
the chain begins To como in il becomes al
most unhcarabc Some of the harbors In
the tropics, indeed most of them, are filthy,
and there are brought up from their bot
toms all sorts of disagrecable souvenirs of
your visit When was first before the
mast, ON more than one occasion | almost
suroumhcd to tho frightful odor, and |
have known finicky young tars who actu-
ally 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 hocarcrully placed in its proper position
as the chain comes slowly in, for otherwise
when it came to dropping anchor again
the whole side OF the ship might be torn
out. Sometimes through the carclcssnoss
of the men on deck the windlass is allow
cd to 81 y, and the chain begins TO run out
mt a great rate. Then follow has to he
quick, or how'll he dragged up through
the shoot end his life crushed out, He is
warned of the danger by the metallic rat.
tie and the smoke arising from the friction
as the fast moving chain comes In contact
with the sheet, and he presses as far back
rs he can from the iron mass, for he knows
too well that u terrible death awaits him
il his clothing should become cntanglcd In
the chain ut such moment Only a few
voyages since on my ship n man was
caught in this way. Tho mate, who was
by his side, managed to rescue him, but
in doing sowas himself carried along with
the chain and had his life squeezed out.
had q pretty close call myself once. While
slowing away the chain / accidentally
kicked over the lantern, and the light was
extinguishCd OF course i could not stoI
in my work to let those above know what
had happened, for the. misplacing of II sin
gle link, as | have said, might result In
disaster, and the mato unfortunately was
not then near at hand
"To be alone in the darkness and the hor
riblc stencil was far from pleasant, but o.
a Sudden heard sound that filled mt
with torror-thc rattle of the chain rs II
began to swiftly pay out. Some ono had
blundcrcd and there was in that black
and loathsome hole, the victim of the blum
der. shrank back, pale and trembling
for it was only n few months before that ;
poor devil had met the same fate that i
seemed awaited me. Remember, l wa'
only n few inches removed from that rush
ing, rampant mass of iron and there wa
no little likelihood that i'm some vagary o
motion il might insnarc me In its tolls
The awful noise tho stencil the odor o
the smoke, the sparks MS the chain strain
cd against the shoot all these had thei
effect upon re, and my mind became
blank When the mate came for mo will
q lantern, had swooncd and fallen acros
the compartment where the chain had lait
a few moments before. The chain hat
run its course before l tainted, else
should have been ground to pieces.
Sometimes the cargocs brought from
the hot countries play havoc by the fume
they give forth. On one voyage the suga
wo had aboard made every one sick. Mat
ters finally became so bad that we coul,
not live below deck | chased II big New
| foundland dog out of its kennel aft anC
used the place as berth, while the crey
threw themselves around the deck at III
imminent risk of Eing washed overheard
"The cook had to go into the hold occa
sionally for provisions, and when he di,
| so he tied piece of cloth over his moutl
and nose After several such hurried Wis
| its he was overcome, and two other men
similarly protected, went down and secur
cd him with ropes, and he was hauled out
| The matches could not be battencd dow
for fear the cargo would spoil so we ha'
to put up the best we could with the fume
until we reached port.
"Thc usually pleasant aroma of coffe
becomes sic.cning indeed when man ha
to sail for weeks in n ship loaded with tn
| grain Pine lumber is worse, and petrC
lcum as bad as pine lumber. You tast
tho stuff in everything you cat and mea
and bread arc the same, so far as your pa
ate is able 20 distinguish, all savorin
strongly of whatever your cargo happen
to be. Under the influence of the tropics
sun these fumes get to be simply terrible
Once we left port with our drinking waite
in pine casks We had been out only
few days when the water began to tast
rcsinous and from day to day the tast
became more disaRrecablc. At last W
were forced to stop drinking altogethC
and make for the nearest port, which haI
pencd to be in the island of st. Heleni
There we changed the wooden receptacle
for others of material not so easily affec
ed by heat. hut in the meantime we ha
suffered crvclly for our ignorance. -
Washington Star.