The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-04
LUxuRlEs FOR POOR JACK.
The State of the Sailor Better Than 1t
Used to BE,

The State of the Sailor Better Than 1t
Used to BE.
His face was a study when the board
ing house keeper prompted by the
portly skipper who stood close by, told
the old sailor that there was no such
thing as an allowance on the bark
that he, was asked to sign for.
| Captain Feedwell makes it rule,
and has for some years, to give his men
all they care to eat, remarked the red
faced mate at the captains port hand.
There is no limit. Anybody who
ships with him can eat and eat until
he falls over from overlooking. 1t
makes no difference to the captain so
long as the man does his work we'll"
What sort of grub does it be-" in
| qured the tar, whose hands were as
| big as a heavyweight prizefghter's.
Finest m the world" said the board
| ing house keeper without starting as
much as an eyelash. First of all there
is fresh bread every day, potatoes, can
ned meats, preserved meats, vegeta-
bles and fruit That's at sea. When
! the ships in port he gives all hands
watermelon when he can buy it, peach
es and good beef steak. 1t is a big
surprise to me that you don't know
Captain FeedWell, you who have been
drifting around the world before the
mast all your life. This captain is so
well thought of that a man never
thinks of jumping his snip. He would
not be in search of an A. B. now only
that Dutch Dan was lost off the fore
royal. The men always stay aboard
him until they die. They never leave
in any other way. Will you sgn?"
NO" replied the barnacle. Il
wouldn't be happy aboard snip like
that and what's more, / don't think
he or anybody else messes his men
like you say"
With that the sailor turned away,
going back to the long. grimy bench
at the Cherry street window to re-
sumo his pipe, on which he had knock
ed off work when the skipper came
in. Strange as it may appear, for
boarding house keepers have been
known to spin galley yarns, what this
particular boarding house keeper said
of Captain Feedwell and his grub was
absolutely true. He did feed his men
on fresh meat, preserved meats and
canned fruits at sea; let them have as
much as they cared to eat, and in port
he saw to it that the steward procur-
ed fresh fruits, beef steak occasional
ly and even chops, Some few years
ago Captain Vaughan of the Nova
Scotian bark Sokoto introduced this
method of caring for mis- Sailors and
master mariners threw up their hands
| when they heard of it. But captain
| Vaughan showed that it cost less to
| feed his crew than it did to feed the
crew on any other. Vessel belonging TO
| the same firm, and ,.rin addition, the
| men turned to with more cheerfuinesS
than usual, kept the bark looking like
| an old maids parlor, and never want
| ed to leave. Since that time the Blue
| Nose skipper has had quite number
of im;tators. 81 es--
Sailors as a rule will believe the
| most gullible yarn remarked the
boarding house keeper when he had
| swallowed a tumbler of Whiskey,' hut
just tell them the plain truth and they
will rate you as a well found liar on
the spot The newspapers dish up
| long talks about poor Jack and how
he is robbed by land pirates ashore
and kicked and cuffed by mates afioat.
But who has ever said a word for the
poor boarding house keeper, who is
cheated right and left by these same
sailors? Do you know that I have been
obliged more than "a hundred times to
| lock sailors in my house to prevent
| them from running away without pay
| il, their board bills? Well, its a fact,
| and the British consul down on State
street can tell you how often I have
had to appeal to him to get what WIS
| coming to me from tars that he had
signed. Sailors these days view with
| suspicion anything intended to improve
their condition off shore. This partic
ularly true of old Jacks, who recall the
days of the ill-smelling, badly lighted
| forecastle, with it's bareback and salt
| horse. About three years ago the
! schooner J. X. Manning arrived at
Fulton Market from Moose Peck, re
| Maine fishing grounds with half mil
lion, frozen herring consigned to NJ. j.
Palson of Newark. She was fitted up
with cold storage machinery and the
Fulton Market sailormen shook their
/ heads in disgust when they heard of
it. One of them said to me: Evolution
of steam? Bah! It's of small cons@-
quence compared with the highfalut-
in changes that are being made IN
sailing craft. Soon We'll see fo'k'sics
laid out in velvet carpets, Bicycles for
the sailors, patent electric pushes fer
hosting, setting and furling sails,
| decks that hoystone themselves, au-
| tomato cabin boys that never sass
back, galley fires that have perpetual
life and speaking tubes for the mate
to profane. The business is going to
the demnition bowwows. I'm sorry for
my shipmates these days.
Yet the business is not going to the
become widespread, and While all Shell
backs do not appreciate the change
and many of them sigh for the old
days, those who have profited by
them would not now think of shipping
on a vessel that did not possess the
latest improvements. The servant girl
question. is a small one when faced
with the problem of how to keep and
| please Jack. One of the latest ideas
is the shipping of women cooks on
freight steamers. The idea originated
with the captain of a Swedish tramp,
the name of which was so long that
the beachcombers shortened it to o. r.
o. n. At first the plan of having the
gentler sex preside over the galley did
not promise we'll, and for this reason:
The ship arrived at Baltimore from
| Calais about Christmas time. The
cook, who appeared on the articles as
stewardess, asked for permission &c
go ashore, and the captain shut his
eyes to her wish; whereupon the crew
appeared aft and said that if the cap
tain did not reconsider his decision The
CREW wnIll6 Leave the shin in BODY