The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-04
Luxuaies ron POOR JACK.
The state OF the sailor Better Than u
Used To BE.

ing house keeper. prompted py the
portly skipper who stood close by, toid
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 a rule,
N 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 IL be-" In
quired the tar. whose hands were as
big as a heavyweight ~prizefghters.
Finest IN the world" said the board
ing house keeper without starting as
much as an eyelash. First of all there
IL fresh bread every day. potatoes, can
ned meats. preserved heats vegeta-
bles and fruit. That's at sea. When
the ships in port he gives all hands
watermelon when he can buy IL. peach
es n good beef steak. 1t is a big
surprise to m hat 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 ship. He would
not De III StdTCu VI an ~. ID. " chHs
that Dutch Dan was lost of the fore
royal. The men always stay aboard
him until they die. They never leave
in any other way. Will you sign?"
NO." replied the barnacle. Il
wouldn't be happy aboard a snip like
that: and what's more, 4 don't hin
he or anybody else messes his men
like o 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 of work when the skipper came
in. Strange as II may appear, Tor
boarding house Keepers have ueen
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 n
canned fruits at sea; let them have as
much as they cared to eat, i'm port
he saw 10 II 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 his sailors, and
master mariners threw up their hands
when they heard of IL. Bul captain
Vaughan showed that Ii cost less 10
feed his crew than II did to feed Inc
crew on any Other Vessel belonging 10
the same firm. and. in addition, the
men turned TO with more cheerfulness
thar 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 a number
of im,tatoTs.
Sailors as a rule will believe the
most gullible yarn" remarked the
boarding house keeper when he had
swallowed a tumbler OF whiskey, nut
just tell them the plain truth and b
will rate you as a well found liar on
the spot. The newspapers dish up
long talks about poor Jack and now
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 | have beer
obliged more than a hundred times to
lock sailors I'm my house to prevent
them from running away Without pay
ing their board bills? Well. It's a fact,
and the British consul down on state
street can tell you how often j nave
had to appeal to him to get what WAS
coming to me from tars that he mad
signed. Sailors these days view WIFE
suspicion anything intended TO imp
their condition off shore. This partlc-
ularly true of old Jacks, who recall tn
DAYS of the ill-smelling, badly Eghteo
forecastle, with it's hardtack n sail
horse. About three years ago tn'
schooner j. X. Manning arrived al
Fulton Market from Moose Peck, -
Maine fishing grounds with half a mil
lior frozen herring consigned to VI. j
palson of Newark. She was fitted al
with cold storage machinery and tn'
Fulton Market sailormen shook the.i
heads i'm disgust when they heard o.
IL. one of them said to me: EvoiutloI
of steam? Bah, It's of small conse'
quence compared with the high-faiut'
in changes that are being mace u
sailing craft. Soon we'll see fox Sc
laid out in velvet carpets. BICYCLES TO
the sailors, patent electric pushes iCl
hosting, setting and furling sails
decks that holystone themselves, au
tomato cabin boys that never sas'
back. galley fires that have perpetna
life and speaking tubes for the mat
TO profane The business Is going u
the demnition I'm sorry 10
my shipmates these days.
Yet the business is not going to IN
dogs. improvements for sailors nav
become widespread. n while all shel
backs do not appreciate the cnang'
and many of them sigh for the OF
DAYS. those who have profted d.
them would not now think of shipping
on a vessel tha did not possess IN
latest improvements. The servant eif
question is a small one when race
with the problem of how to Keep ant
please Jack. one of the latest idea
|, is the shipping of women COOKS ol
freight steamers. The idea originated
with the captain of a Swedish tramp
the name of which was so long tina
!, the beachcombers shortened IL 10 ID. "
!. O. ". At first the plan OF having IN
gentler sex preside over the galley OF
not promise well, and for this reason
The ship arrived at Baltimore nor
Calais about Christmas time. IN
cook. who appeared on the articles d
stewardess. asked for permission =
go ashore. and the captain SHUT nj
eyes to her wish; whereupon the GREY
appeared aft and said that III the cap
ain did not reconsider his decision n
crew would leave the ship in a q
2 The captain swore a good deal. CAV
a the desired permission, but topped
=, OF with the announcement that :
= LONG as he lived he would never agai