Daily Kennebec journal., 1899-05-24
DANGERS OF A SAILORS LIFE.
Some OF the Drawbacks That Are MOI uener'
ally Appreciated.

There are dangers to SediileH aooo'
| which Iandsmen never think, sald the
| captain of one of the Baltimore heet
engaged in the Rio coffee TRACE 70
| little company at the RIGGS. nou
wouldn't consider the apparently slfl-
| pie process of weighing anchor rlsky
| one. yet there is a part OF the Job so
| disag greeable, not to say dangerous
| that the men always draw lots 10 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 10 do
| the slowing and the under oiilcer VINO
| is to oversee the work reach the place
down little ladder through an aper-
| turo scarcely large enough Tor IelloW
! to squeeze himself 1t is 50 dark there
| that you can't see your hand before
| your face, and lantern has to be
| taken along. The odor at TINS time IS
bad enough. but when the chain begins
| to come in it becomes almost unbear-
| able Some Of the harbors IN the
tropcs--indeed, most of them-are
filthy, and there are brought up from
their bottoms all sorts of disagreed bic
souvenirs Of your visit.
But of the real danger: Each link
has to be carefully placed in its proper
| position as the chain comes slowly in,
for otherwise when ii came 10 dropping
| anchor again the whole side Of the ship
might be torn out. Sometimes. through
| the carelesSneSS of the men on deck.
| the windlass is allowed To slip. and the
| chain begins To run out at a great rate.
| Then a fellow has to be quick, or he
will be dragged up through the chute
and his life crushed out He IS warned
Of the danger by the metallic rattle ana
| the smoke arising from the friction as
the fast-moving chain comes in contact
| With the chute. and he presses s far
! back as he can from the iron mass, for
he knows too we'll that terrible death
awaits him If his clothing should be-
come cntangled IN the chain az such 4
moment. Only a few voyages since on
my ship a man was caught in this way.
| The mate who was by his side, man
aged to rescue him. but In doing 50
was himself carried along with the
chain and had his life squeezed out.
II had pretty close call myself once
| While slowing away the chain | acct
| dentally kicked over the lantern and
! the light was eXtinguished. OF course.
! ! could not stop in my work to let
! those above know what had happened
| for the misplacing Of a single link. as
| | have said. might result iu disaster
and the mate. unfortunately. WAS not
| then near al hand. To bc alone 10 the
! darkness ana The horrible stencil was
| far from pleasant. but Of q sudden
! heard a sound that filed me with ter
| ror-the rattle of the chain AZ k began
| to swiftly pay out Some one had
| blundered. and there | was in that
| black ana loathsome hole. the victim W
| the hlunder. | shrank back. pale ana
/ trembling. for ii was only few
months before that "A poor devil had
| met the same fate that id seemed
! awaited me. Remember / was only a
/ few inches removed from that rushing
| rampant mass of iron. ana there was
! no liJtle likelihood that i'm some vagary
| ri motion il might ensnare me in its
! tolls. The awful noise. the stencil. the
Odor NJ smoke. the sparks as the chain
! strained against the chute all these
! ! % their effect upon me, and my mind
! became blank. When the mate came
1 for7me with a lantern ! had sW0oned
| and fallen across the compartment
! whore the chain had lain a few mo-
! ments before. The chain had run its
4 course before ] tainted. else | should
! have been ground Ia pieces.
! Sometimes the carSoes brought from
! The not countries play havoc by the
/ fumes they give forth. on one voyage
! the sugar we had aboard made every
4 one sick. Matters finally became 50
/ bad that we could not live below deck
! / chased 4 big Newfoundland dog out
Of its kennel aft ami used the place as
| berth. while the crew threw them
! selves around the deck at the immi-
| nent risk of being washed overheard.
The cook had to 80 into the hold occa-
! sionally for provisions. ana when he
| did so he tied a piece Of cloth over his
mouth and nose. After several 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
NJ the best We could with the fumes
until we reached port.
The usually pleasant aroma Of
coffee becomes sickening. indeed. when
/ q man mas 10 SAIL Tor weeks in a snip
| loaded with the grain. Pine lumber Is
| worse, and petroleum as bad as pine
| lumber You taste the stuff in every
! thing YOU eat. and meat and bread are
| the same. so far as 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
| 20 taste resinous. and from day to day
| the taste became more disagreeable
| At last we We're 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 material not so easily
| affected by heat. But in the mean
| time we had suffered cruelty for our
ignorance. Washington Star.
The President as Host.
There are nine functions. including