Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-02-11
PARSONS AT SEA.

PARSONS AT SEA.
I have observed that merchant skip
pels, almost without exception, have Il
great dislike to having parsons aboard.
Navy men, owing to their respect for the
queens regulations, do not care to talk
on the subject. The commanders of big
liners are also rather shy about discuss
ing the subject. l once wished one a
pleasant voyage. pheasant voyage!" he
r%etorted savagely. That's likely, amt
it, when there's three parsons shipped,
and one of them a bishop?' Here his feel
lngs became too much for him, and he
called to the steward to refill the glasses.
l was not surprised to hear that q cylin-
der cover blew off in the bay. Sitting in
my club one night, a skipper came in. I
shook him by the hand and hoped he had
had a good voyage. 'Noyage!' he re-
piled, III heartrendlng tones. Don't call
it that. I've never had such a dogs time
in my life. Got two parsons aboard at
Sydney and another at King Georges
sound, and, blame me, if two missionar-
les did not join at ColombO! Sooner than
sail with five parsons again, I'll break al
arm or a leg and get put ashore"
But to see the prejudice in all its glory
one must talk to the masters of ocean
tramps. l have known of one case in
which a skipper feigned serious illness
oooilNA ia llNCA w Z lC
that five missionaries were booked as
passengers, and two of them ladies. AS it
happened, the ship had a particularly bad
voyage, and the unlucky missionaries
had more than one very near squeak for
their lives. Once a case was quoted to
me as showing great presence Of mind
and SeamanShip on the part of the skip
per. The ship had a couple of parsons
aboar and as the crew expected, the
voyage was disastrous. The misfortunes
eliminated in the decks being swept and
three men washed overheard. One was
a parson who ought to have been below.
After this the weather suddenly abated
and the ship came safe to land. | re-
marked that the parson ought to have
been under the matches. Ali" replied
the old seadog who told me, "Cap'n S. is
a good man. He talked it over with the
mates, and there seemed nothing else to
be DONE. So they got him up on purpose.
Better one man than a whole company,
and the parson ought to nave been pre-
pared, while it warn't in reason hat the
whole crew should be-
l have noticed that it was among the
officers of boats trading to the West At
rican coast that the prejudice against
parsonic passengers is strongest. l was
on a ship down this coast, and one night,
when chatting with the skipper, he said
that his vesesl had never had a serious
mishap. This is how he accounted for it:
The ship is a beauty he said, and as
soon as she was launched l foresaW the
necessity Of her getting a bad name
among parsons and such like. AS luck
would have it, on her first voyage a mis-
sionary shipped. All the other passengers
left at the Canarles. Of course, we had
bad weather and he had a bad voyoge.
l mentioned it to the chief officer and he
tipped a wink to the steward, who, 1
fancy, said a word to the cook. When we
MT him ashore as thin as a hpr1inU and
he made a lot of complaints and threat
ened to write to the owners. All l said
was that l hoped he would do his duty to
the poor heather as we'll as | had lone
mine to my owners. But he talked
ashore, and he wrote to his society, and
my ships been avoided like the plague by
parsons ever since, and that's how it is
l have been so lucky"
On the return voyage, however, as il
happened, at one port he had to take on
board a lady missionary whose health
had broken down. The weather was very
the Thames without any serious disaster
Oddly enough, he was compelled to take
out a couple of parsons the very mex
voyage, and the ship got ashore and be-
came a total wreck, no lives, however, be-
ing lost.
Shippers have told me that, danger
apart, parsons are not desirable passen-
gers; they interfere so much. One told me
that the wife of one clerical gentleman
insisted on holding little religious CONVEX
sationS with the stewards and the crew
and giving them tracts till they nearly
had a mutiny. AT length he found hel
trying to improve the moral condition OF
the steers man, when he threatened thai
if he caught her abaft the funnel agar
he would put her in irons, after which she
subsidized. l have often had ludicrOus
+ stories of p%arsonic interference told me
! One man gravely demonstrated with the
skipper for working on Sundays, and
wanted him to send all the men aft for &
service. The skipper
l quite welcome to hold the service, and
that the sailors who were not in theil
! hunks or otherwise engaged might go
did they?" l asked. I'D like to hav,
; seen them.' he replied grimly. II KEEP
them too laundering busy. The parsor
waited an hour and a half, and as no one
went he gave it up, and never tried
. again. '-Church Gazette.