The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-09-09
Pen PICTURE OF THE
AMERICAN SHIPMASTER
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men over whom he tyrannizes. He
I comes from the boys room" Every
/ american ship carries as many boys,
I 1oOSsty speaking. as she carries mates.
I u Is SAFE TO say that two out of three
oI Ihese boys quit the sea after a voy-
age or Two. because they viii not sub
NIT TO the rigOrs of the life. Some can
4 not Dear the hardShipS incidental to the
work alone; others can not reconcile
themselves TO the Insult, the cruelty
CeaAI out TO them by the officers But
one OUT OF three remains. He is strong
/ ana hardy, he has q thick skin and
/ can not be inSulted unless the insult
| Is physical; a smash on the head
Win a beiayins pin hurts his feelings,
I put mllder rebul1e affects him not and
| ne thrives and progresses.
/ AFTER a few voyages ne is promoted
| 10 DoaISWafn'S third or second mates
perth, according TO the size and per
sonnet OF the ship Rut he spends
bur little time in the forecasTIe- anong
/ men whom he is taught to believe are
INFERIOR creatures; and when he obtains
/ power over them he maItreats them.
! as ne has been maltreated himself, and
/ thinks that it is right If his educa-
tIOh comprises a knowledge of the
( tnree rs. he can easily learn enough
/ or navigation TO obtain first mates
/ berth. and later he becomes a car
taln-a pet Of the law and public opin-
ION. but as little fitted by instinct and
/ training to appreciate the RESPONSE
DlnIies Of his position as is a negro
oVerSeer on plantation. He is an
exponent of brute force and the finer
sensiolHties are denied him. He is not
superior in humanity, 4norals or com
mon decency to the meanest of his
7 creW-only eXcelling them in the-gross-
er elements of character which first
gained him his advantage.
In acquired attributes-knowledg
techn1que-he is often inferior TO The
/ best men OF his crew. Not an. Arnsri-
/ can ship goes to sea without q fsq-
/ able seamen forward, who areFcompe-
/ tenG to instruct the captain sins seaman
I snip; for this broad Shouldered heavy
/ fsted rufhan is sometimes prcrnoted
/ too soon The title liable seamsnH is
/ one to be proud Of. It can. not beEac-
/ quired in the space OF time which VIII
/ give man mastery of a trade on shore
/ or win him post graduates Diploma in
| coHege- a man needs four years Of
! service at least before he can be. trusted
/ at the wheel with a following wind
! and sea; and to learn the smaller, more
mechanical details Of his caIling-knet-
/ ting, serving, Salimaking, wire splicing
! etc--he REQUIRES nearly double this
| time An able seaman is a skilled Ia
! borer-eGual in technical KNOWLEDGE to
( a machinisJ, carpenter or other crafts
/ man on shOre-and for his skilled labor
| he receives the munifcent salary Of SIS
| month out OF Atlantic and 81 out of
Pacific ports, most OF which he loses to
the captain or the crimps
The Able Seaman
A few words more as TO this able
seaman, and the reason why there are
/ SO many of him willing to give such
| work Tor such pay. He is initially a
| weakling, Of fair physical courage, per
| maps, but OF little education will
power, ambition and aggressiveness-
/ otherwise he would not remain at the
! trade He may have started as boy
and lived in the boys room" driFJ-
ing into the fOrecaStle under pressure
OF events He may have been shang-
haied-a green hand-and forced to
learn to escape the mates abuse. He
may have been a fisherman. deck hand
or "longshoreman," going to sea for
the love Of the sea; but, whatever his
/ origin, his being before the mast comes
! only Of his helplessneSS in the Strug-
gle for existence on shore 50 he re-
mains in an environment that kills
him in twelve years, but develops in
MIN a strength Of character along Ger
tain lines beyond the comprehension Of
Iandsmen.
He becomes a man to be pitied. re
spected and protected, for in the ma
tUre of things, he can do none Of these
for himself He can not pity himself,
for he is equal TO the drafts upon him.
and survives them He can not respect
himself except in his own peculiar way.
which his Iand-faring feIIOwInen can
4AOL uLl4CISLdI1G- ne KNOWS LnEL ne
can endure q stress Of weather. and
| work under which an ordinary man
! would die. but il does not conduce to
aSsertiveneSS and his attitude toward
wrong and injustice might be stamped
| as cOWardly by those who DO not know
h1m- He can not protect himself, for
he has not known GOOD treatment or
reward for generous. energetic effort.
and does not always realize that he is
imposed upon. He is denied the love
of women and children; he is an in
nOcent OuUcaSt-a wand6rer upon the
face Of the earth, because of the wan
derlust in his soul and the possession
of qualities which would make him es-
teemed among men did they apply to a
trade or profession on shore.
/ And this skilled IabOrer-the hardest
worked and lowest paid IN the world
! who under the law IS denied the right
OF Self-defense While at Sea-WhO is
/ hopeless Of advancement or change be-
cause deficient il inherent brutality
physique and the grOundings Of educa-
| tfOn-thiS man. so necessary TO the
! worlds commerce, can rarely obtain
Justice in the courts of a free cCun-
| try, because a blind public sentiment
has preadjudged him a potential mu-
| tineer, pirate and murderer.
/ Out upon such public sentiment And
| shame upon the novelist who has
| created and fostered il.