The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-02-11
LIFE ON The LAKES
TARS WHO SAIL FRESH WATER
SEAS ESCAPE MANY HARD
SHIPS OF THE OCEAN
ALL HANDS FARE THE SAME

Captain and Crew Eat at the Same
Table, and Relations Are Like
Those of a Big Family-Many of
the Sailors Men Who Have Served
Before the Mast on Salt Wa
ter.
Captain to First Mate-Mr. Jones, I
think you had better have the topsails
reefed.
First Mate to Second Mate-smith. reef
the topsais.
Second Mate to Boatswain-Blank your
eyes, Brown, reef topsails.
Boatswain (standing at entrance to
forecastle with Delaying pin in his hand
and hitting on the head the first man
who appears)-Blank your blankety blank
skulls! Why didn't you reef tawps'ls an
hour ago?
That is the way an order is transmitted
from the captain to the crew at sea. On
the great lakes orders are given in diff
ferent way. The captain comes on deck.
casts his eye to windward, sees that the
wind is refreshing.
''A--~>
is coming up. I guess you'd better reef
the main topsails.''
Hey, Billy" the mate will cry out,
"yeu and Joe better get up and reef the
main topsails."
The order is obeyed with great alacrity,
and the sails are reefed more quickly
than they are at sea, where orders are
REINFORCED by oaths and strokes Of the
Delaying pin. The life of the sailor at sea
has been depicted in vivid terms by w.
Clark RUSSELL; his comforts and discom-
forts, his brutality and unselfishness his
suffering and his JOY, have been COM
pletely described. AS yet, however, no
one has ventured to touch upon the ex-
periences of lake sailors Most of them
have been at sea, and in the dog watch
on a lake schooner bound from Chicago
to a minor lake port with a cargo of
grain, stories of Cape Horn, of the China
sea, and the frost Of the arctic region
are as common as tales of the boulevard
in a hotel smoking room.
WAGES OF SCHOONER CREW.
Ordinary schooners have a crew of four
men, a cook, captain, and mate, the two
latter standing watch and watch. Big
vessels have a crew of six men and two
mates. Members Of the crew receive $3.50
a day, the second mate $1.75 a day, the
first mate 50 a day, and the captain $50
q month. After the first Of November,
though, when navigation is so dangerous
that insurance companies will not take
risks on vessels, these wages are nearly
TQ,1f of Iaa
sailors are hard to get In the winter.
They say that winter voyage on the
lakes is a perpetual doubling of Cape
Horn, with the icebergs left out
There is sense of companionship, a
sort Of family relation, as it were, on
board a big schooner which is delight
full. A popular captain-and the brutal
commanders In the lake service are ex-
ceedngly few-gets his crew together
early in the spring, and the men sail with
him for the rest of the season. One cap
tain has had the same crew for the last
four years. Bill Jones knows all about
Tom Smiths family, is aware that Smith
has a certain sum saved up, and that he
is going to buy farm, get married, and
settle down to quiet life as soon as he
can. Smith knows all the facts in Jones'
private life The first mate is in love
with the captains daughter, and as soon
as he can get command of a schooner
and obtain the requisite 800 a month he
expects to marry her. These things
make life on board pleasant and afford
better subjects of conversation than the
last murder in Chicago or the newest
dancer in a Clark street saloon and mu-
sic hail.
Crew. captain and mates all take their
meals together In the cabin, with one
man at the wheel and another on the
lookout outside The fare is plain, but
substantial and good-far different from
sea diet. During the hours of daylight
trolling line is constantly over the stern,
and many a big lake trout-never more
than three hours out of water-grace5 the
table of the sailor. The only distinction
shown at table is when a lake trout is
served The captain always gets the head
Of the fish-which is considered the great
est delicacy. Fresh bread, biscuit, pie,
cake and meats make up the bill of fare,
and they are eaten with relish which
cannot be obtained on shore.
ROUTINE OF LAKE SAILOR.
Take the life of the Individual sailor
of a crew of six on a lake schooner in
fair weather. Eight bells in the morning
watch strikes o'clock the landsman
WOulQ GILL II. Oul OL the IOTeCdSll6 ndICn
tumble three men, out of the cabin walks
one of the mates, whose eyes turn fl st to
windward and then at the sails One of
the crew goes to the wheel abaft the
little cabin.
1.-THE course is w-sow-east," the man
who Is relieved says in sailors yernac-
ular.
The new wheelsman glances at the com
pass under the pinnacle, grasps the
spokes of the wheel The destiny of the
ship belongs to him. he feels, and he
Fl 1s the dignity which belongs to his po-
sitIun. Another man goes forward to the
forecastle deck to relieve the lookout. The
man relieved says that there Is nothing
In sight or that there is a sail off the lee
bow, as the case may be. Then he goes
below.
Amidships is the station of the third
member of the watch. He does nothing
until the mate begins to think. Perhaps
the mate sees a spot on the bulwarks
where the paint has been rubbed off in
loading the cargo. The sailor has to paint
that spot so that it looks like the rest
of the railing. Perhaps there is place
on the shrouds where the tar has worn
away. The sailor has to get tar bucket
and renew the coating. A coil of rope
may not be symmetrical. He makes that
shipshape He is the man of all work.
His Jobs are easy and the time passes
quickly
So it is with the man at the wheel. He
has sonnet hing to do. A big wave strikes
the bow He has to meet 1t with his
rudder The course is south southeast
At times he may have to change the
course half point to meet the varying
moods of the wind and still keep the
general direction. Monotony rests with
the lookout He has not space enough