The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-04-23
THE SHIPPING PROBLEM
REMARKS FROM AN OLD SAILOR
MAN.
He Favors a System of Advertising, and
Would Do Away With the Middle
Men Entirely.

! is looked upon as rather a fine fellow
| when at his work breasting the pillows
! but directly he gets ashore he is consid-
| cred fair game, to be robbed of his hard
earnings, and to be hustled off to sea
again as soon as possible. The average
Jack of the present day Il am speaking
now of the merchant service only is not
a very sensible fellow, or he would not
| follow such precarious mode of liveli-
| hood, but he is, at the same time, not
so foolish as most people give him
credit for being. He only wants to be
treated like any ordinary man to devel-
op into a respectable member of socle-
ty. That no successful effort has been
| made in this direction is due almost
entirely to the fact that being bird
| of passage, he has no political influence
| in this or any other country.
The reform, to be effected, must start
with the captains and officers. Para
| doXical as it may appear, Jack, who
| comes ashore every now and then,
knows more of the world than the av-
erage master or mate of a sailing YES
sci. Jack goes to sea a young fellow
his head filed with all sorts of romantic
nonsense. A very short time suffices to
knock all that out of him. After being
completely disillusioned he is induced
by some old shipmate to make a break
ashore in California or Australia, per-
haps. He gets away up country, and
finding for the first time that he is
treated like man, he contrasts the civ
ility he meets with ashore with the bull
lying that he gets even on the best ship
atiOat, and from that time he only goes
to sea lin deep water) when he is COM
PEELED to, or when he wants to go to
some other country.
The average officer has not this eX-
perience. He has perhaps risen from
q ~ ffs4l to. .N..Nss
a comparatively easy billet, and there
fore, no inducement to clear ashore. lie
may pass half a lifetime without having
any acquaintance with shore usages,
beyond what can be seen in a few hours
run. He has no opportunity of seeing
how work is carried on without any
necessity for the bullying style which is
considered absolutely necessary at sea.
Consequently, he carries on in the same
old style that may have been suitable
fifty years ago, viz, that of treating
men as children. To be coaXed or bull
lied; while, as a matter of fact, some
of those men know more of the world
than he is ever likely to know.
A man that really likes the sea tries
to get job on steamer or coaster,
where he gets a certain amount of civ
ility, and only goes on deep water, when
he cannot help himself
The letter of a captain, stating that
shipping runners are a necessity, shows
clearly that he is one of the old school,
He says, also, that sailors cannot be
trusted to come on board on time
without being rounded iupg like a mob
of sheep. Now, there is a good oppor-
tunity of proving or disproving, this
contention, right here in Honolulu, and
Captain Bray of the Sailors Home,
who having had some experience on
shore, appears to me to know how to
handle the matter.
When a vessel arrives here wanting
hands, if the captain would simply
notify Captain Bray, instead of employ
ing some longshore loafer, to get him d
crew, [ have no doubt that Captain
Bray would be willing to put up no.
tice board at the Home, stating, every
morning, what ships wanted hands,
where bound, wages and all other par
ticulars. seaman on shore here, who
wanted to ship, would call down to the
Home, examine the board, and when he
had picked a ship to suit, could either
go on board and see the captain person.
ally, or make arrangements through
Captain Bray. This would do away
with the middle man, whom Jack de-
tests, and not without good reason.
Under the present system, a ship ar
rives here and is boarded by the long
shore loafer aforesaid. He sees the
course, eXpiates on the difficulty of
procuring them. and tries to impress the
captain with the belief that he (the
loafer) is the only man capable of doing
so. The captain agrees and troubles
no more about the matter If a seaman
on shore wants to know of a ship he
has at present to inquire from one of
the crimps who plays the same game
on him that he has done already on the
captain, viz, he tells him that he can
get him ship, but it will be difficult
and, of course, charges him accord
ingly.
There have been a number of sailors
employed ashore here at different Jobs
and I think that if the employers of
these men were questioned they would
freely admit that a sailor is a willing
and reliable worker There are, of
course, some bad eggs among them, as
in all other classes, but I have heard
employers here and in other parts of
| the world say that for a willing, re-
sOurceful and reliable worker the sailor
ashore cannot be surpassed. The secret
of it is that the sailor, finding himself
treated like a man, goes to work with
will, and is just as much to be de-
pended on to keep his engagements as
any other individual.
The captain having left the selection
| of his crew to the crimp. gets his crew
| at the last minute. The crimp, of
| course, explains that this is owing to
the immense difficulty that he had in
rounding them up, and when the shiI
puts to sea- the captain finds that per-
haps four or five of them have never
been to sea before. If, instead of deput-
ing his business to another, he adver,
| tised for men, as any employer would
| do, he could see the men himself and
Judge of their capabilities before ship,
| ping them
/ I might cite here the example of Cap.
tain Gray of the old Great Britain. His
invariable custom was to see, personal.
~ every man that Joined her. and wher
he got men he treated them well and
insisted on his officers doing likewise
The result was that when the gold fever
was at its height in Australia, and ships
lay for months in Melbourne harbor
unable to get crews, the Great Britain
was never delayed a single day, and
Captain Gray was well served to the
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