The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-02-27
PROBLEM FOR
CAPTAINS.
How the Shipping Master is Useful
Inverness-shire Men Offer to Go
Back to Captain Peattie.

A law that will require the discharge
of seamen Immediately on reaching
any port is what many captains would
like to see enacted, as a means of pre-
venting such trouble as that recently
experienced by the Inverness-shlre.
The case of the latter is good example
of the extreme difficulty of making
laws that will do justice to both master
and sailor, on deep water vessels, and
has a good deal of bearing upon the
question that has been much discussed
here lately, of the use of boarding
house men. When two of the latter
came to Honolulu some of the captains
in port talked of "land sharks" and
said that such men were not needed
here, while other captains said that
the aid of shipping masters was ne
cessary to them.
Laws have been made and amend
ed for the protection of Jack and at
the same time to make him fill his con-
tracts, till both sailors and masters are
now both very closely bound by
rules, but the result, so far, has
not been very successful. The sailor
is still buncoed and the master is still
put to heavy expenses by crews that
break their agreements. When a ship
comes to a port like Honolulu, where
wages are high, the captain often finds
one or more of the men acting in an
Objectionable manner and doing very
| bad work. This means that the man
who does this has concluded that he
would like to leave the vessel. He eN-
poets to finally make the captain SC
disgusted that a discharge will result
| in which case the captain has to pay
him off and ship another man in his
place at a good deal of expense. If the
man happens to be of the sort &c
work the others he is likely to have
| them all on strike, on something OF
other in a short time, and this is what
is said to have happened to the In
| verness-shire. In a port where mer
are scarce, to be without a crew may
| become a very serious matter for &
large ship like the Inverness shire
which is under heavy expenses. Here
is where the shipping man comes In
helping the captain out of the trouble
by getting a crew together for him
If it was the custom to discharge crew!
Immediately on arriving in port, there
would always be men on hand. Blu
Jack would get the wrong end, in thu
opinion of many, as the boarding hous,
men would get all his money. Thi'
only applies in the cases of the sailor
who cannot look after themselves, an
all the laws made have failed to pro
tect them. THE boarding house maj
is never able to do up the sailor whit
nanuleS nlmSelI properly, Sdlu captain
McCauley of the Hollywood just be
fore leaving. "The only class of sail
ors that are made victims by tn
boarding masters who try to swindl
them, are the ones who come ashor
the first time they get a chance, ge
helpessly drunk and spend every cen
they can get hold of. The only re
course then is the boarding master
who will lend money and give credi
for board and room. It's the sailor
own fault if he gets into this trouble
but even here he is protected as n
other men are, as the law prevents tn
boarding man from collecting NOR
than a certain amount no matter hoy
much is owing.
GAS a matter Of fact the captains an
sailors both need the boarding man an
if any sailor is done up by him, 1t I
his own fault and nobody's else"
Some of the men of the Inverness
shire, who went on strike and told tn
maritime court that their reason 70
wanting to leave the vessel was tina
they were afraid of their lives wit
Captain Peattie, have actually aske
, to be taken back on the ship, since tn
court decided against them. Six c
them offered their services to the car
tain yesterday and were told they weI
not wanted.