The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-04-05
SEA AND SHORE
Government Dredger
In PiIikia.
A Plan to Ship Sailors From the Sail
ors' HOme--A Comparison.
Harbor Notes.

mere IL Il fudDtt ludl Lut uutl
tine wharf will not be all in use for
some time to come. The Government
dredger. which has all along been the
cause OF delay in the work, has now.
after having been puttered over, patch
ed, and partially repaired, given up
the ghost. The fight with the coral
wall was too much for the poor old
cripple The boilers were found to be
in an exceedingly weak condition, and
as it was not considered safe to use
them longer the work was stopped
yesterday afternoon and before 1t can
go on the boilers will have to have a
thorough overhauling.
Ii is the same story with the dredg-
er that il has been with the Govern
ment tug. Time for substantial re-
pairs has not been allowed, and not
until a part OF the machinery actually
breaks is il replaced, no matter
now much the wear may show.
The sailor boarding house, of which
there has been so much said lately, is
about to materialize. Captain Bray.
who takes charge of the Sailors
Home on the 18th instant, intends to
DO shipping. He promises TO be a great
aid to the sea captains who may be
looking for men and there is no rea-
son why he should not.
Ii is very unusual for sailor board
ms house TO be conducted without a
barroom. The bar is the first requisite
of a typical boarding house" In Ho-
nolulu there is no place for sailormen
to go to when they leave their vessels.
They are strangers, and on account OF
there being no boarding houses OF the
kind they are accustomed to they are
like fish out of water while ashore. A
wellknown and popular skipper says:
"Sailormen are peculiar; they are in a
class by themselves. AS a general rule
they are men who work hard for their
living, are very seldom satisfied, and
continually grumbling and kicking
over alleged ill-treatment. A large per
cent of the sailors are heavy drinkers.
They get ashore after a voyage and
want to have a good time. They are
welcomed in saloons, as a sailor with
money is proverbial as a spender. Very
often in two or three nights the wages
of a long voyage are squandered and
then there is no place for them 10 go
but to sailor boarding house. This
is the place they usually make for
when they come ashore. Their kit is
deposited with the keeper and a
months board is usually paid in ad-
vance. Then Jack goes out for his
time. When he is broke he has a place
to go to- He is virtually in pawn to
the boarding house keeper for his
board and lodging after the month paid
for has expired. The boarding house
keeper provides for him, and he Is
ready to go to sea when the shipping
master has a ship for him. When he is
shipped the boarding house keeper gets
his pay for the sailors keep for the
time Jack has not paid him from the
skipper of the vessel on which the
sailor is shipped. He knows when he
goes to the boarding house that he will
be kept there as long as he has money
to spend, but he also knows that he is
liable To- be shipped at any time after
ne becomes a credit customer at the
boarding house. How a sailor retreat
will succeed without the universal ad-
junct of bar will be watched with a
good deal of interest by those interest
ed in Sailors
Captain Bray. who is we'll known
and is an old seafaring man, is very
sangUine of success. At any event the
Sailors Home will be in charge of a
man thoroughly conversant with the
ways OF sailors. If he does not make a
success OF It it is hard to see what re-
lief can he given to the sailors.