The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-12-28
AWFUL CONDITIONS ON THE
TWILIGHT.
Why the Men Want Vessel Condemned
AS Unseaworthy-Ten Months of
Terrible Hardship.

The Seamen on board the schooner
Twilight want to leave the vessel and
well may they, for they have had ten
months i'm her of such hardship as falls
to few even of those who go before the
mast. AS a sample of Cramped and
filthy seamen's quarters the forecastle
of the Twilight has not been matched
by any vessel that has come to Homo
lulu in years and the schooner is only a
small one, 26 years old, with which re-
cent storms in the south Pacific played
as with a little toy, until all hands were
nearly worn out.
The Twilight is full of south sea
curios, collected by the men on board,
and they have had several visitors to
look at them. Some of the visitors went
down into the forecastle. They did not
stay there long. 1t is a small hole under
the forward deck, with hunks for six
men. That hnman beings could spend
months in such place would seem in
credible were it not an evident fact
that they have done so. Cockroaches
and vermin of all kinds abound.
Want to look at some shells?"
said one of the able seamen to a visitor,
and he picked up large curious shaped
shell from the Gilbert islands. In a
moment there came from the interior of
the shell black swarm of cockroaches,
| racing all over it and leaping to the
floor. The seaman took little notice.
]
reaches and showed the curio to the
Visior. Other shells he picked up were
the same.
a box of shells, bracelets, etc, was
| drawn forth, disturbing countless num-
bers of insects. The sailors dug down
among them as if they had become
| quite used to the association.
Hold on" said one to companion.
/ There's a centipede.'
! The other man withdrew his hand and
| devoted a moment to looking for the
| insect and then went on picking out
! unique shells to show the visitor.
The quarters in which the six men
| sleep are not large enough for one man,
and they are reeking with the smell of
| filth and insects. "There was no scuttle
! for long time" said one man, "and
! the water used to come down in tor
rents" He showed how it had been
fixed, while the vessel lay at one of the
| South Sea islands. Another mans bunk
had a leak in the deck above it, and he
had put a niece of tin in place to guide
the water past him on to the floor of
the wretched apartment. There is no
| light in it, when the scuttle is closed to
| keep water out. Two men can barely
stand up in it at the same time, and
| ventilation is unknown. In these quar-
ters six men, doing the hardest physi-
cal labor and living on the poorest food
| that falls to the lot of human beings
have known their home for ten months
| They are white men, and all say that
they want to be paid off as soon as
| possible.
For ten hours during one day on the
trip here from Washington island the
! Twilight was at the mercy of wind and
wave without a bit of sail, and how
! she survived no one on board knows
All sails were torn away bv blast OF
wind at eight o'clock in the morning
e-sx
struggling crew managed to get the
vessel under control, with sails set
again.
When the vessel finally reached Ho.
nolulu, even the sailors clothes bags
had been used to make sails with, anC
the old craft was leaking dangerously
She left the coast with a leak" SAID
one sailor, who seemed to think it quite
an ordinary thing for a small schooner
to start on a ten months voyage witt
a leak. 1T wasn't bad till heavy wea.
her came, and then we went ashore once
/ and that made it much worse. Now she
is loose all over, but she might last tC
san Francisco if she went on the dry
| dock and had fixing up"
The incredible hardships of the trir
have earned about IS, 900 worth of copra
which is in the hold of the vessel
| Pumps are at work much of the time
though the vessel does not leak now as
fast as she did when she arrived here
Dirt is filling the leaks, A bit of rough
sailing will soon open them again.
Since arriving here the men have
| been importuning Captain Ceuthen fol
money but have not been able to gel
any. Anyone who bankers after the
| hardships of sea life might learn some.
thing by the experiences of these men
who have spent ten months in one OF
the most real "hell-ships" ever seen
and so far have not cent to show fol-
| it. They are hoping that the board OF
| survey will condemn the vessel so that
they may be paid off. If the board does
not, they will have to go on to San
! Francisco in her, according to the ship.
ping articles, or else lose the ten months
pay. 1t is not a very cheerful alterna.
tive. The men are undecided. They are
| afraid of the vessel on the one hand, de,
claring that she is loose and rotter
from end to end and fearing that they
| will never reach port if they start Ou
again in her, and on the other hand they
are ready to risk a lot and do a lot tC
save ten months wages.
EaA.