The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-01-10

while admiTing them, tried in vain TO
emulate their trim neatness and tlsnir
immaculate, cleanliness
The Last of the Clippers.
At the END of the Civil War but a
small remnant of the beautiful clippers
remained under the American flag;
those that escaped the Confederate pri-
vateeTs had nearly all been sold to for
eigners. and the few that have been
built since are intended more for large
carrying than for fast sailing qualities.
Even these are slowly disappearing
one by one and no others are being
built to replace them, except those four,
five and six-masted man-killing abOm-
nations they are building back East.
There are no places for boys there, for
each man has TO do the work of two.
The electric telegraph and steam has
had much to DO with the change in the
relative importance of the shipmaster
of the present day and his duties to the
ship and her owners. There is no i'm
pOrtant port in the world where COM
muniCation by telegraph cannot be had
in a very short time, so that scarcely
anything now depends on the judgment
Of the master save the problem of sail
ing his ship. as economically as pos
sible and getting her to her appointed
destination without any loss of time.
With few exceptions the masters of
vessels of the present day receive a
stated salary. which is just sufficient
TO maintain him and his family in de-
cency, but not luxury; and if he is I'M
fortunate enough to have sickness in
his family he soon falls behind, and, TO
econOmize. he must wear his thread
bare best suit little longer and defer
getting his expected new suit for three
or six months. His wife has to prac-
tice other small economies in the way
Of altering, turning and cutting down
| old dresses for herself and the chill
dren. if they have any.
The Sailor Boys Hope.
The hope OF every boy who goes to
sea is that he may become captain of
a vessel some day, a very modest am
bition. But the ObseTyant, bright and
thoughtful American boy who wit
. nesses the small economies that ship
captains and their families have to
practice at times will have his enthu-
siasm considerably dampened if he re-
fleets that this is what he may have
to come TO should he become a ship
master. Is it any wonder after all that
smart, intelligent American boys are
not tumbling over each other in their
.eagerness to get a chance to go to sea!
Then again, il costs something tC
take a green boy and train him to be
of use on a ship at sea, and in these
days of keen competition after the al
mighty dollar economy is the order oil
the day; shipOwners want no one ex.
cept he can be of use on their ships
Philanthropy and sentiment do not en-
ter into their business calculations
and this is another reason why Amer
lean boys are not going and are no
encouraged to go to sea.
But why do not American men keel
on going 10 sea-" is another question
often asked; and why is it that outsid,
of few Eastern deep-water ships ant
Eastern coasters and fishermen Their
are so few native-born Americans go
ing 10 sea as masters Of vessels?
About twenty-five years ago I com
piled a list of vessels and masters sail
ing on the Pacific coast, and of the 90
masters it will scarcely be believe,
that there were no more than a scor
> of native-bOrn Americans; and Of thi
number no more than six were in yes
sells running to dangerous places, sucl
as outside ports, bar harbors, etc. Tn
remainder were in vessels whose rout
, was 10 comparatively safe harbors
9. such as Puget Sound. Can this be
~ key TO the character Of the American
/, seaman of the present day? Is it tru
, that he is eternally looking for some
thing easier? II true, has he any reas
, on 10 complain when the foreign-bor1
q sea m an Is nrnEarrnA ---Ln-. 49, I.