The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-09-15

IN Liverpool the other day at :
meeting Of the Marine Service As
sociation Captain Lamb. q ship
master Of IS years. experience on
the Atlantic, made speech which,
II would seem from the newspaper
reports. dropped like bolt from the
blue among the members The g1St
OF what Captain Lamb said may be
quoted:
although / hate ali foreigners
prefer them as seamen because OF
their superior eobriety- The British
seaman Is a drunkard. The British
sailor cannot hold his own because
Of drink. II is not 3 question OF
seamanship, for when he is sober
he can be depended upon and can put
thu foreigner aside, but ninetenths
Of the British sailors are drunkards-
A St James, representative has
had a real conversation with Mr.
Frank T. Bullen author Of The
Cruise OF the CachalotH and -The
Men of the Merchant Service, on the
subject matter Of this speech
You are familiar, il anyone is.
with the British sailor. Mr.. Bullen,
and no doubt Captain Lambs speech
has engaged your attention."
OF course. It has and / endorse IT.
He is about right. I have said the
same thing over and over again, and
been abused for my pains; but it is
true, unhappily true. The British
sailor is. generally speaking.
| drunkard
Sweeping castigation?"
Not a bit. I have known ships
that have actually been delayed for
| "A hours in port because the crew
were all helplessly drunk"
HAS the temperance movement,
which Is assumed to be making head
way over the country not progressed
among sailors. them
'.If matters have improved in this
respect since / left the sea | do not
know of it may mention case
which happened in my own expert
ence. 1t was that Of tramp steamer.
She sailed out OF the port of London.
Now, what do you think was the state
of matters on board the vessel? When
she slipped her moorings every man
on board with the exception of the
pilot, was the worse for liquor. On
GERS on deck, sailors in the fo'csle,
engineers in the engineroom, and fire
men in the stoke-hole-all were
drunk"
That happened in a steamer
added Mr.. Bullen. but the sailing
ship is the hell of the sailor. There
are splendid exceptions, but the bulk
of sailing ships are undetermined, the
men are badly fed and badly housed.
UNDERMINING in steamships does
not matter so much. but it is serious
affair where huge stretches of canvas
have to be dealt with"
"And the British sailor. you think,
is quite as bad as he is painted?'
Il do not exaggerate. There is no
occasion for it There is no getting
away from the fact that there is no
finer seaman in the world than the
British sailor; but take the average
merchant ship and you viii find that
on the day of sailing nearly all the
seamen on board are rolling drunk
They tumble on board at the last mo-
ment Go down to the docks any day
and you win see what happens. You
will see the sailors in drunken state.
or in that worse condition when the
liquor is dying out of them. The mas
ter starts for sea, but he is often OBJ
liged to anchor until the men be-
come sober. When they do get over
their cups the chances are that the
master has got to lick them into
shape. The British sailor is a tough
handful, and with mixed crew OF
Englishmen, Scotsmen, and Irishmen
a master has q mighty stiff job; and
of the three nationalities I confess a
depraved Scotsman is worse to con.
troll than an Englishman and Irishman
rolled into one.
A new reading of the Scotsman s
character. is it not2"
1T may be; yet, it is my expert
ence. This matter of nationality re-
minds me that on board one vessel
sailed we had q man who came or
board drunk In London. and did not
turn TO until we crossed the equator.
He was a Sweder
That opens up another point Cap
tain Lamb evidently inferred that the
foreign seaman was less drunken than
the home tar"
when foreigners first come to this
country and Join British ships they
are all right. but the peculiar influ-
ClCC u Jul cltAE1 0AtC4 HAAS l4NAAA
as bad as the British seaman. Swedes
and Norwegians particularly drink as
heavily as the British sailors. bu;
they are easier to handle than the
British"
What you have said. think, ap
plies to three ourths OF the British
seaman. What Of the Royal Navy?
There you have an entirely di1er
ent condition OF things. In the Roya
Navy you have the hne flower Of Brit
ISL sailordom Won have discipline
That is the whole secret In the mer
camille marine there is no discipline
What l have said applies Only to SONS
tramp steamers and most sailing
Iships. Il does not apply to the Roya
Navy or IL the great passenger lines
There Is an entirely different set o
conditions prevailing on board ths
great liners. A seaman could not b
better OF than On board q Castle lin
er. 8 White star. or Cunard liner. o
q P. and o. On these you have gooi
grub. good wages. and continuity o
nnnr1ovues,f All the things We wan