The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-19
The COURAGE OF THE SAILOR
A. ,HLE SEAMAN TELLS or GER
TAIN LIMITATIONS.
THE typical sailor Combines Reckless
Bravery and Arrant COwardice. Says
>lbert Observation-Disclosures OF Five
,.ars al sea 10 Prove Ills Theory.

the sea strong III Ils soul' AheIeioIe'
saws the landsman, the sailor is brave
nam. he /. in truth the bravest of men, for
h,r,,s down TO the deep with n rollicking
,,g an bi, lips and devi-may-care gait
,haF .,ruiry utter indifference to the known
,,I Unknown perils that beset him on all
sides
o,,, ,la, the landsman has a vastly ex-
a,grrafod idea of the Sailor's bravery.
Will .na life does attract men who have
natural disregard for personal danger.
t. may safely bc said that the typical sailor
Strange contradiction of reckless brav-
eryand arranr Cowardice.
Here is an incident in point. 1t occurred
aboard A vessel in which made my first
trip 10 sea
We were sailing before tive-knot breeze
through tropical sea- For several days
bir sharks. on the lookout for refuse, had
been following the ship.
One morning boy, painting over the
stern, lost his hold and fell overheard.
All hands saw the accident, but it remained
for Young Englishman to act.
Before the cry had been raised he seized
life belt and leaped overheard with it.
When the ship was hove to both were
mile astern, and almost an hour passed
before they were picked up.
Meanwhile the Englishman had reached
the bow with the life belt, for the latter
could not swim. The Englishman also
displayed great GOODNESS in keeping of tho
sharks remaining quite still until they
were close, when he frightened them off
with few lively kicks, for shark s really
timid creature. But few men have the
rresence of mind to think of this when in
The water
Of course the man was made much of
for his heroic act; to leap overheard in
shark-infested waters is deed that espe
ciay appeals TO a seamans admiration.
About month afterward we ran into
cold weather and then, one dark night,
We encountered "a stiff gale that made it
necessary to shorten sail rather suddenly
The lighter canvas was speedily brought
under control and furled. but by the time
this was done the wind became so strong
that all hands were called to furl big
topsal Even the cook and the steward
were obliged to go aloft with the rest of us,
while the captain relieved the man at the
wheel that he might also help with the
sail
1t was a tremendous job, for the heavy
sal Tapped and Numbered over the line
of men stretched out on the frail spar.
shaking the mast as though cannon were be-
ing discharged from the deck. Finally. after
an hours struggle the sail was tightly
Fured to the yard, and the men were just
preparing to go down when the mate, who
had been experimenting the job, cried
out.
Hold on, there, fellers we've been one
man short! Has anybody gone overboard?'
Nobody had been seen to fall.
Then" bawled the mate, some ones
loafing. You fellers stay up here till
go down on deck and find out who it is"
When we came down. the mate had found
the shirker 1t was the young English
man who had braved the sharks when the
rest hesitated.
Had ii been any other man he would
have been severely punished, but as it
was, no one said word nor even cast a
reproachful hint. This the man felt 50
keenly that when the port was reached
he was obliged to be treated in marine
hospital for nervous disorder.
met this man ashore some years after
ward. He was on the San Francisco police
force, where he had secured employment,
for he never ventured to sea again. He
voluntarily discussed his case with me.
He attributed his cowardice in the storm
to heredity. He came of Italian stock
primarily, and his theory was that for
centuries his ancestors had been used to
no ) I,x1, 80 thn Lodi
terranean, where most OF the sailing Is
done in craft so small that the sails can be
handled from on deck.
The danger seamen face there is from
treacherous undercurrents and hidden
rocks, and at handling small boats, men Of
Latin blood are as brave as the best But
when it comes to fighting struggling canvas
on lofty ioe-coated yards, they feel and
show the fear of an unfamiliar danger.
Observation has led me to believe this.
The best deep sea sailors, the most daring
men aloft, are Of Morse origin Russian.
Finn, Dane, Swede, Norwegian, Anglo
Saxon. These men, especially the Scan
dinavans, whose ancestors sailed the
stormy Baltic and North Sea, are univer-
sally acknowledged to be the boldest sea-
men.
Daring aloft is a form of bravery most
keenly appreciated by seamen. The man
who will crawl out on yardarm in howl
ing gale Of wind to pass reef caring about
Its extremity is more admired than man
who would display GOODNESS under fire.
The latter is considered a passive kind
OF courage, while tho other is actual daring
by a man who knows his danger.
Almost all greenhorns show signs OF
Tear upon going aloft the first time. Some
sailors never get over a sense OF nauseating
uneasness when aloft, even when in port.
once met a strange exception. He was
green boy who had never before been at
sea.
The first day out he climbed aloft, show
ing not the slightest signs Of fear. He
shnned up bare poles like a monkey slid
oown stays and hung about in mid-air
from ropes that were never intended for
climbing
Finally, he reached the very top Of one
o. the masts and deliberately sat on tho
'ruck-thc fat gilt ball through which
tne flag halyard is rove. Without holding
on h" comfortably contemplated the
horizon about him, dangling his feet against
IN" bare mast underneath his perch. Mean
while, all hands We're watching him breath
leSsy from deck
But the strangest thing of all was the
TACT that this boy was Swiss, coming from
country whose people never have been
sdlors. Perhaps absence of giddiness in