The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-04-02
OLD TIME SEA CAPTAINS.
From the Detroit Free Press:
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fTeSS:
During the present winter the tour
list steamers running to the Mediter-
ranean, the Canary islands, Bermuda,
the Bahamas. Barbados and the An
tiles, the West Indies, Mexico and Eu-
rope, have reached a degree of luxur-
iousness which, according to letters
written by those who are spending the
winter abroad to their Washington
friends, surpass anything Of past years,
says writer in the WASHINGTON Post.
In view Of all this it is interesting to
recollect that so late even as 1865 an
ocean voyage was something to be
dreaded, and one never dreamed Of
embarking on the high seas in those
days unless compelled to do so by the
utmost call Of necessity. Had anyone
prophesied during the '30s that a day
sea for pleasure he would have been
set down as a madman or a fool,
The first passenger vessels were, Of
course, ordinary merchant ships, the
masters Of which engaged to take a
certain number of passengers on each
trip. These old-fashioned sea captains
were far different from our modern.
of the big ocean greyhounds. They re-
garded the passengers as little better
than sailors, and, having grown hard
and fast to the old doctrine that the
word Of a ship master is law at sea,
they could not brook the least sugges-
ton or complaint.
Along in 1858 case was tried in
Bristol, Eng, which taught the old
time sea captains a lesson, and which
gave them to understand that a pas
senger on board a ship stood in an en-
tirely different relation to the captain
Of the vessel from that borne by the
sailors. The case attracted a great
deal Of attention at the time, and was
reported, or rather copied in full, from
the English papers by the old National
Intelligencer Of this city In its issue of
September "a, 1858. The case is inter-
esting, and was reported as follows:
AT Bristol, Eng, the captain of a
merchant ship has been amerced in
$1,000 damages for putting a passenger
in irons. It appeared that the pas
senger was bit of a Scotch lawyer,
and the captain something of a
brusque disciplinarian, and the parties
raising breeze on shipboard. The
case is thus reported:
Circuit Court, Bristol, England
Before Baron Watson and a jury, Ig-
natius Krog VS.. Capt. Franklin, mas
ter of the merchant ship Undaunted.
The declaration charged the defendant
with having assaulted the plaintiff
and put him in irons and imprisoned
him.
"The plaintiff embarked at the Cape
on the 10th of May. Nothing took
place for some time. but on the 5th
of June, when Mr.. Krog was pacing
the poop, he heard noise below, and
found there was an alteration about
putting out the lamps in the saloon
done by the captains order for vex>
alton and annoyance. Mr.. Krog, not
knowing what the noise was about,
asked what the row was. The cap
tain called out: who in the devil are
your Mr.. Krog said: My name is
Krog.' The captain repeated the name
several times in the most insulting
Krog said: MY status in society is as
good as yours The captain then be-
gan making a noise. Mr.. Krog said:
Capt. Franklin, no doubt you are
captain of the ship and crew, and so
far as the crew are concerned they
are bound to obey your orders; but it
is different with respect to the passen-
gers, who have alright to the use and
enjoyment of the saloon, but you are
the landlord OF a floating hotel: ;
az. =. ~ Put Him Ia Irons. . ssSss3
.s.scG APT. Franl kliI became urious, and
Ssaid:I will put you III q irons 8. e i II.
Krog did not believe he was serious,
and said: You dare not do that
The captain went to his cabin and
put a revolver in his pocket, and then
he rushed into the saloon and said:
You passengers have been endeavor-
ing to take possession Of this vessel
for twenty-four hours. but you shall
only do this over my body. and here
is my revolver And he drew him
self up like captain on the stage
He piped up his crew, as if there had
been a mutiny. The captain then re-
tired, but Mr.. Krog was put in irons
taken below and chained to the cabin
floor. The cabin in which he was
| placed was seven feet long by six
wide, with three other passengers in
it, and the ship was then in the
tropics, with the temperature at 100
degrees, etc. Mr.. Krog was kept in
this manner for ten days, when Mr.
Macbeth interfered, and said Mr.
Krogs health would suffer if he were
longer detained. Capt. Franklin then
removed the irons"
| The result was that Capt. Franklin
had to pay Mr.. Krog $1,000. Some OF
| the older modern shipmasters have q
recollection of some of the cantaker-
| Gus sea captains Of the ffties, who
| did not last long after the passenger
| carrying trade began for the reason
that they had never in their lives
| learned tn hold their temperS anC