The Cairo bulletin., 1904-01-01
sEAMEN OF ALL NATIONS
Though Much Alike in Some Respects
There Are Interesting Differences.
BY AN ABLE SEAMAN.

AILORS are the most cosmopoiq
itan class OF people in the
0 world. Their vocation neces
sarily makes them so. The
nationality Of the flag that flies from
Ia ships gan il seldom the nationality
.nl her crew. Germans salt an English
hips, British scamen man tie south
American nayies AZ much ais do THO
natives, and there arc more Seam
dnayians than Americans on Ameri-
can ships.
Altogether, sailors arc a thoroughly
mixed LOT, and in the mixing they BE-
come much alike aud entirely unlike
what they originally were. Still the
sailors of each nation retain inherent
pecullarites that distinguish them
from one another
Seandinayians are universally rc.
garded as the best deep-sca sailors.
hey are everywhere demanded by
klppers IN preference ia ans others.
In time Of danger they are thc coolest,
the most reSonrcelu and the least
likely 20 be stricken by the hopeless.
ness of situation Sailors Of the
Latin races are apt TO appeal to
heaven when they should be shorter
ing sail
Scandinawans are more inclined To
adapt themselves 10 new conditions
than others There are many If then,
I'm the Argentine Navy, who. but dor
their light hair and blue eyes, might
be mistaken for natives.
There was once skipper ~
British ship whom everybody. even
the owners, believed To Be a Scotch.
man. His hair was red and his beard
was sandy he spoke ln broad l0wland
Scots, and hc had even acquired the
meanness IN provisioning has biz pc
culIar 30 Scottish sea CAPTAINS fis
name was Andersen, but that happens
10 be a name common to Scot and
Scandinavian alike The Danes end
| It with sen instead OF on
One day somebody asked Captain
Andersen why he spelled hi namc In
the Danish way, and it developed then
that he was a D-nc himself.
the Chinese are generally regarded
as the poorest sailors for square
rugged. dcep-sea ships A Chnaman
can initiate white man in almost
anything; he can even be as good
soldier But when it comes to crawl
ing out on yardarm in q roaring
gale, the Chinaman is not initiative
Tie is not afraid of bullets or knife
cuts but he has an abjcct fear Of
dangling in midaif from a tarrcd rope.
For all that. the Chinese have no
1 fear OF the sea itself They make
good steamship sailors, and al cooks
ON aillng ships are in universal de-
mand. for they are seldom troubled
| by seasickncss.
| OF The colorcd races, ghe Care de
! Verde Islanders and the Hanak5s arc
! the best sailors They are born sea
men In the olden time, when whalers
| Bid good business, the main part Of
their crews were usually of these two
/ Peoples They were especially good
Ia harpooners, having an agility Of
lnAy>c1l movement nor install IN the
/ h'e rnwieldy Norsemen.
I The people least represented on the
I sea are the Hebrews, and this ~
orange. rs their Semitic cousins. the
/ Hhoacc.aus. were the best sailors Of
I th- ancient world Sometimes a Jew
/ doe, appear IN ships crew. but Il IS
usually as q steward e. cook, hardly
lever as an able seaman.
/ Few people know that the American
! Indian makes q pretty good seaman.
/ He has that phlegnatie disregard at
1 danger which makes the Srandinsrian
SO trustworthy aboard ship There
lare many American ships hailing from
| Bath Ne whose shippers are descen-
/ dants of the northeastern tribes, uow
nearly extinct Some British ships.
/ Nova Scotiamen especially. are also
/ commanded BY Indians. ard those
ships are usually hard packcts FoF
| discipline The Northern Light
vhaler h7iline from New Bedford
was At one time commanded hv three
Indian officers