Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-14

The estate that he takes out to sea IS
nearly as long as two city blocks. 1t has
ana ground floors of half a dozen ware
houses. 1t has from five to seven stories,
and single one of these Stories-the prom
en2de deck-has walking space equal to any
sidewalk of 9th avenue between any two
cross streets.
The cost of maintenance for that piece of
portable property for one single trip is six
times big as the total wages paid to the
enc month. Every fortytwo hours the
monster swallows much coal as a sky
scraper uses in thirty days.
For every detail in this vast mass-from
the woes of steerage passenger who has
had his pocket picked of tuppence ha penny
to the proper behavior of two thousand tons
or boilers, the captain is responsible. He
has navigating officers and executives and
chief engineers and chief electrician and
chief stewards and purser and chief ma
chinists-but the owners know the captain
alone as the man responsible for the ship.
The story of the ship today is not a ro-
mantle log, scrawled laboriously by a clum-
sy, tarred fist, but bookkeeping. 1t is told
by ledger and cashbook, manifest and dia-
gram. tables and trial balances.
Six tugs, costing $40 an hour. are snuffling
under the vast stern when the sailing mo-
ment approaches, to haul her out into mid
stream and turn her for the sea. If the
vessel has not begun to glide from the wharf
simultaneously with the gliding of the
clocks hand past the appointed minute,
down goes debit on the books for SO much
time lost at $50 an hour.
The pilot is in charge to take her out
If she strikes bottom. he is legally and
technically responsible But the captain
knows that 1t is up to him. in final re-
suits just the same. In every minute that
the mud holds her the owners money is
running away like the water alongside.
Woes of the Big Hotel.
While the great black creature pushes
swiftly along the channel, screaming with
all the might of her steel voice to all the
rest of creation to Get out of the way!
Out of the way! for its own sake as well
as hers, troubles are conspiring to present
themselves to the captain as soon as he
shall be of soundings The millionaire lady
who has come aboard hurriedly has inn
petuous objections to her cabin. The doc
tor has observed a rash on three children
in the steerage and doesn't like 1t a bit.
There is polite, painfully strained stua-
ton involving half the first cabins passage
list as to who shall sit at the captains
table, and further to who shall sit near
est the head, Two stewardesses are try
ing in vain to soothe a small but tempera-
mental woman who is carrying on because
her trunk is in the hold and the officer of
the hold has informed her that there are
about eight hundred tons of other stuff on
top OF it, and that he couldn't and wouldn't
break that trunk out, no, not if she had
fifty dresses in it, and needed them all for
dinner that day. The captain will have to
visit her, for she and her relatives are
steady travellers by that line and her hus-
band is a big shipper A tourist agent
aboard wants to see him, too He learned
just as the ship started that there is small
pox at one of the Mediterranean ports at
which tourist parties were to be landed for
visit; and he wants to know If the cap-
tain won't run by that port and make the
stop at another interesting place which his
patrons have selected.
10 Wireless and Word of Mouth.
The wireless telegraph snaps out a mes
sage that one of his ports of call has
changed portregulations and he must strain
everything to get in before shutdown. Again
the wireless snaps. 1t is dispatch from
police headquarters warning him that a
notorious crooked gambler is aboard with
confederates to fleece passengers.
By this time the chief steward, whose Of
fee is not cubby hole of cabin, but
looks like the office of a modern hotel, has
accumulated troubles enough to supply
few more problems. An excited passenger,
who has mislaid her jewelry, becomes wild
~ indignant because the steward suggests
this as solution, and declines to act on
the supposition that she has been robbed
Her vehemence means that she Is going to
raise scandal before the day is out She
will listen to no one; if she is allowed to
go on. half score of other nervous women
Will be Historically convinced before night
that the ship has pirates aboard. The cap
tain has to enter the debate, and with d.
plomacy. humility, sternness, jOvialty and
majesty mixed, to coax, fiatter and terrify
the screaming one, till she sees reason
and finds her jewelry in her hand bag
Meantime men have begun to carry re-
ports to him. AT noon come reports of
speed. The tale of the patent log is one.
table showing the revolutions per minute
Of the mighty propeller-shafts is another
The hourly and daily run must be computed
mi al
lions; and then the figures must be checked
and compared with figures of previous yoy-
ages.
The Days Run.
If the days run is below the best record
he looks at the record of wind velocity and
at the record showing the drift caused by
currents. He estimates the weight and
force of possible head sea, to Judge
whether the decrease in speed is due to
causes without or within the ship.
If it seems to be within the engineer must
report on conditions. Then come tables
showing coal consumption per hour ner
hundred revolutions of the shafts, and per
day, with comparative tables showing pre
vious records
ship is sighted and spells a wirnn,,n,
message. He must give orders for the re.
ply Entry must be made at once in the
log, showing the name of the vessel and
GATE, hour, longitude. latitude whether
bound east or west and her message
All the clocks on board nearly a hundred
OF them' must be regulated by the electric
current from the chart room A renort
must be called for from the offlcer in
charge or the score and more of Iifeboats-
representing feet in themselves as hig
as that OF many small yacht clubs
women passengers beg for the privilege
or inspecting the navigating bridge. They
want to know "how the ship is worked =
There has been row In the smoking
room--a bad row. Men are at the point az
hight. 1t is too big matter of ships police
duty to be handled by anybody EXCEPT the
captain in person. Before he has done with
ii he has held regular court of inquiry
and acted as intermediary. judge, Jury and
chief of police.
His Part as Host.
1t is time for him now to mingle with the
passengers for few minutes and act his
part as host. Back to the bridge he hur-
ries TO look over the chart on which his
first officer has plotted the days run. 1t
must be verified by the MONDAY obserya-
ton. AS soon as the sun has been caught
and its tale figured out the log must have
these blanks filed in: Number of days out
Observation-Disclosures Observation-Disclosures
force, to MISUNDERSTANDING distance
-weather-remarks
Another vessel Is sighted, The purser ar