The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-20
TRAGEDIES OF H SEA
r,ta n Fire and vrssk and Herol,m aod Coffin Ships
And Slavery.

f,-t,,u,sistv thrse ~ lHtls diN,cni'y
q, satipe tpou sr frttiui q topic ~ the
.,. o., frlttftl. inderd. that Nv tha tfiet
s.s.a ., nv disposal I ~ mot pfupcee tu
.,.i.plsfItH mofe than w passing allu-
. ,uy ~ tho afeai art tragedies tha'
t,.s rssset Through onr later maritime
tpiufg
f. ,dl. think 10 fsf motr httlna In an
.r.rs ike lhia io deal wtth the causea
N ,le 500 tragedy and to show 80 may
s,siIy ne done. how Ivy the advance OF
s.,m Anshlp, tho improvements IN naval
s,ehitecturr and the steady upward trend
= character anon those responsible for
tns navigation n ships, great sea tragedies
have le.scnsd amazingly In number. Willis
IN. Neets ~ tho world have increased In an
sycn greater proportion
When first vent TO sea, only thirty
sight years ago. ssaiarlng was just emefg.
lng from that state In which its norm oil
condition might have been described %
one Of tragedy. steam, that great amel-
Iorator 81 life at sea. whether for tho
paaaenger or the seaman 0eaving for the
present tho nremen and engineers out Of
the quea,ion). had evidently come 10 stay,
and although splendid feets Of clipper
shlps still traded regularly between the
United Kingdom and all the great ports
Of the world It was obvious that their tenuro
Of regular trade was menaced most seriously
by the new agent.
Even In those magnificent sailing ships
there were cases Of actual experience
which froze the blood to listen to. Cases
Of disaster occurring through drunken
ness, through ignorance and carelessness
uperadded to the ordinary perils Of the
eea. were neither few nor far between,
although II must DO gladly admitted that
certain great lines such IA Greens, Wigrams,
Dewitt 4 Moore, George Thompson and
Brooklebanks enjoyed special immunity
because Of the great care with which they
selected their officers, the lavish up-keep
Of the ships, and last but by no means least
the good food which they provided for the
large crews carried.
Just a step lower In the scale a very diff
terent condition Of things obtained. Owing
to the truly Internal condition Of feeding,
I have eeen practically a whole ships COM
nany before the mast suffering from scurvy.
that most horrible OF loathsome diseases
whereby much Of the putridity OF the corpse
may be witnessed In the still living and suf-
fering body.
This was entirely due to the vile quality
Of the food put on board and practically
an entire absence Of fresh provisions
for II 10 q farce to present men who have
been compelled to eat the ofal, which al
though aorid with salt was really putrid.
With one plateful Of preserved soup four
times In seven months. | was but a boy,
but can I over forget my task OF leading
those soarvy stricken men about the decks
at night (for they were then quite blind
putting the ropes IN their hands and hearing
their as the pulling raoked their
tortured bones. This 10 sea ira gedy,
Then thsre was the coffin ship, meant to
sink somewhere out OF reach Of prying eyes,
heavily insured and in command OF some
reckless brute who valued not his own life
at q row Of pins, and the lives Of his crew at
much less. The risks Of sailing in q vessel
like this, apart altogether from the secret
intention Of sinking her at the first favor
able opportunity, were very great, for the
usual oonoomitants OF such a voyage were
rotten gear, bad food, filthy, almost I'M
intentionally bad accommodations, and
plenty OF drink.
In addition to all these IL was usually the
case that there was no thermometer, or a
useless one, which was worse, while relia-
bic charts and other usual aids to navlga-
ton were absent or in such a condition as
TO he unusable. Life on board such a
vessel as this was a long ira gedy, no gleam
Of light illumined the sordid gloom, and
when the end came it is perha ps not too
much to say that those few terrible mo-
nlents IN which the weary soul parted from
the worn body were Welcome, because they
led straight TO rest.
We are still far from the bottom OF the
scale. Lower wei than these occasional
owners were poor and generally allied to
the master or skipper and sometimes the
first officer by financial ties.
II Is hardly necessary to say that these
vessels were sailed cheaply, because that
condition is obvious, but this raging desire
for economy led to some truly awful deeds.
The crews of these vessels were chiefly
hoys and young mon who were taken as
apprentices to avoid paying them wages
and their condition can only be described
by one often misussd word. slavery.
Their lives were quite at the mercy Of
skipper and mate, men who, while undoubt-
edly honest and brave as well rs good sea
men there Is a difference between a good
seaman and a good navigator. though 1t ia
difficult to explain to land folk, were as
undoubtedly drunken, merciless hrites to
whom cruelty toward those in their power
was the only method OF exercising that
power with which they were acquainted.
Th,ir favorite remark was that thsy
we're law and God in blue water and I'M
happily they behaved as IL that were true.
Sadly enough, as the beaten, starved.
overworked apprentice, grew u?, in srits
Of his treatment, to be a man and took his
place as an able seaman In the fo'c'sle
until he too could rise to the uuarterdeck
he pra ctised the same bruta lity upon his
fellows only a step beneath him as he had
been subjected to.
The result was that the wretched lads
we're between two fires, being saw gely
beaten on deck and no less saw gely i'll
treated below, 10 that to their normal con-
dition Of body might be ftly applied the
dictum OF Isaiah, Full Of wounds and
bruises and purifying sores - they have not
been closed, neither bound up nor mol
lifted with ointment" or course many Of
them died and were flung overheard with
out the slightest inquiry into the manner