The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-07-26
OLD SAILORS PASSING
YOUNGER GENERATION OF MARI.
NERs pEPLoRE FACT.
State That "steamer Made sesmen"
Lack in Nautical Knowledge
and Are Not Equipped
as officers.

Seattle. Wash. With the passing
of the sailing vessel, which is giving
place to the modern fast steamer, the
old.time sailor is becoming merely a
memory The change Is more notice
able in the officers of vessels than In
the sailors. Many of the old captains,
however, deplore the undermining OF
the sailor and officer The modern
sailor is little more than a stevedore,
while the mates are scarcely more
than chief stevedores, according to
many of the old.time shippers. This
has been brought about by the short
runs of the coasting vessels and the
fact that the mates chief duty is to
superintend the loading and unloading
of cargo. On the short coasting runs
navigation is done almost entirely by
what is known as dead reckoning.
This is accomplished by the log, the
compass and local knowledge of the
waters. The ships are seldom out of
sight of land and the earlier knowl-
edge of navigation gained by the Off
GERS before they apply for their papers
is, in many cases, practically forgot
ten. The handling of cargo becomes
the chief work of the officers, with the
exception of the captain and even he
seldom makes use of his knowledge of
navigation, aside from that of dead
reckoning.
In the old school of ships one of the
first things the officer was taught was
seamanship; secondly, navigation, and
at the present day some of the most
successful captains are those who ac.
quired their knowledge in the old.time
vessels.
Seamanship is so seldom used in
the modern vessels that IL is looked
upon more as a hindrance than an
aid. The training of cadets on many
of the larger steamships makes steam.
ship officers of them, and they enter
upon their officers duties with only a
book knowledge of steamanship in
sailing vessels.
The state training ship, according
to the old salts, gives youthful aspir-
ants to a sea life a practical knowl-
edge of seamanship, and for this rea.
son most of the old sailors are stanch
advocates of nautical school for
boys. The plan has been worked out
successfully in the east, and reports
from California state that an effort
Is being made by the California sea-
men to secure state training ship
for San Francisco. The naval train
ing station for boys at Goat island
fails to meet the requirements of the
merchant service, according to most
captains, as the boys are trained for
naval work, which practically units
them for the merchant service.
In the American merchant marine
today there are comparatively few
American sailors. Most of the seamen
are recruited from English, German
and French sailing ships that come to
the American ports. BY reason of the
large wages paid in American ships,
and especially in the coasting trade,
the men are able to make from two to
three times as much as in the ships
of their own nationality.
Among sailors the American ships
are known as supplying the best food,
while the English ships are commonly
known as hungry limejuicers."
Another point advanced in favor OF
the school ship is that II would have
tendency to increase the number of
American sailors and officers.