The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-03-28
STORIES HEARD
ON WATERFR
Some Troubles of the Sailor.
man When He Gets on
Dry Land.

Sailors coming into this port are IN
never-ending trouble-of their own
making, generally. All sorts of pecu-
liar cases are brought TO the notice of
the United States Shipping Commits
sioner, and in most of the eases a man
to settle them is needed who has a
wonderful ability to read human ma
ture. Sailors walk into the Commits.
sioner's office, tell bare faced lie with
the utmost gravity, get their pay, and
are back in an hour, fuller than goats,
to explain that they made a trifing
mistake before, and "would you, sir,
kindly advance saiiorman wee bit
of money!"
The other day two seamen from the
British ship Dolbadarn Castle wander
ed into the Commissioner headauar-
tiers on the waterfront. They were
good sailors, men who had been to sea
for years and knew the ropes, but they
had q kick and it was grievous one.
GAN English ship is no use for an
American or an Irishman,' said the
spokesman, who had the barney on his
tongue, to Almy.
"We don want to make too much
of row, but we simply can't stay
on that ship. We get the rough end
of it all the time, all the dirty jobs
are foisted on US, even if the work
belongs to someone else. If there is
anything hard to do, if someone has
got to stand an extra watch, it always
comes our way. Then we are not treat
ed like white men. We want to leave
the ship"
There was the point-they wanted to
! leave the ship. But they were signed
| on for the full voyage, and they had
NO legitimate reason for leaving. Amy
told them SO, informing them also that
they could quit if they wanted to, thus
FORGETTING the money they had coming
to them. But each man had about $65
to his credit in wages, and he didn It
want to go shy that way.
Then they went to Captain Willett,
master of the deep-water bark Foohng
Suey, offering to stowaway on his boat
when he sailed. But Captain Willett
hung out the ''Nothing Doing" sign,
telling the men that if they fixed up
everything fair and square with the
Dolbadarn Castle and the Shipping
Commissioner he would then talk bus
mess The matter has not yet been
definitely settled, but waterfronters
wouldn t be bit surprised to see the
men give up their money in order to
be free of the ship.
1t was only a little while ago that
| an American sailor in this port told
| an entirely different tale. He had
| been with an English ship for consid-
| cradle time, and he talked nothing but
good of her. He said that he got bet
ter treatment on her than he could get
on the ships flying the Stars and
Stripes.
Another man came in here on a
| deep water vessel a short time ago,
| and when he was paid off made great
| hullabaloo about his slop-chest ae-
| counts He hadn t bought this and he
/ hadn t bought that on the ship. he
/ maintained, and he certainly didn t in
tend to pay for what he had not re-
j ceived One item he objected to par
! ticularly was a pair of rubber boots
| charged to him. He made lively row
about them, but, when pinned down,
admitted that he might have got them
on board the ship, but he didn't re-
member anything about it. That was
| the end of his kick
+! Every day Amy has a new problem
before him, but he usually settles them
| all to the satisfaction of everybody
Some of them are ludicrous, while some
| of them are serious. but there is med
icine for every one. The men who go
down to the sea in ships have troubles
galore when they come ashore; and
that s where the Shipping Commission
er comes IN. for it is up to him to see
that everyone gets square deal.