The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1910-05-28
STOKER6 ON STEAMSHIPS
PASS P|T|FUL EXISTENCE

present time to the Old World know,
much less care, about the sufferings
and hardships of those who make
their luxurious trips possible, those
who, during the long weary watches
of the night, sweat and slave in the
coal holes of the giant transatlantic
steamers.
An investigation made recently
shows that the men who do the
heavy work" about the big steamers,
like the great mass of workers on
land, are dragging out a mere exist
ence, while the owners of the steam
ship lines for which they work are
piling w their millions.
The following are the wages paid
"stokers,' or tiremen, on two of the
most important lines: Cunard mail
ships, $3.50 per month; Cunard or
binary ships, $25; Cunard coal trim
mers, $40. White Star line ships,
stokers,- SIS ! per month; coal trim
mers, $22. These wages include
board.
These two lines are the most i'm
portant that sail between America
and Great Britain, and they pay the
highest wages. The Anchor and
other Scotch lines often pay less than
$40 month.
The hours of labor in the "stoke
holes" or boiler rooms, are four
in every twenty-four. The tempera-
ture in the boiler rooms is often I'M
bearable. On new men, especially,
it is often torture Sometimes the
heat is so intense in these stoke holes
that the stokers become completely
insane.
In hundreds of cases, the probers
found, stokers have rushed to the
| upper deck and plunged themselves
over the side in the darkness of the
night and the surging of the oceans
| madness, only to be remembered by
the few who knew them in the ''hole"
below as mike" or Jack" or some
other familiar name. Others battle
their heads with cold, wet towels be-
tween "reliefs'' in order to be able
to do their four hours when their
turns come around again.
Pitiful, indeed, is the sight of old
| seamen who have spent years in the
! ill-ventilated stoke holes away below
the water-line. The sound of the
| humping engines, the glow of the
| fierce fires in their faces and the coal
! dust ground into every pore of their
rough skin makes them look more
like the diabolical inhabitants of the
! Internal regions than human beings.
| On board the giant liners, like the
| Celtic or Cedric of the White Star
line, or Mauretania and Lusitania
of the Cunard, more than 1000 Eng
| llsh tons of coal are consumed in
! every twenty-four hours. The stok-
| ers of each relief" are rushed like
madmen in their struggle to- keep
the standard amount of steam in the
boilers. +: ;
! On the largest liners there' are 1876
fires. Sixty-five men are required to
keep them going: Thirty-three trim
mers are required to keep the stok-
ers in coal and clear away the ashes.
! And these men who do the hard
est work on the great ocean steam
ships get the poorest food on the
boat. On the Cunard ships the stok-
ers and "trimmers" get "porridge,"
or oatmeal, scrap meat or "hash,'
! and tea for breakfast. The dinner
and supper fare changes, but it is
all more or less of the kind that is
found in camps and other places
where men are packed together in
"hurry-up" fashion. On Tuesday
eggs are served" or rather "issued,''
and the men look forward to this
meal with a great deal of satisfac-
ton.
As for class lines, they are finely
drawn on these big steamers. The
coal passer" dare not dine with the
"stoker;" the stokers rank below the
oilers, the oilers are lower in caste
to the engineer, and the poor deck
hands, or sailors, those who risk their
| lives by climbin the masts like mon
| keys, are just necessary things on the
| upper decks. They are there to see
| that everything is safe and comfort
able for the passengers. 81
These ordinary "deck-hands" have
| mess of their own, generally away
in the front part, or FORE" of the
| steamer in a small, crowded corner.
Here they eat and sleep, when they
are not out running like rabbits over
Generally, at about o'clock, when
| the passengers and the higher caste
among the crew are fed, the "leav-
ings,' or offals, from the first and
second cabins are taken "below" to
the coal passers and stokers, who eat
with great delight and relish small,
half-chewed legs of turkey, or choice.
pieces of mutton after they had been
"gummed' by some toothless passen-
gers, then pushed to the side of their
plates or pulled through somebody's
store teeth ~ -.
In connection with these steamship
lines, it is interesting to note that
Grace s, Co., which sails between
New York and South America, flies
| the English flag because by doing so
seamen may be had for smaller
wages than If the American flag was
used. Grace, the head Of the firm,
Is a brother to ex-Mayor Grace Of
| New York city Of about thirty years
ago. While he Is patriotic Ameri-
can, he finds it much more profitable
to use the Union Jack in his business