The Arvada enterprise., 1911-08-03

result oS the general dlsSat-
isfactlon among men In all
parts OF the world over pay.
hours, accommodations aboard
ship and food. which. they say, has
been steadily growing worse for the
last ten years. While the cost Of liv-
Ing and the necessities OF life have
gone up and the wages OF laborers
ashore have risen the big steamship
companies have done nothing to bet
ter the conditions OF their crews. It is
asserted.
Ofiicers, engineers and firemen at
sea have four hours on duty and eight
hours on, while the men who have to
stand the brunt Of the elements on
deck have four hours on deck and four
below throughout the voyage. except
In port, when they work from a. m.
TIL 6 p. m, with half an hour for
breakfast and an hour for dinner.
The food served, tho men say. is
cooked generally by an assistant soul
leryman. who does not know enough
to boil salt water. and the biggest At
iantc liners are little better In this
respect than the 1000 ton tramps. ac-
cording to the statements OF the
crews
Eight years ago the British board OF
trade Investigated the system Of pre-
pairing meals for seamen and found
that when a man was unfit to do any
thing else he was shipped as cook
for the seamen
Cook for tho Sailors.
As result of this investigation the
board OF trade passed n law compell-
Ing all vessels sailing under the Brit
ish flag to carry cook who had
passed an examination before an in
spector appointed by the board and re-
ceived its certificate. The wages OF
a ships cook. 500 to $40 a month, did
not attract rush OF promising appli'
tants for examination, and conse-
quently there were not enough to go
round, those possessing certificates
demanding higher pay.
To get around this law the steam
ship lines signed certificate cook on
each vessel and then transferred him
to the incoming ship Just before sail
ing time, replacing him on the out
wnrdbound vessel with man selected
by the chief cook as the most useless
assistant In the potato peeling, dish
securing department
with the advent OF the big liners.
whose decks are kept wet by spray
throughout the winter months, the
mortality and sickness among seamen
has increased greatly, the chief all
ments being rheumatism, pneumonia,
umbago and pulmonary diseases.
which have filled the warehouses; OF
Liverpool. London, Hull, Shields, New
castle. Bristol. Southampton and 9th
or European ports with brokendown
seameu, Many Of these men get sick
through lying in damp hunks under
lcaky decks
How a Great Charity Is Dispensed.
It is assorted and with apparently
good grounds that the thousands oi
dollars collected on the big ocean
liners to aid the orphans and aged
scamen benefit only a very small per
centage of those In need The sal
aries Of some otncials Of these chart
ties In Liverpool are $4,000 a year, II
is snid To get an orphan taken In re
quires the backing OF the local clergy
man or magistrate 10 testify as to the
rcspectabilty Of the parents and only
sailors who have led pious lives atloat
and ashore can hope for pecuniary
aid There are few pious sailors, Bc
cording to custom house officials. and
the majority, who love their rum and
tobacco. are left high and dry on a
lee shore in their declining days.
The wages paid to sailors even on
mail boats Ike the Mauretania, do not
allow OF much room for saving They
only amount TO s22 90 month out OF
which So must be paid for uni
form. cap jumper and trousers when
they need renewing. which is often at
sea. Firomen do not have to buy a
uniform and get f27 30 n month Lin
ers not in the mail service pay only
$50 a month with an extra sl25 70
uuartcrmasters and lookout men This
applies to Liverpool. Southampton and
London. but In some British ports
Cardiff IL one-the wages for able sea
men are only sls a month. The day a
ship arrives in the home port wages
coase and the seamon are OF pay until
they sign on another ship, To keer
the hremen satisfied a limited number
are kept working on the ship all the
time she is at home, unless the yesso