The searchlight. [volume] (Culbertson, Mont.) 1902-current, 1911-08-04

[" HE recent strike Of seamen was
result of the general dissat.
isfaction 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, 1t Is
asserted
Officers, engineers and firemen at
sea have four hours on duty and eight
hours OF. 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 6 a. m.
till 6 p. m. with half an hour for
breakfast and an hour for dinner.
The food served. the men say. is
cooked generally by an assistant soul
leryman, who does not know enough
TO boil salt water, and the biggest At
lantic 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 the Sailors.
As a result OF this investigation the
board Of trade passed law compell-
ing all vessels sailing under the Brit
ish flag to carry a 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. $40 to $40 a month, did
not attract a rush OF promising appli-
cants 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 a certificate cook on
each vessel and then transferred him
to the incoming ship Just before sail
ing time. replacing him on the out
wardbound vessel with a 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.
iumbago and pulmonary diseases,
which have filled the warehouses OF
Liverpool. London. Hull. Shields. New.
castle, Bristol. Southampton and 9TH
er European ports with brokendown
seamen. Many OF these men get sick
through lying In damp hunks under
leaky decks.
How . Great Charity 10 Dispensed.
II 10 asserted and with apparently
good grounds that the thousands OF
dollars collected on the big ocean
liners to aid the orphans and aged
q
centage OF those In need. The sal
aries of some ofiicials OF these chart
ties in Liverpool are $4,000 a year. II
is said To get an orphan taken In re-
quires the backing of the local clergy.
man or magistrate TO testify as to the
responsibility of the parents. and only
sailors who have led pious lives afioat
and ashore can hope for pecuniary
aid. There are few pious sailors. &C
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 like the Mauretania. do not
allow of much room for saving. They
only amount to S22.50 a month. out OF
which 50 must be paid for uni
| form, cap. jumper and trousers when
they need renewing. which is often at
sea. Ffremen do not have to buy a
uniform and get $3.50 a month. Lin.
ers not In the mail service pay only
$50 a month. with an extra SIPS to
quartermasters and lookout men This
applies to Liverpool. Southampton and
London. but In some British ports
| Cardiff Is one-the wages for able sea
men are only SIS a month. The day a
ship arrives In the home port wages
cea, and the seamen are on pay until
they sign on another ship. To keep
the fremen satisfied limited namber
are kept working on the ship all the
time she Is at home. unless TIA se..>,