New-York tribune., 1911-09-10
CULTURE VIA CATTLE SHIP
uot What It's Cracked Up To Be,
College Students Find.
EUROPEAN TOUR A FIASC0
same of the Young Adventure
Seekers Have Been Reduced
to Mendicancy Abroad.

-,,v wears ago If the wanderlust got
=, American youths blood he tied
u" ,n,or cines in a handkerchief, slid down
As,er spout in the dark Of the moon
sn away TO the nearest port. There
,binred before the mast for two, three
F.op, years and then II he wasn't ship
".ve6 narooned, eaten by cannibals.
'.,,sS in mutiny or killed by pirates or
sc,rvv. he either entered the service
:. =, oood or else returned home with the
Vel virus ont Of his system or at least
ssteiy isolated.
To.day the thing is easier--at least. some
,,,ts think il is The young man takes a
..r,b on cattle ship bound for Europe.
49, the filthy work Of deckhand and
e.s6ls man for from twelve to fourteen
savs gets a return ticket in payment for
,,s labors. and then, If his money belt
,ssnt been appropriated by some of his
s,6esrable associates he tramps about in
s-elgn parts until his money is spent. If
" has been separated from his slender
hnds. as not infrequently happens, he
,,bsr wisely returns 10 America on the
shin that brought him or else goes ashore,
ee,s stranded, with the result that Europe
has another mendicant on her hands or
another unVelcome unskiHed laborer beg
ens for work that more deserving men
reed
This year the exodus Of young American
college men 10 Europe by way of cattle
;hips has been unusually large, and while
some Of them have gone and returned re-
,siring their self-respect, others have been
reduced % the point OF begging from their
fellow countrymen, bribing and taking
tins in exchange for the culture" received
rom a trip across the water. Occasionally
The man who makes the trip in the cattle
ship-ir order TO make his own work easier
snd incidentally that Of his associates
harder-hribes the foreman to let him off
With light work.
A dollar bill here and there will not
only bring about this end, but will also
get such a man better fare which is taken
surreptltiously from the captains table.
one American student who found himself
IN Paris with only a few dollars was forced
10 borrow enough from friends TO enable
him 10 see what he had intended TO see
before he returned home. \ dozen college
men recently returned here on the Adriatic
as stewards, having been forced into TAX
Ing positions of this kind because the
/, strike held up the ships on which they
we're booked TO return. While there is
little that is Objectionable in honestly
vorkuc ones passage back, these men
lowered their Self-respect to plane
where they took the tips that went with
the Office
Several men who figured badly on the
start or spent their money without regard
for tl- future were forced 10 appeal TO
American consuls I'm Europe for aid, and
others cabled 10 parents who could i'll af-
ford it for funds enough to enable them
to return home. Some who weren't able
70 raise the funds Otherwise, or who didn't
caIe 10 adopt the means taken by their
fellows, are stin trying TO eke out an
existence 10y selling postcards OF doing
neH.al tasks abroad until they can save
rp enough money 70 enabled them to re-
'cm TO Uncle Sam and Alma Mater. For
esu reports say that there are many such
'- london Paris Rotterdam Antwerp and
90 sites along the Rhine.
To plan trip to Europe under the
SLOW Of a study lamp in a college dorlni-
t.> is quite different matter from carry
.ne ont the project It isn't all the lark
that IL looks 70 be from the standpoint of
u. uninitiated. II means that man
must he thrown in with ex-convicts
traslpS. army descrters-iu fact. with the
scum of continent Along with these
the student must mix feed, clean stalls. go
into these narrow pens when the ship IS
rolling dangerously from side 10 side often
rSkiHg life and limb from being crushed
b. The unsteady cattle which are as un-
used 10 the motion of the ship rs the stu
den, himself The food that he eats is If
the cheapest and not altogether conducive
T. health, while frequently it adds TO the
nausea which a man feels during his first
trip at sea.
On retiring man finds that all Of the
livestock on board is not confined TO the
cattle pens. ana unless his skin be un-
usually callouSed he seeks a spot on the
hay in the hold and there spends the nights
tossing restlcssly about. hoping for morn
ins IL he brings with him anything f
value and retains 1t at the end Of the
voyage he is more fortunate than most Of
his fellows, for the prOpensities Of tie
men with whom he. ships are TO get all
The can and give as little. Redress for
stolen articles is not 20 be had from the
ships captain, as ne docs not guarantee
his cattle tenders against theft from one
snother. so unless the student has shipped
his trunk or his suitcase by another line
and changed his money 10 draft he is
likely % land in foreign port minus much
That be- expected he would have.
One student who had laid great plans
for seeing the Continent with so in gold
which he had in money bolt about his
wsist found himself minus belt and money
or bis arrival. He had been violently sick
On the way over and when he got ashore
he wa so weak that he could barely walk
The captain Of the ship offered him a small
sun. with which lie hired room, ate a
square meal. took a batn and then, after
Sleeping for twenty-four hours. he went
oli and secured work waiting in "A sailors
restaurant until the ship returned 10 Eos-
ton. when he came back on IL, glad for the
opportunity 20 get his food and passage
free
Another with about the same sum, man
aged % keep it, he hired a bicycle, saw
England lived fairly well and returned to
Boston with "a few emergency dollars IN his
pocket. Another. who kept his funds, got
a. far as the Scotch border There he fell
IN with some convivial spirits. spent the
hsht in a wild debauch, md the next
morning. upon examining his pocketDooH'
ioCno he had just CROUCH to pay his reck-
on.ne az the inn where he was staying
He walked nearly a hundred miles before
reaching Liverpool begging food wherever
Re could and getting an experience that
rIo'e1 a valuable and lasting lesson IN
iemperance
One college man. whose reputation for