The Washington herald., 1912-07-21

wheelsman at the end OF four or five trips.
He then gets SIS a month and his board
Or he may begin as a fireman and soon
be advanced to q place among the OIL
ers. An oiier IL headed toward an en-
gineer's position: a wheelsman toward q
position of command on deck.
I'VE have two schools In winter-one
of engineering and one of navigation
Our young men can attend them with
out a penny OF cost to themselves. We
even supply the books. BY and by the
student passes the government examina-
tion. The oiler gets his papers as an
assistant engineer; the wheelsman gets
his papers as a mate We have given
them the opportunity That is all We
ever do.
Now let us follow the young fellow
who is to become a mate. He has been
a promising man and his captains have
spoken In his praise. We have COM
mittee Of twelve captains selected from
our largest ships; also a committee OF
engineers. My word is final in all mat
ters OF discipline. In other cases, acci-
dents. for instance, my decisions, based
on facts, can be reviewed by the cap
tains or engineers. who are practical
men, and, on obtaining additional facts,
may find that I am wrong.
How Men Are Protected.
"well. the committee Of captains pass
on the young helmsman who comes be-
fore them for promotion. His command
ing officers have been required to send
me reports concerning his conduct and
work. The captains are on record. there
fore, and no one Of them can get sud-
denly sour and disapprove Of his ad-
vancement. Thus he Is safeguarded
baety rrai,,dic. opA >leveo-
hour hostility. Later. after he is a mate,
the same system OF records sent to me
every two months insure him Justice
and fair treatment.
Having been approved. the young man
is sent to one Of our smallest ships as
second mate. He is not permitted to
sail more than one season with the same
captain. Thus we prevent favortism be-
ing shown to him and at the same time
prevent the captain from learning to de-
pend on him and shirk his own duty.
as second mate from the smallest to the
largest vessels. Then he is advanced to
first mate. going back again to a small
vessel and working his way upward TO
a large one Next, he Is a captain and
must once more go to the tail Of the
fleet. Engineers pass through similar
course Of progression
Our men are always In motion. No
man anywhere can remain stationary.
He is either going forward or Is slip
ping backward. Promotion with US de-
pends first, on length of service. and
second. on things done by the record. |
But length of service counts for nothing |
unless 1t is backed up by facts and fig |
ures The captains on our ships are |
paid $2,100 the first year, 200 the Sec |
ond year. and $500 the third year. We
had provided a scheme of progression for |
every man on shipboard. but nothing re-
mained for the captain who was drawing |
the maximum wages. He had stopped |
and was IN bad place for himself, and |
In an equally bad place for his employer. |
We established a schedule |
Of bonuses for Class A captains, based
on q seasons record for economy, eni- /
cheney. harmony among the crew, and Do |
on. A bonus can amount to 500. A
captain, accordingly, can increase his
He need not stagnate. We
open the door Of his opportunity. II he
delivers the goods. he gets the extra
money.
Sailors who Save Their Money.
Moreover. We have a travelling IN
spector to look after the interests of |
deckhands and firemen. Libraries con-
tanning books on engineering and nayi-
cation. biographies Of great Americans,
and standard works of fiction are being
placed In our latest boats, We pay our
men in checks instead Of IN cash, and
them TO open savings accounts
N a Cleveland trust company. Last sea-
,on $4,000 was thus deposited by the men /
,f our feet At the end Of each season
II navigation our captains and engineers
Rave q week for conferences, with a
,anquet along about Wednesday. There
s plain talk by everybody. I say: "A
'uture chief engineer Of the fleet is pres
mt, also Q future general manager, and
possibly a future president Of the COM
,any. I do not know their. names, but
hey are here Also let me say that we
,ermit no unnecessary labor on Sunday.
ships under steam keep moving. but IL
vessel has 800 tons of ore in its hold
N Saturday night or needs 800 tons TO
complete It's load. work 10 stopped until
Monday and 1t remains tied to the wharf.
We believe in one day Of rest out Of
,even.
"You prohibit the use Of iiquorr' I
aid.
'Yes First. and I emphasis the
,oint. because We WIN not send . crew
{ twsnty-nvs men. most Of whom Have
v1vsg ana Children. upon the Lake. un-
- q coDGnh Who drfnkn any Kind of