Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-02-26
CATTLE SHIPS.
Experiences Of College Men and 9th.
ers In Crossing the Briny Deep.

ers In Crossing the Brny Deep.
Fifty years ago, if the wandorlust
got into an American YOUTHS blood
he tied his belongings in a haudker-
chief. slid Gown tie water spout in the
dark Of the moon ard ran away to the
nearest port. There he shipped before
the mast fer two, three or four years
and then, if he wasn't shipwrecked.
icarooned. eaten by cannibals, llnifed
! in a mutiny or killed by pirates or had
scuryey. he either entered the service
/ for good or else returned home with
the travel virus tout of his system or
| at least safely isolated.
Today the thing is easier-at least,
some folks think Il is. The young
man takes Il berth or a cattle ship
bound for Europe, does the filthy
work of deekhand and stable man for
from u to Il days, gets return tick
ct IN payment for his labors, and then,
II his money belt hasn't been appro-
/ priated by some of mis- undesirable as
sociates, he tramps about in foreign
parts until his money is spent. lf. he
has been separated from his slender
funds. as not infreqnently happers. 'he
either wisely returns To America on
i the ship that brought him or else goes
ashore. gets stranded with the result
that Europe mas another mendicant
on her hands or another unwelcomo
Bnskiled laborer begging for work
that more deserving men need.
This year the exodus OF young AM
eriean college men 10 Europe hv way
If cattle ships has beer unusually
large. and. while some of them have
gone and returned retaining their
self-respect. others have been reduced
10 the point OF begging from their fell
low eoantrYmea. bribins and taking
tips in exchange for the culture" re-
eeived from a trip across the water,
Professionally the man who makes the
trip in the cattle ship-in order 10
make his own work easier and incl
dentally that Of his associates harder
t-bribes the foreman to let him off
with light work.
\ dollar bill here and there viii not
only bring about this end, but will
also get such a man better fare. which
is taken suTreptitiously from the cap
tain table. One American student
/ who found himself in Paris with only
a few dollars was forced to borrow
enough from friends to enable him to
see what he had intended to see be-
fore he returned home. a dozen col
Ilege men recently returned here on the
| Adriatic as stewards. having been
forced into taking 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 working
ones passage back, these men low
cred thei,' self-respect to u plane
where they took the tips that went
with the office.
Several men who figured badly on
the start or spent their money with
out regard for the future We're forced
to appeal to American consuls ir Eu-
rope for aid, and others cabled to par
ents. who could i'll afford it, for funds
! enough to enable them to return
home. Some who weren't able to raise
the funds otherwise, or who didn'
care to adopt the means taken by
their fellows, are still trying tn ebe
out an existence by selling postcards
or doing menial tasks abroad until
they can save up enough money to en-
able them to return to Uncle Sam and
Alma Mater. Foreign reports say that
there are many such in London, Paris.
Rotterdam, Antwerp and in cities
along the Rhine.
To plan a trip to Europe under the
glow of a study lamp in a college dor
nlitory is quite a different matter
from carrying out the project. 1t isn't
| all the lark that it looks to be from
the standpoint OF the uninitiated. IL
means that a man must be thrown in
with eX-convicts, tramps, army de-
serters-in fact, with the scum of a
Icontinent Along with these the stu
dent must mix feed, clean stalls, go
! into these narrow pens when the ship
I is rolling dangerously from side to
| side. often risking life and limb from
being crushed by the unsteady cat
| tie which are rs unused to the motion
OF the ship as the student himself.
| The food that he eats is of the cheap
est and not altogether conducive to
! health. while frequently it adds to the
nausea which a man feels during his
| first trip at sea.
| On retiring a man finds that all of the
livestock on board is not confined to the
cattle pens and unless his skin be un-
usually canoused he seeks a spot on the
hay in the hold and there spends the
nights tossing restlessly about, hoping
' for morning. If he brings with him any
thing of value and retains it at the end
1 of the voyage he is more fortunate than
most of his fellows. for the propensities of
the men with whom he ships are to get
all theyvcan and give as little. Redress
/ for stolen articles is not to be had from
the ships captain, as he does not guar
o,1ta "a
from one another, SO unless the student