davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

of moneyed obligations, always half
loosely proclaimed, and his destinations
willfulness In the humoring that or any
other theme on which he cared for the
time to expatiate, had so often seemed
whimsical and attractive that wanting
an airy quality for the man he had in
vented. this Of Hunt occurred to him.
Such is George Gissing's suggestion.
Such, also, is the explanation which
Dickens himself offered in paper in
All the Year Rround that appeared just
after Leigh Hunts death. He owns. how
ever. that he has since often grieved to
think that for the sake Of the pleasure
1t afforded him to find a delightful man
ner reproducing itself under his hand, he
yielded to the temptation of too often
making the character speak like his old
friend.
It is said that Walter Savage Landor,
or Savage Walter Lander, as Byron
chose to miscall him, never issued a
growl at his own caricature in the per-
son Of Lawrence Boythorn, who ap-
pears together with Harold Skimpole in
Bleak House" Yet here, indeed, no
offense could be taken save in the mere
fact of unauthorized portraiture. Law
renee Boythorn with his fierceness of
aspect and the great laugh that belied
the apparent savagery of his moods, is
a very picturesque and lovable char
acter. There Is nothing of the bear in
him save the skim" as Goldsmith says
of the ursa major Of eighteenth century
literature. who so closely anticipated
some OF the best and some of the most
battling characteristics of the ursa major
Of the nineteenth.
Mr. Forster would have us believe that
in Dickens early books there was only
one character intended to be odious who
was copied wholly from living original.
in Soiiver Twist" and acknowledges
that he was drawn with deliberate in
tent from one Laing OF Hatton Garden.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

the full part of the navigator for practice,
and at noon, when the observation of the
sun is taken to obtain the position of the
ship, he, too, has his own sextant and
charts, marks the result OF his own cal
culation and lays his own course for the
next twenty-four hours. and then sub
mits them to the chief officer for in
spection.
Such knowledge doesn't come without
hard study. Those hours which he had
spent below eff watch during his three
years meant many a drill in algebra.
geometry. trigonometry and physics ana
several other general educational sub
jects Perhaps he had been through them
high school education, but so much OF
those studies that applied to the science
of navigation had to be taken up as
regular duty.
ship learns that he doesn't leagn in the
schools on shore and did not learn in the
early days is the application OF mathe-
MATES and physics and hygiene to the
welfare Of the ship itself. He goes
through a regular course in the calcula-
ton of cargo capacity, it's storage, and
the management Of ships accounts. Like
wise he must, to a certain extent under
sci and the electrical machinery which
keeps it alight. He must also acquire
thorough knowledge of the laws pertain
ing to shipping, including international
and maritime law, and ne must display
a general intelligence concerning the
causes of change in maritime rates.
The extent to which the American mer
chant marine officer must be qualified
to assume that responsibility is decreed
by the United States navigation laws.
They say that he must not only be suf-
f1ciently conversant with navigation, but
that he must have had three years Of
cruising, one year of which must have
been on a sailing vessel or on such YES
sci that will enable him to acquire knowl-
edge of that character.
The general run Of the United States
mail steamship cadets, when they finish
their course of training. indicates that
they are capable officers and well in
formed young men, and they usually
make the best sort of showing when they
appear before the United States inspect
ors of vessels for the examination to Sc
cure the papers which certify that they
are efficient ships officers.
When the law which has opened this
opportunity to the American-born boys
who desire to follow the sea was put into
effect in 1891 one of the facts upon which
it was based was that American seamen
and American vessels were becoming
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

consists of good, warm underwear; two
uniforms, heavy and light weight, of the
design prescribed by the company; a
storm coat, seamans jumpers and over
alls, a pair of hipboots, a ouwester and
oilskins, and a summer outfit of white
duck, together with the necessary tot
let articles. When he finally enters upon
his duties he begins to receive a salary
that ranges from $40 to $50 a month.
Just before he sails on his first voy-
age the cadet is assigned to a watch and
then begins a regular interchange of rest
and work. Usually there are three
watches, the port starboard and mizzen.
There is q lot of disagreeable work at
tached to the first year of a cadets serv-
ice, but if he passes through it with his
determination still mistaken he will
have come to realize that to master the
details is very necessary in acquiring the
training of master mariner.
At the beginning Of the morning watch,
or am, he gets the polishing kit out
and sets to work to brush up the deck
fittings. If he overlooks the smallest
piece Of brass or copper on either side
Of the ship the boatswain, that knocker
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

4 pm. watch. halliards are recoiled and
the ship made as neat as a new pin. He
Is taught how important 1t Is to make
things shipshape on deck and below Tor
the night, and before the watch Is re-
lieved by the second dog watch at 9 p M
they have secured every movable thing.
The duties of the first night watch and
the midnight watch are the same. Dur
ing those hours the cadet is posted on
the navigating bridge with the officer Of
of solid information. He learns to be-
come impressive to the apparently threat
ening spectacle produced by the heavy
seas in the darkness, and he Is shown
escent lights that sometimes appear on
the top of waves and the lights Of pass
ing ship.
Four o'clock in the morning is a mad
dening hour to the cadet when he is on
the second night watch. At that time
he is reused from sound and glorious
slumber by the rough shake of a sailor
Of the retiring watch and he has to jump
hastily into his hipboots and oilskins.
Out on deck the cold and damp sea air
gets into his very marrOws, but there is
good exercise in the two hours that fol-
low in the process of washing down
decks. Two hours more are consumed
IN Wfplng on the paints and then comes
a much relished breakfast.
In port he has a comparatively easy
job He is either stationed at the gang
way at night, or he checks cargo during
the day with patent register. During
the first and second years of his service
he is allowed two furlOughs of eight
days in each year to visit his home. In
his second year he looks back with dis
dain or pity on the ignorance of the
''plebes'' who may follow in his foot
steps. For him there is no more brass
cleaning, and in the night watches he has
some responsibility. He is either placed
aloft in the crows nest or forward on the
lookout bridge, according to the construc-
ton of the vessel but from either place
it is his duty to sing out the position Of
every light that is sighted.
The third and senior year in most
cases is called the year of "da,wning
sense" for the cadet passes out of the
hands of the boatswain entirely. The first
half of the year is spent at the wheel in
1he pilothOuse with the quartermaster.
Such experience gives him the necessary
practice in keeping the ship on its course
by the use of the sensitive steam steering
gear, as we'll as trains him in the course
the line usually runs from port to port.
The second half Of the year he spends
with the officer on the bridge. He takes
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04
: SIZES Sa4R&b5ffA BLESBSkAlWGH 51S7S :
The Fable of the Cousin Who Became Cogni-
zant Of Our Shortcomings ST. The
Juvenile and His Plans.

Railway Carriages were not like those
at Home and the Reporters were For
ward Chaps and Ice should not be
added with the Soda, because it was
not being Done.
He was jolly glad to escape from the
Wretched Hole and get back to his
own Lodgings, where he could go into
Cold Storage and have a Joint of Nut
ton and Brussels Sprouts as often as
desired.
The Yankee cringed under the At
Son of amphibious Albion. He said we
were a new and crude people who did
not know how to wear Evening Clothes
or eat Stilton Cheese and our Politicians
were corrupt and Murderers went I'M
punished, while the Average Citizen
was a dyspeptic Skate afflicted with
Moral Strabismus.
Then he retired to his State Room to
weep over the situation and the British
Poltroon, for he will not defend his
own Hearth and Fireside."
A Cooks Tourist from Emporia,
Kansas, dropped into the Vacant Chair
When the Delegate from The Rookery,
NORWOOD Scrubs, Isling, S. E., re-
sumed his scorching Arrangement of
the U. S. A, he got an awful Rise out
of the Boy from the Corn Belt.
The Emporia Man said there were
more Bath Tubs to the Square Mile
out in his Burg than you could find in
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

- would be possible to collect a
brilliant gallery of caricature
portraits comprising almost all the men
mid-Fictorian era To SO supreme a
point had the personalities of fiction
run in those days,
Thackeray and Dickens divided up be-
tween them the literary men and the
artists, leaving scarcely a great name
untouched. They were wary Oh each
other, however, as rivals whose ad-
miration, each for the others strength,
was tempered by dissent from the
others standpoint
There is not place for both of u.s."
wrote Thackeray in confidence to his
daughter. though publicly he had only
praise (and genuine praise) for the
works of Charles Dickens.
Only once did Thackeray and Dickens
combine their satire on any one person
That was in the case of John Forster,
known today almost exclusively as the
biographer of Dickens, but famous in
his own era as the bellicose editor of
the Examiner. the censurious critic of
books and plays and the author of
various histories and biographies.
John Forster, according TO his friend
the painter, was IA gruff man with the
kindest heart in the world" His brusque
manner gave wrong impression of his
character to those who We're but slightly
acquainted with him. His voice was
loud. so was his laugh. His face and
cheeks were broad. Dickens was quite
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04
Il TRANSFORMING q

VRANsFoRMING landlubber
into a full-fedged seaman used
to be a process which meant
failure to any but the lads who
could set their jaws griinly and
unfiinchingly face a voyage that con-
tanned many hardships. Now it means
nothing more than the serious work
which the ambitious young man would
encounter were he to enter a college on
shore. 1t also means success to the boy
who will apply himself, for Uncle Sam,
by section of his law which governs
American steamships that carry the
United States mails. has provided the
means whereby that boy can enter the
merchant marine service and pass
through the successive stages of appren-
tice, able seaman and petty officer in
such a thorough manner that he will be
nodded into an expert ships officer in the
space of three to five years.
That is done simply by the decree which
states that each American vessel carrying
United States mails under contract shall
take. as cadets or apprentices, one Ameri-
can boy under twenty-one years of age
for each one thousand tons gross register
of the vessel, and one for each majority
fraction thereof, who shall be EDUCATED in
the duties of seamanship and navigation
under the direction of the chief officer
and the boatswain, rank as petty officers
and receive such pay for their services as
may be reasonable.
:: =
In the early days when clipper ships
sailed the seas the training of a young
man wishing to become a master mariner
consisted Of heartbreaking work, curses
and blows and sometimes real torture.
He used to be termed an apprentice and
was called boy" by the entire crew, and
In the later years of his training the fact
used to be impressed upon him that he
could never hope to command the brawny
seamen over whom he might be placed
unless he became as tough in nature and
physique as they.
Living before the mast, mingling
with the seamen and adopting their ways
was considered a necessity, and occasion
ally he had to batter one or two of them
to pulp in order to win their respect
The result was good seamanship,
stanch nerve and a eoodly stock of
daring, but the business ability and
education which are SO necessary for
the modern ships officer to possess were
greatly lacking.
The law contains a great deal more
bearing on the future Of the young
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

a private Flash at the Magazine Beau
ty before she began to attach the Hair
or spread the Enamel
He had stood in the private Lair Of
the Sure-Thingers when they were
cooking UP some new method Of col
lecting much Income without moving
out of their Chairs.
He had stood by while Husbands
Gauge. elaborated on the Lie which
was to pacify little Katisha, waiting in
the Flat.
Before delivering this Masterpiece Of
Fiction he would have to do little
Sherlocking and finally locate Katisha
in one of those Places where they serve
it in Tea-Cups.
4
In the Homes of the Rich and Great
where he delivered Orchids and Invi-
tations and perfumed Regrets he would
overhear Candid Expressions which in
dicated that every Social Leader was
trying to slip Knockout Drops into
somebody's else's Claret Cup
Around the Haunts Of Business he
would stand on one Foot while the
Boss carefully worded the Message
which was to read like Contract while
leaving a Loop-Hole about the size Of
the Hudson Tunnel.
x x
One night the Kid was returning
homeward with a Comrade in Misery.
AS the Trolley carried them toward
that portion of the City where Chill
dren are still in Vogue, they fell to
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

That evening in the Smoke Room he
began to pull his favorite Speciality of
Raging the Yanks on a New Yorker,
who interrupted him by saying: Real
ly know nothing about my own Coun-
try. I spend the Winter in Egypt.
Carlsbad and the Autumn in Paree"
So the Traveller afterward reported
to Learned Society that the Typical
American had become a denatured Ex-
patriate.
Moral-No chance.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

and booster of sailors, doesn't, and the
boy doesn't usually forget the experience.
BY the time he has finished this task it
is noon and he is at liberty to go below
until his next watch.
\
The noon watch involves a miscel-
laneous assortment of work. HOlystoning
comes In once a week, an operation In
which the cadet gets down on his knees
with the sailors and for four hours pushes
back and forth twelve by five inch block
Of sandstone over the wet sanded surface
of the deck. When he rises he is sore,
but he takes his broom and follows the
boatswain around with the hose, and then
he sees how spotless and trim the decks
have become.
Sometimes there is painting, mending
of sails or awnings, or tarring the rig
ging and very often the boatswain takes
him aloft for bit of exercise or selects
some quiet corner to teach him knots and
spices. Decks are swept down In the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04
/S1D -

the st. Paul and st. Louis, plying be-
tween New York and Southampton. to
two on those of the smallest class.
which travel the southern Atlantic
routes. Altogether he has turned out
over 900 we'll drilled, thoroughly ground
ed merchant marine officers since the
law went into effect.
Such appointments are usually in great
demand, and on the larger lines it is nee
essary to keep list of applicants. In
order to secure such billet it is neces-
sary for the aspiring boy to apply,
through his PARENTS, to the general man
ager of the line on which he desires the
appointment. If his application is ac-
copied and approved he is notified to ap-
pear for an interview in which the gen
eral manager explains the law and Its
purpose He also explains the details OF
the training and the hardships. not for
getting to impress upon his youthful Wis
itor and his parents that he is not going
on yachting trip.
With the appointment accepted the
young man procures an equipment that
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

alive to Forster's peculiarities, and would
mimic in the most amusing way. some
times to his very face, his constant as
sumption of Instability. He told a story,
too, of dining one night with him, when
boiled beef was set ON the table unac-
companied by carrots. Forster rang the
bell and said to the maid:
Mary, Carrots
There aren't monet cried Mary.
To which Forster, with a dignif1ed wave
of his hand, responded:
Mary, let there be carrots.
Until the appearance Of FORSTER
Life few people knew how much or au-
photographed fact was mixed up with
the best of all of them, David Copper
field" 1t had indeed been whispered
that Mr.. Micawber was Dickens
brother. Now the veil was wholly lifted
and the public was allowed to see that
Mr.. Mcawber was the elder Dickens not
in character alone. but in the principal
incidents of his amusing career.
The continual struggle with bad luck,
the shabby devices for eking out gen
teel existence. the repeated compromises
with creditors. the final crash and the
sojourn in the debtors prison, these were
facts common in the career of Micawber
and the elder Dickens. Nor Is this all.
Micawber and John Dickens are allied in
the well known financial statement that
the difference between misery and hap
piness lies in the odd sixpence of an in
come overspent or underspent. and also
In the petition Of the Marshalsea debtors
TO the throne, though the object of Mi
cawber's petition was the abolition Of i'm
prisonment for debt while John Dick
ems memorial demanded the less digni-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

the West End of London, and NOR
Paupers and Beggars in one Square Mile
Of the East End of London than you
could find in the whole State of Kansas.
He said there were fewer Murders in
England because good Opportunities
were being overlooked.
He said he could Tip any one in Eng
land except. possibly, the Archbishop
of Canterbury.
It was his unbiased Opinion that
London consisted of a vast Swarm of
melancholy Members Of the Middle and
Lower Glasses Of the Animal Kingdom
who ate Sponge Cake with Seeds in it,
drank Tea, Smoked Pipes and rode on
Buses. and thought. they were living
Of Old Glory the proud Citizen of the
Great Republic declared that we could
wallop Great Britain at any Game from
Polo up to Prize-Fighting, and if we
cut down on the Food Supplies the
whole blamed Runt of an understood
Island would starve to death in
Week.
x
X
With quivering Nostrils, he heaped
scorn and Contumely upon any Race
that would call Pie a Tart. In con-
clusion he expressed Pity for those who
never had tasted Corn on the Cob.
After he had gone up to the Bridge
Deck to play Switchboard. the Rep
on the Map took out his Notebook and
made the following entry: Every Beg
gar living in the States il Bounder
and a Braggart."
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

scarce Statistics showed that with che
gradual disappearance o: the American
clipper ship there was a corresponding
decrease in the number of American sail
ors until the United States, with its coast
line of over 5000 miles and it's eighty or
more seaports. could not muster enough
seamen from it's own limits to man what
few ships flew it's flag. In other words
the majority of men who operated Uncle
Sans merchant ships We're foreigners.
&#
The law contains some strict require
ments in this respect and provides the
means by which the personnel OF the
American merchant marine can be grad
ually built up. A government ocean mail
contract covers a period usually OF about
ten years. The ships which carry Uncle
Sans mails must be American built and
during the first two years Of the contract
one fourth of the crew must be American
citizens. the next succeeding three years
American citizenship must prevail by one
third and the remaining time by at least
one-half But they must be entirely
owned and Differed by American citizens.
which means that there are opportunities
for the American boy who chooses the
sea as his career.
The American ocean mail law is much
along the lines of those of Great Britain
and Germany. 1t is also intended to be
a benefit to the government. because I'm
case of war not only the ships which
carry the mails, but the men who man
them, may be used in the government
service. To that end the law DEGREES that
steamships Of the first, second and third
classes employed in carrying United
States mails must be constructed with
particular reference TO their prompt and
economical conversion into auxiliary
naval cruisers. according to plans agreed
upon by the Secretary of the Navy and
the owners.
So much of the merchant marine as tho
United States had available rendered ex-
cellent service during the Spanish-Ameri-
can war. The four big steamships of the
American line were easily turned into ef-
fective cruisers. and nearly the entire
crew We're mustered into the United
States volunteer navy Many other Ameri-
can steamships We're used as army trans
ports, but there were not enough to equal
the demand. 1t was necessary to accept
the services of British ships and British
seamen in order to transport Uncle Sans
troops to Cuba, Porto Rico and the Phil
ippines.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-04

American who wishes to adopt the sea-
faring career as his lifework than the
average landsman can imagine. On
board of Unc-e Sans ocean mail-car-
goes to sea as a student and a gen.
tleman, and is entitled to be addressed
by the hands before the mast with the
''sir" which they so often and loudly
deliver to the officers. There is no
likelihood under this system, that
the romance of his chosen profession
Will become dimmed.
To go to sea through the cabin WIN
dows' was a sure indication in the old
days that the boys who did so would
never turn out we'll. But ships and
their requirements have undergone a
decided change in the intervening years.
and they require an education along
special lines as we'll as practical ex-
perience. Handling a steamship in the
seaports is just as important as nurs-
ing 1T through the heavy seas of mid
ocean, and the speed with which the
present-day maritime commerce is car
ried on demands perfect familiarity
with marine business affairs In order,
therefore, to be fully equipped for such
a career, the cadets must combine three
qualities in one-the sailor, the steam
navigator ana the marine business man.
To keep themselves in the best phys
ical and mental condition for hard
work, as well as hard study, the cadets
must eat we'll and also sleep well, and
they are assigned to the officers mess
for meals and to one large stateroom
for quarters. There is a single berth
for each, with it's lockers and drawers,
and the room is so furnished that the
cadets are not only comfortable during
their hours off watch, but are as well
equipped for study as is the student
on shore. And even if they do live in
the cabin. they work very hard, not
only mentally, as do the students of
technical schools on shore, but phys
ically. as did the apprentices of former
times.
So far Uncle Sam has seven big ocean
mail routes that cover the Atlantic
ocean from New York to Southampton,
the West Indies, Jamaica, Mexico and
South America, and the Pacific ocean,
from San Francisco to Tahiti. To carry
the mails over these routes he engages
nineteen steamers with tonnages that
vary from II, 800 down to 1900.
This means that he provides for the
education of 142 cadet seamen. the num-
Der on each ship varying from twelve
on vessels of the first class. such as