The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-09
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 The water front of any large sea port is the section to which the lders. wasters. unfits misfits, adventurers and buttends of humanity eravitate. It is the last stand of the causal laborer. The soiled clerk the broken mechanic and the newly arrived immigrant jostle the longshore- man in competition for few hours work.
 In the cosmopolitan crowd of workers and idlers 1t is not difficult to distinguish the real seamen. They have a bearing and A certain singularity which set them apart from all unsavory invaders of their realm. Sailors have a standard reputa- ton for bravery. endurance and gallantry, but for prudence. economy, or thrift none. Consequently the subject of destitution among seamen is usually dismissed with the assertion that sailors are an improv- ident. careless sort anyhow and their pe- riodical distress is to be expected.
 The life of seamen under the best con ditions is abnormal. This accounts for much of the periodical destitution which answers for the existence of seamen's aid societies, government hospitals and san- atoria. seamen's friend societies and kin dred associations to help sick and indi- gent sailors.
 All sea faring men below the rank of petty officers except those in the navy, fishermen, yachtsmen and those engaged in harbor traffic and in some classes of coastwise trade are discharged at the end of the voyage, even if they are going on the next trip. Even on ships where em- ployment is for the whole year the sailors are dismissed and join the ranks of unem- ployed seamen when the vessel is dry docked for her compulsory annual over hauling. If a seaman sails steadily In the same ship, behaves himself, is on hand when required and always In fit condi- tion to work, at the end of the year he would nevertheless have been unemployed from 40 to S5 days, according to the class of trade.
 Should a sailor. fireman, or ships stew ard sail out of port from which tramp freighters regularly sail, his work will naturally be on these ships. He will be subject to uncertainty of employment, longer voyage than the coast of regular liners and the chance of being paid off at the. end of the voyage in a strange port several hundred miles from home.
 Commercial depression ashore when fac tories are closed and mechanics and labor CTS idle always decreases the unemployed seamans chance of work. A sea voyage offers to the artisan or laborer escape from idleness. the opportunity to sec other countries and to widen his horizon. He seeks the docks in hope of employ ment. The unemployed seaman in Amer lea is moreover handicapped by the meth ods of engaging men through shipping masters, crimps and boarding masters who have sometimes monopoly of cer- tain lines of steamers. There is little chance of employment unless a man pass through their hands
 There Is another factor contributing to this problem of unemployment Sea far ing is chief among seasonal employments. This is not due to economic causes nor to whims of popular demand. Nature locks up about one-half of the sailor S territory and forbIds him to sail his ships and ply his trade for six months in the year. By no social adjustment. art or science can this condition of his life be avoided.
 Seamen desert their ships for many reasons that cannot be called economic or moral There are psychological, tenn peramentai reasons and also reasons that should lie on the conscience of the ships cook. For sailors to desert voluntarily well found ship is a rare thing. Deser- ton from American vessels is relatively small and has ceased to be an important factor in Restitution. But seamen from Europe have been deserting their ships in American ports since the time when reg ular traffic between Europe and America began. The call of the west will find an answer in seamen's hearts as long as America continues to be a synonym for opportunity. These assertions in the of American seamen for the employment of Americanseamen for tine return yoy- age of foreign ships nominally at the standard American wage rate, but actu- ally under such conditions that persons SO employed are frequently discharged penniless in some distant port and with out knowledge of the local language.
 Sailortown has its shiftless men They are variously designated but the com monest and most comprehensive term is .beachoomers." "Beachcomers'' will go anywhere to get something for nothing, are clever and resourcefu at inventing ex- cuses, and shun the nightmare of steady work The beachcomer tolls not, neither does he spin" At some crisis. and 8 sailors life is full of crises. he was com pelled to ask for charity. He got it easily and found 1t easy to ask again. The charity meant to relieve his distress meant his undoing.
 The sailor and his money are easily parted He can hold on to yard-arm or a life line as lmpet holds to a rock, but his Iimpef power seems to leave him when he touches money. He will give his cash without question or security to anyone In way that appeals to ms heart, for he in way that appeals t ohis heart, for he Is swayed by feelings, ~pot judgment. I have known fireman to divide his money on pay day with an old shipmate whom he met ashore stranded
 Ordinarily it is not the custom when a ship is in port for the men to get an ad- vance on their wages until Saturday night when they go ashore. Then like moths they fly to the brightest light. The churches have. if any at all a dim re- ligious glow. but the saloons and dance halls blaze on every hand like fairyland. Runners wait to act as pilots and steer the poor fellows to their destruction. The aftermath of these visits are known to ships officers and the port surgeons have their tale to tell. -
 Ill-health is the cause of one-fourtn ol the distress in large cities. The ratio IS probably much higher among the tohers of the sea Below deck in the recesses or the ship, 20 feet beneath the sunlight. stolers stand on iron plates in front of open furnaces. bend their backs 10 hll the coal shovel. and then swing the coal into the hot furnace mouth. The roll of the ship and the swing of the body throS