The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1913-11-28
STEAMERS PUT
Up FOR WINTER
Thousands OF Seamsn Idle While
Liners Take SHIRT Rest

New York Nov rs Several bis
ocean liners are being laid M for ms
winter ana this means idleness fo,
many thousand men. The having oft
II the lmperator FOR example means
comparative ildeness for 1 600 men of
us working stan. They viii be Kept
under pay at Hamburg for four months
unless they look for assignment on
other ships.
This means n heavy salary list ia
be met every month by the company.
but the big ship has proved so profit
able that the company can afford 10
Keep It's picked staff in idleness until
the next sailing Of the ship in March.
And most of the men will be glad of
chance 10 rest and see their famii-
les. IL has been hard summer for
these men.
with two or three executions
ocean liners remain la port at each
end Of the route for week. Those
winch carry cargo need that time for
unloadine ana loading Of freight. The
lmperator has made round trips from
Hamburg 10 New York every three
weeks. This means only two three
or four days AT each port There is al
ways a great amount of work TO do
when the ship is In port. The only day
The men have off is Sunday.-and that
only when the ship is at Hamburg So
the married men have had only "A
hours in each three weeks to spend
with their families.
400 Stewards on Imperator.
There are 400 stewards on the Inn
perator. They are the men who look
after the state rooms and wait on
table. The company pays them $13 "a
month each, but small as this is it will
mean TO the company more than $40
coo IN wages for the four months of
The ships idleness The stewards pay
~ more of a retaining fee than actual
pay for The work done. During the
seven days of a voyage a steward
works from half past four In the
morning until half an hour after mid
night.
He polishes brass work, brings food
"a passengers in their cabins, he makes
beds, sweeps and does all the work of |
q chambermaid. He answers the bell |
ana fills orders from the bar; he |
shuts portfolios in storm and opens
Them again when the weather clears; |
he shifts his white jacket for a blue |
one with brass buttons to serve in the |
dining saloon On a German ship he |
has To know something of two Ian
guages and perhaps three or be sub
iect To complaints for stupidity.
For all this Sl3 % month would be |
insufficient. But there are fees which
custom fixes which makes the stew
ards Job on "a big liner profitable.
Every passenger gives his bedroom
steward at least $3.50 and his dining
room steward the same. Passengers
who have the finer rooms give them
more. one steward ON the lmperator
win have % cabin passengers to care
for on "a good voyage and s 10 10 in
the dining saloon. From these he will
receive $75 to 1925.
The balance of travel on the ocean
IS always with Americans. That is
why the liners are always fun going
east in the spring and half empty com
ing west, and why they are always
crowded west bound I'm the late sum
mer and half fun or less on the east
ern voyage
Time Changes lrregularly.
A novelty in ship comfort is the
electric clock system which has been
installed ON the Imperator Time
changes irregularly on shipboard. Co
ing east the ships time is set forward
at midnight or at noon. Unusually on
II fast ship the advance is 30 min
utes at midnight and about Is minutes
at noon. But the schedule is incon
slant. on the four day ships the Lusi-
tana and Mauritania, the change
would be about an hour every day.
Heretofore the only way 10 keep in
touch with the ships time was to look
at the ships clock in the morning and
again in the afternoon and change your
watch TO correspond. Now they have
an electric clock system which serves
the entire ship and is regulated from
"A central station. In every cabin is a
clock whose hands move with the cleo
tric impulse every minute. At mid
night YOU may see the hands OF your
clock jump forward 80 minutes more
"r less.
Plantation rubber experiments in the