The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-05-30

officers mess. The food is second
cabin food and is as a general thing
fairly good.
Quarternasters are usually quar-
tered in a cabin that might have been
arranged by the packing expert Of a
sardine cannery. The place is so com
pactly arranged. in fact, that II n
wants to turn around he must e out
side to do it. Sometimes there Is a
drawer TO put small things in and a
closet to hang clothes, but many of
the ships are not provided with these
conveniences. The conditions are bad
now, but thirty years ago they were
a great deal worse.
For his twelve hours work a day
the quartermaster gets $35 a month
That covers all the Sundays at sea
and the watches stood in port. Year
in and year out he does the same
watches. until he prepares himself for
examination to get q mates license.
What time he gets for study must
be taken, from sleep and washing time.
When he is able TO save enough money
he can 20 ashore n cram at a navi-
cation school for n month or so.
and then go up for the coveted license.
BY these degrees an A. b. may rise
TO q mate. Now a glance at What
the American boy must go through to
become an officer IL he starts in as
q cadet:
To begin with the boy secures his
berth as cadet from the shipping
master of the line. Then he reports
to the mate of the vessel, is assigned
his quarters and begins his ~eventful
career.
Cadets are quartered together and
eat with the petty officers In the mess
room because the Government insists
that they receive all that their rating
entities them to. Ships with mai con-
tracts are obliged to carry a cadet for
every thousand tons displacement and
are supposed to furnish the boy with
the instruction necessary to get ahead
in his chosen profession.
In theory the cadet is given some
light work about the ship and is sup
posed 10 receive some r~udimentary
instruction in the management of a
ship from the officers. Whether he
does or not will be seen.
The cadets work twelve hours. the
same us llt uubi iaSNN' iNH' e''N
four. They shine the bridge brass.
scrub the bridge. paint it, scrape, var
nish and in the West Indies they
often stand watch all day in the hold
10 see that none Of the black steve
dores in the islands open cargo and
steal 1t.
When they are In foreign ports their
shore leave depends entirely upon the
good humor Of the chief officer. The
treatment they get aboard depends on
the kind of mates in the ship, and as
these are not always of an agreeable
disposition the boys in many cases
have anything but an easy time.
Sometimes the boy gets his promo
don to quartermaster, and sometimes
he doesn't. Most captains carry ca
diets because they have to, n at every
opportunity they show their dislike for
them. II is true that some of the
cadets are not desirable specimens of
American boyhood, but the average
is fairly high.
Few boys get their promotion under
eight months or a year. Meanwhile
they receive SO a month from the
company, and in port, where some of
the ships do not supply food. there is
an allowance Of n dollar a days
cents on one line. For the second trip
and those thereafter on one of the
lines the pay is SIS a month. other
lines carrying cadets allow no increase.
After securing his license the newly
Matched mate looks for a berth in some
line where there is a chance for ad-
vancement. suppose he connects with
n line running to the West Indies,
where he will earn $50 a month as
third mate. He earns il, and more, or
the company wouldn't pay him that.
With the exception Of some of the
newer liners the majority of the ships
running to the West Indies are anti
quated, but they furnish a mar with
"A lot of valuable experience, for in the
course of a year aboard one of them ar
officer has to do almost every job that
can fall to the lot of a mate on any
steamship. Such berths require a mar
OF resourcefulness and self-reliance, be
cause any other kind Of mar would b,
hupelessly stuck when confronted will
the duties of mate in M Of those oil,
hookers.
Besides standing the regular watche.
at sea which every mate has TO stanC
the new officer will be required L