Catoctin clarion., 1918-12-12

Proper Air Space and Sanitary Beds
FOOD Is Ample With Same Menu
for Officers and Men.
Recent appointment by the United
States shipping board Of inspectors,
| attached to It's recruiting service,
whose business is to see that the crews
! of American merchant vessels get all
| the comforts that are due them, has
served to attract attention to the con-
/ ditions under which the crews work
| aboard the ships of the new merchant
marine.
| Contrasts between living and work.
! ing conditions aboard merchant YES
sells today and "the good old days" OF
the sail, as regards the crew, are start
ling, and all In favor of the present.
Jack Is now treated with cOnsdera-
ton, and lives better, on the average,
than he would live if working ashore.
AS four thousand young men from
factory and farm are now going into
the merchant marine every month
through the shipping boards training
service, public interest In the way tho
men live aboard the nations new car
go ships Is taking on personal as
pect. The shipping board is receiving
frequent inquiries on the subject.
Mothers and sisters and wives-tO say
nothing of sweethearts-want to know
If their sailor boys are getting good
food and proper beds, and they are
not ut all backward in asking for spe-
c.fc information on the subject.
The shipping board is taking spe-
cin pains to inform the public of con-
ditlons on ships under Its control
and that means all vessels under the
flag of more than $500 tons. AS COM
forts on smaller ships, as well as on
the larger ones, are regulated by law,
1t is safe to assume that every Amer
inan sailor today Is far better off than
sailors have ever been before.
The U. S. shipping board Is not con-
fning it's activities in behalf of mer-
chant crews to legal requirements,
however. Finding that mines, literally
s.rewn at random by the Germans in
violation OF the rules 0f civilized war
fare. usually explode under the for
ward part of the vessel striking them,
the living quarters Of crews have been
removed from forward to aft.
FOrecastles used as living and Sleep
ing quarters for an entire crew haV-
ing been proven sometimes insanitary
when the crew Is large, the latest
American ships are being fitted with
siatcroomS for the men, with not
more than four men to room.
Forecaste Lamp "Durned Blue"
To understand how conditions In
Ccneral have improved on American
vessels since the old days of the
square riggers, il is only necessary for
the average citizen to read of how the
crew lived on an American ship bound
round Cape Horn in 1896, and con-
trast what he has read with an In
spector's report of conditions on a
cargo steamer operated under author
ity of the shipping board today. Dana's
"Two Years Before the Mast" clas-
sic among sea narratives. is authority
for conditions in 1896
Dana, author of the hook quoted.
made the passage from California in
1896, on board the ship Alert which .
was considered q smart, well found
vessel. Here Is what he says of the
living quarters of the crew while
rounding Cape Horn:
"The forecastlc was too uncomfort-
able to sit up in; and whenever we
were below, we were in our berths.
To prevent the rain and sea water
which broke over the bows from wash
ing down, we were obliged to keep
the scuttle lin the deck) closed, so
that the forecastle was nearly alp
tight. In this little wet, leaky hole
we were all Quartered, in an atmos-
phere so bad that our lamp, which
swung in the middle from the beams,
sometimes actually burned blue, with
O large circle of foul air about It,"
"The usual meal, day after dav, for
men standing hard watches In Icy
blasts, snow and hail. was pot OF hot
tea, G. hard biscuit and slice OF cold
salt beef"
AS to sanitary conditions, they may
be judged by this entry in Dana's log
covering the passage of the Cape,
which lasted n MONTH
"Not q razor, nor brush nor
drop of water, except rain and spray,
had come near us all the time; for we
were on allowance of fresh water; and
who would strip and wash himself In
salt water on deck, in snow and ice,
with the THERMOMETER at ZerOW
Crews Have Walters of Their Own,
What Is the picture Of conditions on
shipboard today contrasted with this?
Here is a paragraph from shipping
board inspectors report on the living
quarters aboard a 5,000-ton cargo
steamer built in 1917 by the emergency
fleet corporaticn and engaged in over
seas traffic:
"The crews quarters were aft. They
contained ~ rtDe be.ths, each made
up with a gotd mattress, pillow and
blankets supplied by the United States
shipping board. There were 12O cubic
feet of air space for each man as pro-
vided by law, and IL feet OF foor
space. Each man had berth Of his
own, and not more than two berths
were placed in tier.
"The forecastle was situated aft,
out of danger from mine explosions.
1t was ventilated by three large ports,
and lighted by electric lights. Each
man had steel full-length locker for
his clothes. There were shower baths
fnr hath cailnr, and firaman