The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-08-03
DEATH; SLA VERY, THE
SEA AND HELL SHIPS

(By a Worker Correspondent
1.-THE times are hard and the
wages low
Leave her, Johnny, leave her
Oh, the times are hard and the
wages low.
Now is the time for us 70 leave
her :"
Loudly and pitifully pleading
sounds the voice of the chantey
man. Mournfully the chorus takes
up the strain: "Now is the time to
leave her."
Clang. clang fall the pawls, and
we YEARLY tramp around the cap
stan heaving our ship into the
wharf. In port at last! Land of
our dreams-Australia, the land of
plenty"
Sold, Betrayed.
The big coal strike of eight
months duration has just ended.
Miners were back at work; sold out,
betrayed by their leaders. There,
too, they had their Lewises, Thorn
asses and Capellinis. History re-
peating itself.
Ships and ships. Wherever
you look you see steamers and
"square-riggers." Up tho river
near the ballast ground, the "Si-
IBERIA" It's masts and yards seemed
like a forest.
Sailors without number. =. Like
convicts they are working, digging
like slaves, filling baskets and hoist
ing out ballast by hand. Hard
work, indeed. Standing in the broil-
ing sun by the hand-winch, heaving,
heaving from S a. m. to p. M,
heaving till your elbows begin to
creak. Next day you shift by GO
ing below in the hold to shovel sand,
coke or rubbish until your back
cries aloud in pain. Toiling in
chains, hence the name Siberia"
Under the Lash.
Sailors of all nationalities
French, English, Norwegian, Ger
man. All slave, day in day out,
under a cruel masters lash, mas
tiers who try to beat each other in
the number Of. those whom they dis
charge. "The harder he is made
to work the more he will keep the
devil out of his mind" laughingly,
cynically say the captains to each
other, while, over glasses of whis-
key, they discuss ways and means
Of making their crews desert the
ship after the ballast is all dis
charged.
The ship-owners could easily buy
steam-engines. but why need they
when sailor labor is so cheap? They
can feed him anything they like. If
the sailor does not like conditions,
ito hell with him. He can desert
the ship" and leave his hard-earned
pay in the hands of the master.
Easy money for the ship-owners and
the captain. Yes, easy, but covered
with the blood and sweat of the
sailor
If the seaman demands better
food and conditions, up goes the po-
lice flag. A launch comes to our
ship with water patrol aboard and
TO Maitland Jail the sailors go,
chained and handcuffed like des-
perate criminals. With this hard
earned money he pays for the days
Of his lookup" and on the day of
sailing, aboard he returns half
starved, sick and broken in spirit.
The He'll Ship, God Bless Her.
"Glenlui" was smart looking
full rugged vessel. It's name was
painted, cut and burned everywhere;
on bells, capstan bars, wheel, spars
even on cabin crockery, knives and
spoons. Above all, boldly and
proudly stood out on the cabin sky
light: God speed. good ship Glen
lui.' ," Despite this holy and stupid
inscription, the "Glenlui" was
neither good ship, nor had any
possible God any particular inter
est in speeding her. She was like
the average "windiammer" of those
days of 1910, hell ship and conse-
quently nearer the devil than the
Almighty.
In the North Atlantic. during
some bad weather, two sailors. bad
and bold, went overheard to "Davy
Jones' locker" They cursed too
much, so God did not like them.
And this is why they have Gear
Cd nnd oLa.r ..o.... I.sx..,, LII -.