THE MEN OF THE MERCHANT
SERVICE
THE MEN
OF THE
MERCHANT SERVICE
BEING
_THE POLITY OF THE MERCANTILE MARINE
FOR 'LONGSHORE READERS_
BY
FRANK T. BULLEN, F.R.G.S.
AUTHOR OF "THE CRUISE OF THE 'CACHALOT,'" "THE LOG OF A SEA-WAIF,"
"IDYLLS OF THE SEA," ETC.
LONDON
SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15, WATERLOO PLACE
1900
(_All rights reserved_)
PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.
TO
RUDYARD KIPLING
IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF BOTH HIS
WONDERFUL GENIUS
AND HIS GREAT KINDNESS
TO
THE AUTHOR
PREFACE.
It has been repeatedly represented to me by disinterested friends,
that among the innumerable works of both fact and fiction dealing with
the sea, there are none telling in a comprehensive way what are the
conditions of life in the Merchant Service; in other words, that there
is no work to which a parent, yielding to his son's importunity to
be allowed to go to sea, and seeking to know something of the nature
of things on board of a merchant ship in detail, can turn with the
assurance that he may there find what he needs. Nor can the youth
anxious to go to sea in the Merchant Service find any guidance which
will at once be comprehensive and reliable compacted into one handy
volume. And as these same friends have done me the honour to suggest
that I have the qualifications necessary for producing such a work,
I have, not at all unwillingly, acceded to their suggestions, and
undertaken the task.
The recollection of many kindly criticisms on the preface to the "Log
of a Sea-Waif," scolding me good-naturedly for what it has pleased them
to term my exaggerated modesty, prevents me from sinning now in that
direction. I will merely say that I have done my best to justify my
friends' confidence in me, and that I earnestly hope the book will not
fall too far short of their expectations.
The planning of such a work seems to be comparatively easy. The
first thing that suggested itself was the setting forth, in a series
of chapters, the duties, required qualifications, difficulties,
privileges, etc., of the various members of a ship's company.
A doubt has naturally arisen in my mind as to how far it is justifiable
to deal with sailing ships in these latter days. My own personal
knowledge and predilections are on the side of the "wind-jammer," and
consequently I feel the less inclined to deal with her perfunctorily.
I cannot, however, conceal from myself the fact that the passing of
the sailing ship is being greatly accelerated of late years, and
that in all probability another twenty years will witness her final
disappearance. On the other hand, I should not be at all surprised
to see a sudden recrudescence of sailing ship building. Considering
the sailing ship's economy, her vast carrying capacity, the fact that
her very slowness as compared with the steamer is actually no mean
advantage in a great number of instances, viz. to quote one, where
goods are bought in a low market and are not required by the buyer
for some months, so that their shipment by a sailer actually saves
warehouse charges as well as freight--I cannot understand why the
sailer should be suffered to disappear. Nevertheless, as engineering
science advances, economies will doubtless be found possible in
steamships which will so greatly lessen their expenses as to make the
competition of sailers out of the question. The opening of a Panama
Canal, too, which will certainly not be much longer delayed, will
deal a tremendous blow at the vast sailing trade around Cape Horn. It
seems, indeed, destined to be the final factor in the elimination of
the sailing ship. Meanwhile the white-winged fleets come and go in
far greater numbers than landsmen have any idea of; and as nearly all
authorities are agreed that, in spite of the immense strides taken by
steam navigation, the sailing ship is still the only school wherein to
train a thorough seafarer, she will certainly receive her full need of
attention here.
Care has been taken to avoid, as far as possible, all technical
treatment of the subject. I have not assumed the possession of too much
nautical knowledge on the part of my prospective readers; not nearly
as much, for instance, as would be permissible in a work of fiction.
Having before me, too, the hope that sons as well as parents will be
able to read and enjoy, as well as thoroughly grasp the meaning of this
book, I have aimed at making it entertaining, giving a plentiful supply
of anecdotes as well to illustrate as to lighten what might easily
become rather "stodgy."
Finally, I feel constrained to add that, even if my friends are
wrong, and there are works with which they, as well as myself, are
not acquainted, better calculated to serve the purpose for which this
book is intended, I have the temerity to believe that no apology is
necessary for its appearance. The overwhelming importance of our
over-sea commerce to Great Britain cannot be too greatly emphasized,
while the astounding ignorance of maritime matters manifested by
British people generally makes one gasp in amazement. Any book,
therefore, that does anything to popularize knowledge of Mercantile
Marine details cannot be superfluous in this country; and should
this present one succeed in bringing home to our inland dwellers
with any clearness the conditions of life on board the vessels upon
whose regular advent depend our supplies of daily food, I shall feel
abundantly justified in issuing it to my countrymen.
Dulwich,
_July, 1900_.
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER I.
THE RISE OF THE MASTER (IDEAL).
PAGE
Magnitude of the Merchant Service--Ignorance of its details
ashore--Want of information upon the subject--Popularity
of sea-fiction--And unreliability of its details--"Master" or
"Captain"--Cadet ships--Their value--The way up (ideal) 1
CHAPTER II.
THE RISE OF THE MASTER (REAL).
Apprentice difficulties--Sketch of an officer's progress--Looking
for a ship--Classification of masters--Range between
Atlantic "liner" and foreign-going schooner--Enviable
position of the master of a "liner"--Pilots' responsibility--Reliable
officers--But the master is emperor--All responsibility
centres in him 9
CHAPTER III.
THE MASTER (OF A TRAMP).
Tramp masters--Less pay, more work--Hardships of tramps--Economical
owners--Anxious considerations--And all-round
qualifications--The aristocracy of tramps--Shore
berths for old skippers--Black sheep 18
CHAPTER IV.
THE MASTER (SAILING SHIPS).
Sailing ships--Their gradations--The beauty of seamanship
in Sunda Straits--Ship handling and pluck--Devilish
ships--Local knowledge _v._ "book larnin'"--The Horn--"Swansea
men"--A glorious old skipper--Overdue ships--Mediocrities 26
CHAPTER V.
THE MASTER (SAILING SHIP)--_continued_.
The skipper's temptations--His power over young officers--Painting
_v._ sailorizing--And the result--Various temperaments
of skippers--The discipline of the "Yank"--And of
the "Blue-nose"--Their seamanship--The "Down Easter"--The
Yankee clipper--His passion for cleanliness--And
brutality--Elementary methods 36
CHAPTER VI.
THE MASTER'S QUALITIES.
The personal equation--An ideal commander--Want of tact--They
do these things better in "Yanks"--Good to have a
hobby--High standard of excellence--Difficulties of the
British shipmaster with respect to his crew--Unpalatable
truths--The fear of God--Honesty of shipmasters--Incitements
to dishonesty 45
CHAPTER VII.
THE MASTER'S DUTIES.
A glimpse of navigation--The unstable compass--Dead reckoning--Pilotage
anxieties--The shipmaster as trustee--As lawyer--As
doctor--Rough-and-ready surgery--A true hero--The
"malingerer" 53
CHAPTER VIII.
THE MASTER'S DUTIES--_continued_.
Voluntary duties--Knowledge of engineering--Of ship construction--Of
natural history--The danger of drink--A drunkard
or two--A memorable voyage--The Blue-nose skipper--His
all-round excellence 63
CHAPTER IX.
THE MATE.
The "mate and his duties"--An ancient and honourable title--His
range of importance--A long step from mate to master--Both
in position and pay--Education of British officers--Examinations 73
CHAPTER X.
THE MATE'S WORK.
A good mate precious above rubies--Some difficulties of the
young mate--Sensitiveness--Manager of a large business--A
great gulf between tramp and liner for the mate--Low
wages--Difficult generalship--A scandalous miscarriage of
justice--Again better in the "Yank"--Compensations 82
CHAPTER XI.
THE MATE'S WORK (IN A SAILING SHIP).
Peculiarities of status--The excellence of the sailing-ship
mate--"Humouring" a ship--Care of her aloft--The mate's right-hand
man--Keeping them at it--The joy of a good sailing
ship--A happy mate--Keeping the log 91
CHAPTER XII.
THE MATE'S WORK (IN A SAILING SHIP)--_continued_.
Ideal log-book literature--Ruffianly mates--But splendid seamen--A
"nigger-driver"--The mate as cargo clerk and warehouseman--His
temptations--An exultant Hebrew--The
drink question again--The mate's privileges 101
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SECOND MATE (IN STEAM).
"Hazing" a second mate--His importance--His assured
excellence in a liner--Careful selection--Really first lieutenant
in a liner--But in the tramp "a servant of servants
shall he be"--An upper housemaid--An anomalous position--As
stevedore--The Yankee second mate 112
CHAPTER XIV.
THE SECOND MATE (FIRST STEPS).
The passing of the "Board"--School-boy work--Theoretical
navigation--Practical seamanship--Colour-blindness--Queer
instruction--A kindly examiner--The astonishment of the
schoolmaster--Only mate--And "bo'sun-second-mate" 121
CHAPTER XV.
THE SECOND MATE (OF A SAILING SHIP).
The difference between steam and sail--A kindly skipper for a
beginner--The second mate's position as pupil--The seamy
side--Everybody's dog--Again the difference between lime-juicer
and Yank--The second mate of the _East Lothian_--Oh,
what a surprise!--The value of muscle--The want of
discipline in our ships 131
CHAPTER XVI.
THE THIRD MATE.
Of great importance or none at all--A suggestion from the Navy--No
respect due to him--The owner's pet--The poop
ornament--His bringing up--A lost opportunity--The bully
third mate of an American ship--An error in judgment--Idlers 142
CHAPTER XVII.
THE BO'SUN.
A romantic figure--Rough but genuine--The naval bo'sun--The
working foreman--Bo'sun and "lamps" combined--The
old-time bo'sun--A thorough sailor--A queer bo'sun--A
broken-down bo'sun--A brevet bo'sun 151
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CARPENTER.
His general excellence--And unique position--A man of many
qualifications--All carpenters in British North America--As
in Finland--"Chips" and sailor too--An independent
member--Always plenty of work--The whaleship carpenters--And
boat-builder 161
CHAPTER XIX.
THE SAILMAKER.
An occupation that is passing--Its fascination for good sailors--The
art and mystery of sailmaking--The Yankee sailmaker--His
contempt for British sails--Like the carpenter, the
sailmaker always has plenty to do--The beauty of sails 171
CHAPTER XX.
THE STEWARD (IN STEAM).
Wide range of status--But always a steward--Wonderful
management--A small army to control--Work never done--The
tramp steward--His duties and difficulties--The
"providore" 180
CHAPTER XXI.
THE STEWARD (SAILING SHIPS).
The passenger sailing ship almost extinct--Consequently few
chief stewards in sail--The responsible steward--The
captain's pet--Funny little ways--A bitter experience--The
Yankee steward--His onerous post--The stewardess--My
friend's pathetic story 188
CHAPTER XXII.
THE COOK (IN STEAM).
The most interesting figure on board ship--A chef indeed--Where
do they come from?--Difficulties of ship cookery--Under
the best conditions--Careful, hard-working men--Australian
cooks--Black Sam--Humpy Bill--His tribulations
and triumphs--The cook of a tramp 195
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE COOK (SAILING SHIPS).
His materials--His usual qualifications--No room for a good
cook--Good sailing ships--And bad--From the food point
of view--Bad food wasteful as well as dear--The craving
for vegetable--The cook's day's work--So different in
Yankee ships--Blue-nose cookery--"Cracker hash"--"Duff" 205
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE COOK (SAILING SHIPS)--_continued_.
Salt junk--The never-satisfied sailor--Pork and peas--Dirty
cooking--Abysmal ignorance--A lower depth--Bad weather 215
CHAPTER XXV.
THE APPRENTICE (SUGGESTIONS).
A serious matter--Want of knowledge--The system of apprenticeship--Need
for revision--The influx of foreign officers--No
want of aspirants here--An experience of my own--No-premium
apprentices--Training ships--The housing of sea
apprentices--A vexed question--To stop the waste of young
seamen--An A.B. no mere labourer--A good example--A
model ship for apprentices--Training ships in America 223
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE APPRENTICE (SOME FACTS CONCERNING HIS LIFE).
The average boy's helplessness--The need for lessons in homely
things--An unhappy home--Waste of outfit--Need of
personal supervision--And honest treatment--Apprentices
substituted for sailors--Some instances--All depends upon
the master--Wasted years--The embryo officer in the U.S.
and Canada 234
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE APPRENTICE (SOME PRACTICAL INFORMATION).
How to get your boy to sea--Beware of the apprenticeship
broker--A typical instance--Some hints as to outfit--A list
of necessaries--The choice of a ship--Personal relations of
parents with officers--Hints to apprentices themselves 244
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE A.B. (GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS).
The "common sailor"--His one-sided view of things--His
difficulties--The reading sailor--Argumentative qualities--His
shyness ashore--The religious sailor--Misconceptions of
his duties--Hardships of good men from the shipment of
duffers--The skilled A.B., some of his duties--The "steamboat
sailor"--One instance 253
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE A.B. (HIS ROUTINE).
Some details fixed--Others varying indefinitely according to the
will of the master--The incidence of watches--Difference of
work in steamships and sailing vessels--No easy times in
American ships--Keeping them "at it"--Wheel and look-out
case in point 263
CHAPTER XXX.
THE A.B. (HIS POSITION).
Putting a premium on incompetency--The steamship partly to
blame--Are we getting lazy?--The need for a Naval Reserve?
Why does the Reserve languish?--Not a bad life after all--Plenty
of British seamen to be got--But they must have
discipline 276
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE O.S. (ORDINARY SEAMAN).
His elimination--No system--Many better than A.B.'s in the
same ship--A typical instance--An O.S.'s duties--A piece
of technical detail, crossing a royal yard--His position in
the fo'c'sle--"A servant of servants shall he be"--A rough-and-ready
way out 283
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE BOY.
A romantic figure--Changed conditions--The bad old days--Better
treatment forward than aft--The unfair change for a
boy from the training ship to the trading ship--Cleanliness
barred--Bad advice--What to do for him--Running away
to sea--An old-time shipping office--Small ships, bad and
good 294
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE ENGINEER.
Need for literary engineers--A noble calling--Its perils and its
pride--No sea-joys for the engineer--A nineteenth-century
hero--A unique profession--Producing a high-grade man--The
evolution of the marine engineer--No foreigners allowed--The
E.R.A.--In case of war--No mere mechanic--The
blindness of the Admiralty with regard to the engineer 305
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE FIREMAN AND TRIMMER.
Why do men become firemen?--A terrible calling--Some of his
duties--The voice of steam--Better drunk--Cleaning fires--The
slavery of civilization--A lower deep--Are we
nearing finality? 317
CHAPTER XXXV.
CONCLUSION.
Pertinent questions--The whole truth--Does magnanimity
answer?--The peril of the alien--No Trade Union for
sailors--The officer's chance--A valuable educational factor--Our
national safeguard--Finis 328
THE MEN OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE.
CHAPTER I.
THE RISE OF THE MASTER (IDEAL).
Viewed from whatever standpoint we may choose, it is impossible to
arrive at any other conclusion than that the British Mercantile
Marine is not only the greatest British industry, but that, for its
overwhelming importance and far-reaching effect upon mankind, it is the
most stupendous monument of human energy and enterprise that the world
has ever seen. Yet, with that peculiar absence of pride in our own
institutions, that easy-going magnanimity which, in spite of what not
only foreign writers, but many of our own authors assert, is really the
most distinctive characteristic of the British race, we show but little
appreciation of this marvel of commercial genius and concentrated
effort. Dependent by our own action upon our ships for food, we evince
no alarm at the possibility of disaster to these main arteries of our
national life. Go where you will, up and down this country of ours,
and, except among people directly engaged in shipping business, or a
few earnest souls who think it is their duty to know something of the
conditions under which their dear ones live, you will find scarcely any
knowledge of the British Merchant Service at all. The vast majority of
people know of but one form of seafaring, _the_ Navy, as they call it,
_par excellence_; and if a man tells them that he is a sailor, they
are disinclined to believe him unless he wear the familiar loose blue
clothing and gold-lettered cap of the man-o'-war's-man.
But this is a trivial matter compared with the ignorance of the great
matters of life and death wrapped up in our Mercantile Marine. That
lads eager to get out upon what has tacitly come to be regarded as our
peculiar domain--the open sea--and there uphold the traditions of the
race, should not know where to go for information concerning it that
can be relied upon, seems strange to-day. Stranger still that, instead
of all manner of facilities being given to our own youths who wish to
become seamen, all manner of disheartening hindrances should be put
in their way. And what shall we say in face of the almost universal
manifestation of malevolence towards us by foreign powers in what
they believe to be our hour of tribulation, of a British minister who
from his high position declares he sees no cause for alarm in the
prospect of our merchant ships being entirely manned by foreigners?
It is only one more proof that the ignorance of our greatest industry
is universal; that, from the highest class to the lowest, our people
have grown to look upon this most important of our national assets,
this indispensable bridging of the ocean for the supply of our daily
food, as something no more needing our thoughtful attention than the
recurrence of the seasons or the incidence of day and night.
And yet books about the sea are usually popular. In spite of the
technicalities involved (usually wrong, owing to the want of a
first-hand acquaintance with the subject), almost any sea-fiction
will sell. So long as the story be good, the plot workmanlike, the
great mass of the reading public will not criticize the nautical
technique from lack of ability; they take it for granted, and learn
nothing from it. Exceptions may be gratefully remembered, especially
Kipling, whose nautical stories, like his engineering ones, have no
flaws. They might have been written by a man who had spent his life
upon the sea, and had served in all grades. In like manner did R.L.
Stevenson grasp detail in the "Wrecker" and the "Ebb-tide;" while to
read Morley Roberts' work in this direction is to sit again in the dim
fo'c'sle, with the reek of the slush-lamp mingled with most pungent
tobacco-smoke and a dozen other unholy odours making your nostrils
tingle, while outside the sea-voices murmur their accompaniment to the
long yarn being spun within. There are others, but of them only one can
be here mentioned--that brilliant, wayward man of splendid abilities
and attainments, J.F. Keene. He has gone, and left no one to fill his
place. Intolerant of civilized life, he fled from it to the freedom
of the tramp or the fo'c'sle scallywag, and drank deep of the cup of
life as he loved it. But his books do not make light reading. They are
compounded of blood and iron, and bitter as the brine that stained his
manuscript.
But this preliminary digression is keeping us from consideration of the
important character we have to become acquainted with--the shipmaster,
or captain, as he is, by courtesy only, usually styled. No commander
of a merchant vessel, no matter how magnificent she may be, is legally
entitled to be called Captain. That honourable title belongs only to
the Royal Navy. Mr. So-and-so, master of the ship "So-and-so," is all
that the most experienced and highly placed merchant seaman may claim.
And yet it may well be doubted whether even the proudest captain of
a ship of war has more varied qualifications for his splendid post
than the ideal shipmaster. Difficulties that never trouble the naval
man meet his "opposite number" in the Merchant Service at every turn,
not to be evaded, but met and justified by success, or else loss of
appointment, and the pinch of poverty follows promptly.
The road to this eminent position is a plain and simple one. In its
most favourable traversing the would-be master has parents who can
afford to send him direct from school to such a nautical training
college as H.M.S. _Worcester_ or H.M.S. _Conway_--the former a
splendid vessel of the old wooden-wall type, moored in the Thames
off Greenhithe, and commanded by a most able merchant seaman, David
Wilson-Barker, Esq., F.R.S.E., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S., etc., himself an
alumnus of the _Worcester_; and the latter a kindred vessel moored
in the Mersey. Here the aspirant is thoroughly taught the theory and
practice of navigation in all its ramifications, while those branches
of study which he was pursuing at school are carried on in a generous
spirit. Seamanship, as far as it can be taught on board a stationary
vessel, takes naturally a most prominent place in the training scheme,
while naval architecture, languages, engineering, and nautical science
all have their allotted place.
So useful are all the subjects taught to the average man, that one
is tempted to believe that no college course in the country is more
admirably calculated to fit him for the battle of life, whether he
goes to sea or not. Dull indeed must the youngster be who does not
emerge from the _Worcester_ or the _Conway_, upon the completion
of his three years, better calculated to make his way in the world
than any lad of the same age is upon leaving a public school. The
Board of Trade have frankly recognized this by allowing the course
on board these training-ships to count as one year's sea-service in
the required qualification for second mate. That is to say, while the
ordinary candidate for a second mate's certificate must produce either
completed apprentice indentures for four years or certificates of
discharge for the same length of sea-service, one year of which must
have been served as an able seaman, the old _Worcester_ or _Conway_
boy need only produce a record of three years' sea-service to entitle
him to enter as a candidate. Now, assuming that the youngster has
finished his training-ship course with credit, and been duly bound as
an apprentice in a fine sailing-ship belonging to a good firm, his
way is clear before him. Passing through his probationary period
undaunted by the none too easy life he has led, he appears before the
examiners of the Board of Trade, and if he has only kept up the most
cursory acquaintance with the navigation he knew when he left the
training-vessel, his "passing" is ridiculously easy. I do not propose
to discuss here a much-vexed question, but will merely state that it
has often been proposed, as a remedy for what has been considered the
too low status of the shipmaster, that the standard set by the Board
of Trade should be periodically raised until the amount of education
required for successfully passing it would enable those paying for
it to demand higher salaries and more honourable recognition of
their position. No doubt it would greatly tend to lessen the numbers
obtaining certificates of competency, but, alas! there seems also no
doubt that, as things are at present, it would greatly increase the
number of alien officers in command of British ships.
Well, our young friend has his second mate's certificate, but unless he
be exceptionally fortunate he will have to make a voyage as third mate
before he takes up the position to which it entitles him. As third mate
in his old ship, or a similar one belonging to the same company, he may
be gradually permitted to keep a watch, to stand on the quarter-deck in
charge of a hundred thousand pounds' worth of property and thirty or
forty lives. (Of course, throughout I am speaking of the sailing-ship,
since she is as yet, in all but two or three instances, the recognized
medium for the beginner.) Pursuing his career with care, he reaches
home ready to take a ship as second mate, and if the firm he serves
is what it ought to be, no long time will elapse before such a berth
is ready for him. One twelvemonth's voyage as second mate, and he may
again approach the examiners for his chief mate's certificate. Again
he should find not the slightest difficulty in passing, the additional
qualifications required from him being quite simple. Should he be very
lucky, he will get a berth now as chief officer; but even if he be
compelled to go another voyage as second, he will be permitted to pass
the Board of Trade examination for master on his return, providing
he can show that he has acted for two years as second mate. With his
master's certificate in his possession, it is only a question of time
until he stands in the proud position of monarch of his little realm,
and that time may be greatly shortened in many cases if he happen to
have a comfortable sum of money to invest in the ship.
Should he desire to equip himself with all the certificates which
the Board of Trade can grant, he will proceed at once to undergo
the examination for Master Extra; he will also "pass in steam"--an
examination most necessary for those masters who propose to take
command of steamships--and he will also take an examination in
magnetism. Of all these extra examinations it may also be said that if
our friend has kept up his cadet training, they will have no terror for
him; they are only difficult to those who find mathematics irksome, and
never practise more than they are compelled to. Then, of course, they
get rusty, since the amount of mathematics really necessary to keep
a ship's position accurately at sea is very small. By the continual
invention of clever mathematicians, nautical astronomy has been reduced
to mere expertness in handling tables, and the indolent man will avail
himself of these aids to the fullest extent.