THE MATE KEEPS US BUSY
News that war with Spain had been declared reached us on April 27th,
coming by the U. S. _Mariposa_ from Sydney. On the same day we
discharged the last piece of cargo in the hold of the _Fuller_ and
hauled into the stream to get ready for our return loading of sugar.
This ended our shore liberty for a few nights, but it really came as
a relief to us. Three busy weeks along shore, weeks that seemed like
months when we thought of all that had happened, sickened us of the
dust and smell, the latter emanating largely from the Chinese houses
with their peculiar odor of rancid sweetened grease. The chatter of
the Kanakas wearied us and the mosquito pest along shore was enough to
discourage even the most pronounced optimist. We were glad, indeed, for
a few days of comparative quiet while in the stream; at least it was
three days of quiet that we looked forward to.
Before hauling away from the wharf we took aboard a lot of rough
pine and spruce lumber, material to be used in lining the ship. Shore
carpenters came out, men thoroughly versed in the work, and in an
incredible time had fitted a complete inner skin throughout the hold.
This was kept at least a foot away from the sides of the vessel and
some two feet above the bilges, and the ceiling next the keelson, the
ceiling being at the bottom and not at the top of the hold, as landsmen
might imagine. The boarding of this inner skin was cleverly laid,
clinker fashion, like the clapboards on a house, so that any sweat or
leak water in the hold would be shed and run down clear to the bilges
without wetting the precious cargo.
A cargo of sugar such as was to be carried by the _Fuller_ was worth
at that time in the neighborhood of a quarter of a million, and the
greatest precautions were taken to safeguard it. In addition to
guarding against wet, all places where the sugar bags might, by any
chance, come in contact with iron, as the bolt heads in the heavy
knees that jutted through the inner lining, were wrapped with extra
thicknesses of gunny sack. When this job was completed the lower hold
looked like the inside of a gigantic melon, nicely hollowed out.
There was a clean sweep from the fore peak to the lazarette, only
interrupted by the mainmast and the upright water tank, a simple hold
such as was considered safe and proper in the days of Columbus and of
Drake.
[Illustration: WATCHING THE SHORE WHEN IN THE STREAM]
The 'tween decks of the _Fuller_ was rather fancy. Her voyage previous
to the one we were on had taken her to China and while in Shanghai the
'tween decks was scraped bright. The under side of the spar deck, the
lining, knees, and waterways, were all in natural wood and coated with
a varnish made of shellac and oil. The heads of bolts, and all iron
work, had been painted with aluminum paint and then varnished. When we
first noted this it brought forth some caustic comment.
"They do the cargo a damn sight better than they do us," remarked
Australia. And this was right and proper. The cargo pays freight and
should be considered, whereas we were a part of the expense, to be cut
down as low as possible both in numbers and wages.
Captain Nichols, too, was glad to get away from the wharf and all the
annoyances incident to discharging. The dust and unavoidable dirt
tracked aboard ship by the people from shore were a constant vexation
to his soul. I have often seen the skipper bob up from the companion
and chase some unsuspecting visitor ashore without ceremony; some poor
deluded mortal without a proper reverence for the sacred character
of those spotless after decks that we had holystoned and scrubbed so
carefully every day of the voyage.
When we got in the stream a comfortable deck chair was brought out for
the captain and placed on top of the cabin and several times we saw him
actually recline at his ease in this concession to luxury. The skipper
also wore wonderful white clothing with double blue stripes; this was
really silk, but looked for all the world like the standard pattern
for bedticking. It must have been cool, and after all that is why he
wore them. Coming out to the ship a few days after we had hauled out,
the captain had his boatman row him around the vessel while he eyed
her carefully. Evidently everything was right aloft, yards square and
all gear snug, for of course the mate had seen to that, but he was not
pleased with the appearance of the hull. The following morning we got
busy and all that day half of us were over the side scrubbing her. We
took long brooms and cleaned off the high wall of copper, for being
light she showed some six feet of it, and when we got through, the
_Fuller_ looked something like her old self.
During all of our time in Honolulu the mate remained very much to
himself. I only remember seeing him go ashore a few times and none of
us ever met him when off the ship. He led a lonesome life, and after
the hard day of driving us with all duties devolving on him alone, I
have no doubt he was pretty well done. Thinking it over, I have since
come to the conclusion that the terrible Mr. Zerk, the bully and the
slave-driver, with a curse always ready on his lips, and a heavy fist
prepared to enforce his mandates, was a sort of Mr. Hyde to a very
domestic Zerk saving his payday at the rate of a paltry sixty dollars
a month against the time of his return home to the wife and kids. His
supply of home-made jams and preserved pickles, so sparingly given
me on the passage out, confirms this conclusion. True, I hated him
cordially during those trying days in Honolulu, but then I was very
much of an ass, and no doubt deserved all that was given me. When we
went into the stream, things got better; the mate slackened up to the
extent of allowing me to tally aboard the lumber for the lining.
About this time talk in the fo'c'sle was much concerned with
speculation as to who would be our second mate. Martin said he had
overheard the mate tell someone from the shore that a man was coming
out from Frisco to take the billet.
"Not on yer life," said Australia; "they will pick something easy from
forward. This mate likes to run things hisself and all he wants is some
boy to stay awake nights to call the captain if a squall blows up. They
will pick one of us, but whoever he is, he will be a fool."
In fact not long afterward judicious soundings were taken forward by
that left-handed diplomat, the gloomy Chips. Whoever sent him on his
fruitless errand must have received an enlightening message. Chips
cornered one man after another and in a deliberate fashion got his
ideas as to who was willing to go aft. We were all of one opinion as to
who was most fitted for the billet; Old Smith of course was the man.
Although he was known as _Old_ Smith, it was more a matter of respect,
his age being only about forty or forty-five. He had sailed before the
mast since boyhood, most of this time deepwater, back and forth around
the Horn, sailing as second mate many times but always going back to
the fo'c'sle as his choice.
Smith never drank to excess while in Honolulu, was a clean-cut, able
seaman, a type as scarce in those days and unknown now.
Some hitch ashore occurred in regard to our cargo, for we lay in the
stream three days after we were ready to load. In the interval the mate
hit upon a brilliant idea. Why he thought of this piece of hazing, for
such it was, is merely a guess on my part, but the growing cheerfulness
forward must have annoyed him. The band was particularly active after
we left the wharf, the concerts on the fo'c'sle head, of an evening,
lasting well into the night.
The day after the hold was finished we were horsed about unmercifully
at the washdown. Fred, Martin and I had put large batches of clothing
to soak the night before, expecting to find time during the day for
scrubbing, as we looked forward to a rather easy time.
"Hey! Put them swabs up. Never mind that, Smith; break out a couple
of barrels of sand. Leave the water spar," this last to Frenchy and
Charlie Horse, who were about to unrig it; for Charlie Horse always
helped at the morning washdown after his night of watching, "to give
him an appetite for breakfast," as the mate said.
"Wot in hell is the racket?" asked Australia in alarm. "So help me--is
that busher going to start something new?"
"Dot's it. Something's new again. Maybe the 'bear' in port, or
something," chimed in Scouse.
"Get your breakfast!" shouted the mate as soon as the sand was on deck,
and we went forward with the whole ship in a mess--gear on the pins,
deck wet, and two barrels of mysterious sand at the main hatch.
"By ----, he's got me," confessed Hitchen; "whatever the bloody bitch
has up his sleeve is a new one."
"Joe was wise; that's what he was, wise. And say, that little
hipercrite Jimmy, was _he_ wise? Well, ast me, will you, after tonight?
I'll bet something is doing, and something very fine. We been having
our fling too much. The hell with these American working wagons!"
"Aw, shut up, Brenden, will you? For Gawd's sake, have some feelin's
for us. Look at Fred; he's too tired to eat."
The reaction from our high spirits of the last few days was complete.
We sat around dejected after breakfast, and it was with a feeling
of relief that we heard the bull-like roar of the mate urging us to
turn to. This summons reverberated across the harbor, and must have
advertised us as a packet of strife.
Things were not long in abeyance. We were ordered to wet down decks
again and spread the sand on the main deck as far forward as the
windlass. Old Smith, Frenchy, Brenden, and Martin were told off to lend
a hand to Chips. The first lengths of the chain cables were stoppered
just abaft the wild cats, and by means of handy billys and chain hooks
we roused up long bights of the rusty cables and ranged them along
the deck, constantly wetting down and sprinkling sand to protect the
planks. This was no easy job; in fact we worked like slaves at the
back-breaking labor, having something like a hundred fathoms to handle
on each anchor. The night after this started our band went out of
business, for we all turned in.
Mr. Zerk was positively cheerful during the second and last day of this
job. When we had completed hauling out the chain, made of great links a
half foot long, and strengthened by a heavy stud, he descended to the
chain locker, while I went with him carrying the lantern. We found very
little dirt in the locker, and that also seemed to please the mate. The
whole operation, aside from furnishing us considerable exercise, did no
particular good, nor for that matter harm.
I was glad of the opportunity to see the thing done, an interesting
piece of work from the standpoint of the student of seamanship. The
ends of the cables were passed through heavy ring bolts on the keelson
and then were carried _up_ and secured by a stout lashing to rings in
the knight heads. This method of securing made it possible to slip the
cables by casting off the ends and letting them go by the run, as the
ends are always in sight. The necessity for slipping cables comes very
seldom, but when it does have to be done the safety of the ship and
all on board depends upon the ability to let go quickly and without a
hitch. During this work we examined the markings on the chain. At the
links next to the shackles, that separate the different shots of the
cable, turns of wire are placed on the studs so that in running out the
cable the shackles can be examined as they go over the wild cats, and
the length of chain out determined. Large swivels are also provided for
taking out the turns when a vessel swings completely around in a tide
way. Where two anchors are out, and the chains become twisted, we have
the necessity for "clearing the hawse," an old time honored operation
performed by the voyagers in the days of Columbus when hawsers were
used. The hawse pipes still retain their name though great chain cables
are now employed.
The labor of stowing the cables was less painful than that of rousing
them up as gravity worked with us.
On the night we finished this job we received word that the ship was to
go alongside again the next day, and again we were glad of the change.
That the system on board was a good one cannot be denied. We were
always glad that some disagreeable piece of work was done, and, except
for the croakers, who were always predicting trouble--and were always
right--we were a very contented lot of men. It also happened that in
the scheme of things no part of the ship was ever neglected, and the
owners received full value in the care of their vessel for the wages
that were slowly accruing to us.