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56 TRE Marine REVIEW "IN THE MERCHANT SERVICE" "The seafarer," said the First Assist- ant, by way of carrying on one of these reminiscent conversations which we get into from time to time, "is generally looked upon as inclined to the supersti- tious, with a tendency towards keeping his weather eye open for omens: bad omens preferred. You will notice that the majority of the old-time sea songs, too, were principally devoted to harrow- ing descriptions of the foundering of gal- lant barks, and watery graves. No doubt the introduction of propelling machinery aboardship has .considerably lessened the anxiety 'occasioned by the springing up of a gale, with the accompanying heavy . seas and flooded decks. Now, so long as the coffee mill down in the interior Hook, and come wabbling up the North river to recline wearily against the dock- side, utterly worn out." "Aw, talk about rolling,' broke in the Third, "why, I was on an old hooker--' "As J was saying, when interrupted," continued the First, gazing reprovingly at his subordinate, "this mechanical por- poise was anything but a happy home when the gentle breezes blew our way. We left Liverpool--on this particular trip--some time around Christmas, and crept down the channel in a dense fog. Before we were clear of Daunt's rock we were butting into as dirty a piece of weather as it has been my misfortune to experience, and our troubles were be- ginning. Our gallant bark was going THE FIRST VESSEL SIGHTED WAS AN OCEAN TRAMP. keeps plugging along, we can gaze with placid eye on the seascape. At any rate, to show that the seafarer can at times be decidedly optimistic, Pll tell you of an incident that came under my own obser- vation." "Let's have it,' we murmured encour- agingly. "Well," continued the First, "several years ago I was one of the engineers on a big intermediate boat in the trans-At- lantic emigrant trade. She had tremen- dous carrying capacity, and, in addition to freight enough to satisfy three or- dinary vessels, could stow away about 1,000 steerage passengers. She was a splendid fair-weather ship, but in a sea- way had all the buoyancy of a water- logged cask. Needless to point out, she was a wet and dirty ship during winter, and, not being fitted with bilge-keels, her capacity for rolling was utterly indescrib- able. Roll--why, she'd roll past the through her entire program of stunts: rolling, plunging, rearing, taking seas over the head and shaking 'em off at the Stem, Dhere was about 6: in. of the Atlantic washing constantly around the decks, which, needless to say, were de- serted. The steerage quarters were packed with reeking emigrants, and those that weren't below crowded into the sheltered parts of the decks or lay around in the sea-washed alleyways, too miser- able to resent being occasionally trod on by the heavy sea-boots of the hurrying sailors. In our quarters we had every- thing movable stowed away or lashed with spunyarn. The storm-boards were on the doors--packed with greased spun- yarn, too--but the floors of the cabins were always awash. She was certainly a wet ship, inside and out. "Seldom a watch passed without word being passed around that some part of the deck gear had gone by the board. Two of our lifeboats had been stove in, one of them finishing the trip bottom up on the engine room skylights. We had occasional snow storms, the wind blew fast and fierce, and a coat of ice covered the decks and rigging. Luckily, our box o' tricks below forgot to break down, pounding and rattling through it all, nursed by the Armstrong governor. "After about seven days of this sort of thing, the gale died down, but 'gigantic waves came rolling on' (which is quite poetical). The sailors turned to on the damaged deck-work and rigging. The emigrants crept forth to stare dizzily out on the long seas rolling up under our bow, no doubt surprised to think that they--with their hide-bound trunks and muzzle-loading guns--were after all to be spared to see the promised land, where the streets are lined with gold and a man can own as many as 12 head of cattle without being in danger of having his throat cut by some less wealthy person. Along about midday the first vessel sight- ed was reported by the lookout, and pres- ently she hove in sight coming right down on our bow. The news soon spread, and in a few minutes the decks were swarming with excited emigrants. They came scrambling up the compan- ions from the steerage, men, women and children, all getting their first view of the broad ocean, and incidentally the first breath of fresh air they had had since last sighting land. "As the stranger approached we saw at a glance that she was an ocean tramp, the trampest kind of tramp, too. She could never have created a favorable im- pression, even if she had wanted to, and her paintwork wasn't beyond reproach. Originally all one color--black--she might have been passable, but certain -- parts' of her rusty hull had recently re- ceived a coat of red oxide, giving her the appearance of a crazy-quilt. Two lifeboats were at their davits, also paint- ed black, the davits being so badly twist- ed that they would have been useless in a case of emergency.. The only human being in sight was peering at us over a very dirty and patched screen on the bridge, and she was withal the most for- lorn and neglected-loking craft I have ever seen in the merchant service. Oc- casionally a whiff of smoke would drift from her funnel, showing that she was under way, anyhow, and bound to get somewhere. "If her appearance and progress were worthy of comment, her behaviour as she rode before the swell was even more remarkable. As her bow would bury it- self in a plunge, the water completely