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1903.] MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. SEEN AND HEARD ON THE LOOKOUT. Language has been defined as the garment of thought, and » the English-speaking mass of humanity is said to have the best stocked wardrobe for thought-dressing purposes. The wealth of a language is gauged by the number of garments (words) it contains. The German tongue, thanks to its having, as some- body once said, "innumerable shirtwaists for each skirt" in the lingual clothespress, must be accorded the second place. Hay- ing, then, a rich language, why is "die Deutsche sprache" hardly ever used among the sailors of Germany's rapidly-increasing merchant navy. Perhaps there is some truth in the saying that the German language does not lend itself readily for use in com- mand on ships. The officers of German ocean liners may address their passengers in the vernacular of "Unter den Linden," but among themselves, or when speaking to a member of the crew, they make use of a gibberish known as "Platt Deutsch." Ger- man statesmen know that a similarity of speech has a tendency to draw nations, as well as individuals, together. It was for this reason that, when after the war of 1870 the inhabitants of Elsace and Lorraine sang "mais malgre ca nous restrons Francais," all the school teachers in these provinces were immediately replaced by Germans. The crews of German ships are largely recruited from those ports of the country where only the official language is heard. Though shipping under their own flag these recruits must learn a foreign tongue in order to understand their ship- mates and countrymen. A sailor in Germany's merchant ves- sels must learn "Platt Deutsch," as a certain stigma appears to be attached to any member of a crew who expresses himself. only in the official language of his country. In what language commands are given on board German men-of-war I have never had an opportunity to hear. The sailor is, of course, possessed of some knowledge re- garding that part of the Isthmian canal discussion that relates to yellow fever, cholera, et¢é. That the old road to civilization in the southern regions is paved with yellow fever victims, no- body can deny, and still there is a great deal of exaggeration regarding the danger of residing there now. Not very many years ago sailors emphatically refused to ship on a vessel bound for Brazil. At the time I have in mind one English steamship company (Lamport & Holt) had several of its ships anchored in the harbor of Santos. These steamers were loaded, coaled, and even fumigated, but still they were delayed, as their crews were either in the hospital or in graves. In English shipping offices the rate of pay according to the then-existing scale of wages was doubled for sailors consenting to man these idle steamers; but taking into account the rumors that were circulating regard- ing the size of the crewless fleet, who can blame the men for refusing to ship. A second mate of one of the Lamport & Holt steamers with whom I was well acquainted at the time but whose name I do not now recall, was sent out from England to help re- lieve the deadlock, which was not only an expense to his em- _ ployers but also a ghastly testimonial to the ignorance of the Brazilian authorities in the matter of sanitations. This old sailor- friend is now one of Santos most influential citizens. As for the city of Santos, though it can as yet not lay claim to the distinc- tion of being a health resort, what is known, if I remember cor- rectly, as the British Sanitary Construction Co. prevents the recurrence of a wholesale slaughter among ships' crews while in this port. No one can deny that the region of the Isthmus of Panama is very unhealthy, but of Manila and Havana the same had always been said. The improvement that has taken place in sanitary conditions in these cities might induce even the most skeptical of pessimists not to predict a plague among the Panama canal diggers. If willing to take a few necessary precautions, no fairly-healthy individual who wishes to visit the scene of this country's prospective activities should be prevented by fear of the climate. Monotonous, though doubtless creditable, is the continuously- heard phrase "we need more ships." Confidence in the adapta- bility of the youths of this country precludes worry over a scarcity of sailors to man the expected craft, but on: this score I am re- minded of the old English song "We have the men, we have the ships, and we have the money too." America needs only the ships. Schopenhauer in "Studies in Pessimism" said that "nothing gives more comfort in trials and misfortunes of any kind than to hear of someone even worse off than ourselves." In the language of the street this is "throwing down" the old world with a ven- geance. Should the views of your readers, however, coincide with those of the German philosopher, I can give them comfort by pointing out a nation that is in even a worse plight. Turkey, with her schooners on the Black sea, the Sea of Marmora and the Bosphorus, and a few steamers trading on the Mediterranean, has all the vessels needed. But from the cruelty perpetrated by the Turkish army no one holds a very exalted opinion of her soldiers, and anyone who has ever been on a Turkish ship must ridicule the thought of that country producing sailors. Her few steamers are manned almost invariably by Austrian officers. One notable exception was a small steamer bound from Constanti- nople to Trieste. Leaving port at the same time as a French steamer that had cleared for Marseilles, the Turkish captain closely followed the Frenchman for several days. Hailed by the latter; who was anxious to learn the cause of the brotherly companionship, the Turk acknowledged that he was "at sea in both meanings of the term and desirous of being directed to a place called Trieste. Discipline, cleanliness, seamanship are unknown quantities on Turkish schooners, while such a necessary - canal. "9 adjunct to safe navigation as a compass on most of them is deemed unnecessary luxury. But a country that om former oc- casions has proved beyond fear of contradiction the predilection and aptitude of its inhabitants for maritime. pursuits should have ships. The advent of an American merchant navy--and one com- paring favorably with that of any nation--is a good "tip" for even the most careful of gamblers. : Some time ago there came to New York city six men who had heard that beautiful passage in the declaration of independ- ence about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Incident- ally it may be remarked that they were Americans by adoption -- and sailors hy profession. Now these six sailors, worthy repre- sentatives of unemployed labor, decided that their pursuit of happiness had been successful upon their meeting capital as rep- resented by Capt. Joe. Smith. Capt. Joe not only sails the three- masted schooner W. L, Tuck, but, as he states it, "owns a piece of her." Shipped according to the regular wage schedule, or in other words at union wages, the six sailors boarded the Tuck, then lying at a wharf in Elizabethport, N. J. It was at this time that twelve members of the Coastwise Seamen's Union also de- cided to go in quest of. happiness, and they pursued it in the steam launch Rex. As your readers may not enjoy a description of a brutal fight suffice it to say that the Rex returned to the city with the six sailors of schooner Tuck--all more or less se- verely handled. Capt. Smith, when seen in sailor town next morning, bore evidence of having been in a fight. Someone has said that "the permission to sell your labor at your own valuation is one of the elementary principles of liberty," but the crew of this schooner, as said before, had to be hired for what is termed "union wages," and then, because they did not belong to a cer- tain organization, twelve ruffans hindered them in their legitimate pursuit of happiness and threaten their lives. I observed Capt. Smith's appearance after the visit of the union men to his ship. I will pass it over for the same reason that I have not given details of the fight aboard the vessel, but having seen it, would warn sailors against joining an organization that counts among its members in good standing at least twelve ruffians. . Although the limit of speed is said to have been reached in transatlantic liners, the companies operating the ocean ferries still tell us stories of record-breaking passages, and in this re- gard your readers are kept well informed, but hetewith is intro- duced to them the German ship Wilkommen--unlucky and. slow. Leaving Hamburg with a cargo of cement--14,000 barrels--the weather when in the Atlantic proved so severe that the ship had to be "hove to,' though the wind was fair if the proper course could have been kept. It was now observed that the Wilkommen did not take kindly to "running," and while other vessels were going before it under foresail and mainlower-topsail --some even under bare poles--the German cement carrier must needs be "hove to." Capt. Freeze finally managed to put into Rio Janeiro, and at that place secured new anchors, compasses and a chronometer. Though it is not unusual to hear occasionally that anchors or compasses have been swept overboard, the state- ment in the letter from Brazil that a similar fate befell the chrono- meter is rather startling. Proceeding south the Wilkommen found herself presently off Cape Horn, and now changed her. former tactics by making bad weather of it when "hove to," but "running" splendidly without pooping a sea. Encountering strong north-westerly gales, the ship's change of behavior only length- ened the voyage. One hundred and ninety days after leaving Hamburg 14,000 barrels of cement reached Seattle. While it is rather improbable that the owners of the Wilk- omtmen derived pecuniary benefit from their vessel's perform- ance, they expect to recoup themselves on the return freights; and, incidentally, the experience of this and other vessels while rounding Cape Horn demonstrates the urgent need of 5 ee TESTS OF SUBMARINE SIGNALING. , A Boston dispatch says that after witnessing successful tests of submarine signaling on the steamer James S. Whitney of the Metropolitan Line, coming around to Boston from New York, also having other proofs of the value of this invention to navigation, a party of distinguished Canadians have returned to their homes so impressed with the system that they may adopt it for the bene- fit of traffic on the St. Lawrence. The party included Raymond Prefontaine, Canadian minister of marine; Judge Robidoux, L. A. Wilson and Mortimer Davis, business men of Montreal; and Hugh A. Allan and Andrew D. Allan of the Allan Line. The system of submarine signaling which they inspected was that in- vented and developed by the late Prof. Gray. Approaching the lightships at Vineyard shoal, Pollock rip and ° Pollock rip shoals, all of which are equipped with submarine bells, the Canadians could distinctly hear through tele- phone receivers in the pilot house of the Whitney the sound of the hammer striking on the bell, and what is more to the point, it is reported that they could determine definitely the direction from whence came the sound. This is where the bell signal is of much more value than a steamer's whistle, for the whistle, while heard plainly, is sometimes deceptive in a fog, while the direction of a wave current can always be determined. A new experiment was tried while nearing Vineyard shoal light- ship--that of connecting the captain's room with the pilot house receiving apparatus with a portable receiver through which M. Prefontaine heard-the bell ringing as plainly as did the other gen- tlemen in the pilot house. .