Cuffers Spun in the Dog Watch

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 2

Cuffers Spun in the Dog Watch

THE HELL SHIP

No. IX.—Pari 1. IT hurl hren a hard wintrr in New York and jobs worr scarce. With money all (?one, no clothes and nowhere to go, I was making bad weather of it. I ,vrn the hnrd-up boarding houses would not take me in. though I had a first mate's ticket rnd was h sober man. ' 100 iiiii ii men ashore a lre.nl v ." -:iid one decent man in I'hcerv Street. .111■ 1 hi, opinion whs onlv tin* echo ot ad tne otliPi'K. So I wandered around .Now V'ik. getting a free lunch where I could got. it, and sleeping on the piers b.i i ge« at n I till t. I had friends in Now "lotk. bill I dodged tliein. and 111 v ' ■11 was coining in. hole by li< le. d.nlv. » in• • night i' had snowed hard and there was about, a foot of snow on the piers, i>u I'ier U, I'.ast, Kiver. I saw a. 11 atid• .11 i with a. dirty looking tarpaulin in it. Doduing the walehniiin, I got. into it and pulled the tarpaulin over nivi-olf and promptly werit'to sleep, wearied out mid hungry. Policemen's Humour It wns *nug under the tarpaulin nnd I wns enjoying mv sleep immensely nnd must have been snoring loudly, nnd this was what proved my undoing. Two policemen (they alvvnys go in couples in Lower New York) were attracted by the sound, cnine over to tlio etirt, ami, gently lifting thn tarpaulin, they spotted me sleeping like a weiiry child. This was a great opportunity for a policeman's joke, nnd suddenly lifting the handle they turned mo head over heels into about a foot of snow. Spluttering and cousrhing and choking, I got to my feet. "What tho when the policeman put. in.

By Captain R. McKenzie Cliffe

i It was tlir rurtlnm t'n the ' j of nml for hnth irnlrlirs to gullier • j rillirr nit the fnrc nr main hatch • [ in Ihr sfrmi'L tlmj wntvh ( *» p.m. J I In K pill.) In Cirhii iiijc cj'prricnccs J : '■ ■' - ■ / /".so ~'y ir, rr | : .1 ii h, 'her true ; I '/ ■ "■;< 1 . ■ r It.. IJ s In ih'll- ! / ' is '» /■•''/ / I </ / /■< if r,f | : ■; .r I :,r /. ; ; •;/ //.-/ lllll' mil,. : | .•••> ■> ■/ '•/ ' v ,• : • ' / . 11 •.' # s 1 '' i 1 • t i/'i'in'iir sritinrn n » I s/a ai/111 1/ n/ p/ii' lc nml cnibirnnee 1 | '■! 111 r ii/' I'.. Ii iin-i Ihr plriisirr ' I './* ' I' r Uiil'i- fit "I'II 111 I'M S Ji 1111 I ; Ml. /hi ■; 11 <;/. /, " „ Urn,l a I ; | Ii ■! lI'I'I ,1s I.f I It rsr <jn I b r I I n //.«,•. J j 'I'hrsr s/nri'l riiinir from lifr. in 1 ; si-n'i i Hint S'-lmrinrri In the lolly | ; x./iimi 11 ■ /1/' '! .v /. >/ - •/ /' i/n rilrrs— ; | in (" •' l. li'r ns it nil s in the | I i/'ihlin i/ni/i nf snil in nearly | I'l-fi/ I <i jit- I.f .s- /. i / > '/1 [ml t. ! ' Vi <I• ■ 11"t -;i\ it. In.tm! What nn-■ v '" i < I" i 11 l 11 i"M'. ] m i! 1111 i ttg tin' r|r ii n > ihiw wi' I \ '111- 111 11 \ r;H'ri|«i'; ( nine oil." i \||'l n.' 11l - II tap across the back " ■' : i ii i - Mill'. In' i nt i in ii 11'.] I \va st n | -V llilll. Till' ft.ltinM W M -i. Oil I v ill !'"■* Ii 11 ml i I'll \ aids away nml »c soon I •_l I I here. "What y "ii .Juki'?" said tlio -i" j<■ i nl in i lui i -i'. "'•li. i 11 — I ,i li.ilio," - ii| .Take. "Asleep "'i I'ii'r 11, ;t 1111 he t'llll t lip wergpant all : 1 1"»111 i'. I I ii • \ nil In ujilipfl t .lakp's 11 • 11 ■ I < ■ r i 11 lt nf tin- alfair. and in<lce<l it -I'i'iiii'il a in 11 »i ji jj that F la ucho<l too. Wli i! \ oil l.i ii-_rliinvT nt, lioho':" -H I i li-il i lir spr'jpa nt. "I'll. to|,| liki- t lint. fiprcri'i nt. it <|ops sppiii iiiimy," 1 rp|i|ipi|, ami I laughed itya i n. "I'lilnv a liolio w i 111 a spii-p of flip luinioroiis," saill .I,ikp. a fricmllv oyp al, nio. "What about Iptting the pofir divil jro, ftprjipant "It's miH-li liptti'r in lipip. oftii'pr," ,«ni<l T. "Tt's cold ontsidp. n ml thpie'* no snow wllPfp I rrunp from.'' "Wlipip in that?" fiskod the "Xpw Zpnland," said I. " And wlipi p t lip di\ il i" N'pw Zealand?" said .lakp. I did my lip->t to toll tlipm, Imt t hpir pducatinn as far as Now Zoaland was pon<-prin'd had been sa<lly npjflpptpfl. Thp si'i-ffpant in\itp<l iiip to sit down, and Jakp put a hiiL'e cup of hot coffee nnd a lump of pumpkin pie before mo. I had not ha<! a feed for over

three days and the of the food made me ravenous. The way 1 ?ot rid of the pie amazed them, and they got nip Mime more. "How lonpr sinpe you bad a feed, hobo?" gouipone asked, and 1 said three days. "Poor devil!" i- ii id somebody, and my 11111 LT vv ,i ~ • 111 e 11 i -11 e< I. I lite all they put iu'loii' 111... llnl loa~t |Mltatoe~. piei'i'S ot e.in-.i ki'. pumpkin pie and ho; eollee d i-.1 ppen led lis liy lllliuie. I i 111111 V , i' nil w ii'■ 11 ine food came I ju-t yatTh'd it. lik' l a <l"i: would -a liite and a jiiilji. \\''ll. I v\ n ~ sati-lied ni l.i-t. .i nd then t lie\ - I ,1 I l I'd M> 11 lie-I ion nie. I t o!il 1 ill' 111 'ill the truth and they were sympathetic. I told 1 hem of New Zealand, of the Maori, ot IJotorua. ami the eruption ot laravvera. of J-'ijj and the South Seas 'iii'l its wonders, ot" Africa. Australia, South America, and Kngland nml Ireland. 1 -uppo-e we yarne<l for two hours, and then the sergeant drove .lake and his chum into the streets again with goodhumoured chaff. "t i pt out, ye big. la/.y, fat Iri-h galoots!" lie roared, and. laughing, t hey went out on the hunt again. The orderly made me up a bed with overcoats and i couple of sacks, and I *lept right up to seven o clock, when 1 was wakened by the sergeant. "(let up and get a wash anil then you can have something to eat." You may bp sure I obpyed quickly. Hot water was laid on, ami 1 got into the bath and

<piicklv scrubbed 1 lie aocum 11 la t ions of [ time weeks nil nil-. I dro-.od and uciit i outside tn where the -ergeant was talkj ing to a group of | " 1 11i- is tlii" fellow. .Mirk." lie said. "Take him ami give liim a feed. and then takohini t■» I 11 ri - MeAulov. tii <• shipping ma-ter. ;iiiil it'll him to 11i111 a ship." j ■' I lore. v nun; ti'l 1-.w ." hi' -:i ill to mi'. | "go along willi .Mi: k. ;i nd lie will ti'll I von what to i|o. and if vou can't got a ■ — hi|» todav Mi'k will takr vou to Ma j Ki• 11 \ . in Catherine Slip. and you will

! 7he landsman will never understand the sailor, for sea life mal(es ; the sailor a race apart. "Old H ire li hisl(crs" served his time as ! boy, ordinary seaman, able seaman, bo'sun, second mate, first mate ; ,ird master in schooners, brigs, barques, barquentmes, full-rigged ! :.ivps and steam and motor vessels. Hetv'ing from ll)e sea, for ! c'. hlcen years lie (rained and coached many hundreds of men for ; all grades of certificates in the mercantile marine. He was until ! recently still on deck as a compass adjuster, but has been compelled ; to retire through Hl-hcalth. He is noil' resident in Auckland. ! Most of these stories are written in the first person and arc just ; as the}) Were told either on a ship's fore hatch or in a sailors' ! boardinghousc ashore.

Getting a Job j As lie t-liook hands with mo In* left . sonii't h i n g in my palm, and on getting outride I found it. to Ik; a live < 11> 11 nr noli'. . I thanked tlii'in all. ami. joining Miik. wo wont "lit to South Street and. entering a Mick ordered a sumptuous broakfa-t. Corn mush and; molasses, pork and beans, with hot corn- , oako and ooll'oo. I•"i11i-11i11lt with a smoke, wo M't sail for M.-Anli'v'- ollice. and to mv jov lie war, in. Mick introduced me; briefly. "A friend of the M'lgeant's. Chris. Got him away as qnirklv as |►<> — i 1 > 1 o."* I "(lood iron." .-aid C liri-. "I a in short olio man for tin- St. . She is hound to Buenos A\res and i-hoV sii|i|>os<' ( l to ho a hell ship. liiit -ho i- a 'joi«l -hip to : a good man. Don't go if \oii ran't do : your work, for she i- a ]> n ■ | >er blood-ship j fi>r n still' who's no miilor." "Oh. I'll gi ve lior a go," said I. and II <-at down. "(>no inonth's advance for the liiverj J'late trade," said t litis. | -aid: "All right," and hade good-bye to .Mick, who went awm wishing mo ir<m><l luek I

'"Have you any clothes?" said Chris. "So," .-aid I, "only what 1 stand up in." "And no money?" queried he. "Yes. live dollars." said I. "Well. I'll tell you what I'll do with you. I'll tnM \oii and advance you \our month'r. pay to get rags with if you will promise to pay me back. I have ne\er t i ii-ted a sailor before and probably inner will again. Will you go aboard today? She sails to-morrow morning." "I.'iglit you arc. Mi-ter." I said. "I'm thankful to \mi ami 1 will pay you back again a< m>i>n as | yel it." "Well, come along with me and we will get \ ou an out lit." At a .lew's shop he bought all I required — two i-uits of denims, guinboots. "donkey's breakfast," two blankets made of dog's wool, oakum socks. -Inh's and boots, oil-kins, muffler and .-mi'- west er. two shirts and some cheap underclothing, some pipes, matches ami tobacco, and sailors bag. i was set. Chris hail a peculiar method of dealing with I lie Hebrew. He a-keil tor what iie wanted and did not ask the price, but heaping the things altogether he said: "Twenty dollars." "Oh. have a heart, Mr. McAuley," wailed the Jew. rolling his eyes around. "I hat lot is worth .'!•') dollars, not a cent le--." I weni y dollars." roared Chris. "Hurrv up and put them in the cart." ""h. Mr. Chris, you wouldn't rob a poor man?' said the Jew. "Tliirtv dollars. a In I I \ ill 10-e at dat." •'Twenty-two dollars," said Chris. "\ou darned old e\il -inclliiig Hebrew. You would rob a corpse of the gold in its teeth. < *omc oil. I can't, wait all dav. I his man has to go aboard the St. ."

"May the God of Abraham help him den!" said the Jew, looking at me with pitying eyes. "Twenty-seven dollar, poor fellow."

Ami so tli© <lucl went on and they finally compromised on 2~> dollars, tlie .Tew throwing; in a walking stick and a rolled gold tiepin. "All right. young fellow, we will now get aboard and I will introduce you to the mate."' So. getting into the express, we proceeded to Pier 11, East River, where the ship lay. She was a large, handsome, full-rigged ship of 1400 tons, and the riggers were busy bending her totalis and courses. Chris took me aboard and introduced me to the mate, a hefty lump of a man. about "iff Klin, and whose weight might lie about lHOlb. He had a rather dour expression, and as Chris spoke to him he looked me all o\ i■ r. up a nil <lo\vn. "lie i- a sailor,'' said Chris. "If he i-n't he soon will be." sa id the mat' 1 . When he -aid that Chris took him ou one -ide and I heard him say: "A friend of the sergeant. Mister. It might pay you to be good to him." "Is that m>!" queried the mate. '"Then it makes a difference," and coining over to me he said: "(let your gear al>oard, and what is your name?'' he asked. "Bob. sir." said I. "Well. Hob. if you can do your work you will be all right, and if you can't, well, hell will lxj a home compared to this ship." "I can do my work. sir. and if you work ou those lines with me I shall be sat i-fied." "Can you sew?" said he. "Jf you can. you will be lucky." '"Yes. sir," 1 replied. "I can sew, and also cut out a sail if necessary." "The hell you can!"' said he. "Well, get forward and we'll see what you can do."

I took mr gear forward and was about to place it in the forecastle when the mate came along.

"Look, voting fellow, I am asking you again. Can you sew sails? _ If you can vou can take the sailmakei s bo it 1, an< I will expect you to be able to do work. If you can't, get into the tocslc. But don't* try and fool me, for I am a bad man."

Then I told him exactly what I could do, and he looked at me keenly. "You have an English ticket? he asked, and I said: "Y e<s, sir, I have an English first mate s ticket, and an American mate's license. "Then you can navigate. How far have von pone in that?' When I told him 1 could do a master's work easily, and most other problems in navigation, he stared. "Well, Tin damned!" said he. 'We might <1 o bu-iness together. 1 want to pet all my licenses. Anyway go into the sailmaker s room. ' That afternoon the captain came aboard. It seemed that he cut the sails for the sailmaker and the sailmaker made them up. 1 here was a machine aft for plain sewing, and usually the Old Man broke one or two sailors into the seam sewing or oversewing of old sails. That afternoon the captain and the mate tried me out and the Old Man said to me: "I will sign you on as sailmaker, and vou take 110 watch, but work from six to five. Your pay is 30 dollars. Are you satisfied?" I said *'\es." Doped or Drunk Next morning the crew came aboard and tlie second mate with them. Two of them were either doped or dead drunk and the rest were pretty full. Ihey were met on the gangway by the mate, who looked them all over. When the second mate came, the mate looked keenly at him. "Same boardinghouse, Mister?" he asked, and the second mate said "Yes." "Well, Mister," said the mate, "you are either (second mate here, or ordinary seaman. No half-way house. Take your choice." "Second mate, sir," he replied, and thus the matter stood. "Well, come aft." said the mate, "and see your berth, and then go forward and pet the crowd out, and get the lines in. The tow boat is alongside. And remember, the sailmaker is my pigeon, not yours. Also last man out gets the boot. Do you get that?" "Yes, I get it all, and I think you will be satisfied," returned the second mate. "I will keep them in their place and I will keep mine."

"If you do that," said the mate, "all will be well.''

A few minutes later the second mate went forward to turn the men to work. There were two fo'c'sles, with a connecting door between.

"Turn to!" he roared. Evidently no notice was taken of his order and he repeated it. There wa~ about a foot of snow on the deck and it was now snowing lightly.

"Turn to!" lir- roared again. and this tinio lie jumped into the foVsle and grablied the lir.-t man lie cam." across and tlirew him out on deck. Ilu~hin" back, lie <1 id the same with another. Curses and yells came from the fo'c'sle, ami pandemonium raped. Then the mate appeared with a <-h<>;t bludgeon in his hand. Hitting indN<rim'mately. he made his way into the foY'sle. boon everv man was 011 deck and they were divided into two gang<. one a/t and one forward. of tlirm were bleeding, and some \--creeling :11<. 11 the deck half full of dupe a nd drink. An Evil Morning '■Cct along. there. Single mi the lines.'' Curbing and 1-rwnihled along the deck. Two were -".ill unconscious 011 the fo'cVde <lo<•!<. but tiiev were evidently doped. It was now snowing har<l and bitterly cold, but tliev were kept at it, with no oilskins or s-eaboots and they soon were wot through with the slush and muck and sleet. They were a miserable-looking crowd, and the mate's boot fcoon picked out the slackers. Soon she was clear of the piers, and then the mate pave an order.

"Bend the de gallant sails, sailmaker and you, Mister, get your gang aloft and help him."

The sails were dragged out of the sail locker, and as we were getting them out the captain said:

"Bettor bend royals a* well, Mister, and gallant staysails." Now we had a treat. (Jantlines wore sent aloft and, beaten with fists and Inlaying pins, the lialf-dninken crowd were driven aloft to bend the sail*. Xone was spared, and the mates did not spare themselves. Bv 2 p.m. all were bent and all hands came down for dinner. This was a pood meal, and sort of repaid for the bad times of the morning. A full hour was given, and then all hands on dc-k ajrain to clear her up. The tow boat was still ahead and as she was- clear of Sandy Honk orders were given to put sail on lier. We did not know what sort of a crowd we had yet. but. as the mate said, if thev were, not sailors he would soon make them. Two men were kicked away from the wheel, unable to steer, and sail was put on the skip and tlie tow rope cast off. ♦ * * ♦ Next Week: HORROR ON THE HELL SHIP.