Cuffers Spun in the Dog Watch

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 286, 3 December 1938, Page 2 (Supplement)

Cuffers Spun in the Dog Watch

(No. 9—Part 2.) HORROR On The HELL SHIP

IN F.ast River and the Lower Bay there had been considerable quantities of ice, but now we wrrr past Sandy Hook we were pretty clear of it. At 6 p.m. the watches were picked and one watch went below.

II was the middle of winter, and we "■'w belore the nor'-wester, which sent I lie thc iiiomet er down to about l."» devices below zero. I was in no watch bill worked ii 11 day. a nil I had a good tune. There were 2.1 all told -captain, two mutes, sailmaker, carpenter, cook,

'""j!" etc ward and IS nands forward. Ml" was a lovely vessel with six top'lll yards and six gallant yards, and ro\aU and main skysail. She carried topmast stunsails, and when siie had all sail set she was a sigtit for the gods. Her lilies were perfect, with just, sufficient sheer arifl flair to make her a good mmi boat and to enhance her appearance. I lie creAV forward were a nondescript crowd of all sorts-—sailors, lumbermen, farmers and wasters of other sorts. '1 here were only eight seamen among them, and the rest had to be brought up to the mark.

The mate, true to his word, did his best to make sailors of them, and the seamen among the crowd unconsciously helped him.

Six a.m. All bit nd s on deck, nnd right up to 4 p.m. when the watch went 1)0low. The lubber* soon learned to ulcer and a large compass card wan put into the fo'c'sle to assist the hoodlums to learn to box the cornpa.su. They had either to learn or be booted. Last man out of the fo'c'sle got the boot, and bint, man in the rigging when sail was being taken in got a rap over the toes

i It was the custom in the days ! j of sail /ov"' both watches to gather ! j either on the fore or main hatch ' J in the second dog rcatch. (fi p.m. ' | to 8 p.m.) in e-rrhmi</c experiences | J nr tell stones. These stones were | I all cnlleil "Cuffers," whether true J ■ or otherwise, for there was always ! i some Doubting Thomas to chal- ! • lenge veracity. ! ! It is a pit;/ that so few of i these stories hare been preserre!, ! i for at least they vera inter- ! • csting and in lots of cases flare ' » ♦/(<? hoys and you n t/er seamen a « j standard of pluclc and endurance • | to lire up to. It iens the pleasure 1 J of the writer of "Cuffers Spun J ! in the F)og Wat eh" to attend at [ J hundreds of these gatherings. [ J These stories ran ye from life in • J snows and schooners to the lofty ; [ squarc-riggrd skysuil yarders— ; J in fact, life as it teas in the J ! golden days of sail in nearly ! ! every type of ship afloat.

Willi n belaying pin. Once two ot them attacked t lie iniiti' ii lid t he light that eventuated whs soinct hing to lie remembered. Meeting one square in (lie eyes with his right lift, he swung mid caught the other fellow in the jaw with his left, downing him. By this time there was quite a crowd around liini. hut of these the mute took 110 notice hut proceeded to |iut th<- hoot into the fellow that was down. The other man again attacked, only to |)p downed, and he also gut the boot severely. Then three of the crowd rushed, ft was wonderful to watch the mate. Springing to the rail, he grabbed an iron belaying pin and the first man received his quietus across the head. Down he went. The second man received a crack that would have split an earthenware sewer pipe. He was out. The third man got the mate's fist straight in the mouth and. spitting out a mouthful of teeth and blood, retired from the fray. "Take these dogs into the foVsle!" roared tlie mate, and, as he passed me in the deckhouse where I was working, he said to me quietly : "Come aft. Sails. One of these suckers has put a knife into me." I went, aft following the mate, and he stumbled and fell. I immediately picked him up, but lie had fainted. I could not carry him. and a man coming down from aloft, seeing what was the matter, ran forward swiftly. I ran aft as quickly »s I could and yelled for the

captain :■ 11<1 the second mate. The captain an-wcred me and I rushed back, only in time to prevent two of the crew (who hill] rushed :i ft ) from tin >wing the ma I c owrboaid. They had drained liiin nearly to I lie rail and were anoiit to dump the unci ui-i.-ioiis man over the side. The captain and the second mate coining, we suuii gut the better of the two men. and we got (he mate into his bunk. lie had a bad stall in the shoulder and had lost a lot of blood, and this with a huge lump on the back of his head comprised his injuries. I quickly bound bis arms behind his back and the wound was closed, and I quickly washed it and sewed it up whilst he was .unconscious. Then we bound him up, and it was while we were doing this that lie recovered consciousness. I took his watch that night and on until he was better. Bat the Food Was Good When he came on deck for the first time he said little, but three or four davs after he caught one of the men who had attempted to put him overboard, and he gave him the thrashing of his life. Again was the boot and the belaying pin in evidence: black eyes aud split lips were the order of the day. Never ft day passed but someone got it. All this time I was giving him iiistruc tion in navigation, in return for which he promised to get mv discharge in Buenos Ay res for me. The only bright spot in that ship was the food, which was plentiful and good, and well cooked. The cook was a neutral and was good and clean; he prepared food alike for all. Many were the plans made to kill

By Captain R. McKenzie Cliffe

7he landsman will never understand the sailor, for sea life maf?es the sailor a race apart. "Old Wire VV served his lime as boy, ordinary seaman, able seaman, bo'sun, second male, first mate ard master in schooners, brigs, barques, barquentines, full-rigged ships and steam and motor vessels. Retiring from the sea, for e'jhteen years he trained and coached many hundreds of men for all grades of certificates in the mercantile marine. He n>as until recently still on deck as a compass adjuster, but has been compelled to retire through ill-heallh. He is notv resident in Auckland. Most of these stories are written in the first person and are just as they Were told either on a ship's fore hatch or in a sailors' boardinghouse ashore.

the mate and second mate, especially the latter. it was not the seamen among the crowd that tried to make trouble, and the officers after a time seemed to come to this conclusion, for after about "0 days or so out these eight seamen were made quartermasters and did wheel and seamen's dutv onlv. I hey were put on watch and watch, so

now there were 10 labourers or nondescripts who were not seamen who worked from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m, j; «nd stood watch and watch all night/ This was iniquitous, for on each alternate night they only had four hours' sleep with 20 hours' work, so they went aft to the captain and complained.

"Well," lie said, "what the hell arc you doing on my ship? You come here to be sailors and to do sailors' work, and you can't do it. You are hoboes and if you say much more I will cut your tucker down. (!et to hell out of this!" anil he booted them off the poop. They had no redress. They were at the mercy of the captain and ollicers. Then the starboard fo'c'sle was cleared and the eight seamen were put there, so seamen and hoboes were separated.

When we got into fine weather the labourers stood collashey watch in the night time, and could be called at any time. The second mate annoyed them nil lie could, and they were worked all day and worried all niprht. Theirs was indeed a hell of a life. Hooted hither and thither from pillar to post and with no redress they became sullen. About this time we were running heavy and all hands were standing by the halyards. One man in particular was standing by the main royal halyards.

He had on seaboots. r»ilskins and sou'wester, and was hanging on as well as lie could. He was one of the hoboes. The vessel was shipping heavy water and he was trying to dodge the seas. The second mate had cursed him and told him to stand by, and the poor chap M as ti ving hard to do it, but lie was new to the game. An extra heavy sea came along and, while the second mate was cursing him, it struck him and over the side ho went. He had no chance, poor fellow, hampered as he was with liis heavy seaboots and oilskins. Soon he was astern, and the brute of a second mate yelled to (lie captain: "He is off to hell with all his regalia on!" The captain just looked at him and did not answer him. but turned and walked :ift. Nothing could be done for him. We could not bring the ship to the wind, and it might be hours before we made back to him, so he just had to go. Jfe had no chance, poor devil. The mate, in the meantime, had been nutking good progress with his studies, and at the end of the 40 days had mastered all of the navigation necessary to pass for an American master's license. He was grateful to me and I had a good time, but I was sick of the. continual bullying and rows. One evening in the mate's room I told hint so, and his answer to me was peculiar. "Well, von see. Sails, it is like this. Ths ship has to pay, and with a good crowd of sailors we could carry canvas and make a passage, but with this crowd of hoboes we cannot carry on and we really lose bv having them aboard. I'nder the laws laid down by the shipping masters and boarding-house keepers

of Xew York, we have to take any men they send us. and if we complain they wili hoodoo the ship and she gets 110 crew. -And we get these swine, the Takings and sweepings of dope and opium dens, and they are put aboard drunk and doped and we are expected to make a jtassage with them, \\ell, we have to lick them into shape, and I suppose we get brutalised in the process. Anywav, there is no other answer to the problem that I can see, only to whale hell out of them and get as much work as you can out of them. Perhaps some dav they will get me. Who knows —and who cares? Anyway, this talk leads nowhere. Let's see wimt old 'Thorn' has to say about navigation. You sure arc a good teacher, Sails, and 1 am grateful." Of the captain I saw little. TTe cut three royals out for me, and with the aid of the machine 1 soon had the sewing done. He then assisted me to rope them and, while doing it. lie asked me numerous questions. I told him all about myself and my trips as second mate of American and Xova Scotian and English ships. He was interested. Knew New Zealand "That was sure a good job you put up on the mate when you sewed him up," he said. "Where did you learn that?" I told him where I hud learned it, and we used to chat about New Zealand. "I know Auckland." he said, "and Tf know Captain Swain and the Alice Barque and I know Captain Chadbourne of the Elinor Vernon, and 1 know the Ma rv Mussel and the Herbert luller and the Susequehanna. You've been in all of these ships. Well, you've had good training." T told him how Captains Swain and Chadbourne had earned my gratitude and he seemed pleased. Then 1 thought the time opporjfrfne for asking for my discharge in IJrienos Ayres if 1 could get an officer's job. "I like you captain, personally, and the mate, but I don't like this continual rowing and lighting. Can it not be done without?" Then he gave me nearly word for word th-» answer the mate had given. "This is a lovely ship, captain," I said. "I have never sailed on a better, and she is in good nip alow and aloft, but please think over what 1 have said." I worked hard for him and he appreciated it. He was a sailor in every branch and a fair navigator. We were now .">() days at sea. T?igging. gear and sails had been overhauled, iron chipped and painted, yards scraped and oiled; she was a si-jiit for a sailor. Decks had been cleaned and scraped, boats and bulwarks painted. We had a lot of lipht weather and the second mate had been hazing the crew a lot. He had even started on the seamen and he had struck one of them and then booted hiiu when he was down. In Xew

York this man had lived in the same boardinghouse with, the eight seamen and had been "cobbers" with them. Now lie was a top dog he rounded on them worse than either captain or mate. Always on the prowl he was spying and listen ing everywhere. His old "c obbers" he abused and they did not love him for it, but he went the limit when lie struck the man at the wheel. At eight bells I heard two of them speak to him and. one said: '"We will get you sometime, you lousy son of a —!'' This was ju>t outside inv door, but T did not look to see who the men were. They were right: he was a louse. He was for the top dog all the time, and he had no sense of fitness or justice. A crawler himself, he wished everyone to crawl to him. He did not interfere with me. only once, and I looked him up and down and then turned my back on him, not even taking the trouble to answer him. Well, I turned ill that night, but roused out by: "All hands on deck to save ship:"' and tumbling out under bare poles I found she had been struck aback. Luckily we got her off before the wind without losing anv spars, but it was a near go to being dismasted. The squall continuing, we stripped her to topsails and then turned in. At 4 a.m. I was called again, and it was the mate this time. "Come out, Sail-s!" said he. "The second mate cannot be found."' The ship was searched by all hands, but no second mate; he had disappeared as utterly as if the earth had swallowed him. "(Jut any ideas. Sails?" said the caplain. and [ told him about the conversation I had heard. "Let Up On the Men" "Well. I warned him." said the Old Alan, "but he knew it all. Well, he dges now. anyway. Oh. Sails, you will have to take his watch now. Let up on the men gradually, not t<><> sudden." The ship was now clean, and the mate put all hands oil watch and watch, and in due course we arrived at Buenos A vies Roads —07 da vs out from Kew York. We lay there for two days and then a tugboat came out and towed us into Dock Xo. 1. and we began to discharge. Here all hands, seamen and hoboes, deserted, and I asked the Old Man for my discharge. "I will give it to you in a few davs' time. I think I can get you into the pilotage service here. I have a friend here and I will see what I can do. I am a man of my word, vou will see Sails." True to his word, he got me a job and gave me my discharge and. paid rue at the rate of 40 dollars per month. I shook hands with mate and master and went ashore to take up my duties in the pilotage service of Buenos Avres #