AN HOUR ON A TRAMP.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1048, 10 February 1911, Page 2

AN HOUR ON A TRAMP.

"•'.'- —r —-9— —— ;'-■ , .-! THE ..FIREMEN'S :-FHEE: AND EASYy ~ "Thafs L .ai.pfetty, tough-looking .-.team;'.', suggested a newspaper man -to the,chief engineer of a tramp steamer,] as the two leaned against the .forward .rail of the bridge deck of the vessel watching a scrimmage, in which nearly a dozen halfdressed, lialf-intoxicated firemen were engaged in, front, of- the forecastle, door.: "Oh, that is aisere trifle,", was the nonchalant reply, "they are. only joking now. They have only started to. cut but their, five-shilling; allowance...Before ;.ten "to-i night, they will, fight ,; in earnest. There will probably: lie' plenty '.of 'blood spilled,, but in the morning they will, all be as good pals as ever." "The British fireman is a queer combination of good and bad," mused the engineer as he Eased vacantly at the struggling crew. "He loves a fight, but ho bears no .malice.. In:fact,.he seems to prize the scars of battle." .Matters had proceeded' so far when the melco. came ,to an abrupt end. : Two tempestuous' spirits had been silenced .in the outburst and these were led away into the forecastle, by willing, if not gentle, hands. "They'll probably have a sing-song now," remarked the engineer, and no sooner had he spoken tha» a tall, big-boned Londoner struck up an extravagantly sentimental ditty. The' silence was that of a church until the end of the song. Hencore! hericofe! demanded tho enthusiastic- audience, and without more ado tho Londoner reeled y off,"a. "pathetic" ballad, which told pf ah old, old mother waiting at home for her longabsent sailor boy. Six songs tho entertainer sang before lie was allowed to stop, and there had beeh/only the interruption. The offender against forecastle etiquette .was summarily dealt with. The. nature of- the offence was not observed from tho bridge deck, but the order of the self-constituted'judge' was to "plug him, Paddy." Paddy was quick: to exe- ; cute the order, one- well-directed blow sending tho'disturber of hamiony.rolling into the starboard scuppers. : Peace'restored, the elocutionist of.the forecastle, a slight medium-sized . man -held sway. Sorao "winey" extracts from the Persian philosopher, .Omar Khayyam, were followed by racy'selection trom the verse of the Australian, Ogitrie. "That man) has a past," said the engineer. l "He is/well educated and gives moro trouble /than any of the rougher class.: With tact.you can handle the ordinary'fireman. Ho is u simple-hearted chap, with all his roughness; and bluster, but a man like that chap who is reciting causes no'end .'of trouble."' ■■'', . ' ' ' ;A party of sailors,' beef-laden, lumbered on to the ship' at this stage and pandemonium feigned again. . The musical evening gave way to'..•:raucous shouts,curses and blows, the lamb-like men' of. a few minutes before becoming veritable demons. ■" .. ■-.-■' ' .'" ' . ' .'■'.- 'Tve tried all ways of treating these chaps since I've been at sea," said the' euginecr'as. the fight proceeded, "and: I find that the only thing to do is to treat them as they are used to being treated. Give them their allowance of, a few .shillings when they reach: port,, let 'em fight if they don't make too,much noise at it, act squarely by them, /no matter; how harsh you may have' to bej and be a man of your word and things go , pretty, well. I once tried giving, them £1 apiece when they were at a : certain port.' : ing out the money I told them I didn't expect to see them again that day, but impressed on them that if this treatment was to be repeated they would have to act square by me, and do their work next day. Well,' I didn't see them that day or for four days. Before the ?• sailed • I had to go round and arrest the wholo crowd in the various pubs, and haul, them on board. That was the,last fit of generosity that I had." -V ' •'-.'.' The fight and general pandemonium was raging with undiminished yisour when the pressman climbed, over tho side of (lie vessel and on to the wharf. ',"I'll just have a word with these lambs before I turn in," were the, parting words of the engineer. "They've hau enough sport for one night—Ta Ta." '