“NOT SO GOOD”

Evening Star, Issue 22524, 17 December 1936, Page 6

“NOT SO GOOD”

A SAILOR’S LIFE GLAD TO RETURN HOME • Three wealthy young men, tired of “ sunbathing, cocktail parties, and dances,” went to sea for adventure. They found—hard work. Now they are homo in England again—cured. Stanley Gordon, aged 18, William Hughes, aged 19, and Reginald Morgan, aged 23. are the three men. All come from Shoreham-on-Sea, Sussex, where a Sunday Express representative saw Stanley Gordon soon after their ship came home. He said: “We joined a cargo steamer of 200 tons. “ I signed on as cook, Hughes as a deck hand, and Morgan as a fireman. “ We were to receive 25s a week pay, and provide our own food. “ We none of us had any idea of what life at sea was really like. My father opposed the idea, and offered to let me go for a cruise in a liner if I would give it up. I could kick myself for refusing. “When we sailed from Shoreham I had to cook some potatoes for the captain’s dinner. It was the first time I had attempted to cook anything, and tho potatoes turned out as black as coals after I had boiled them. “ I lost the job as cook. The captain was decent about it, and said ha would give me work to_ do on deck. My work seemed to consist of washing paint, and doing all sorts of jobs. We were only allowed four hours off duty and then four on deck again day and night. There was no rest, and nearly all th© time we were seasick. “ Morgan had an even worse time, for he was down in the stokehold working in the intense heat. It made him seriously ill, so he came home after a fortnight, but Hughes and I decided to stay for the two months. “Then I was told to go into the stokehold. I had no idea that th© work could be so hard. “ We went to Belgium, France, Holland, and Denmark, and then to London. “ In the forecastle where, we lived we painted our bunks with white paint and made them look quite smart, but the other men we sarcastic about it all. “We don’t want any more of that kind of life at sea. Perhaps conditions are better in big ships, but I think a cruise in a liner would be a more pleasant way of seeking adventure.”