SAILORS DODGES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVII, Issue 252, 25 October 1893, Page 2

SAILORS DODGES.

Sailors who sham illness as a means of shirking work and weather are said to be afflicted with "Cape Horn Fever." Sailors of the merchant service do nofc now, as formerly, geb a daily allowance of gro". A certain quantity is usually carried on board, however, for medicinal purposes, and an oldsea tricklis that of shamming ill for the purpose of obtaining a tot of the much-covertecl liquor. The dodge has been overdone, however, and masters are nowadays rather chary of administering this kind of physic, unless in extreme cases, preferring to give some of the disagreeable nostrums with which every ship's medicine chest is supplied. It is, indeed, wonderful and nofc unauiusing to note in some cases the glaring difference in the duration of similar complaints under the different treatments. Shamming ill to obtain a discharge from a ship is a trick practised by sailors all the world oven Jack is often seized with a desire to leave a ship in a port where he is not entitled to be paid off. The usual course under such circumstances is to desert, but sometimes the object prompting the desire is worthless, unless the sailor can show a clear discharge, or, perhaps, have money by him. The sick dodge is then resorted to with zest, the ' sick" man giving all the trouble he can to his superiors, until he obtains his discharge, and, perhaps, admission to an hospital, from which, however, he speedily emerges a whole man after the departure of his'ship. It Bometimes happeus that a Bailor signs arfcicles for a round voyage without auy intention of going farther iu the ship than the first port to which she ia bound. In Buoh cases Jack endeavours to get as near an equivalent to his earnings as possible by taking the full "advanoe' allowed before sailing, and afterwards obfcaiuing from fche slop cheat on board aa much tobacco and olothing aa he ia able, without exciting the master'a auspicious of his intention. Upon arrival in port ha will sometimes stay on board a few diys before deserting, in fche hope of obtlining another advance of oaeh, bub wh.ther suooeßsful or nob in this he generally leaves behind a very Bmall bilaaoa of wages earned. Upon the engasement of a ship's orew, it is customary to issue fc_ eaoh member th-reof who requires it an advance note that is au order on the shipowner for a portion of the seameu'd wages t> ba paid in ad vanes to whosoever he elects, within a speoified ti me after the ship has sailed, and always provided fche seaman proceeds to sea ia the ship. A frequent practioa wifch some of fche more dishonest mariners is . > tead^r thesa noses to creditors in payment for board and lodging, chthiug, etc., eid.avouring oftea to obtain a cash bilance, and bheu wilfully neglect to join the ship. From various caus:s ib oftea happens that a sailor fi.ds himself unible to produce, upon his applying for a berth, a satisfactory certificate of discharge from his last ship ; and as ifc is customary wifch officers engaging men fco require' fche production of this paper for examination, the unscrupulous tar will endeavour to either beg, borrow, or buy [oie from somj other sailor a3 dishonest a* himself, aod upou hia next application will tender ib as his own. As this m.de of obtaining employment necessitates the fraudulent holder of the ticket signing on ahip's artioles under the name of the person to whom it waß issaed by the B >ard of Trade, it is a punishable offence by law ; but, oinsidering the frequency of the prastio.?, very few of theae forgeriea are detected or taken notice of. Ships arriving io home ports after lengthy voyages are always besieged by the runnera or agents of tho various aeamau'j outfitters of the place. The competition is so keen amongst these people that they often undertake to supply ou credit a certain amount of clothing to the seaman, to be]paid for on the discharge of the crew, which event, in some cases, doss nob take place till a few days after arrival. Should an outfitter succeed in effecting a good sale on these conditions he arranges for a watch to be kept upon the parties to whom he has given credit; but notwithstanding this precaution he sometimes finds before pay-day that his vigilance has been outwitted by the vanishing propensities of his slippery customers. Without attempting to justify such acta of dishonesty on the part of the seaman, ib must in fairness to him be stated that mean advantage is often taken of his circumstances (such, for instance, as arriviug in port without presentable clothing in which to go ashore "■ to charge extortionate prices for the articles supplied under the foregoing conditions, and that it is often alone the knowledge of this fact which suggests the attempt to eyade payment. A good-sizA bag of clothing is alwaya a recommendation for a sailor in search of a boarding house, inasmuch as the boirdiugmaster bold3 it as security u .til the debts incurred by its owner nre paid. With this knowledge the impcciriious sailor in s arch of lodgings, whose wardrobe is i-suili-i- nt to swell out his bag to tae required dimiusions, will fill tho lower part of his sailc_inva3 rsc.ptaols with any old o_st-cff apparel he can obtain, eometimes even utilizing the dissected parts of old straw bede, and place the b.st of his clothing in the top fco present to the supcrfijial observer an appearauce of genuineness. This trick is termed amongst sailors ' making up a bag," and is often re-orted to witb no more dishonest intention than to obfciin board and lodging on credit until employment is obtained. It ie, however, sometimos practised with slight variations by dishonest Bailors, who are well provided with clothing, &i, but who wish to obtain a few days' beard and lodging without payment. Tbe first care of a sailor intending to commit this fraud is to place all his good clothing in security, and keep the knowledge of ita existence from the per-on upou whom he intends to prey. He then "makes up " another bag, placing near the mouth thereof a few articles cf little valuf, and after lodging, eating, and drink ing a few days on the strength of this fraudulent pack, disippears, leaving thc bag of rubbish to meet the wrathful gaze of the deluded hos"-, whenever thnt worthy's .suspicions prompt bim to make an iavestigatnn. Although the foregoing are dodges constantly b-.ing practised by sailors in the merchant service, it must b:. remem')(i\.d that the whole fntcrnity are not " tarred with on" brush." Fortuuat-ily, the perpetr-itors cf such frauds «re in tiri minority, d-ceit not being one of tlie average .r'lor,' character!', tics.