VOLUNTEER SAILORS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18294, 10 January 1923, Page 9

VOLUNTEER SAILORS.

FINDING THEIR SEA LEGS.

INCIDENTS OF A VOYAGE.

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE.

If it takes six months to make & soldier i how long does it take to make a sailor The answer, as proved by officers of the %nion Steam Ship Company, is " Six weeks." Of course the professional soldier becomes vitriolic at the suggestion that a; real soldier can be produced in anything - under six years, and he is right. The sailor of the Royal Navy is rather more on the side of fact when he rises in his . wrath to object to the six weeks theory in respect to the making of a sailor. But both cases are to be considered from the point of view of urgent necessity, and so regarded, the officers of the mercantile marine cf New Zealand must be given high credit for managing to carry on efficient steamer services with the raw labour available. The volunteers also are to be congratulated for the manner in which they have adapted themselves to their new occupation. Many of these men have now been sufficiently long at sea to be classed' as competent seamen and firemen, but their first voyages are still an event of yesterday, and the tale of their initial experiences can stiL' be told with gusto and not a little mirth. Mirth there was, and elderly captains .will long have joy in telling yarns of their first tripa with landsman. One of these ex-landsmen yesterday related the experiences of a couple of voyages. What one might then have de- j scribed as the deck "staff" of the steamer in question included an exImperial officer possessing medals to prove the quality of his active service, who has been one of the restless ones all his life and has wandered in many lands, a trio of ex-Royal Navy men, a baker's roundsman, the manager of a picture theatre, a boy of 15 just from school, a former member of a musical comedy company, a shop assistant and men who had worked on farms. Down, below among the stokehold " staff " were bushmen who found the job of firing in an atmosphere of 128 degrees rather trying after the cool fragrance of the bush.

The Sufferings oi " Old Eube." " Old Rube," who was frcm the country, suffered from continuous sea-sickness. He remained in his " bed " throughout the trip and when, as the boat ..was Hearing the heme port, he got up to shave a ferocious beard, he represented something unique on the high seas. He did not sign on again. He declared that he would never put foot on another ship so long as ho lived. He displayed a forceful vocabulary when a gay youth sang " A Life on the Ocean Wave." 1 " Bube," however, was the only member of the crew who did not find his sea legs within a day or two. The first morning out the captain was made to realise quite clearly that he had a new kind of crew, for when he appeared a deck hand came up and affably wished him; good morning and expressed the opinion that the day would be fine. The "old man" seemed to be rather astonished. Later, when some work in connection with the wireless aerials was in progress, one of the seamen informed him that the" wire was caught in the " chimney." On all sides one heard of "upstairs " and " downstairs," and of "left ' and " right." But a man from a dairy farm was to have his special opportunity. 1 A pig broke loose and was exploring the ship when ha met the farmer.' Here at least the landsman " knew how " and the pig was under arrest without a moment's delay.

Vagaries (A Steering.

The steering during the first day or two was so extraordinary that even the good ship seemed to be surprised. The wake was-- described .as --resembling the movements of a snake with a couple of knots in it. Steersmen showed a strong tendency to try to follow the needle of the compass, but after junior officers had done duty at the wheel for a few days, two or three expert steersmen were located and all went well with the ship which, in every other respect, was rapidly finding herself. There was none of the practical joking of the kind which used to be carried on at the expense of army recruits because, of course, there were horses to have their noses wiped and their teeth cleaned, and in any case, none- of the newcomers, excepting the ex-navy men, had sufficient .knowledge, and they knew better. They were regarded as oracles deemed to know everything there was to be known of the wavs of a ship at sea. Their , stories of H.M.S. this and that were impressive, but the effect was spoiled one day by a raw country youth who remarked that the last ship he was on was " H.M.S. Hardship."

Jokes of the Voyage. This youth was not the one who, when he was drawing his bedding from the storeman, asked if he could not have a couple of sheets. The storeman is understood to have asked him if he would not like also a hot water bag, some bath salts and a suit of purple pyjamas. A man from nowhere, who knew all about the use of sheets, told the boy that he could stop the blankets tickling his chin by wearing a sweat cloth round his neck. One day, early in the trip, a, man was told to read the log. Believing in the thoroughly . sound principle of never admitting ignorance ha went off to do the job and later he was found endeavouring to uncover the deep-sea sounding machine. Some of the men had ideas about food quite unusual for the sea. "The eternal meat would have made me ill," said one. " The food was very good, but imagine eating chops for breakfast. I took porridge artd fruit." One can imagine what the. regular sea dog would have said to a breakfast of porridge and fruit. As to wages, they . were described as " marvellous money. '

A Verry Happy Family. <! W«> were a very happy family," said the speaker, " and most of us enjoyed the experience. But when arriving at ports -we must have appeared raw. We were rather ' gapv,' you understand. We had the point of view of tourists. We- were fascinated with places in the tropics and Cook's tourists could not have gazed over the rail more eagerly. Tell me," he concluded. " what is Rangitoto ? Is it a sacred rite or an invocation. The New Zealanders among us have talked of nothing else for the last week. Any hour of the day or night on the homeward run one could hear the word " Rangitoto.'' It would appear that cur young countrymen who have gone to sea of late have a " home-for-the-holidays " feeling as their ship steams back again.