HINTS TO SHIPMASTERS.

A Master in charge of a tramp steamer in these days must, if he wishes for any comfort in life, take good care of himself, for the pressure and hurry which is inseparable from his position, combined with the responsibilities and anxieties of his calling, put a very great strain upon him, and will, in time, unless he takes special care, have a serious effect on his health; this is more particularly the case with men of the nervous temperament. It cannot be expected that in this age, when so many thousands of people on shore fail from overwork and "high pressure," steamship masters, who as a class, are overworked and harrassed to a serious extent, should altogether escape. Again, unless a shipmaster takes an interest in the health, comfort, and well-being of his crew, he, in the first place, neglects one of his duties, and, secondly, sows the seeds of discomfort and annoyance to himself. Let us consider his duties to himself personally.

First, then, he must prepare himself to undergo, periodically, the discomfort of want of proper rest and irregularity in times of meals; he may, for instance, not be able to leave the bridge for over forty-eight hours or more on a stretch, and, of course, any shipmaster who may read this will know that this is no uncommon occurrence; during this time he may be unable to get regular meals, and what he does get may have to be eaten in a hurry and at an anxious time when he cannot properly enjoy and digest it.

A time like this may be followed by a period of rest, when the days will hang heavily on his hands, and he will be tempted to long afternoon sleeps merely to get through the weary hours.

Now, as a course of this kind of thing is bound, unless care be exercised, to act unfavorably on the digestion and bring on some form of dyspepsia, so also the nights and days of great anxiety and moments of great strain will, besides increasing the dyspeptic tendency, be apt to bring on nervousness in some form or other. It is a fact that in these times, and often from want of attention to health, nearly every shipmaster long in harness is more or less nervous.

There are people in the present day who have actually talked of making their chief engineer (who exercises his special trade at sea or on shore as suits himself and is in no sense a seaman) the master of the vessel, and turning the shipmaster into a mere pilot. Those who talk in this way forget that to do this the responsibility must be shifted on to the engineer. Of course such a change as this cannot happen, the country would not stand it; but I merely mention it to show the vast amount of ignorance there is, even among those who should be well informed, as to the real strain and responsibility on the modern shipmaster.

The master then, if anxious to do the best for himself, should, if possible, be a total abstainer, for two reasons: first, because, as he will be obliged to be irregular in his feeding, alcohol in any form will do him harm and tend to augment the dyspepsia. Secondly, because, often in times of great mental strain, combined with exposure, a glass of spirits will give great temporary relief (which is of itself a dangerous fact for a weak-minded man), but this will always be followed by depression, and will in reality be doing great harm instead of lasting good. Spirituous liquor may be necessary for a few, but these should use it under medical advice if at all. It is a hard thing for many men to give up their grog, but there is not a man of any experience in the merchant service who has not seen its blasting effects on many a master and officer. It is almost impossible to find a substitute for it which shall recommend itself to anyone who has really a liking for it, about the only things being coffee, lime juice, or lemonade and ginger ale. So-called temperance drinks are all of them very nasty stuff, besides containing a large percentage of alcohol; rather than swallow these one had better not change his habits. The master then, being an abstainer, should also give some care to his diet. Very heavy meals of meat and strong food should not be taken at sea, because there are no means of taking proper exercise, and it is impossible to work them off properly. Again, long, heavy, after-dinner sleeps should not be indulged in; a quiet nap of ten minutes would in many cases be beneficial, but the long sleep up to five o'clock is positively harmful to any man. One of the best things a master can do is to take up some work. No matter what it is so long as he takes an interest in it, such as joiner work, fret work, painting, writing, learning a musical instrument or a foreign language, or anything of that sort. It will be of incalculable benefit to both mind and body.

On occasions when it is absolutely necessary to be on deck for long periods, the steward ought to have orders to attend himself personally to the master's wants—to see that his meals are properly cooked and brought up to him at regular intervals, and that there is always a well made cup of coffee to be had when wanted. The ordinary cup of coffee as made at sea is generally a beastly mixture and not worth drinking. The steward has an easy life and should not be spared at these times, but should always be turned out when wanted, night or day, and made to look after these things himself, and a man who growls at having this to do or who will not take the proper trouble to see things well cooked and served up nicely with cheerfulness should at once be discharged, and a good man, of whom there are plenty, shipped in his place. The master, of course, should always be on the bridge when required, and in fog certainly all the time; but many men are over-cautious in this respect through sheer nervousness, and oftentimes expose and fatigue themselves to no purpose, harass their officers, and make them unreliable, so that when the time comes that their presence on deck is absolutely necessary, they are, through exhaustion of mind and body, in anything but a fit state to take charge of the ship, or be cool and collected in a moment of sudden emergency. Should a man feel that through hard work and exposure he is becoming shaky, he should at once leave off entirely the false relief which drink gives and consult a physician. A good man with experience will in almost any case be able to help him, and, besides medicine, give him such hints for regulating his diet and mode of living as will enable him to bear better than before the strain and wear and tear of his life.¹

As to the crew. A master who has full command of himself ought to be able to rule judiciously even the most unruly crew, but before he is in a really strong position to do this, he must treat them fairly and honestly. In many cases a bad start is made with a new set of men (of course this will not apply to the high class mail steamers, nor perhaps to what are termed weekly boats). They come on board and find their forecastle just as the last crew left it, full of a week's filth,² possibly lumbered up with hauling lines and what-not, wanting painting badly, and often showing unmistakable signs of overhead leakage. This is quite enough to make a respectable man discontented, and naturally so. In common fairness, the often wretched place that the men have to occupy ought to be put in decent order to receive the new crew. Again, they should be distinctly made to understand, when signing articles, what their food will be, and what their pay and allowances will come to. It is to be feared that bad feeding is the cause of much trouble in these days. From first coming on board discipline should be enforced; many officers, both young and old, are greatly remiss in enforcing this, with the consequence that day by day it is harder to do, till at last it is impossible, and anarchy reigns triumphant. If a seaman finds that he is fairly treated, and that he must obey orders, he will in nine cases out of ten conduct himself well, and give no trouble. The more high class type of man the master is the better he will treat his men, and the more exacting he will be in compelling discipline, both in his officers and crew.

Engineers and firemen are often sources of annoyance in these days. Firemen are a lower class generally than seamen, and more inclined to insubordination; in many cases the engineers are quite incapable of keeping them in proper order, and it sometimes happens that in an engine room row it falls to the lot of the deck officers to restore discipline.

The master should remember that his engineers are officers of the ship, with their own responsibility, that his chief engineer is of some importance on board, and that it is necessary in the owner's interests that they should work together amicably. In ordinary cargo vessels, the engineer is often better educated than the master himself, and should never be treated as an inferior while he behaves with proper respect to the master. To his own deck officers the master should behave with ordinary courtesy, and, if he finds them trustworthy, should not spoil them and render them unreliable by always keeping on or about the bridge; an officer who is never left by himself in charge will soon fancy himself incapable. It is to be feared that many young officers are spoiled in this way.

Familiarity with the men before the mast is always unwise. It is not a good practice in ordinary vessels, where a new crew is shipped each voyage, to begin by calling the men "Tom" and "Jack." An officer to have any real command over the men must keep himself apart from them and show them the difference of their positions. A judicious shipmaster will warn his young mates about this.

The usual system of mess room for engineers, the officers messing in the cabin with the master, is a good one, though it is a question whether it would not be a very good thing if the chief engineer always messed with the master so long as he was a decent, respectable man. It is often one of the causes of ill health in the master that he keeps too much to himself, seldom if ever speaking to his officers except on business connected with the ship. A man who does this has far too much time to think, and if he has any trivial illness is apt to brood over it and actually make himself ill.

It is much wiser and better for all concerned that the master should, within certain limits, be on friendly terms at any rate with his first mate, if not with all his officers. Any man with common tact can always find means for checking undue familiarity, and it will generally be found that officers treated as equals instead, as is often the case, as though they were an inferior race of beings, will be much more inclined to do their work with zeal, and to back up the master in all his troubles. Many men when they get command seem to forget that they ever were officers themselves. It is the general opinion that the strict ship is the most comfortable one, and as a rule the master who will take the trouble to enforce proper discipline fore and aft is just the very man who will also be considerate and courteous to those who sail under his command—whatever be their rank.

To govern others well a man must first have learned to govern himself. The first lesson for a young seaman to learn is obedience, and unless he does learn this lesson he will not know how to enforce it when he becomes an officer, and still less will he be fit for his position when he obtains command. It is to be feared that many never learn this lesson, and that this is the cause of much of the insubordination rife in these days.

If the modern hard-driven shipmaster would exercise greater care as to his health and habits, and would strive more after being a true master over his ship's company, and this is easier to be gained by respect than fear, things would go on more smoothly, and when he did get away for a time from all the petty annoyances of shore, which are more especially felt in his home port, he would have a time of comparative comfort, would live longer and happier, and, possibly, escape the terrible attacks of nervous depression which have finished the career of many a too finely strung fin de siecle shipmaster.—Nautical Magazine.

[1]

For the fluttering, unsteady feeling often felt, the following, if not abused, will be found beneficial: Take as much bromide of potassium as will lie, not heaped up, on a shilling, and half a teaspoonful of sal volatile (aromatic spirits of ammonia). Mix in a wine glass full of water; but this should only be taken when absolutely necessary, and not habitually.

[2]

This should not be. It is most decidedly one of the master's duties to see that the men on both sides of the forecastle keep their places clean, and for this purpose it is a very good plan to give them an hour or two every week, and it is only right that if a crew fled a forecastle clean to receive them, they should be made to leave it in the same state.