WHY BOYS SHUN THE SEA CAREER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 79

WHY BOYS SHUN THE SEA CAREER.

That there are weighty reasons for the decreasing supply of British merchant service officers is commencing to' be generally, recognised. The, insufficient financial inducement a' sea' "career and the inconsiderate'treatment received by officers and,a#prentices. have been made the subjects of" many articles,, arid? letters which tflve recently ap'pearedui tge^press'.' Yetaoiotfier reason why parents who know what the }if c is, endeavour to prevent their boys from fallowing this profession has. however,.' generally been' overlooked. 1 ' The ordinary risks of a sea life are, indeed, such j as "n : o. high-spirited English boy would i shirk V 'such dangers are "all'ih'tne game." j Fathers, however, hesitate before embarking* their sons in a calling which may at any time take them to a port where yellow fever, malaria, or smallpox is raging. It is true that business men- can always be found when, wanted to go to such deathholes as Rio, Santos, or, Guayaquil ; but their employ«rs have to pay them for the risks they take. An apprentice on a sailing ship not only is lot paid, but often ■has~ actually to pay for the privilege of 1 being a combination of domestic, errandhof, and outside jobber. He never knows ; -where, he may be ordered, and when he takes .the -risks of disgusting and loathsome diseases does so under the same conditions he would were he making a .voyage to Australia or any other healthy country. Should Ke^lose his health, no compensation follows. Small wonder, then, that parents endeavour to, dissuade,, their boys from going to sea in .the merchant eervice ; small wonder ' that the supply^ of British-born officers is on the decrease. That these risks to health and

life "are 3iofc small I bojae to prove by a brief account of one voyage to a pestileiice- , ridden hole to vrhich many sailing ships •traded • •

Some' few' years ago a fine little bark left Liverpool for Wellington and Dunedin She was well manned, for it appeared probable" that she would load wool for Home, thus making an ideal voyage. However, from Dunedin she was ordered •to Newcastle, N.S.W., to load coal for Guayaquil, in Ecuador. The voyage up till our arrival at the latter port passed as such voyages usually do. The usual modicum of gales, the inevitable snortage oi food, the expected abuse of the apprentices— rßone were wanting. TheTe was iconsequently much rejoicing when the Quayaquil pilot was .received on board ■the day before Christmas, presaging as it s, did a Christmas spent in peace and quiet jat -anchor or beside a quay. The heat ■was very great, but as the little vessel' glided quietly ap the river the luxuriant tropical vegetation on either bank gave promise of shade and coolness when- its

destination was reached. Huge trees, with a foliage of a green so brilliant that the inhabitants of our more moderate climate can hardly imagine it, and a wealth of varicoloured flowers lined the river on either side. One longed to bathe in the cool-looking water, until such desire was abruptly quelled by the lazy movement of what hadi appeared to be a large log, sometimes followed by the opening of an immense, cruel mouth furnished with glistening teeth. The river wias literally '

— Alive With Alligators! —

Guayaquil is situated some 36 miles up a river which, ten miles from its -mouth, is quite fresh, and flows continuously towards the sea. It is ako' rich in longextending sandbanks, which make it a matter of some difficulty to sail a ship^up to the town. This, combined with the ignorance of a semi -civilised pilot, soon, dispelled the dreams of a quiet Christmas in which the crew- hadi indulged. Just before nightfall the ship grounded on a shoal, of the existence of which the pilot appeared to be totally ignorant. The evening brought some little relief from the intense heat, a thin mist rising from the marshy land and gradually enveloping the river. The refreshing ooolne"ss was delightful to everyone, while the danger of the tropical evening mist wa6 not even guessed.' All Christmas was spent in endeavouring to kedge off ; by evening, all efforts having failed, and the pilot, after announcing "No puedo nada," having gone to bed, a boat was despatched to the town for men andi barges to lighten the ship. Three days after Christmas the wharf was reacheJL Of the sufferings from heat and the attacks of swarais of the most venomous ghats and mosquitoes in the world little need be said, for they were "all in the game." The country about the city is beautiful, -apparently a veritable Garden of Eden, but in reality the home of swamps and fever. The town itself, in which 50,000 people wallow in filth and an utter disregard of the laws of sanitation and decency, is the best possible proof of the inability of the South_Americain to govern himself or to cultivate and dtevelop properly the wonderful country" which is his. We found on arriving that we were not only to discharge our cargo of coal, but were to load a full cargo of ivory nuts for Hamburg. Incidentally we also learned that, as the .natives would not work in the heat of the day, the crew were to discharge and load the ship, -working from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the usual/ breaks of one hour for breakfast and one for dinner.

The first part of our undertaking \ was safely acomplished, andi the health of the crew was good in spite of the heat and indifferent food. Then came the second and more trying operation. The nuts which we were to load, being almost round, shift very easily, and it was deemed necessary to build a bulkhead or wall the length of the ship to divide the cargo into two equal portions. No material for this purpose was so inexpensive as bamboo ; no bamboos were so cheap as those which could be picked out of the water. What matter that they had been there for months? What matter if they were rotten, and if their smell literally invited fever? They cost next to nothing, and they were used.

—The Victims. —

' Three days after the loading commenced an able seaman complained of violent paics in the head, and was taken on shore to the hospital. One of the apprentices was told off to visit him each day. While so doing he incidentally learned that cleanliness was not part of the curriculum adivocated by the medical authorities of the free and enlightened Republic of .Ecuador. In a very few days the youngster came sadly back from his daily visit and hoisted the ensign at half-mast ; the first victim of a shipowner's parsimony had gone "to bear witness where there is justice for all. By this lime the second officer and another man, were lying in their beds in the hospital ward, praying God to spare them for the sake of their iovedi ones at home, whose only support they were. Yet another 24 hours and the officer was beyond all . earthly help, while has fellow-sufferer had charged the apprentice boy with has last messages for his family in the England that he knew he would see no more. And still the remainder of the crew were working in the hold amongst the rotting , and fever-giving bamboos.

The youngster had at first been rowed ashore by two men- ; after a few days -only one man went with him ti> bring back the boat ; -finally, he sculled himself on shore, for there was no one to go with him. All handis, save the captain and the one apprentice, were drawn with either yellowfever or malaria. It was not until things had reached) this -pass that the captain allowed the boy to cease working with the natives who had now been engaged to finish the loading of the ship. At length -tla^ captain, (wlio, -fc-o 3.0 Kirn Jns-tioe, li£k2 not spared himself) was taken fco the hospital, and the boy was left; with one man who had returned on board- half-convales-cent. Of 1? men who formed the crew, eight died in the Guayaquil Hospital, and two were broken wrecks, who lived but, a few months after reaching England. The writer was the only member of the ship's company who came through that awful time without a day's illness.

For such risks as these neither officers nor seamen are paid. Similar, dangers are encountered every day by apprentice boys who can claim nothing for loss >f health, who are paid nothing for ;their fearless, loyally-given services. Is it, then, any wonder that parents who Tcnow what the profession has to offer do all in their power to dissuade their eons from going to sea? Is it any wonder that the advice of every seaman is, " Send your boys into the army or into the Church, into the law or into business ; but, as you love them, don't allow them to swell the ranks of the under-paid and; ' shamefully-treated

British mercantile marine." — Chambers's Journal.