The Flying Bo'sun Part 14

"With such ignorance in the world," he said, "how are we to combat this scourge of humanity? Let me say here," shaking his fist at me, "the only solution is education without discrimination. With this useful weapon we can equalize the scales of justice. Without it we continue to be slaves to the old and new masters. Take, for instance, the ignorance and superst.i.tion of our crew forward. While they are hunting for ghosts the parasites are picking their pockets. What can society expect of them? No wonder they are a prey to apparitions at sea and crimps ash.o.r.e. Once we were homeward bound from New Zealand to Frisco. The crew, as usual, consisted of many nationalities. She carried twenty-four seamen forward.

I frequently talked to these men evenings about joining the Socialist Labor Party, much to the disgust of the Captain. Well, they all agreed that when they should reach San Francisco they would join the organization. I believe that they really intended to, but you know the sailorman ash.o.r.e scents the rum barrel, and becomes an easy prey to the crimp and boarding-house runner. Two days after our arrival in that wicked city we were paid off by the U. S. Government. I waited until the last man had his money. 'Men,' said I, 'come with me to our hall and join the one organization that is going to redeem the world.'

"The crimp runners were pretty well represented, as they usually are when a s.h.i.+p pays off. They tried every possible means to entice the men away, telling them that they would not have to pay for room or board, and that furthermore they could pick their own s.h.i.+p when they felt like going to sea again. The latter is considered a great concession to a sailor. But the crimps do not stop there. They have old sailors who are kept with them for years, who make it their business to know as many as possible of the men who follow the sea. We had an Irishman in the crew, and this lost the day for me. Just as we started for the hall, out of the crowd strolled a seasoned veteran of the sea. With a shout of joy he fell upon one of our crew, crying:

"'If me eyes don't deceive me, I see Jamey Dugan. Dead or alive, I shake hands with you.'

"Whether Dugan knew the greasy beachcomber or not, I knew that the bunko steering talk would get him. It was very flowery.

"'Why, certainly, you remember me. In Valparaiso. You were in the good old s.h.i.+p so-and-so.'

"I could see that there was no time to lose if I expected to reach the hall with all of them. I mounted a fire-hydrant near by, and pleaded with them, telling them that this crook who had hold of them was nothing but a hireling of the crimp, and tomorrow, all of their money being spent, they would most likely be s.h.i.+pped off to sea in any old tub whose master offered the most money to the boarding-house keeper.

"My pleading was in vain. They kept edging away as if I were a wild beast of the jungle. The influence of the gangster was getting stronger.

Again I beseeched and implored these men of the sea to come with me.

They only started to move away. It was with a sickened heart that I stepped down from the hydrant. I had no chance with this barnacle of the sea, for they were already starting in his wake for Ryan's saloon across the street."

The cook, lamenting his loss, started to stir up another lemon-de-luxe.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, I stole up on deck to relieve the second mate for dinner. He must have thought that I had foundered on the noodle soup and plum-pudding.

The cook and I may not altogether have agreed on the social things of life, but I was with him heart and soul in his fight for better and cleaner conditions for sailors ash.o.r.e. I, too, know the crimps, and had suffered more than once from their dastardly methods of making money.

They were always on the lookout for anything that resembled a sailor when a s.h.i.+p was ready to sail, and a short-handed captain would offer one of them fifty or a hundred dollars a head blood-money. With that would go from one to two months' advance in wages to the unfortunate victim, which eventually fell into the crimp's hands also. He would not stop even at murder if necessary to fill the required quota.

What if he did s.h.i.+p a dead man or two? They were not supposed to awake for at least twenty-four hours after they were brought aboard. By that time they were under way, and the curses of the captain were lost in sheeting home the upper topsails.

The mate, on the other hand, took a lively interest in restoring the sleeper to life. After he had spent some time clubbing him, and trying every method known to the hard-boiled mates of former times, he would find a belaying-pin, and beat the drugged man on the soles of his shoes.

This was the final test. If he did not respond to it, the officer would report to the captain that one of the crew who had just come aboard was dead. Cursing and swearing, the captain would say: "How do you know that he is dead?"

"Well, Captain, I have awakened a great many of them in my time, and there isn't a kick in this fellow."

"Did you try the mirror?"

Holding the mirror at his mouth, to see whether by chance there might be precipitation was the last act. It would never occur to them to feel for the pulse, probably because their hands were too heavily calloused to permit of it. Furthermore, it would never do to lower the mate's dignity in the presence of the crew by so gracious an act.

"No, sir, I have not tried the mirror yet. I am thinking that you have booked a losing."

"Booked h.e.l.l," the captain would shout, "Here, take this drink of brandy and pour it into him, then hold the mirror over his mouth. If that doesn't work, throw him overboard."

Those who were shanghaied were not usually sailors. One would find tailors, sheep-herders, waiters and riff-raff of the slums, who had fallen prey to the greed of the boarding-house keeper.

When one did respond to the mate's treatment, he would awake to a living h.e.l.l, until the next port was reached, which would take three, four or even five months.

CHAPTER XVI

THE MONTANA COWBOY--A HORSE-MARINE ADVENTURE

There are instances where the Captain and mates of the old time sailing s.h.i.+ps have had cause to regret their methods of procuring sailors from the crimps.

When a drugged and shanghaied sailor comes on board the mate looks him over for dangerous weapons.

If he has a sheath knife the mate breaks the point off. If a gun, he takes it aft to the Captain. When the drug-crazed man comes to he is easy to handle. If he should show fight, a crack over the head with a belaying-pin will send him down and out. When the stars disappear and he comes back to earth again, he is very responsive, and willing to scrub decks or anything else that is desired of him.

A Montana cowboy, seeing the sights in a Pacific port, fell a prey to the crimps. Blood money was high. One hundred and fifty dollars was not to be laughed at, when it could be had so easily. The cowboy was given the usual dose of knock-out drops, then thrown into a boat, and rowed off to the s.h.i.+p, which was lying at anchor. When the boat came alongside the s.h.i.+p, the crimp shouted: "Ahoy, Mr. Mate, I have a good sailor for you."

The mate never expected shanghaied men to walk up the gangway. He knew what to expect, and usually gave them the allotted time, about twenty-four hours, to sleep the drug off.

"Are you sure he is a good sailor?" said the mate.

"Oh, yes," replied the crimp, "he is an old-time sailor, we have known him for years. He has been sailing to this port in some of the best s.h.i.+ps afloat."

The mate called some members of the crew to get the tackle over the side and yank him aboard. The cowboy was heavy, and he did not yank aboard as easily as some of the other drugged men, very much to the astonishment of the old-time sailors.

They know by the weight on the tackle fall how to guess what the vocation ash.o.r.e has been of this latest addition to their number. If the drugged man is a light-weight, he is proclaimed a tailor, if medium weight he is a sheep-herder, and so on.

But they could not find a suitable vocation for this cowboy who was so d.a.m.ned heavy. After long, long pulls, and strong, strong pulls, he landed on deck as limp as a rag. The mate rolled him over with his foot, and seeing that he had no weapons of any kind ordered him thrown on the hatch to sleep it off.

The crimp had relieved him of the cowboy hat, but not the riding shoes, very much to the disgust of the mate, who remarked:

"I have sailed in many s.h.i.+ps and with all kinds of sailors, but I will go to h.e.l.l if I ever saw a sailor with as long heels on his boots as this fellow has."

Nevertheless he impressed the mate as being a sailor. He had the desert and mountain ruggedness and complexion, and not the sallow dyspeptic look of the tailor, which mates and crew despise so. When the anchor was up, and they were standing out to sea, the mate undertook to awake the cowboy with a force pump.

After the salt water had been played on him about five minutes, he awoke, and realized that he was on board of a s.h.i.+p. He inquired of the mate how he got aboard, and where he was going. The mate answered him very sharply, saying:

"You get up, d.a.m.n quick, and loose the main-upper-topgallant-sail if you want to get along well and happy in this s.h.i.+p."

He might have been talking the dead languages for all the cowboy knew about upper-topgallant-sails. He rubbed his eyes, and pulling himself together realized that this was not a dream after all, but a stern reality. After looking over the s.h.i.+p and feeling the roll, he eyed the mate with suspicion, saying: "See here, stranger, haven't you made a mistake? Tell me how I came aboard this here s.h.i.+p."

The mate thought the new sailor was having a joke at his expense.

Stepping up to him he said, "d.a.m.n you, don't you dare to joke with me, or I will break every bone in your body."

"Let me tell you, stranger," said the cowboy, "I want you to turn this here thing around 'cause I must be a hitting the trail."

This was too much for any good mate to stand, especially when the members of the crew were highly pleased with the new sailor's remark.

The mate pulled off his pea-jacket, and tightening his belt, remarked:

"I guess I will teach you how to respect your superiors while you are on board this s.h.i.+p."

The cowboy, seeing that the mate meant business, pulled off his wet coat and vest, also the black silk handkerchief that was tied in a very fas.h.i.+onable knot around his neck and remarked, "Stranger, you be mighty keerful how many bones you break in my body."

Here the mate made a lunge for him, which the boy ducked, and with an upper-cut he sent the mate to the deck in a heap. The mate got up and started for a belaying pin. The crafty range rider was upon him in a second with a left hook to the jaw. The mate went down, and stayed down for some time. Then the second mate, third mate and captain came to the rescue of their first mate. The mates were knocked down as fast as they could get up. The Captain called the crew saying, "Arrest this man and put him in irons for mutiny on the high seas."

This the crew refused to do, because the way this new sailor could use his hands was not at all to their liking, and they were not anxious to take on any rough stuff so early on the voyage.