When nearing San Francisco one day in a noble steam-ship, whereof the captain had done his duty by piloting the ship in safety and attending to the comforts of his passengers, a gentleman arose towards the close of our last dinner on board, and amidst profound silence, commenced eulogising our skipper. I sat next to this latter, and when the orator continued, “therefore gentlemen it has been moved and carried by a committee of the passengers, that to mark the high sense they entertain,â€� the poor skipper turned to me with anguish in his eyes, and whispered, “By G—d, they’re going to give me a speaking-trumpet.â€� He was right, too, and got a tremendous one; however, I whispered comfort to him, and showed him how, by putting a bottom to the large end of the trumpet, and a handle at the top, it would make a splendid claret jug, capable of holding a gallon at least, and then suggested I, “you might erase the inscription, and say you won it at a steeplechase.â€� Whether he followed this wholesome advice or not I never heard.
I secured my passage on board the “Northerner,� and started on my way to England, in company with about two hundred and fifty passengers. The weather was delightful, and the wharf was crowded with friends who had come down to see us off: the partings were not very heart-rending; in fact, the great joke seemed to consist in those who were on the wharf pelting us with oranges and cheap novels as we cast off.
As we steamed out of the bay and lost sight of the busy city at last, we could not but think of the changes and reverses that all of us had been witness to, and most of us had shared. I for my part, as I recalled the noble courage with which misfortune had been borne with by the people, echoed the remark that Smith and Jones had made conjointly on the ruins of the first fire.
Smith. It’s a great country!
Jones. It’s nothing shorter!
We were very comfortable on board, and arrived at Panama, so much pleased with the ship and the voyage, that it was lucky for the captain that there were no speaking-trumpets to be purchased at Panama; as it was, we did not let him off without a letter of thanks—and our thanks in one form or the other he certainly deserved; his name was Isham. Captains of ocean steamers do not always perform their duty, many are apt to forget that more devolves upon them than mere seamanship, some forget even this.
In the great points, of cleanliness as regards the ship, attention to the real wants of the passengers, and a judicious arbitration of such little outbreaks as will occur in crowded vessels, the commanders of the Pacific Mail Steam Ship Line (to which the “Northerner� belonged) deservedly enjoy a reputation. The ocean steamers on this line, as also on the opposition, which takes the Nicaragua route, are magnificent vessels. Many of them are over three thousand tons burden, and are very fast and beautifully found. Ventilated with open ports two feet square between each state-room, they are comfortable and wholesome even when carrying eight hundred passengers; and it is the want of ventilation that makes a crowded ship unbearable anywhere, and in the tropics unhealthy.
A large proportion of ocean steamers are wretchedly off in this respect, and travellers in the East or West Indies are often limited when under hatches to such air as can penetrate through a scuttle hole about the size of a saucer.
One American steam ship, the “George Law,� possesses what I have never met with in any other boat; she has not only life-boats[30] suspended from her davits on all sides, but she has two metal air-boats elevated on deck, that can be launched immediately under any circumstances. Besides these boats there are on board several hundred life-buoys, one of these being suspended to each bunk throughout the ship. These life-buoys are formed of cork and painted canvas, and have straps to fasten them under the arms. As I recall the fearful and unnecessary loss of life that has been recorded in the last two years, I have scarcely patience when I reflect how much of it might have been avoided had each passenger, as on board the “George Law,� been provided with ten shillings worth of cork and canvas. I was ten days on board the “George Law,� and each night as I went to bed, my eyes were arrested by my life-buoy. It said plainly to me, did this life-buoy, (not knowing that I was a sailor by profession) “Collisions will take place, spontaneous combustion will break out, and sunken wrecks and rocks and sand-banks will be run upon; should any of these occur, will you not quietly buckle me on, being prepared by your daily contemplation of me for any such emergency, and will you not then calmly assist wherever you are wanted, in the full confidence that even if the ship sinks under you, you can float without exertion until you are picked up by the life-boats?� Certainly the contemplation of a life-buoy by one’s bed-side, will bring such thoughts to mind, and by keeping the danger before each man night and day, prepares him when the hour comes, to act coolly and reflectively. But we may look farther even than this; if the presence of life-buoys accustoms passengers to contemplate danger, and to meet it calmly when it comes, does it not stand to reason that the captain and crew of a sinking vessel are better able to exert themselves for the safety of the vessel, or otherwise the lowering and provisioning of boats, when the passengers, confident in their cork and canvas, are calmly awaiting the order to jump overboard, instead of at once plunging into the waves, only to struggle and call piteously for help, thus unmanning some and rendering others unable to assist them. How many boats have been successfully lowered from a sinking ship, but being overloaded too suddenly, have turned over and drowned all that could not swim: would this be so if all had life-buoys? How many boats have left a ship in the dark night but half full, fearing the impetuous rush which a panic-struck crowd would make at it if again it touched the ship’s sides? Yet the cost of such a buoy is but ten shillings, and that of a life-boat thirty pounds.
It may be said that every passenger can carry his own life-preserver, and that most do so: this is nothing; it gives me no increased confidence to know that Muggins who sleeps next to me has an India-rubber bag that he can blow out each night before turning in. The advantage of disposing life-buoys throughout the ship, as in the “George Law,� is in the general confidence which their presence gives to all, and when the moment of danger comes, that ten shillings’ worth of cork and canvas will enable those who cannot swim to keep above water, and those who can swim to double their exertions to form a raft and save the helpless. There is not, to my knowledge, an ocean steamer that leaves England that is properly found in this respect, nor will there be until government inspectors are appointed to see that they are supplied with life-boats that can be lowered in all weather, and do not necessarily swamp if a “fall� gives way, or bilge as they surge against the vessel’s side. And captains of vessels should be made to keep their boats clear, so far as this, that falls should be kept clear for running, and lashings and gripes so secured as easily to be cast off, precautions which are seldom taken.