On Board the "Rocket"

by Robert C. Adams

An officer once said to me, "There are only two ways to treat sailors; you must either bully them or coax them." Accepting this definition of my theorizings I would say:

"By all means, coax them!"

But our success in controlling the men was not due alone to the method of discipline adopted. In many ways they were made to feel that a friendly spirit existed towards them, and that a desire to benefit them ran through all the rules and customs of the ship. Some of the methods I have tried successfully are the following: Saturday afternoons were given up to the crew as a time for mending clothes and cleaning themselves, and on Sunday morning when called aft to attend religious services they had no excuse for not putting in a neat appearance. The effect of this was often noticeable in creating more cleanly habits, and I have repeatedly been complimented upon the unusually good looks of my sailors when on shore or attending services. Wednesday evenings a Bible Class was held, at which the men were encouraged to read aloud the passages in the Bible which they were directed to search out, illustrating the topic in hand. The valuable libraries furnished by the Seamen's Friend Society, with other reading matter, were placed at the disposal of the crew. Frequently on Saturday evenings lectures were given upon matters of interest to the sailor, as, The Winds, The Currents, The Stars, The Sea Serpent, &c. In the afternoons, when weather permitted, the young men of the crew in their watch below attended a navigation class, and took the first lessons in a science which many of them will practice when commanding vessels in time to come. I never found that such familiarity bred contempt, for all this intercourse was dignified. On the contrary it rather heightened their respect for the captain, as was evidenced by the remark of one after a lecture, "I tell you when a man sees what a head our old man's got, it makes him feel what a little pimple he's got on his own shoulders."

I have narrated methods of control which I have used with tolerable success, but I am well aware that government cannot be reduced to an exact science. With the help of the best systems some will fail to control those under them, and others from the simple character and energy of their natures, without extraneous aid, will command the respect and obedience of those subject to them.

While human nature is what it is there will exist a conflict between service and power. As the mind and heart are elevated and renewed these conflicts will decrease, but it is only to a higher and purer sphere, where sin will not exist and where all is perfect as God is perfect, that we can look for continued and entire harmony.

Lest my reader should be tempted to yawn at this rather prosy effusion, I append our artist's sketch of the result of such an indulgence on shipboard.

When near the latitude of Bermuda, one afternoon when it was nearly calm, we spied a schooner ahead drifting toward us. Visions of Nova Scotia potatoes excited our enthusiasm; the boat was got ready and when the vessels were near each other, the mate, passenger and two sailors went off to board her in search of news and supplies. The passenger had on a new cap of white duck made in naval style, and his imposing appearance perhaps accounted for the trepidation of the captain of the schooner, who stood on deck in his stockings trembling, as though he might be fearing the attack of a pirate. When the mate politely presented my compliments and asked for a few potatoes, his assurance returned and he was enthusiastic in his desires to serve us.

The effects of a yawn.

The schooner was the "Jane" of Shelburne, Nova Scotia, ten days out for Barbadoes. The supplies obtained were salt-fish and a few potatoes. But the captain, in the kindness of his heart, sent me a jar of preserved wild strawberries gathered and prepared by his wife, which he repeatedly assured the mate were "real nice," and, as though he might not be believed, he turned to the man at the wheel and said, "Ai'n't they, John." They certainly proved deserving of his encomium. We got a little country newspaper, that gave a few items of news, and a "New York Ledger," which proved to be a year old.