On Board the "Rocket"

by Robert C. Adams

That day Capt. Streeter paced the deck a good deal, evidently in deep thought, and in the evening after supper he called me into the cabin.

"Mr. A——" said he, "do you know that a man who has had any education can give a slur that'll hurt a good deal more than another man can. Now, I feel one word from you more than I do a dozen from any one else, and I feel hurt at the way you spoke to me this morning."

"I've always tried to be respectful to you, sir," I replied, "and I think I've been more so than any body else would have been, because I've been anxious that no one should think I put on any airs on account of your familiarity with me. For the last week you've done nothing but snarl at me and pick upon me. I know, of course, that I'm at fault sometimes, but not as much as you try to make out."

"You can't expect a sea captain to be as mild as a parson all the time," said Capt. Streeter. "You must make allowances. If I'm not quite perfect I want you to respect me as your captain!"

"I always mean to respect you as my captain; but, if you'll allow me to speak the plain truth, it's impossible to respect you as a man, and I'm not always able to conceal my private feelings."

"If you can't respect me as a man, I want you to as your captain," said Capt. Streeter, biting his lips and looking as though he had received a slur that cut pretty deep. "That'll do."

Capt. Streeter felt that the account stood rather against him, and took continual opportunities to annoy me, and occasionally repeated the sentence which closed his cabin conference, showing that my remark had taken strong hold upon him.

The night before we reached Cronstadt I had a good talk with the captain, and he came to the conclusion he had better turn his attentions to somebody else, and we gradually got to better terms with each other.

In Cronstadt we discharged ballast and loaded a cargo of iron and hemp. The crew were called every morning at half past four, which of course was not very agreeable, and one morning an Irish sailor growled so much about it, the mate went into the forecastle and struck him two or three blows with his brass knuckles. A half hour afterwards the mate picked up a handspike and struck him a blow across the stomach, and after breakfast he told the captain of it, and the man was called aft and severely beaten on the back with the end of the main clew-garnet, a good sized rope. No more complaints were made about early rising. The mate had a row with another sailor one day, and receiving some insolence, threw a heavy piece of wood at his head, which fortunately missed its mark. The man was so frightened that he deserted that night with one of his shipmates.

The ship was loaded so deeply and was leaking so much, and moreover had such wretched pumps, that many misgivings were expressed as to her ever crossing the Atlantic safely. The superstitious among the crew were still more disaffected when two Finnish sailors came on board, for a Finn is believed to have dealings with the evil one, and to be a dangerous shipmate. We sailed for Boston one September morning, and beat down the Gulf of Finland. The crew that were shipped at New Diep were to get fifteen dollars a month, but wages were higher in Cronstadt, and the two Finnish sailors had shipped for twenty dollars. They had signed articles to that effect, drawn up by the American Consul. This grieved the captain's economic soul, and the day after we sailed, he called one of the Finns into the cabin and summoned me for a witness. He told the man that if he didn't prove to be a first-class, able seaman, he should cut his wages down to ten dollars a month; but, if he would sign the articles that the rest of the crew were on, and accept fifteen dollars, he would say nothing about his seamanship. The man was confident of his ability, and had every appearance of a thorough seaman. He understood English imperfectly, and was somewhat bewildered by this proposition, but he realized it was a scheme to defraud him of five dollars a month, and he respectfully declined to sign the new articles, saying, he had signed once before the consul and that was his bargain. After a little useless argument, the captain rose and shut the cabin door; then he caught the man by the neck with his left hand, and gave him a blow with his right fist that knocked him down. He jumped on his chest two or three times with his whole weight; and then kneeling on top of him pounded his face severely. The man cried out for mercy and promised to sign. He was then helped to the table and wrote his name on the fifteen dollar articles. The other Finn was at the wheel at the time, and whether he heard anything of what was going on or not, he seemed to lose his head just then, and ran the ship off her course. The mate, perceiving it, struck him and put another man in his place. He was just coming forward as the captain and his shipmate stepped out of the cabin. The bruised face of his comrade startled him, and when the captain told him to go into the cabin he refused, supposing he was going to be beaten for his bad steering. The captain, without further words, seized a belaying pin from the rail and hit him a powerful blow on the head, which cut a deep gash on the side of his forehead, and in a moment his face was one mass of blood. The steward and myself carried him into the cabin, by his head and heels, and seating him on a stool in a state-room, bound up his broken head with strips of sail cloth in lieu of rags. The captain brought a pen to him and told him to write his name on the old articles.