A bunch of rope yarns

by Stanton H. King

It may be dark at such an hour according to the latitude we were in, or the season of year, but whatever the conditions are, the man who is scrubbing his clothes must see to it that he wets the deck before he begins to scrub, otherwise the soapsuds will sink into the dry deck, and unless it is a morning when holy stones are in order it will require much strength on a hickory broom to remove them. He also sees to it in scrubbing, that his soapsuds do not spatter the gun carriages, for if they do and he neglects to wash them off, he will receive a scolding and a growl from the chief of growlers, the quarter gunner.

If we had many pieces of clothing to scrub we would hurry and get through, for in thirty minutes’ time the boatswain’s mates would be ordered to lower the lines and in another ten minutes they were triced aloft. If we were not through on time and missed the lines, we would have to care for our wet clothing, keeping it out of sight. Often I have been late in reaching the clothes line and have sneaked into the sailing launch and there spread my things on the thwarts to dry.

Experience soon taught the green horns where not to hang their clothes on the lines. Stretched from stem to stern, that portion near the mainstay or close to the eyes of the lower main rigging, or any place in close proximity to the smoke stack was undesirable. For if the wind does not blow your washed garments against these sooted stays and shrouds, in some way they will come in contact with the smoke stack, when they are piped down in the afternoon. On a morning when hammocks were scrubbed those who were through first selected the best place on the lines near the mizzenmast or forward of the fore mast. It was necessary to have our hammocks spotless; otherwise at evening quarters the division officer would reject them and order us to scrub them over again the next wash day. I have seen men who were slow in heeding the call to “stand by their scrubbed hammocks,” compelled to scrub their hammocks two, three and four times over before they were passed as clean. It was their own fault as, instead of being on deck standing under their hammocks to receive them and to keep them from striking against the smoke stack guys, or being trampled on the deck by others who were removing theirs, they were enjoying an afternoon nap in some secluded corner of the ship.

The method of washing clothes at sea varies little from that in port. There is a sea clothes line about six lengths of rope, stirrupped together about four feet apart. These lines are secured between the main and mizzen rigging. We were allowed to scrub our clothes every morning except Sunday. At this rate it was only three wash days a week, as those would be the mornings we were on deck. The crew was divided into two watches and this gave a different watch on deck each morning.

Among the many ways of earning a few dollars on a man-of-war, the scrubbing of clothes and hammocks is one of the most lucrative. There are several first class petty officers who pay others to do their scrubbing. A thrifty apprentice or landsman can earn his spending money doing this work. We had an ordinary seaman who made almost as much money scrubbing clothes and hammocks for the first class petty officers, as he earned as a salary from the government. He charged seventy-five cents a hammock, and some mornings he would be on the forecastle head long before all hands were called, working with soapsuds to his waist, scrubbing with all his might. Had he saved his money I should say it was a profitable task, but it was only a labor for “Dirty Dick’s” saloon and the dance halls on Calle St. Theresa in Montevideo.

THE LEAD LINE

The Lead Line

SINCE the coming of the mariners’ compass many centuries ago, navigation has made steady headway. It is now an exact science, and vessels properly equipped with needed instruments and with men able to use them, can, no matter what the winds or seas, or how extended the voyage, be brought safely to their destination.

The instruments used in navigation are, the compass, by which ship’s courses are steered; the sextant by which observations of the sun, moon and stars are taken, and through which the latitude is ascertained; the chronometer by which the longitude is determined; the log, which measures the ship’s speed; the chart on which the ship’s position is daily traced; the barometer which gives the weight of the atmosphere and warning of coming storms; the hydrometer which shows the saltness of the sea; the thermometer which tells the temperature of the ocean; and the sounding lead which gives the depth of water and the nature of the bottom over which the ship is sailing.

The compass, the first in importance to the navigator, was known to the Chinese centuries before the Christian era, and was brought to Europe by the renowned Asiatic traveler, Marco Polo, in the latter part of the thirteenth century. And though improved in many ways the property of polarity in the lodestone, still remains the leading essential.