A bunch of rope yarns

by Stanton H. King

But believing that your mission is only a Church without the homelife, established for his sole redemption because he is such a wicked creature, he steers a course for the places which welcome him as an equal and not as some inferior outcast, even though it is to his detriment. There he is welcomed as the door swings open, he is greeted with warmth, he readily becomes acquainted, takes an interest in the fun, he stands the treat all around, joins in the dance, then becoming noisy and reckless he ends the night in a debauch robbed of what money he possessed. Whereas if the missions had provided those social necessities he would have dispensed with so much alcoholic drinks and had a larger bank account.

I have in mind as I write a young man who had enlisted on the U. S. S. Vermont, in the Brooklyn navy yard. He was a machinist and had traveled from some one of our Western Cities to enlist in Uncle Sam’s employ. The easy life as a recruit on the cob dock became tedious. He grew restless. When on liberty there was no home to welcome him, no friends to receive him; he was a total abstainer, in fact he knew not the taste of alcoholic drinks. He played pool and billiards in his native city and accordingly for want of such amusements he frequented the pool rooms where liquor was sold, and there spent his evenings. Fortunately he was strong enough to resist the temptations surrounding these pool tables, and was not led astray.

He was a clean, manly fellow, and I remember his collecting money from the recruits and marines to purchase a pool table for the reading room, but those who had the power to grant us a pool table refused because certain people living ashore held religious services there on Sundays. I have known young sailor lads who were clean in their habits to frequent dance halls. At first, their only desire was to enjoy a dance; but that very waltz was their downfall. It was not the dancing which brought about their ruin, it was the evil associations they encountered in such places.

Some of these young men had danced with the best young women of their town, their comrades and schoolmates, but now because the term sailor is attached to them and they have on the blue naval uniform they are debarred from every place except that of ill-repute. If Jack does not care to enter such a dive he must abide his time till he mingles with his own friends again though it may be for years, or it may never be, before he can step to a waltz, as no one of respectability dances with a sailor. The day may come when by providing the homelife in our missions for seamen we will have come to know them, our Christian young women will become acquainted with them and find that many young seamen are as clean and as moral as their own brothers, and they will dance with them as they do with young men of their acquaintance on land.

It is not that the sailor enjoys places of ill-repute more than something better. It is simply that is the best he finds after he leaves his ship. He likes the company of women; two-thirds of his life he is debarred from their society; he likes a social evening and he is bound to have it and all the fun he can so long as he is on shore.

Knowing then that they are as other men, we try to make the Sailor’s Haven not only a church but also a home for seamen. In our mission we hold religious services twice a week. At such times men are invited to attend; they have their choice. They can continue reading in the club rooms if it is Sunday, or play their games if it is a week night. Usually we have to lower some of the lights in the club rooms as the seamen have vacated them of their own free will and have attended the service.

Just the same as though I were visiting you and had enjoyed my stay, and as the evening hour drew near you invited me to join with you in your religious devotions, I kneel with you, so will the sailor who has that same freedom in a sailor’s mission, readily leave all games and everything else and accept your invitation to your devotional exercises. Here in the service as men, we try to find out and understand the teachings of our Blessed Lord, that we may have as our own the real happiness and comfort that comes in living the Christian life. At such times the seamen give strict attention and are never tired of hearing someone tell about Jesus. They and us receive help by the good advice given, they join in the old familiar hymns and are taken back to their boyhood days and the old home rises up before them. We visit the sick, comfort the sorrowful, help the needy and in His Name brighten and cheer lives. We provide special concerts full of fun and entertainment. Not bringing in a few hymns and short addresses of exhortation which leave a bitter taste, because of their unfitness; but a real sing song lively concert, just the kind we would have if we had company in our homes and were entertaining them. At such a time we would not be so rude as to ask our guests, if they desired our religious help, then why treat a sailor differently when he is your guest if love is the propelling power and good taste turns the helm? He will appreciate your kindness if offered in the right way. Of all men he is easily approached. He likes music. You can serve it to him in any shape or form and he will enjoy it every time. Let it be the piano, fiddle, banjo, jewsharp, tin whistle or a big drum and he will shout with delight. His cares are forgotten when he hears the ladies sing, and his sorrows are brushed away when he drinks in the music of the male quartettes and choruses. And he himself is not selfish. Full of sea songs, he takes his place by the piano and renders Nancy Lee and Tom Bowline, and to manifest to you that he is at home, he turns up the bottom edges of his trouser’s legs, and gives a step dance or a horn pipe for your amusement.

We provide suppers and treats of coffee and buns in the same spirit we invite any friends to sup with us, not because they are “poor hungry sailors” in need of these things; but as friends we meet and enjoy the very essence of sociability. All formality is blown to the winds, good cheer and freedom prevail, we meet from all corners of the earth, of different nationalities speaking different tongues, all petty grievances with our own shipmates are forgiven, we meet on common ground, and when we part we remember each other as friends.

I am safe in saying that nine out of every ten seamen smoke. Shall we send them on the street when they desire a pull on their pipes? We think it best to provide separate rooms for that. So aside from the hall where religious services are held we have these club rooms; here they can smoke, play pool and billiards and other games. They can take magazines and newspapers and read awhile. Social and scientific books are at their disposal, the same as the landsman reads, something besides a tract or circular asking them where they hope to spend Eternity. Here they can write to their friends for the material is on the tables for their sole use, they can play a solo at the piano, sing a song and while away the evening. When tired of one amusement they can turn to another, as there are many diversions to satisfy their social needs. Good women are present to talk with them, to write for those who cannot, to sing and play for any who desire it. They are received and treated as men without condescension or mock humility on the part of the missionaries, and welcomed not as inferior and illiterate beings, not as wild unregulated Ishmaelites nor as poor sailors, but as men.

We know that some games like ours are in the bar-rooms; but we have taken these enjoyable and harmless recreations from the surroundings that have done so much to degrade them, and are using them where they may not only be enjoyed without danger, but are means of shielding men from temptation. Some may ask, is it not enough to have a reading table and writing material, and perhaps a checker board? I answer, No. Even though you allow the seamen to smoke they, like other men, become tired of reading, and after a few games of checkers leave to find some other amusement.