History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce, Volume 2 (of 4)

by W. S. Lindsay

Steward.

The duties of steward vary according to the description of merchant or passenger vessel in which he may be employed. In the higher class of packet-ships, where there are numerous first-class passengers, and where a good table is kept, the steward has waiters or under-stewards, who perform most of the labours of attendance, the chief having the general superintendence of the whole. It is his duty to see that the cabin and state-rooms are kept in order; to see to the laying and clearing of the tables; to take care of the dishes and utensils appertaining thereto; to provide the meals, under the master’s directions, preparing the most delicate dishes himself; to keep the general charge of the pantry and stores for the cabin; to look after the cook in his department, and generally to attend to the comfort and convenience of the passengers. These duties generally absorb all his time and attention, and he is not called upon for any ship’s duty.

In ordinary merchant vessels the steward performs the work which falls to the under-stewards of the large packets; cleans the cabin and state-rooms; sets, tends, and clears away the table; provides everything for the cook; and has charge of the pantry, where all the table furnishings and the small stores are kept. He is also the body-servant of the master. His relation to the chief mate is not, it appears, quite settled; but the general understanding is, that, although he waits upon him at table, and must obey him in all matters relating to the ship’s work, yet he is not in any respect his servant. If the mate wished any personal service done, he would solicit it, or make some compensation.

In small vessels the steward must come on deck whenever all hands are called, and in working ship pulls and hauls about decks with the men. The main sheet is called the steward’s rope, and this he lets go and hauls aft in tacking and wearing. In reefing and furling he is expected to go upon the lower and topsail yards, and especially the mizen topsail yard of a ship. No seamanship is expected from him, and he stands no watch, sleeping in at night, and turning out at daylight; yet he must do ship’s duty according to his ability when all hands are called for working ship, or for taking in or making sail. In these things he obeys the mates in the same way that a common seaman would, and is punishable for disobedience.

Cook.

The cook almost always lives in the forecastle, though sometimes in the steerage. He stands no watch, sleeping in at night, and working at his business during the day. He spends his time mostly in the cook-house, which is called the “galley,” where he cooks both for the cabin and forecastle. This, with keeping the galley, boilers, pans, kids, and other cooking utensils in order, occupies him during the entire day. He is, however, called with all hands, and in tacking and wearing, works the fore-sheet. He is also expected to pull and haul about decks in all-hands work, and is occasionally called from his galley to give a pull at a tackle or halyards.[423]

Seafaring persons, before the mast, are divided into three classes: able seamen, ordinary seamen, and boys, or “green hands.” If any man is found incompetent to perform the duty he contracts for, his wages can not only be reduced to the grade for which he is fitted, but something additional is occasionally deducted for the deception practised, and for the loss of service, besides the difficulties which too frequently arise from his misrepresentation, the crew justly deeming it a sort of fraud upon themselves. If, for instance, the articles provide for six able seamen, the men expect as many; and if one of them proves unequal to his assumed rating, the duties which would be commonly done by six seamen will fall upon the five, leaving the vessel short-handed for the voyage. But the hardship is felt still more in the watches, for if the delinquent is not a capable helmsman, the increased duty at the wheel alone would of itself be a serious evil. The officers also feel at liberty to punish a man who has so imposed upon all hands, and accordingly every kind of inferior and disagreeable duty is put upon him; and as he finds no sympathy from the crew, his situation on board is made very unpleasant.

Their duties.

To “haul, reef, and steer” constitute a sailor in ordinary phraseology, but something more is required from an able seaman, who should, in addition to these duties, be a good workman on rigging; and a man’s skill in this work is the chief test of his seamanship; a competent knowledge of steering, reefing, furling, and the like being taken for granted, and being no more than is expected from an ordinary seaman, though there is, of course, a great deal of difference in the relative skill and neatness of the work of different men; but no man will pass for an able seaman, in a square-rigged vessel, who cannot make a long and short splice, fit a blockstrap, pass seizings[424] to lower rigging, and make the ordinary knots in a fair and workmanlike manner.

Division of their labour.