Of great importance or none at all--A suggestion from the Navy--No respect due to him--The owner's pet--The poop ornament--His bringing up--A lost opportunity--The bully third mate of an American ship--An error in judgment--Idlers 142
A romantic figure--Rough but genuine--The naval bo'sun--The working foreman--Bo'sun and "lamps" combined--The old-time bo'sun--A thorough sailor--A queer bo'sun--A broken-down bo'sun--A brevet bo'sun 151
His general excellence--And unique position--A man of many qualifications--All carpenters in British North America--As in Finland--"Chips" and sailor too--An independent member--Always plenty of work--The whaleship carpenters--And boat-builder 161
An occupation that is passing--Its fascination for good sailors--The art and mystery of sailmaking--The Yankee sailmaker--His contempt for British sails--Like the carpenter, the sailmaker always has plenty to do--The beauty of sails 171
Wide range of status--But always a steward--Wonderful management--A small army to control--Work never done--The tramp steward--His duties and difficulties--The "providore" 180
The passenger sailing ship almost extinct--Consequently few chief stewards in sail--The responsible steward--The captain's pet--Funny little ways--A bitter experience--The Yankee steward--His onerous post--The stewardess--My friend's pathetic story 188
The most interesting figure on board ship--A chef indeed--Where do they come from?--Difficulties of ship cookery--Under the best conditions--Careful, hard-working men--Australian cooks--Black Sam--Humpy Bill--His tribulations and triumphs--The cook of a tramp 195
His materials--His usual qualifications--No room for a good cook--Good sailing ships--And bad--From the food point of view--Bad food wasteful as well as dear--The craving for vegetable--The cook's day's work--So different in Yankee ships--Blue-nose cookery--"Cracker hash"--"Duff" 205
Salt junk--The never-satisfied sailor--Pork and peas--Dirty cooking--Abysmal ignorance--A lower depth--Bad weather 215
A serious matter--Want of knowledge--The system of apprenticeship--Need for revision--The influx of foreign officers--No want of aspirants here--An experience of my own--No-premium apprentices--Training ships--The housing of sea apprentices--A vexed question--To stop the waste of young seamen--An A.B. no mere labourer--A good example--A model ship for apprentices--Training ships in America 223