American Merchant Ships and Sailors

Project Gutenberg, Willis J. Abbot

Informations

• Publié par: enfa
• Nombre de lectures: 45
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Project Gutenberg eBook, American Merchant Ships and Sailors, by Willis J. Abbot, Illustrated by Ray Brown This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: American Merchant Ships and Sailors Author: Willis J. Abbot Release Date: April 18, 2005 [eBook #15648] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN MERCHANT SHIPS AND SAILORS*** E-text prepared by Jason Isbell, Emmy, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 15648-h.htm or 15648-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/5/6/4/15648/15648-h/15648-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/5/6/4/15648/15648-h.zip) Transcriber's Note: General: Varied hyphenation is retained. In list of Illustrations DeLong is one word; in Table of Contents it is De Long; in text it is DeLong. More Transcriber's notes will be found at the end of sections. AMERICAN MERCHANT SHIPS AND SAILORS by WILLIS J. ABBOT Author of _Naval History of the United States_, _Bluejackets of 1898_, etc. Illustrated by RAY BROWN New York Dodd, Mead & CompanyThe Caxton Press New York 1902 [Illustration] BOOKS BY WILLIS J. ABBOT [Illustration] Naval History of the United States Blue Jackets of 1898 Battlefields of '61 Battlefields and Campfires Battlefields and Victory Preface In an earlier series of books the present writer told the story of the high achievements of the men of the United States Navy, from the day of Paul Jones to that of Dewey, Schley, and Sampson. It is a record Americans may well regard with pride, for in wars of defense or offense, in wars just or unjust, the American blue jacket has discharged the duty allotted to him cheerfully, gallantly, and efficiently. But there are triumphs to be won by sea and by land greater than those of war, dangers to be braved, more menacing than the odds of battle. It was a glorious deed to win the battle of Santiago, but Fulton and Ericsson influenced the progress of the world more than all the heroes of history. The daily life of those who go down to the sea in ships is one of constant battle, and the whaler caught in the ice-pack is in more direful case than the blockaded cruiser; while the captain of the ocean liner, guiding through a dense fog his colossal craft freighted with two thousand human lives, has on his mind a weightier load of responsibility than the admiral of the fleet. In all times and ages, the deeds of the men who sail the deep as its policemen or its soldiery have been sung in praise. It is time for chronicle of the high courage, the reckless daring, and oftentimes the noble self-sacrifice of those who use the Seven Seas to extend the markets of the world, to bring nations nearer together, to advance science, and to cement the world into one great interdependent whole. WILLIS JOHN ABBOT.Ann Arbor, Mich., May 1, 1902. [Illustration: NEW ENGLAND EARLY TOOK THE LEAD IN BUILDING SHIPS] List of Illustrations PAGE NEW ENGLAND EARLY TOOK THE LEAD IN BUILDING SHIPS _Frontispiece_ THE SHALLOP 2 THE KETCH 5 "THE BROAD ARROW WAS PUT ON ALL WHITE PINES 24 INCHES IN DIAMETER" 7 "THE FARMER-BUILDER TOOK HIS PLACE AT THE HELM" 8 SCHOONER-RIGGED SHARPIE 11 AFTER A BRITISH LIEUTENANT HAD PICKED THE BEST OF HER CREW 18 EARLY TYPE OF SMACK 21 THE SNOW, AN OBSOLETE TYPE 29 THE BUG-EYE 34 A "PINK" 38 "INSTANTLY THE GUN WAS RUN OUT AND DISCHARGED" 42 "THE WATER FRONT OF A GREAT SEAPORT LIKE NEW YORK" 55 AN ARMED CUTTER 57 "THE LOUD LAUGH OFTEN ROSE AT MY EXPENSE" 65 "THE DREADNAUGHT"--NEW YORK AND LIVERPOOL PACKET 69 THERE ARE BUILDING IN AMERICAN YARDS _facing_ 82 "A FAVORITE TRICK OF THE FLEEING SLAVER WAS TO THROW OVER SLAVES" 95 DEALERS WHO CAME ON BOARD WERE THEMSELVES KIDNAPPED _facing_ 98 "THE ROPE WAS PUT AROUND HIS NECK" 103 "BOUND THEM TO THE CHAIN CABLE" 114 "SENDING BOAT AND MEN FLYING INTO THE AIR" 128 "SUDDENLY THE MATE GAVE A HOWL--'STARN ALL!" _facing_ 132 "ROT AT MOLDERING WHARVES" 140 "THERE SHE BLOWS!" 144 "TAKING IT IN HIS JAWS" 146 NEARLY EVERY MAN ON THE QUARTERDECK OF THE "ARGO" WAS KILLED OR WOUNDED 162 THE PRISON SHIP "JERSEY" 163IF THEY RETREATED FARTHER HE WOULD BLOW UP THE SHIP _facing_ 176 "I THINK SHE IS A HEAVY SHIP" 179 "STRIVING TO REACH HER DECKS AT EVERY POINT" 186 "THEY FELL DOWN AND DIED AS THEY WALKED" 199 "THE TREACHEROUS KAYAK" 203 THE SHIP WAS CAUGHT IN THE ICE PACK _facing_ 204 ADRIFT ON AN ICE FLOE 206 DE LONG'S MEN DRAGGING THEIR BOATS OVER THE ICE 210 AN ARCTIC HOUSE 224 AN ESQUIMAU 227 THE WOODEN BATEAUX OF THE FUR TRADERS _facing_ 236 "THE RED-MEN SET UPON THEM AND SLEW THEM ALL" 241 ONE OF THE FIRST LAKE SAILORS 243 "TWO BOAT-LOADS OF REDCOATS BOARDED US AND TOOK US PRISONERS" 245 A VANISHING TYPE ON THE LAKES 249 "THE WHALEBACK" 253 FLATBOATS MANNED WITH RIFLEMEN _facing_ 266 "THE EVENING WOULD PASS IN RUDE AND HARMLESS JOLLITY" 271 THE MISSISSIPPI PILOT 286 A DECK LOAD OF COTTON 290 FEEDING THE FURNACE 293 ON THE BANKS 314 "THE BOYS MARKED THEIR FISH BY CUTTING OFF THEIR TAILS" 322 FISHING FROM THE RAIL 328 TRAWLING FROM A DORY 333 STRIKES A SCHOONER AND SHEARS THROUGH HER LIKE A KNIFE _facing_ 334 MINOT'S LEDGE LIGHT 345 WHISTLING BUOY 354 REVENUE CUTTER 360 LAUNCHING A LIFEBOAT THROUGH THE SURF 364 THE EXCITING MOMENT IN THE PILOT'S TRADE _facing_ 366 **Transcriber's notes: Illustrations:Most quirks were left as written, only changes made listed below. List reads: "THE LOUD LAUGH OFTEN ROSE AT MY EXPENSE" Tag reads: "THE LOUD LAUGH ROSE AT MY EXPENSE" Added missing illustration to list: AFTER A BRITISH LIEUTENANT HAD PICKED THE BEST OF HER CREW 18 Changed MOULDERING to MOLDERING to match illustration and text Page 227: Changed Illustration tag "AN ESQUIMAUX" to "AN ESQUIMAU" to fit text. Contents PAGE CHAPTER I. 1 THE AMERICAN SHIP AND THE AMERICAN SAILOR--NEW ENGLAND'S LEAD ON THE OCEAN--THE EARLIEST AMERICAN SHIP-BUILDING--HOW THE SHIPYARDS MULTIPLIED--LAWLESS TIMES ON THE HIGH SEAS--SHIP-BUILDING IN THE FORESTS AND ON THE FARM--SOME EARLY TYPES--THE COURSE OF MARITIME TRADE--THE FIRST SCHOONER AND THE FIRST FULL-RIGGED SHIP--JEALOUSY AND ANTAGONISM OF ENGLAND--THE PEST OF PRIVATEERING--ENCOURAGEMENT FROM CONGRESS--THE GOLDEN DAYS OF OUR MERCHANT MARINE--FIGHTING CAPTAINS AND TRADING CAPTAINS--GROUND BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND--CHECKED BY THE WARS--SEALING AND WHALING--INTO THE PACIFIC--HOW YANKEE BOYS MOUNTED THE QUARTER-DECK--SOME STORIES OF EARLY SEAMEN--THE PACKETS AND THEIR EXPLOITS CHAPTER II. 53 THE TRANSITION FROM SAILS TO STEAM--THE CHANGE IN MARINE ARCHITECTURE--THE DEPOPULATION OF THE OCEAN--CHANGES IN THE SAILOR'S LOT--FROM WOOD TO STEEL--THE INVENTION OF THE STEAMBOAT--THE FATE OF FITCH--FULTON'S LONG STRUGGLES--OPPOSITION OF THE SCIENTISTS--THE "CLERMONT"--THE STEAMBOAT ON THE OCEAN--ON WESTERN RIVERS--THE TRANSATLANTIC PASSAGE--THE "SAVANNAH" MAKES THE FIRST CROSSING--ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH LINES--EFFORTS OF UNITED STATES SHIP-OWNERS TO COMPETE--THE FAMOUS COLLINS LINE--THE DECADENCE OF OUR MERCHANT MARINE--SIGNS OF ITS REVIVAL--OUR GREAT DOMESTIC SHIPPING INTEREST--AMERICA'S FUTURE ON THE SEA CHAPTER III. 89 AN UGLY FEATURE OF EARLY SEAFARING--THE SLAVE TRADE AND ITS PROMOTERS--PART PLAYED BY EMINENT NEW ENGLANDERS--HOW THE TRADE GREW UP--THE PIOUS AUSPICES WHICH SURROUNDED THE TRAFFIC--SLAVE-STEALING AND SABBATH-BREAKING--CONDITIONS OF THE TRADE--SIZE OF THE VESSELS--HOW THE CAPTIVES