Marine store

“ One thinks of the old merchant marine in terms of the clipper ship and distant ports. The coasting trade has been overlooked in song and story; yet, since the year 1859, its fleets have always been larger and more important than the American deep-water commerce nor have decay and misfortune overtaken them. ”

“ At the same time we may hope to celebrate the establishment of our American merchant marine, the one thing needed to carry our American products and goods into the harbors of the world, floating the Stars and Stripes now so seldom witnessed upon the ocean vessels. ”

“ Bath appliances of the latest pattern furnish opportunities for cleanliness and comfort not excelled in garrison. A store gives the men an opportunity to buy almost any article necessary to their comfort or pleasure. All sorts of food supplies, of a better grade than are usually furnished, articles of clothing, games, candy, fruit, and all the ordinary articles in demand, are to be found in the ship’s store. The prices charged for these articles are only their cost to the government; and, as the government buys in large quantities, the shop makes a very economical place for the men to trade. ”

“ The horizon has cleared a trifle since I looked into that store-room.’
‘How big is this store-room?’
[241] ‘A good size,’ he answered. ‘Seven feet high; the beam I don’t know.’
‘And the forecastle hatch is within reach of my hand to thump at if I want to get out?’ I exclaimed. ‘It will be the one place in the whole ship for me, Will!’
‘There’s no other place, and that’s a fact.’
‘The stores’ll be clean and sweet enough, I dare say—bolts of canvas, casks of stuff, spare lines and such things. I’ll be able to put myself out of sight if your bo’sun or any other man should come down with a light. ”

“ Owing to the large amount of stores and repairs, etc., connected with the maintenance of a fleet of steam trawlers, most large owners maintain fairly elaborate premises in the neighbourhood of the fish dock. These premises generally consist of a net-making hall in which nets are made by women working with shuttles, a large bath of tar or tanning material below in which the net is soaked, also a wood yard and blacksmith’s shop, containing a steam hammer, a plumber’s shop, a boat-builder’s shop, a large store-room fitted with the necessary stores and spares. ”

“ The morning of departure presented a busy scene—from the store issued the men, carrying bags of flour, kegs of pork and gunpowder, bales of cloth, calico, and leather, cases of guns, chests of tea, and all the things mentioned in a trader’s inventory. All is snugly packed in the boats, the signal given, and they push off from the launch. It is a pretty sight, the men are all standing up, and their long ironclad poles for a time rise together as they force their respective boats forward, bending to the work, and putting forth their strength. ”

“ The owners of these fish had to pay three or four pounds a ton freight; and an agent in England, who charged a good commission for doing so, found a customer to buy them. The New Englanders saw that the vessel carrying the cargo made a profit for her owner. They saw, too, that an agent in a foreign country across the water would never have quite the interest in selling to advantage that they themselves would have if they were there to sell. In short, if the fish business were to be handled in the most profitable way possible, they must carry the cargo in their own ship direct to the consumer. ”

“ When the American people have before them any proposition for the revival of the American merchant marine, they should keep in mind that ships designed for the purpose and at least in sufficient numbers, are afloat in every trade of the world; that the freight rates are maintained at a point where the profits are as low as any afforded by any branch of the world's work ”

“ A vessel was a community venture, and the custom still survives in the ancient ports of the Maine coast where the shapely wooden schooners are fashioned. The blacksmith, the rigger, the calker, took their pay in shares. They became part owners, as did likewise the merchant who supplied stores and material; and when the ship was afloat, the master, the mates, and even the seamen, were allowed cargo space for commodities which they might buy and sell to their own advantage. Thus early they learned to trade as shrewdly as they navigated, and every voyage directly concerned a whole neighborhood. ”

“ The forms in returning stores are still more difficult. The foreman afloat, who is often examining some ship in the harbour, must be brought to attend with a survey clerk, a block-maker to examine the blocks, a blacksmith to overhaul pins, hooks, thimbles, &c. labourers from the store-keeper’s department to measure all cables, cordage, &c.; which is first to be inspected by a master-attendant; thus are the warrant officers pacing from place to place in search of people; frequently to no purpose. After the stores are thus examined and surveyed, a return note is made by the survey-clerk ”

“ The stores of the Fleet put on a modern basis both in the storehouses ashore and those carried in the ships themselves—recognising the far different conditions now obtaining to those of sailing-ship days of long voyages, necessitating larger supplies being carried, and modern conditions of production and supply enabling stores on distant stations and at home being rapidly replenished. Some millions sterling were economised in this way with increased efficiency, as the Fleet was supplied with up-to-date articles; the only thing that gained by the age of the old system was the rum. ”

“ Lazy watermen by the dozen loll about the pier-head with their arms, to say nothing of their hands, buried deeply in their breeches-pockets, while every male you meet is either soldier or sailor, dockyard’s man or solemn-looking policeman. Every shop that isn’t a beer-house, is either a general dealer’s, where you can purchase anything nautical, from a sail-needle to sea boots, or an eating house, in the windows of which are temptingly exposed joints of suspiciously red corned-beef, soapy-looking mutton and uninviting pork, and where you are invited to partake of tea and shrimps for ninepence. ”

“ During times of peace, the U.S. Merchant Marine helps ensure our economic security by keeping the oceans open to trade. Ships operated by merchant mariners transport goods across our Nation's waterways and on the high seas around the world to connect American businesses and consumers with valuable foreign markets and commodities. ”

“ This at different times, has been the source of infinite trouble and vexation, and of much expence of canvas, ruined by their giving way. I wish also, that I did not think there is room for remarking, that the cordage and canvas, and, indeed, all the other stores made use of in the navy, are not of equal goodness with those, in general, used in the merchant service.
It seems to be a very prevalent opinion, amongst naval officers of all ranks, that the king's stores are better than any others, and that no ships are so well fitted out as those of the navy. ”

“ On the other hand, the Mercantile Marine remained, and still remains, individualistic, each merchant ship-owner, or company of ship-owners, building the sort of vessel best adapted to the particular enterprise in hand. Thus we have sailing from our ports, ships of all descriptions, ocean-going liners carrying passengers, cargoes and mails, as well as tramps, colliers, cold-storage vessels, and an infinity of other types. ”

“ As we look forward to the challenges of the 21st century, we continue to rely on our Nation's maritime industry and the U.S. Merchant Marine to keep America competitive in an increasingly global economy. Ships and barges carry more than one billion tons of commercial cargo annually between ports within our Nation. ”

“ These stores are all kept open upon the Sabbath, on which day there is often more business done than on any other. The blacks, who have no other opportunity of making their little purchases, crowd around the counters—the boatmen trade off their cargoes, and the purchasers store them—steamers are constantly arriving and departing, lading and unlading—and the steam ferry-boat makes its oft-repeated trip from shore to shore—all giving a life, bustle, and variety to the scene, of a very unsabbath-like character. The merchants plead the necessity of supplying steamers. ”

“ So the true measure of a nation’s merchant marine is its earning capacity, not merely the number or tonnage of its ships; and judged by this standard, the merchant marine of the United States was at this time far in advance of the merchant shipping of the whole British Empire. ”

“ He then went on to explain that most of the fleet of ships moored ahead and astern were similarly used for storing merchandise, some merchants even owning their own storeships. "You see, it's safer and cheaper than keeping the stuff on shore to help make a bonfire of some dark night." ”

“ For the coast trade is so trifling, and the ocean trade from round the Horn so large, that the smaller ships are swallowed up, and can do nothing to confuse the majestic order of these merchant princes. In an age when the ship-of-the-line is already a thing of the past, and we can never again hope to go coasting in a cock-boat between the “wooden walls” of a squadron at anchor, there is perhaps no place on earth where the power and beauty of sea architecture can be so perfectly enjoyed as in this bay. ”

“ Even so it was impossible to cope immediately with the steady stream which poured on deck from the capacious hold of the store-ship, although officers worked side by side with the men, issuing orders at the same time. Finally, when at last the store-ship was empty and had shoved off, and we weighed anchor and put to sea with the remainder of the fleet, our decks were still piled high with cases, and the work of stowing them away went on until 9 o’clock that night. There was no time for dinner, and while still working we ate ship’s biscuit from a barrel that had been accidentally broken open. ”

“ The ports of the Me­di­ter­ra­nean no longer enjoy a monopoly of commerce as they did for thousands of years, but the number of ships to be met with in that inland sea is, nevertheless, proportionately far greater than what we meet with on the open oceans. The commercial marine of the Me­di­ter­ra­nean numbers thirty-seven thousand vessels, of a capacity of two million seven hundred and ninety-six thousand tons, without counting fishing-boats. ”

“ In coasting vessels, where the work is hard and constant, the allowance of beef and bread was generally unlimited; but a large amount of suffering was too frequently endured by the seamen on long voyages from the paucity of provisions in store, especially in merchant vessels of small size, and in particular trades. ”

“ Similar provisions, varying according to local circumstances, exist at all important points throughout the world whither marine commerce finds its way. They are indispensable to those engaged in that business. ”

“ The cargo spaces,” they add, “are in the lower holds, and also between the main and saloon decks. The accommodation for passengers and officers, the galleys, pantries, bath rooms, store rooms, and other conveniences are all above the saloon deck.
“The main saloon is placed forward between the captain’s rooms and the machinery space; above the captain’s rooms are the pilot-house and quarter-masters’ cabins.
“The engines are after the American style, with walking beam, but are rather more solidly constructed than is usual in America. ”

“ There are inspectors in the docks, whose business it is to examine the coffee and send specimens of it to the broker's office in the city. It is the same with all the other shiploads that come in. They are examined by inspectors, specimens are taken out and sent to the city, and the goods themselves are stored in the warehouses.
"Now, we will suppose a person wishes to buy some of these goods to make up a cargo. Perhaps it is a man who is going to send a ship to Africa after elephants' tusks, and he wants a great variety of goods to send there to pay the natives for them. ”

“ To price the curious things of the East; to barter and beat down; to walk away and come back a dozen times; to buy at last at a third of the asking price—such is the passion that presently gets hold of the irresponsible tourist who lives on one ship and has a permanent state-room for his things.
You should see some of those state-rooms! Jars, costumes, baskets, rugs, draperies, statuary—piled everywhere, hung everywhere, stowed everywhere—why, we could combine the stuff on this ship and open a floating bazaar that would be the wonder of the world. ”

“ Every merchant has his own room, or division, in the hold, in which he stows his own goods, sometimes lodging along with them. These junks have only two masts, a main and fore, the latter having a square-sail and yard, and the former a sail that is narrow aloft, like a sloop's main-sail. In fine weather they have also a top-sail, which, in foul weather, they lower to the deck, yard and all. The main-mast of one of their largest junks is equal in size to that of our third-rate men of war, but all of one piece, not built. ”

“ On board ship, in a small world of our own, we seem to be contained by the boundaries of the bulwarks, to be sailing beyond the influences of the land and of other ships. The sea is the same we have known for so long. Every item of our ship fitment—the trim arrangement of the decks, the set and rake of mast and funnel, even the furnishings of our cabins—has the power of impressing a stable feeling of custom, normal ship life, safety. It requires an effort of thought to recall that in their homely presence we are endangered. ”