Sailing Ships and Sailing Men

As a boy in the 1930's, I knew sailors. Most came home and swore off sailing ships for ever.

Drawn to a wild Baltimore waterfront life, they blew their wages on booze, women and gambling. They were shanghaied or signed onto a ship just to have a home for a time. It was not the sea they were drawn to, but instead, family.

A man, known to do his share high up on the yard arms, had respect.

On land, they were lowly and even tramps. Upon the sea, each a respected seamen! To stand his watch, furl canvas in rain and sleet then lend a hand on the bitter end of a sheet a new boy on board rose to man and mate.

Good people these, though not in a way most of us would recognise.

Among us modern sailboat sailors we may swagger and tell of hanging on with one hand and reefing a flogging sail with the other.

You could with effort, drag the same story from these square rig sailors, though they wouldn't say they were high in the air above mountainous waves reefing and tying as they rounded the notorious capes, driven by snowy squalls. To be 200 ft in the air in gale winds with a sails snapping and booming making every attempt to throw the watch to deck. Cut from heavy cloth, these men who worked, lived and died at sea.

A seaman I knew and was influenced by, was a Mr. Outabridge who fell from the main yard cracking his skull. He supervise the repair of it and inspired the character Doc in the Novel, Of Mooncursers and Other Spun Yarns By Douglas G. Pollard Sr. on sale @ Lulu.com .

My mothers brother Talmage Williams right after World War One was shanghaied aboard a sailing ship in to the far east. After a two year stint when his ship had not made a U.S. Port. He signed aboard a steam ship to Baltimore. Left in port at Tripoli where he had  gotten drunk and spent a couple weeks in jail for getting into a bar room brawl. That was his last duty under sail. Arriving home he lost his seaman's papers for a year for jumping ship. During world war two he stayed at sea almost constantly. He made the one and only Mermaske run through the North Sea hauling gasoline. They were close on the German coast and suffered bombings for several days. Talmage said they watch ships burning in the distance every night and all hands fully expected to die on that trip. IT was by luck that they were not attacked by German dive Bombers.

To find men like these today you have to look to our men fighting on the sands of the middle east. So, every Generation has it's men.

Adolf Hitler 1939

In 1939 many in the neighbor hood had gathered on th Mc Clelland front porch there on Robinwood Road. There was a conversation going on about whether there would be layoffs or not in local industry. One young couple were really concerned. He had recently gone to work at Owens Yacht co. down at the end of Stansbury road . Being a new employee he would be among the first to go if there was a layoff.
“What you doing down there Roy,” my father asked
“Well I run a wood shaper most of the time. But sometimes I drill holes in plywood. You stack up about 10 sheets of plywood and then you take this fixture they supply and you put it on top. It's got holes every inch in both directions and them holes have steel bushings in'em. You take an electric drill and you drill holes all over them sheets of wood. They make the boat ceilings out of them.”
“Well if they lay you off let me know we have a wood shop over at the Western Electric. They might take you on there, seems like business is picking up there.”
“That won't happen Mr. Harman injected. The hole countries going right back into another depression. Yep it's going to be even worse this time. Roosevelt ain't going to be so lucky this time.” he said hand on knee his head shaking side to side. “Gonna be bad.”
“I think this is not so....”Mr. Derr said.
"Otto!" Mrs Derr said, "You don't talk so much,” she said, wide eyed.
“Ya Paula I tell.” War is comingk, war in Europe and we will be in it.” There will be no.. how you say layoff. Every factory will work seven days every week all night and all day..”
“ Otto you mean that crazy little paper hanger Hitler, in Germany, no that won't happen the German people remember the first war. They won't go to war against the world,”my father said with conviction.
"Yaa I think they do. But not just Germany, but Russia,Italy, Spain, Argentina and Japan. They will take Europe and England fast that will only leave America andTurkey to fight the axis power. It could be bad for America. They would invade the east coast and the west coast and we would be fighting on two fronts. The American people have many guns and maybe they could slow things down until an Army is raised. I think many will die.
“ Fred, I tell you tonight, turn on your radio to Berlin Radio and listen to Adolf Hitler's speech, tomorrow you tell me there will be no war.”
“Otto I won't know what he is saying what good will it do to listen,” my father replied.
“You don't have to understand you will know,”Otto said, as him an Paula arose to leave.
Before sundown my father went out and checked the antenna that was strung from the top of the house out fifty feet to a pole on the old now unused out house That night we all sat down in the living room and my father turned on that big floor model Air king radio he had recently bought from Sears Roebuck. After it warmed up my father turned the knob to short wave and began slowly to turn the tuning dial to the station. There was a lot of squeaking and squawking and finally a vice came in in German, then French and then English Radio Berlin. There was music in a moment the radio jumped into action with yelling and shouting Sig Hiel was screamed by thousands over an over in a chanting mindless rhythm. Hitler spoke loud and fast, shouting in a frenzied, maniacal series of near screams. At every pause in his speech was applause and wild screaming and shouts of Hiel Hitler. Music was played and thousands joined in singing. Then thousands more came in with triumphal shouts. At every pause there was thunderous applause and screaming. We didn't understand a word but even I at my age knew. My father got up turned off the radio. His face was white and he was visibly shaken.
"My God Ruby, Otto is right, we are going to have to fight them Germans and it will be worse than world War one. We will have to fight them! Many tuned into that speech and from that moment on in the minds of Dundalkers we were at war with Germany even though no shots were fired for a couple more year's.

History books say America was surprised by Dec 7,1941. The saying goes, little pitchers have big ears, well this little pitcher remembers a lot of war talk among adults in Dundalk.