American Merchant Ships and Sailors

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American Merchant Ships and Sailors, by?by Ray Brown

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Willis J. Abbot, Illustrated by Ray Brown
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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
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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