"Lead,
Log,and Lookout"
All good ship captains kept a log
of all the events of their voyage. Here are a few entries from the log
of ole' Samuel Bidding, written by A.Carter, C. Jauch, and D. Meyers.
(With their permission these accounts were shared from their "Journal
of Samuel Bidding, 1866".)
1866,
1st day of the 3rd month
Ah! This day have
I waited for since the Winter Solstice. This is the day our ship
sets sail. The mist of the sea hides the ship, all but the mermaid
figurehead. The bell rings for all the crew members to come on deck.
Taking a final look out at the harbor, I head up to the walkway.
I see the big letters printed on the side of the ship - PIONEER.
The first mate directs crew members to the bunks. I pass the galley,
cooking up a bucket of slop for our evening meal. I see the carpenter
shop with the tools hanging and the floor neatly cleaned, but not for long,
for sawdust will soon fill the room. I finally reach the bunks and
settle in. I meet some fellow crew members. Our conversation
is broken by the bell ringing. It says that port is no longer seen
by the lookout. We all report to upper deck. The captain is
a tall, skinny man with a deep voice. He takes a huge roll call telling
him the number of crew on the ship. He names off half of the crew
to tend to the sails, deck, and everything else that needs to be checked
on. The rest of the crew was dismissed. I go through the ship
getting to know it better. I pass my bunk and go farther back on
the ship. I can smell the pigpen. I pass the water closet as
I go downstairs. I see more bunks as I work my way back to my bunk.
I realize that it is mid afternoon by the time I get up on deck.
We eat the slop I smelled earlier and go to an early bed. I know
we have a lot of work to do tomorrow. I can't wait to get to Savannah.
1886,
3rd day of the 3rd month
Sorry for not
writing yesterday. Captain kept me busy enough for four men. I fell asleep
before hitting the pillow, sleeping on a boat is nothing like you've ever
experienced! The steady rocking isn't that bad. Tonight promises to be
horrid! It is raining and the sea is waving harsher than any other time,
so far the captain says that it is small and will pass over. I hope he's
right. Today was a working day also. Today though, there wasn't half as
much work as yesterday. The job I really detest, is the cleaning the pig
pen. It has a sour chicken smell to it. Scrubbing the deck is the best.
I watch the rolling sea as I clean flawlessly.
We wake up at
5:00 am. That was hard enough but, breakfast is the only enjoyable meal
of the day. There was bacon and biscuits and gravy. I can't wait for breakfast
tomorrow. The Captain claims that tomorrow we will only have a half a days
work! I'll go to bed early tonight; fearing that I will be as tired
as I was this morning.
1886, 20th day of the
3rd month
Today has just started as I am sitting
here waiting for the bell to sound its alarm. CLING! CLANG!
There it is breakfast time. Another day of labor and stale food.
Our breakfast was stale bread and a slice of pork. As I left the
galley I walked up the stairs, and onto the new and shining deck of the
Pioneer. As I walked up I noticed there was very strong fog.
There isn't supposed to be very much work today because the Captain had
said smooth sailing from now and on. I felt worried that moment when
I saw the fog that there was plenty of work to do today. My job that
day was to mend the sails and swab the deck. Those two jobs where
not as hard as some of the other jobs, so that was good. After I
was done with the work I stopped by the water closet. When I was
walking out of the closet the bell rang "Supper Time". For supper
we had biscuits and large slabs of salted beef. After that I went
to the bunks for an early bedtime because tomorrow we are stopping at Savannah
Harbor.
1866, 1st day of the 6th month
What do YOU think Samuel will write about for his next
entry?
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