Responsibility in the hold

The following story is based upon a real life account written by Forrest Frank based upon a story by Captain Henry Nicholson. These appeared in the Scarborough Daily Post in 1920 as part of the 'Sea Dogs' stories by Forrest Frank.

We took in what little bit of cargo there was at Constantinople, including a little box marked "valued at £3,500" containing attar of roses. It was custom in those ships for the mates to be directly responsible for the contents of their respective holds, and as I intended stowing this in my no 3 hold, where I could keep an eye on it, I signed of it with the words "claimed to be worth £3,500" (a "without prejudice" receipt), but the mate said that it would have to go in his hold, and took it into no 2. He had previously reported a deficiency of a number of bundles of copper from my hold at Smyrna, of which I had no tally, but for which I had no intention to pay. I had, thereupon, gone to the Customs House at Smyrna, and found that the copper had landed all right, but that it had come out of his hold. I, therefore, said: "Very good, if you take the attar of roses I will have nothing to do with it." The Captain and I got on all right.

We returned to Liverpool the night that the Princess Alice was lost, September 1878. I never saw so much phosphorous in the sea as there was in the Liverpool Channel that night - it was the wonder and remark of all who saw it. We dropped anchor at midnight, and docked in the morning, and, after discharging, went to the loading berth. Boy Punch came to me: "Captain Fitt wants you," and I went to his office. I saw him smile as I entered, and he said: "Anything wrong with your family up here?" tapping his head. "No sir," I replied. "I thought not," he went on, "but when your ship arrived I asked I asked the Captain if he had any complaints about the officers, stewards, or cooks, and he said he thought the second mate wasn't right in the head. I did not say anything, but I asked the mate what he thought of you, and he said you "did not pay sufficient deference to him as chief officer." To this I replied that if the mate interfered any more with numbers 3 and 4 hatches, for which I was held directly responsible. I would be less deferential. "But," said he, "you signed for a package as being worth £3,500, where as it might have been valueless, and allowed it to be put in a hold over which you had no supervision - and this is to what the Captain refers." On that I told Captain Fitt that I had signed for the package as being only "said to be worth £3,500", and related the circumstances under which the mate had assumed control over it. I then went back to the ship and saw the Captain, and said:" I will be pleased if you will give me a reference, sir."

He looked surprised, and said:"Why, you are not leaving us, surely?" I said was, and he gave me an excellent testimonial, despite his having expressed the view that I was not quite right in the head.



OTHER ARTICLES
• The national RNLI and the Scarborough lifeboat of 1861.
• The early years of the Scarborough Lifeboat
• Strange customs amongst the Scarborough shipbuilders
• Harwood Brierleys description of Scarborough harbour at the opening of the 20th century
• The 200 year history of scarboroughs RNLI
• Hinderwells account of the first launch of the Scarborough Lifeboat in 1802
• Life in the Old Town of Scarborough and harbour - the fishing families
• The U-Boat campaign in the First World War
• No favours for the owners son
• Thomas Crimlisk - First of the Crimlisks
• Scarborough sailing ship - a man overboard
• Wreck of the Mary Stoddart - Dundalk
• William Cammish - log book of the Aurora - a Scarborough merchant ship
• Tommy Rowley - stories about loss of life at sea
• The port of Scarborough in the late 15th Century
• Coastal erosion in the 19th Century around the North Bay and Scarborough Castle area
• The German bombardment of scarborough in the First World War in 1914
• Discovery of the Silver pit in 1835
• What was on board a ship in the North Sea in 1520

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