Media
Issue Date
1943-08-13
Volume
5
Issue Number
20
Plaintext
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SEeSRITY
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OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ATLANTIC AND GULF DISTRICT,
SEAFARERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA
VOL. V. M7 NEW YORK, N. Y., FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 1943 No 20
Details Of New Victory
Ship Are Revealed By
Maritime Commission
Despite opposition of certain
sKipowners who care less for the
lives of their crews than for
profits, the Maritime Commis
sion's plan for replacing Liberty
ship production with the faster
and safer Victory ships is going
through. Last week for the first
time, details of the new Victory
ships were released by Admiral
Howard L. Vicfcery, Vice Chair
man, U. S. Maritime Commis
sion, in an article appearing in
the Aug. 9th issue of the Jour
nal of Commerce.
Here are the pertnent excerpts
from the Admiral's article:
The Martime Commission has
designed a new cargo vessel,
which combines the high speed
of the C-types with many of the
features which ha>jB permitted
such rapid construction of the
Liberty ship. The present sched
ules, are based upon the con
struction of tlie new vessels with
. steam turbine propulsion. Util
ising two different sizes of power
plants, the smaller of whicii de
velops 6,000 HP, the Victory ship
will have a normal speed of
15-17 knots—compared with the
11-knots of the Liberty.
The new vessel will be 20 feet
longer than its predecessor. The
Victory ship will have increased
beam to insure adequate stabil
ity, armament and all, without
this sacrifice of carrying capac
ity.
Among other differences, the
present vessel has two decks
whereas its successor will have
three permitting better utiliza
tion of holds for the stowage of
the types of cargo most gener
ally to be carried. In addition.
numerous miscellaneous changes
have been made to improve the
working conditions of the ship's
personnel, ias well as the actual
cargo transporting utility.
Although the Victory ship pro
gram has been in the making
for a long time; few vessels will
be In actual service before an
other 1,000 Liberties will have
joined the fleet. The length of
the war, obviously, will be the
principal factor in determining
how many vessels of the new
type will be constructed; pres
ent schedules contemplate the
delivery of approximately 340
during 1944.
Minority Union
Can Ask Strike
WASHINGTON — A minority
union or group of workers can
cail for a strike vote to be held
30 days after the government
has been given notice of a labor
dispute, under the Smith-Con-
nally Act, Attorney General Bid-
die has ruled.
This ruling was made on a
question presented by the NLRB.
Biddle's answer caused the
NLRB to set the first strike vote
to be held under the new law
for Aug. 4, in the Allis-Chalmers
Mfg. Co. plant in Springfield, 111.
The strike vote was requested
by District 50 of the United Mine
Workers union (unaffiliated) af
ter the NLRB had dismissed its
petition to be designated as the
collective bargaining represen
tative of the workers.
S.I.U. CREWS LAUDED
FOR HEROISM AT SEA
The crews of two SIU
government. Their courage
marked them as true heroes
they belong.
The men singled out for
Hot Lips Joe
Gives Out
With Flute
Shade of the ancient Mariner,
blow me down mates, but this is
the tops. Here is the yarn. It
seems that the Stalinist "brain
trust" who control the CIO
unions in marine, especially the
NMU and the ILWU, are noting
that these unions are being fill
ed up with youngsters from the
training schools who ere now
flooding into the industry, while
the real seamen and longshore
men are fading out of these
unions, especially 'in the NMU
where they became sickened by
the noise of super-patriotic hot
air. made by chairwarmers on
high salaries, riding on the
backs of their members who
were out there doing the saiiing
-^nd the dying.
What to do? Ah, what to do?
Having made these two worthies
Curran and Bridges, arm chair
admirals and generals and 2nd
front experts, as well as labor
relations experts on all sorts of
CP hatched plans, they had yet
another job for them. This time,
it is to beguile and entertain the
youngsters. They have discover
ed the great musical (sic) tal
ents of Bridges and Curran who
(Continued on Page 2)
We Open New
Union Hall
In Calif.
One of the most modern and
attractive union halls in the
country was opened last week
by the SIU-SUP in Wilmington,
California to care for the ever
increasing traffic in .the port of
Los Angeles. The building is a
one story brick affair with plen
ty of large windows to make the
interior light and cheerful. It is
centrally located at 440 Avalon
Blvd.
This hall sets a new standard
for maritime labor -and serves as
a monument to the efficiency of
the SUP and the fast growing
Pacific district of the SIU.
A gala opening was held at
the hall last week, and union
and maritime leaders through
out the state attended. The
boards literally groaned with
food and liquor and no one left
hungry (or thirsty).
The building will have a cen
tral hiring hall and offices for
Red Snow, SUP agent and Bill
Gries, SIU agent. The MFOW
will also have an office in the
building.
Congratulations and smooth
saiiing to Wilmington from the
Atlantic coast.
ships were the object of high praise this week from the
and seamenship while under enemy attack on the high seas
and a credit to the merchant marine and the union to which
honor were the crews of the SS Matt W. Ransom and the SS
•William Wirt. Both crews met
Axis raiders with the odds great
ly against them, and proved to
the hilt that the ordinary work
ing stiff doesn't need a uniform
and a lot of brass hat discipline
to be a good fighter.
The praise these men now re
ceive from the War Shipping
Administration is, to say the
least, ironical. For it is the WSA
which (between pats on the
back) sticks knives in their ribs.
While these men fight torpedoes
and dive bombers on the high
seas, the WSA attempts to scut
tle their union security and con
ditions back home.
The whole rotten anti-union
policy of the WSA is known to
the seamen all over the world.
These men fight the Axis be
cause they believe that in so do
ing they are smashing Fascism
abroad. But they have no illu
sions that .the crushing of Ger
many and Italy removes ̂ 11 the
enemies of labor — they know
that they have another fight on
their hands back home after
the foreign war has been won.
They know that this second
fight for democracy will be
waged against the shipowners
and swivil chair brass hats In
Washington who now pat them
on the head from time to time
with one hand, while erecting
baracades with the other.
We don't reject these words of
praise merely because they come
from the WSA. These crews
have earned this recognition
and accept it as their just due.
But we cant help but observe
(Continued on Page 4)
• - These pictures illustrate the main steps in the
conversion of sea water into drinking water by a
process perfected by the Navy. Equipment consists
•of two plastic processing bags, both of which con
tain filters. In the first picture on the left a sea
man squeezes the upper jmrtion of the bag, con
taining sea water and a filter sack. This disperses
chemical in the water and removes the salt. In
the center picture the saltless water is trans-
fered into the second bag for the purpose of remov
ing the sodium. After the second bag has been
squeezed and the sodium removed, the water is safe
to drink. It possesses a sulfur taste, but no seaman
is going to kick about that in the middle of the
ocean. The hitch is that this equipment has not
been placed aboard merchant ships but is restricted
to the Navy. Don't ask us why.
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Fage Two TaC S£AFAI^£RS LOG Friday, August 13, IMS
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SEAFARERS LOG
Ptiblhhed by the
SEAFARERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION
OF NORTH AMERICA
Atlantic and Gulf District
Affiliated with the American Federation of Labor
HARRY LUNDEBERG ------ Pre^dent
110 Market Street, San Francislro, Calif.
JOHN HAWK ------- Secy-Trer^,
P. Oi Box 2 J, Station P., Now York City
MATTHEW DUSHANE - - - Washington Rep.
424 5th Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.
Hep Cat Curran Sounds Off
BRANCH
NEW YORK (4)
Directory of Branches
ADDRESS PHONE
I • • 2 Stonfi St.*
Deck & Engine Dispatcher. . BOwling Green 9-3430
Steward Dispatcher BOwling Green 9-6786
Agent BOwling Green 9-3437
BOSTON (10) 330 Atlantic Ave; Liberty 4067
BALTIMORE (2).. 14 North Gay St. .Calvert 4539
PHILADELPHIA 6 North eth St Lombard 7651
NORFOLK 25 Commercial PI ...Norfolk 4-1083
NEW ORLEANS (16) . .. 309 Chartres St Canal 3336
SAVANNAH 218 East Boy St Savannah 3-1728
TAMPA 436 East Piatt St Tampa MM-1323
MOBILE 55 So. Conception St Diel 8-1392
PUERTO RICO ....45 Ponce de Leon Puerto de Tlerm
GALVESTON 219 20th Street Galveston 2-8043
FT. LAUDERDALE 2021 S. Federal Highway. .Ft. Lauderdale 1601
PUBLICATION OFFICE:
ROOM 215, 2 STONE STREET
New York City BOwling Green 9-8346
New Witholding Tax
On Wages Is Explained
^ I
By Theodore Thomson
(The following article was printed several weeks ago, and is
now begpg repeated for the bepelit of men who have just returned
from sea. AU Agents should clip, this story and put it on the
bulletin boards.)
From the 1st of July all seamen will have 20% "pay as you
go" tax withheld from -their monithly pay.
If you are single you have a monthly basic exemption of $52
before your income is taxed. If you are married your ememption is
$104, and if married and have one child (or another dependent)
your exemption is $130.00.
You also receive exemptions for additional iwrtions of a
month, as follows: for each day over .the 30 day exemption you are
allowed $1.70 if smgle, $3.50 if marriad and 85 cents per day for
each additional dependent.
Suppose you are out for 3 montlis and 16 days. If single your
exemption would run as follows:
3 months at $52.00 $156.00
16 days at $1.70 27.20
Total ex»mpfcion .$183.20
If your total wages, overtime ahd bonus amount to $735.00 you
would then deduct your exemptloa of $183.33, find; that $551.80
is the amount taxable. 20% of your taxable income ($551.80) would
be $110.36. Deduct this f rom your total earnings.
Total earaings $735.00
20% deduction of taxable portion 110.38
To determine Federal Old Age Benefit,, room and board allow
ance must be added at. the rate of $36 per month, or $1.20 per day.
Thus, 3 months and 16 days $1.20, is $127.20, add this to your
earnings of $735.00
127.20
llffr m
862.20 1% of which ia $8.62; so. your final compu
tation would be as follows:
Total £amittgs $735.00
"Pay as you go" tax 110.36
624.64
Social Security Tax, 8.62
^ Net Wages $616.02
(Continued front Page 1)
are now experts on Jazz—^no less.
Lovers of music and culture,
says the Party in its voice the
Daily Jerker of July 2Srd in a
column by one Irlike Gold. The
NMU headquarters In New York
Is to be turned into a Palace of
Jazz. (Likewise Bridges CP squir
rel cage in San Fran.)
From now on it's "Hep Cat"
Curran and silver toned Guy
Lombardo Bridges, the great
Commie "leaders" of maritime
workers. Visualize them, esi>eci-
ally Ham Head Curran who
knows as much about culture as
he does about the inscription on
the Ro.sefcta Stone. As lor
Bridges, his fame Eis^a lover has
reached us, but music wasn't
mentioned.
Hep Cat Curan, the old rug
cutter and his orchestra. Cin'-^
ran playing his favorite instru
ment, the flute. Myers sounding
off on hi.s tooter. Stein trying to
play a half dozen instruments
at once. Smith on the trombone,
Lawrenson ;on the drum, Mc-
Kenzie on his zylophone, with
the score written by Browder,
and Tommy Ray doing the ba
ton work from the orchestra pit.
The audiences are all Commies
from the Waterfront Section in
the front row to do the heavy
cheering on all flat notes, knd
the general ajssembly are the
newcomers to the NMU and the
iniiustry. Each Is ready and
willing to drop their instrument
and play the role of singing
waiter.
Hear Curran sing "You made
'me what I am today" while
looking at Ray for direction.
Beautifully rendered; enough to
wring tears from the eyes of the
Old Timers now out of the NMU
who know the score. Stein
sings "Every little bit added to
what you got." Ah, a gala eve
ning. What culture, what zest,
what verve. Rachmaninoff, Beet
hoven, Shubert, would pale with
envy at the musicianship of this
newly discovered talent. The
new recruits will be forever
drawn to the NMU (with enough
suitable girl Communist talent
as an added attraction). Ah,
youth, ah glorious musical de
light. What muscians.
We can see Curran in the near
fiiture derrianding an agreement
; from the WSA to put an orches-'
tra on every ship, and that sea
men's gear should include mu
sical instruments furnished by
the Company. Instead of cofleo
time, the NMU would sponsor a
Hep Cat Hour. Picture® of Cur
ran and Guy Lombardo addges
to hang in every comer on every;
NMU ship. Spirit of Progress,
(or is it. a case of giving them
circuses?)
All oldtiihe seamen must be
forever grateful for the "discov
ery" by the Communist Party of
the latent musical genius laying
dormant under the homely
phsiogs of Curran and Bridges.
Prom now on—all will be sweet
ness and light, men will refuse
to think and will remain satis-
fled with Communist displays
enough to stay in the Union and
pay dues to the Commies, in
stead of following the old time
NMU members out of the
"union'-' as they are doing now.
Yes, and by the looks of it they
will go a hell of a lot faster
from now on or we miss ou?
guess.
—Top An' lifl)
ORDER ON ALIEN
SEAMEN EXTENDED
The War Shipping Adminis
tration has extended its restric
tions against the employment of
seamen of certain nationalities
on vessels of United States,
Panamanian or Honduran reg
istry to include Fi-ench nationals
not employed as seamen on such
shipsxin or before June 1 of this
year, and Chinese nationals not
so employed on or before July
15, "except when their einploy=
ment Is requested by the Re
cruitment and Manning Organi
zation and from the properly ac
credited consular representation
of the nation involved."
The order, issued as a revision
of Supplement No. 2 to General
Order No. 5, brings to a total of
ten the nationalities iaffected by
current restrictions on the em
ployment of alien seamen.
Others, named in previous WSA
orders in March and April, in
cluded Dutch, Norwegian, Bel
gian, Greek, British, Yugoslav
and Polish nationals not so em
ployed on or before April 8, and
Brazilian nationials not. so em
ployed on or before Februaiy 1.
The new ruling change® the
former qualifying clause, which
read "except by consent of a
properly accredited consular rep
resentative of ittie nation in
volved," by specifying that, in
each case a special request must
be issued by the Recruitment
and Manning Organization."
R. (K MCDONALD
Get in.'touch with Marie;^80&
Dauphiiie St., New Orleaiuk It
is very important.
R. THOMPSON, 2873
Next time you are in New
York see Claude Fisher, Steward
Patrolman.
Seamen And Their Struggle
Against Exploitation And
Government Repressions
By Matthew Dushane^
(Following is chapter two of a scries of articles on early maritime,
struggles led by Andrew Furuscth and the AFL.)
Legislation: Continuing the^
keep In Touch With
Your Local Draft Board.
fight that was led by Andrew
Furuseth for seamen's rights,
here is the action that was
taken at the conventions of the
American Federation of Labor.
1899
President reported gains made
through the seamen's new law.
He said, "The law does not
grant all that was asked, but in
American ports, the ports of
British possessions of North Am
erica, Newfoundland, the West
Indies and Mmcico, it abolishes
imprisonment for desertion from
vessels and does not permit of
their being arrested and com
pelled to go on board of a vessel
and to work against their will.
It provides" that the sums of
wages due to seamen not ex
ceeding $106.00 can be sued for
undoes smauary proceedings' To.
ia majovGy of the crew exclu^ve
of the officers, is granted the
right to demand a survey in any
American vessel in American
ports. An improved scale of peo-
vl«ioBs. was adopted. The crimp
ing system, altbough not entire
ly abolished, was modified by
reducing the possiUe allolmmit
to mdmps. It also gives the sea
men the right to quit work at
any time, and for any reason
suffi«^U^t to himself, in any
0^' tbo United States. It
^ves to him immunity in the
U, Si from bring brought on any
vessel agrinst his wilt It re
duces .the evils of the crimping
system Hsy one half; It provides
fur saiuuiaify- proceeding These
am good st^ps. in the rigfit dH-
rectton, but by no means, suffi
cient. It is also a partial rever
sal of a policy which has existed
in our country since 1793; name
ly; treating the seamen as serfs;
and we may feel assured that
by having entered, upon the re
versal of that system, to the ex
tent of this law, we shaU see
within a reasonable time the ab
solute abolution of the system-
of involuntary servitude under
which the seamen have b^n,
and are, in the foreign trade
still suffering." ^
1900
Protested against more than."
one cargo carrying vessel being
towed at one time unless they
are capable of taking care ctf
themselves at sea, under sail or
steam. "We believe that there iB
no hope of miaterially increasing
the number of native seamen 08
long as those in our merchant:
marine still are subject in a for
eign port to involuntary servi
tude.
1901
The Commissioner of Navisstr .
tion said there is no provtston-
of law empowering any officer
of the government to regifintft
the numbei- of vessels in tow,
although the matter was refesed;
to in the report- of the bareou
for 1868; that the chances for
the passage of any legislation,
upon the subject would depeopi
to an extent upon "A, speoffi©
statement of the losses of bor^'
and their crews." Exeeutlw
council instructed to iiifonn
President of the U. S. that tiwafc-
ifis with foreign countries; per
mit involuntary servitude for
seamen. Und^manning of: yea-
sels is drivir® native seamOB;
from the sea.
1908
Condemhed praetiee of brllilih
Ing Chiaamw frcun China and;
placing them on American "Ves
sels. , Legislative committee had
defeated attempt toTestore pro
visions of the old law denytog
right of seamen to quit, thOlT
(Continued on, Page. }). ^
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L'AE SEAFARERS LOO Faee Ibreo-
•r
WHAT'S EOmO
Ammnd the Jl^rts
BOSTON
Recently there appeared at
the Boston office a young chap
who asked if he could join" our
imion as he had heard we had
better conditions, better crews,
and more harmony on board
ships under our jurisdiction.
After questioning him to some
length I was told the following:
He was 20 years old, an Am
erican by birth, and had applied
to the RMO for a berth on an
American vessel. The RMO ship
ped him on a Panamerican ves
sel as coal burning fireman for
$65.00 per month with the prom
ise that if he sg,iled on her for 6
months they would get him U. S.
Seamen's papers and they would
permit him to sail on his own
U. S. ships. Well, he made one
trip on her which lasted two
months and came to the con
clusion that any sane person
would go* insane If they made a
second trip. Also he wished to
know from me why it was that
his government did not think
him good enough to permit him
to sail on a TJ. S. merchant ves
sel and yet talked him into
signing on a Panamanian vessel.
I told him the best way to find
out was to ask the United Fruit
Co. or his Congressman and as
an American citizen he had a
right to know.
Here is an example of our gov
ernment crying for seamen to
man "New Liberty Ships" and
when our earnest youth apply,
the same government acts as a
shipping master for another
government in supplying youth
ful American citizens to, work
under coolie conditions and scab
wages. Yet year after year they
- send a representative to some
labor conference, at Geneva or
London with instruction to bring
before representatives of other
governments ways and means to
increase safety at sea and high
er wages for seamen so that
American shipowners will not
be compelled to compete under
such disadvanbagious competi
tion as practiced by foreign
shipowners. It reminds m^ of
the story of "Finky Lou," but
that's another story.
r have good news for Brothers
Armstrong and Wallace. At long
last they can expect to receive
the packages of Roach exterm
inating powder that was prom-
ise<i them at the last Geneva
Conference. With 4 foot of water
in our Galveston Hall I wonder
what Brother Wallace intends to
do with his package.
I was seriously thinking of
putting Brother Dushane on my
moiling list as I understand
some Washington offices are in
fested with Roaches.
I see where Jimmy Corfue is
making another trip on the
same ship as steward and all the
stewards dept. are signing on
again with him, WeU^ such pop
ularity must be deserved, land by
the way, J.unmy, Mayor Tobin
of Boston certainly enjoyed your
stories.
MOBILE
JOHN MOGAN, Agent
It has been the contention of
this organization ever since the
inception of the Maritime Com
mission, that it was nothing
more or less but machhiery to
eliminate the maritime unions
from the field. The ship oper
ators will stop at nothing to re
vert back to the old fink days.
To stubstantiate my argument
I will just give you a little cita
tion of how the W.S.A. functions.
Tuesday July 27, 1943 the S.S.
was scheduled to sign
articles for parts & ports im-
known. The crew demanded a
transportation letter back to riie
port in the Gulf like all other
ships out of this port. The com
pany refused to sign the letter
with the statement that the
W.S.A. would not permit them
to go for any thing else but
Regulation No. 64 of the W.S.A..
Now for the benefit of every
body concerned this regulation
No. 64 was drafted by a bmich
of high pressure lawyers in
Washington, and by all accounts
it took them three months to
draft it—^which may be a smart
job, I lam not commenting on
that phrase of the picture. I
wiU admit that ever since Pearl
Harbor, when labor gave the
pledge to the President that it
was waiving all rights to strike
for the duration, the industrial
Giants got busy immediately
with all of their stooges in
Washington to push labor back
on its heels and they have done
a very good job of it too.
Getting back to ' the Robin
Line Liberty ship and the trans
portation letter, both sides back
ed and filled arounded for two
days and on Thursday morning,
July 29, the W.S.A. ordered the
shipping commissioner down to
the ship at 10 a.m. to sign the
ship on. The W.S.A. informed
the crew that they would have
to sign Regulation No. 64' or else,
and the crew just informed
them that it was else, and for
them to go right ahead and get
themselves a mew of factory
sailors.
Now every single person that
was involved in the beef very
frankly admitted that the crew
was one hundred per cent right
in their demand, but W.S.A.
would not permit the company
to sign anything else but regu
lation No. 64. Now this Regula
tion No. 64,' in the Preamble the
instructions to General Agents,
all Agents are to, use their dis
cretion on the using of Regula
tion No, 64 as a rider, but they
did not allow them to use them
discretion In this case. So it's
very obvious that as far as the
Statement of Principles is con
cerned the W.S.A. doesn't have
any idea of living up to it. If
that is not a. violation of the
Statement of Principles, cut my
legs off and call me shorty.
The RMO put a crew aboard
and the good old ship, sailed
that., way.
OLDEN BANKS, Agent
NEW ORLEANS
Things are still just barely
making the grade down here.
Pew ships, plenty of men, plenty
of squawks and still plenty of
the old fashioned chislers by
the companies.
The pay off for the week was
a new Waterman ship showed
up to start the week and the
men on deck got very very in
sulted because of the fact that
the ship wds not built, or rather
rigged, to fit all hands at the
present time. The crew and the
gun crew just could not seem to
get together about who ate
when. The result that after a
few drinks the men called the
hall and ordered replacements.
I pointed out to the men that
they would have to stay put un
til we found out whether or not
that we could get replacemente.
They promised that if the re
placements were not down there
tliat they would sail the ship
i-ather then put the union in a
spot. Result that after a few
more heaves on the back splice
they all returned to the ship and
packed up them gear and va
moosed.
This at sailing time with the
result that the company natur
ally called the RMO and sailed
the ship about four Hours later.
This is the sort of reports that
the M.C. and C.G. the Navy and
all the other bureaus like to
compile and send in reams of
stuff on. Just a few more of
these things are needed to real
ly put the ax to the men that
are sailing the ships. All this
took place on a new ship that
came here from MobUe. It seems
to me that this crew, if things
were all that bad, could and
should have notified the Mobile
branch, instead of waiting for
sailing day to start a beef.
A little trouble on one of the
ships with a colored stewards
department. Around sailing time
it's been the habit here lately
for these gents to get off the
ship and we have been forced to
issue trip cards to quite a num
ber of men to sail the ships. This
time the only men that sailed
the ship were the steward and
the 2nd cook, the rest of the
dept. was filled out. with the
Filipino boys, who, once they get
a ship, hold on pretty good. So
we can look for this ship now to
be a solid Filipino ship. Tliis
may teach a needed lesson to
those who need it.
We have a couple of very nice
looking halls on the string here
so expect to have something
definite to submit to the mem
bers very shortly.
SeatnenAnd Their Struggle
ARMY, Agent
{^Continued from Page 2)
employment even when a vessel
is in a safe harbor. Demanded
repeal of treaties permitting in
voluntary servitude; repeal of
law prohibiting licensed officers
in the merchant marine from
leaving their employment; op
posed ship subsidy bill because
it was calculated to extend the
transportation monopoly now
held by the railroads on land in
to and over the sea •without in
any way helping to develop a
rfative or naturalized body of
American Seamen.
1903
Arresting and returning to
their respective vessels such sea
men as deserted is contrary to
Human Liberty; employment of
inexperienced men as seamen
has caused large loss of life;
Congress should enact a law
giving all seamen full right to
quit work in any safe harbor;
Urged Congress to prohibit tow
ing of more than one vessel not
capable of being managed un
der its own power; those that
cannot be managed alone are
known as coffins. We demand
the same individual and person
al freedom for seamen that is
enjoyed by other workers; we
protest against a continuation
of a system of contracts to work
that are enforcable by impris
onment as degrading to the sail
ors and dangerous to other
workers.
1904
Renewed demands for laws
governing rafts. Undermanning
of ships has caused great loss of
life and Congress should pro
hibit this reckless gambling with
human lives. Demanded treat
ies be amended to prevent own
ership of one man by another.
1906
Condemned the disregard of
human life as practiced by some
vessel owners who often' send
one steam vessel to tow a num
ber of heavily loaded barges
which spmetimes are cut adrift,
and the helpless seamen find a
watery grave. Endorsed^ bill to
prohibit inefficient and insuffi
cient crews on passenger vessels,
lack of which caused three dis
astrous wrecks and loss of life
In New York harbor, San Fran
cisco Bay and off Vancouver Isl
and; employment of Chinese on
American vessels declared vio
lation of the exclusion law; de
manded laws to prohibit over
loading of vessels. The freedom
won by other workmg people has
been denied seamen, leaving
them to involuntary servitude;
they have been forbidden the
right to combhie to obtain in
creases in wages -to correspond
with those of men of equal skill,
thus making it impossible for
them to marry, preventing boys
from seeking the sea and men
from remaining there to tho
detriment of our merchant ma
rine and the serious danger to
our national safety and prestige;
asked amendment of the pilots
age laws of Virginia which com
pel vessel owners in the coast
wise trade to pay pilot fees al-
thouh no service is performed
by pilots or deemed necessary.
1907
We note with pleasure the de
feat of the anti-pilotage bill. Its
defeat is in the interest of the
safety of life and property at
sea. We freely admit that the
law as it stands works a discrim
ination against sailmg vessels hi
favor of the steam vessels, but
hold that the proper way to
abolish the discrimination is to
restore compulsory pilotage as
regards steam vessels. A proper
regard for the life of passengers,
leaving the crew out of consid
eration, demands nothing less.
Reaffirmed demand for law abol
ishing imprisonment for seamen
who quit work in a foreign port.
1908
Demanded laws to prevent
further deterioration of the
U. S. merchant marine similiar
to the English—i.€.: No person
to be signed as an able seaman
unless he has served at least
three years on deck at sea, must
be a citizen and have a suffici
ent knowledge of the English,
language to understand orders
on board. Reaffirmed demand
for abolition of involuntary ser
vitude of American seamen in
foreign ports. Condemned law
delegatmg to the inspection ser
vice the power of determining
the number of officers and men
to be employed on steam vessels
as it does not provide standards
of skill, language or numbers
by which inspectors are to be
guided.
FRANK GREEN—G-52
WILLIE SMITH
WILLIE NELSON
LEROY LANNON
JAMES THOMPSON
LEROY GREEN
JOSE HERNANDEZ
A VOSB
R SHEDDEN
M. McCONNELL
P. G. NOVAK
ANDRES CORTES
ANTHONY ONORATO
S. CRAWFORD
ARTHUR J. DWYER—F 8823
Earl Esco G-1
Raymond Martinez ... P 8619
Attention Agents!
»
Wallace Sweat, G-58, signed
on in Jackstrnville, Florida and
signed off in New York. He is an
anti-union performer and re
fused to pay his dues. Be cer
tain that he doesn't ship on an
SID vessel.
KEEP CLEAR WITH YOUR DRAFT BOARD
By observing the following simple instructions you will
continue to receive deferment from military service. Fail
to observe these rules and you may wind up in the army.
WHEN SIGNING ON; Give the clerk or skipper all the
information neeessary to fill out RMO Card No. 47 (Green
Card).
WHEN SIGNING OFF: See that Card No. 48-A is prop-
perly filled out by skipper or clerk.
Ship out before your allotted time ashore has expired.
If you have not yet filled out the Green Card, contact your
draft board and let them know that you are sailing.
T
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Page Four THE SEAFARERS LOG Friday, August 13, 1943
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Yard Workers Get Raw Deal
On Wages; Continue Fight
Unions in the shipbuilding
industry are not giving up ifchelr
battle for wage increases, despite
rejection of their plea by the
National War Labor Board, it
was made known this week by
Vice President William A. Oal-
^vin of the International Broth
erhood of Boilermakers.
A. F. of L. unions in the indus
try had demanded raises for over
a million shipyard workers, equal
to the advance in the cost of
living since the spring of 1942,
when present wage rates were
established at a national ship
building stabilization conference
in Chicago.
At that time, on the urgent
plea of President Roosevelt and
other government oflRcials, the
unions accepted an 8-cent-an-
hour raise, though they were en
titled to 13 cents under provis
ions of their agreements which
called for increases in line with
the rise in the cost of living.
RELIED ON "F.D.'s" PROMISE
Uiiluu representatives made
the sacrifice on the promise
of government spokesmen
that if the administration
failed to hold the line on
prices, wages would later be
adjusted. ^
At hearings before the War
Labor Board several weeks ago,
labor's spokesman Insisted the
government fulfill that solemn
pledge, but the board. In a de
cision issued this week, by an
8-lo-4 vote, denied any general
increase, claiming it is barred by
the "Little Steel" formula and
the administration's stabiliza
tion policies. All four labor mem
bers of the board dissented.
We're keeping up the battle
for justified wage adjustments
despite the decision of the
board," Calvin declared. "Prices
are still climbing, land the board,
in fairness to the workers, can't
maintain its arbitrary wage ceil-
mgs forever. At the proper time
we will renew our demands."
S.LU. CREWS LAUDED
Unions At Peak Strength
With 13,000,000 Members
Union membership in the United States and Canada was
placed at an all-time high of 13,000,000 by the Office of War In
formation this week.
Tlie OWI estimated gains in the past year alone at 1,500,000
members. Since the bottom of the depression, rolls of the unions
have more than quadrupled.
A. F. of L. strength was put at close to 6,500,000, C. I. O. at
5,000,000, independent railroad brotherhoods, outside of those affil
iated with the A. F. of L., at 420,000, and other unaffiliated unions,
such as the United Mine Workers, Typographical Union, Brewery
Workers and various organizations of telephone employes, at
1,100,000.
Among the most spectacular advances in the last 12 months
were those scored by the Machinists and various unions in the
shipbuilding industry, such as the Boilermakers, the OWI report
disclosed. These organizations have doubled their strength.
^AOM, JksL 3Uld)tA, fijtMA,—
One day last week, Edward J. Noble, a business man who once
eerved as undersecretary of commerce, paid $8,000,000 to the Na-
ildonal Broadcasting Company for its Blue Network. This trans
action raises two or three points worth considering.
The tangible property owned by the Blue Network is probably
hot worth $500,000. Why pay $8,000,000 for it? Because that will
enable Mr. Noble to control airways which are owned by the people
of the United States. Do the people get anything for the use of
the airways? Not a penny. That seems a little rough on the
people, but that's the way things are done nowadays.
Mr. Noble land the interests which put up the $8,000,000 for
him, will be able to whisper their ideas—^thcir propaganda into
your ear every day and every night for an indefinite period. That's
worth a lot of money to anyone who wishes to influence public
opinion in America. It is significant that the names of Mr. Noble's
financial associates have not been mentioned up to date.
For more than 20 years, this newspaf>ers has been warning
Americans that interests, which are very powerful but not particu
larly scrupulous, have been moving .steadily toward a certain goal:
They wish to establish, a "vested right" to the people's airways—
and they have almost rea'ched their goal!
The attempt to regulate them has been largely futile, because
the radio moguls have succeeded in corrupting most of the regu
lators.
About the only "out" for the American people is to insist that
Uncle Sam establish his own national broadcasting-system, sup
ported out of the Public Treasury. That doesn't mean that the
privately-owned companies would be put out of business. It does
mean that the people would have the unrestricted right to use a
part of the airways which they own.
This would not be popular with the radio monopolists and
their newspaper backers. Tlie monopolists are prepared to spend
millions on lobbyists, crooked propagandists and still more crook
ed" politicians to block any move looking to reform.
—Labor
{Continued from Page 1)
that when labors' enemies are
forced to say such things—the
case must be overwhelntog.
The iWSA letter on the Matt
Ransom is reproduced in the
columns at the right. The text
of the WSA letter on the Wil
liam Wirt follows:
War Shipping Administration
Washington, D. C.
August 2, 1943
Seafarers' International Urdon
of North America
Room 213
2 Stone Street
New York City
Gentlemen;
The Liberty ship, S.S. WIL
LIAM WIRT, launched July 4,
1942, at Bethlehem - Fairfield
Shipyard, manned by members
of your Union was the first ves
sel of the huge allied convoy to
dock in tlie historic North Afri
can invasion last November.
The U. S. Navy reports that
the WILLIAM WIRT, last Janu
ary, ran the gantlet of five air
attacks in the Eastern Atlantic
and Mediterranean, shooting
down four enemy planes and
two more "probables." Although
damaged by near misses and by
a bomb which penetrated to its
highly inflammable cargo but
failed to explode, the WILLIAM
WIRT held her position in the
convoy and discharged her cargo
on schedule.*
Only by remarkable teamwork
of the Merchant Marine, officers
and crew and .the Navy gun
crew under fire was this notable
victory won. More power to you
an.
Very truly yours.
WAR SHippiNO ADMINISTRATION
V/ASHINOTON
EDWARD MAOAULEY
Deputy Administrator
Unsinkable Boats
Being Constructed
»
Large-scale construction of a
new unsinkable type of lifeboat,
which is far superior to the
standard lifeboat at present in
use on ocean-going veiisels, has
begun in 'British shipyards*^ and
is making satisfactory progress,
the main office of the Interna
tional Transport Workers' Fed
eration in London reports.
The main features of the new
boat are a highly elevated and
enclosed forecastle and poop,
kapok or cork-filled fenders
round the gunwale and extent
sive storage space for water.
Eight large water tanks are fit
ted low in the center of the boat.
The new boat, as demonstrat
ed in exhaustive trials, can be
lowered in smooth weather by
a single drop at an angle of 70
degrees, either bow or stern
first, and without shipping any
water. It can also right itself
from.a list of 100 degrees. The
experiments were conducted un
der supervision of the shipping
authorities and witnessed by
union representatives who, laud
ed the performance of the new
boat type.
Keep lii Touch With
Your Local. Draft Board.
AOgUtt t, i9t3
eenlKrtrs' Int»pnatl#n|il Union
of Horth Aaorlon ' ^
Rooa 213
e Stona Strnat
Hav yorte City
Oantlanani
Tha Ubarty tUp. S. 8. uiTt W. lUKSCU* Mimed ty '
BMibsra of your Union vaie approaoUne an Afirloan port aritb
« aaluatla earso of Any auppUaa irttan aha atruok an. aanqr
alnaa Tha idolant aoq)lofion rippa<i Into har hoira Tha ahlp
tlraddared undar tha l^aota Oraylah-blaok mtar iraa throan
cna hundrad faat in tha aira Than a aaoond axploalon fol-
lowad, tha thlp bagan to aattla and finally the abandon ahlp
Order waa glTaua
Rhaa all handa ware aafa in llfahoaiat Captain
iiataall noted that tha raaaal had eaaaad to aattloa Tilth a
TOluntaer orair of alx nan, ha oUabad to the alanting daok
of tha raaaal idioaa bow «aa alnoat buried in tha aaa, .. Tha
nan ra-fl'rad tha bollara and finally tha logy raaaal
undar any aa tha aerena began to turn again. Manned V
alceleton ore* of four aan abora daok and tan balov, aha pro*
eaadad nithout further inoidant to port and dliohargad bar
oargo.
Said Captain Mataalli "I gira dradlt to all bmda
for their ooolaaaa apd apaoial oradit to Ubarty aUpi ehioh
gas. atand »n wcpleaion of tMa na^tude and atill ba ahla to
eooa in undar their oim ponar." Tbia aagnifloant job ty tba
Mn nho biiilt and aaiiad tha 1U.TT w. SAHSOH haa again hmrad
our Aaariota Marohant Marina.
Very truly youra.
Bdaard liaaao^ f
Oapuly Adninlatrator
Out of the Focs^l
by
3C~
Last week Headquarters received a call from one of the 90
day wonders asking us to help two of his buddies who were picked-
up by the Navy Shore Patrol at the Rialto Ball Room for imper
sonating Navy men.
This information must be amusing to the old-timers in our
organization, as they have to tolerate these pseudo mess and
wiper officers running around the ship with their high pressure
hats and uniforms. These maritime trainees have been told on
numerous occasions as soon as they joined the union that they
didn't have to wear those uniforms any longer and that they were
no longer under the jurisdiction of the WSA. One bright guy of
17 told us he couldn't get any girls unless he wore the uniform.
Another one said that he couldn't walk the streets of New York
without a uniform or he would be beat up. About 10,000 of our
membens come from New York and we don't see them being beat-
up by anybody.
AAA.
The old Robin tub that would makle 6 knots with the wind on
its tail finally came to rest at the bottom of the sea. Forunately,
no one was lost. One of the Alcoa C-2's was recenWy lost with no
casualties. Everytime Paul Hall gets to Baltimore he has a new
Re^utlon for the brothers to ponder over. Two Sundays ago we
made a trip on the Hudson Day Liners and when we istepped into
the Dining Room we thought we were aboard the Acadia as a lot
of Eastern stiffs were saUing the Day Line ship and working below
the Union scale. These very same men will be looking for a break
from the membership when the war is over.
MONEY DUE
p. MARTINEZ, LEWIS FEARS
and E. FRIMOS: You have over
time coming from the Bull Line.
Collect 115 Broad Street, New
York City. • » » • •
WILUAM NICHEL has over
time coming from Calmar Line,
39 Broadway, New York City.
Steward's Department of S.S.
Frellnghausen has money due
for extra meals. Collect Water
man line. New York City.
• • •
S.S. John Latrope: Chief cook
and Steward have division of
wages due. Crew which' uutde
complete trip has difference of
'advance money coming. Collect
Calmar Line, New York City.
* * »
The following men have
money coming from Smith &
Johnson, 80 Broad Street, New^
York City: BELLAH, BI^
MANN, BILDE, BLAME, C^-
FREY, ENGER, FAIRCLOTH,
FALLONE, GATELY, HTI.!.,
MACE, RUNGE, RUTKOWSKI4.
SIVCO, WEINBERG.
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SEeSRITY
IN
UNITY
^ABERS JOC}
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ATLANTIC AND GULF DISTRICT,
SEAFARERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA
VOL. V. M7 NEW YORK, N. Y., FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 1943 No 20
Details Of New Victory
Ship Are Revealed By
Maritime Commission
Despite opposition of certain
sKipowners who care less for the
lives of their crews than for
profits, the Maritime Commis
sion's plan for replacing Liberty
ship production with the faster
and safer Victory ships is going
through. Last week for the first
time, details of the new Victory
ships were released by Admiral
Howard L. Vicfcery, Vice Chair
man, U. S. Maritime Commis
sion, in an article appearing in
the Aug. 9th issue of the Jour
nal of Commerce.
Here are the pertnent excerpts
from the Admiral's article:
The Martime Commission has
designed a new cargo vessel,
which combines the high speed
of the C-types with many of the
features which ha>jB permitted
such rapid construction of the
Liberty ship. The present sched
ules, are based upon the con
struction of tlie new vessels with
. steam turbine propulsion. Util
ising two different sizes of power
plants, the smaller of whicii de
velops 6,000 HP, the Victory ship
will have a normal speed of
15-17 knots—compared with the
11-knots of the Liberty.
The new vessel will be 20 feet
longer than its predecessor. The
Victory ship will have increased
beam to insure adequate stabil
ity, armament and all, without
this sacrifice of carrying capac
ity.
Among other differences, the
present vessel has two decks
whereas its successor will have
three permitting better utiliza
tion of holds for the stowage of
the types of cargo most gener
ally to be carried. In addition.
numerous miscellaneous changes
have been made to improve the
working conditions of the ship's
personnel, ias well as the actual
cargo transporting utility.
Although the Victory ship pro
gram has been in the making
for a long time; few vessels will
be In actual service before an
other 1,000 Liberties will have
joined the fleet. The length of
the war, obviously, will be the
principal factor in determining
how many vessels of the new
type will be constructed; pres
ent schedules contemplate the
delivery of approximately 340
during 1944.
Minority Union
Can Ask Strike
WASHINGTON — A minority
union or group of workers can
cail for a strike vote to be held
30 days after the government
has been given notice of a labor
dispute, under the Smith-Con-
nally Act, Attorney General Bid-
die has ruled.
This ruling was made on a
question presented by the NLRB.
Biddle's answer caused the
NLRB to set the first strike vote
to be held under the new law
for Aug. 4, in the Allis-Chalmers
Mfg. Co. plant in Springfield, 111.
The strike vote was requested
by District 50 of the United Mine
Workers union (unaffiliated) af
ter the NLRB had dismissed its
petition to be designated as the
collective bargaining represen
tative of the workers.
S.I.U. CREWS LAUDED
FOR HEROISM AT SEA
The crews of two SIU
government. Their courage
marked them as true heroes
they belong.
The men singled out for
Hot Lips Joe
Gives Out
With Flute
Shade of the ancient Mariner,
blow me down mates, but this is
the tops. Here is the yarn. It
seems that the Stalinist "brain
trust" who control the CIO
unions in marine, especially the
NMU and the ILWU, are noting
that these unions are being fill
ed up with youngsters from the
training schools who ere now
flooding into the industry, while
the real seamen and longshore
men are fading out of these
unions, especially 'in the NMU
where they became sickened by
the noise of super-patriotic hot
air. made by chairwarmers on
high salaries, riding on the
backs of their members who
were out there doing the saiiing
-^nd the dying.
What to do? Ah, what to do?
Having made these two worthies
Curran and Bridges, arm chair
admirals and generals and 2nd
front experts, as well as labor
relations experts on all sorts of
CP hatched plans, they had yet
another job for them. This time,
it is to beguile and entertain the
youngsters. They have discover
ed the great musical (sic) tal
ents of Bridges and Curran who
(Continued on Page 2)
We Open New
Union Hall
In Calif.
One of the most modern and
attractive union halls in the
country was opened last week
by the SIU-SUP in Wilmington,
California to care for the ever
increasing traffic in .the port of
Los Angeles. The building is a
one story brick affair with plen
ty of large windows to make the
interior light and cheerful. It is
centrally located at 440 Avalon
Blvd.
This hall sets a new standard
for maritime labor -and serves as
a monument to the efficiency of
the SUP and the fast growing
Pacific district of the SIU.
A gala opening was held at
the hall last week, and union
and maritime leaders through
out the state attended. The
boards literally groaned with
food and liquor and no one left
hungry (or thirsty).
The building will have a cen
tral hiring hall and offices for
Red Snow, SUP agent and Bill
Gries, SIU agent. The MFOW
will also have an office in the
building.
Congratulations and smooth
saiiing to Wilmington from the
Atlantic coast.
ships were the object of high praise this week from the
and seamenship while under enemy attack on the high seas
and a credit to the merchant marine and the union to which
honor were the crews of the SS Matt W. Ransom and the SS
•William Wirt. Both crews met
Axis raiders with the odds great
ly against them, and proved to
the hilt that the ordinary work
ing stiff doesn't need a uniform
and a lot of brass hat discipline
to be a good fighter.
The praise these men now re
ceive from the War Shipping
Administration is, to say the
least, ironical. For it is the WSA
which (between pats on the
back) sticks knives in their ribs.
While these men fight torpedoes
and dive bombers on the high
seas, the WSA attempts to scut
tle their union security and con
ditions back home.
The whole rotten anti-union
policy of the WSA is known to
the seamen all over the world.
These men fight the Axis be
cause they believe that in so do
ing they are smashing Fascism
abroad. But they have no illu
sions that .the crushing of Ger
many and Italy removes ̂ 11 the
enemies of labor — they know
that they have another fight on
their hands back home after
the foreign war has been won.
They know that this second
fight for democracy will be
waged against the shipowners
and swivil chair brass hats In
Washington who now pat them
on the head from time to time
with one hand, while erecting
baracades with the other.
We don't reject these words of
praise merely because they come
from the WSA. These crews
have earned this recognition
and accept it as their just due.
But we cant help but observe
(Continued on Page 4)
• - These pictures illustrate the main steps in the
conversion of sea water into drinking water by a
process perfected by the Navy. Equipment consists
•of two plastic processing bags, both of which con
tain filters. In the first picture on the left a sea
man squeezes the upper jmrtion of the bag, con
taining sea water and a filter sack. This disperses
chemical in the water and removes the salt. In
the center picture the saltless water is trans-
fered into the second bag for the purpose of remov
ing the sodium. After the second bag has been
squeezed and the sodium removed, the water is safe
to drink. It possesses a sulfur taste, but no seaman
is going to kick about that in the middle of the
ocean. The hitch is that this equipment has not
been placed aboard merchant ships but is restricted
to the Navy. Don't ask us why.
A,.:
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Fage Two TaC S£AFAI^£RS LOG Friday, August 13, IMS
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SEAFARERS LOG
Ptiblhhed by the
SEAFARERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION
OF NORTH AMERICA
Atlantic and Gulf District
Affiliated with the American Federation of Labor
HARRY LUNDEBERG ------ Pre^dent
110 Market Street, San Francislro, Calif.
JOHN HAWK ------- Secy-Trer^,
P. Oi Box 2 J, Station P., Now York City
MATTHEW DUSHANE - - - Washington Rep.
424 5th Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.
Hep Cat Curran Sounds Off
BRANCH
NEW YORK (4)
Directory of Branches
ADDRESS PHONE
I • • 2 Stonfi St.*
Deck & Engine Dispatcher. . BOwling Green 9-3430
Steward Dispatcher BOwling Green 9-6786
Agent BOwling Green 9-3437
BOSTON (10) 330 Atlantic Ave; Liberty 4067
BALTIMORE (2).. 14 North Gay St. .Calvert 4539
PHILADELPHIA 6 North eth St Lombard 7651
NORFOLK 25 Commercial PI ...Norfolk 4-1083
NEW ORLEANS (16) . .. 309 Chartres St Canal 3336
SAVANNAH 218 East Boy St Savannah 3-1728
TAMPA 436 East Piatt St Tampa MM-1323
MOBILE 55 So. Conception St Diel 8-1392
PUERTO RICO ....45 Ponce de Leon Puerto de Tlerm
GALVESTON 219 20th Street Galveston 2-8043
FT. LAUDERDALE 2021 S. Federal Highway. .Ft. Lauderdale 1601
PUBLICATION OFFICE:
ROOM 215, 2 STONE STREET
New York City BOwling Green 9-8346
New Witholding Tax
On Wages Is Explained
^ I
By Theodore Thomson
(The following article was printed several weeks ago, and is
now begpg repeated for the bepelit of men who have just returned
from sea. AU Agents should clip, this story and put it on the
bulletin boards.)
From the 1st of July all seamen will have 20% "pay as you
go" tax withheld from -their monithly pay.
If you are single you have a monthly basic exemption of $52
before your income is taxed. If you are married your ememption is
$104, and if married and have one child (or another dependent)
your exemption is $130.00.
You also receive exemptions for additional iwrtions of a
month, as follows: for each day over .the 30 day exemption you are
allowed $1.70 if smgle, $3.50 if marriad and 85 cents per day for
each additional dependent.
Suppose you are out for 3 montlis and 16 days. If single your
exemption would run as follows:
3 months at $52.00 $156.00
16 days at $1.70 27.20
Total ex»mpfcion .$183.20
If your total wages, overtime ahd bonus amount to $735.00 you
would then deduct your exemptloa of $183.33, find; that $551.80
is the amount taxable. 20% of your taxable income ($551.80) would
be $110.36. Deduct this f rom your total earnings.
Total earaings $735.00
20% deduction of taxable portion 110.38
To determine Federal Old Age Benefit,, room and board allow
ance must be added at. the rate of $36 per month, or $1.20 per day.
Thus, 3 months and 16 days $1.20, is $127.20, add this to your
earnings of $735.00
127.20
llffr m
862.20 1% of which ia $8.62; so. your final compu
tation would be as follows:
Total £amittgs $735.00
"Pay as you go" tax 110.36
624.64
Social Security Tax, 8.62
^ Net Wages $616.02
(Continued front Page 1)
are now experts on Jazz—^no less.
Lovers of music and culture,
says the Party in its voice the
Daily Jerker of July 2Srd in a
column by one Irlike Gold. The
NMU headquarters In New York
Is to be turned into a Palace of
Jazz. (Likewise Bridges CP squir
rel cage in San Fran.)
From now on it's "Hep Cat"
Curran and silver toned Guy
Lombardo Bridges, the great
Commie "leaders" of maritime
workers. Visualize them, esi>eci-
ally Ham Head Curran who
knows as much about culture as
he does about the inscription on
the Ro.sefcta Stone. As lor
Bridges, his fame Eis^a lover has
reached us, but music wasn't
mentioned.
Hep Cat Curan, the old rug
cutter and his orchestra. Cin'-^
ran playing his favorite instru
ment, the flute. Myers sounding
off on hi.s tooter. Stein trying to
play a half dozen instruments
at once. Smith on the trombone,
Lawrenson ;on the drum, Mc-
Kenzie on his zylophone, with
the score written by Browder,
and Tommy Ray doing the ba
ton work from the orchestra pit.
The audiences are all Commies
from the Waterfront Section in
the front row to do the heavy
cheering on all flat notes, knd
the general ajssembly are the
newcomers to the NMU and the
iniiustry. Each Is ready and
willing to drop their instrument
and play the role of singing
waiter.
Hear Curran sing "You made
'me what I am today" while
looking at Ray for direction.
Beautifully rendered; enough to
wring tears from the eyes of the
Old Timers now out of the NMU
who know the score. Stein
sings "Every little bit added to
what you got." Ah, a gala eve
ning. What culture, what zest,
what verve. Rachmaninoff, Beet
hoven, Shubert, would pale with
envy at the musicianship of this
newly discovered talent. The
new recruits will be forever
drawn to the NMU (with enough
suitable girl Communist talent
as an added attraction). Ah,
youth, ah glorious musical de
light. What muscians.
We can see Curran in the near
fiiture derrianding an agreement
; from the WSA to put an orches-'
tra on every ship, and that sea
men's gear should include mu
sical instruments furnished by
the Company. Instead of cofleo
time, the NMU would sponsor a
Hep Cat Hour. Picture® of Cur
ran and Guy Lombardo addges
to hang in every comer on every;
NMU ship. Spirit of Progress,
(or is it. a case of giving them
circuses?)
All oldtiihe seamen must be
forever grateful for the "discov
ery" by the Communist Party of
the latent musical genius laying
dormant under the homely
phsiogs of Curran and Bridges.
Prom now on—all will be sweet
ness and light, men will refuse
to think and will remain satis-
fled with Communist displays
enough to stay in the Union and
pay dues to the Commies, in
stead of following the old time
NMU members out of the
"union'-' as they are doing now.
Yes, and by the looks of it they
will go a hell of a lot faster
from now on or we miss ou?
guess.
—Top An' lifl)
ORDER ON ALIEN
SEAMEN EXTENDED
The War Shipping Adminis
tration has extended its restric
tions against the employment of
seamen of certain nationalities
on vessels of United States,
Panamanian or Honduran reg
istry to include Fi-ench nationals
not employed as seamen on such
shipsxin or before June 1 of this
year, and Chinese nationals not
so employed on or before July
15, "except when their einploy=
ment Is requested by the Re
cruitment and Manning Organi
zation and from the properly ac
credited consular representation
of the nation involved."
The order, issued as a revision
of Supplement No. 2 to General
Order No. 5, brings to a total of
ten the nationalities iaffected by
current restrictions on the em
ployment of alien seamen.
Others, named in previous WSA
orders in March and April, in
cluded Dutch, Norwegian, Bel
gian, Greek, British, Yugoslav
and Polish nationals not so em
ployed on or before April 8, and
Brazilian nationials not. so em
ployed on or before Februaiy 1.
The new ruling change® the
former qualifying clause, which
read "except by consent of a
properly accredited consular rep
resentative of ittie nation in
volved," by specifying that, in
each case a special request must
be issued by the Recruitment
and Manning Organization."
R. (K MCDONALD
Get in.'touch with Marie;^80&
Dauphiiie St., New Orleaiuk It
is very important.
R. THOMPSON, 2873
Next time you are in New
York see Claude Fisher, Steward
Patrolman.
Seamen And Their Struggle
Against Exploitation And
Government Repressions
By Matthew Dushane^
(Following is chapter two of a scries of articles on early maritime,
struggles led by Andrew Furuscth and the AFL.)
Legislation: Continuing the^
keep In Touch With
Your Local Draft Board.
fight that was led by Andrew
Furuseth for seamen's rights,
here is the action that was
taken at the conventions of the
American Federation of Labor.
1899
President reported gains made
through the seamen's new law.
He said, "The law does not
grant all that was asked, but in
American ports, the ports of
British possessions of North Am
erica, Newfoundland, the West
Indies and Mmcico, it abolishes
imprisonment for desertion from
vessels and does not permit of
their being arrested and com
pelled to go on board of a vessel
and to work against their will.
It provides" that the sums of
wages due to seamen not ex
ceeding $106.00 can be sued for
undoes smauary proceedings' To.
ia majovGy of the crew exclu^ve
of the officers, is granted the
right to demand a survey in any
American vessel in American
ports. An improved scale of peo-
vl«ioBs. was adopted. The crimp
ing system, altbough not entire
ly abolished, was modified by
reducing the possiUe allolmmit
to mdmps. It also gives the sea
men the right to quit work at
any time, and for any reason
suffi«^U^t to himself, in any
0^' tbo United States. It
^ves to him immunity in the
U, Si from bring brought on any
vessel agrinst his wilt It re
duces .the evils of the crimping
system Hsy one half; It provides
fur saiuuiaify- proceeding These
am good st^ps. in the rigfit dH-
rectton, but by no means, suffi
cient. It is also a partial rever
sal of a policy which has existed
in our country since 1793; name
ly; treating the seamen as serfs;
and we may feel assured that
by having entered, upon the re
versal of that system, to the ex
tent of this law, we shaU see
within a reasonable time the ab
solute abolution of the system-
of involuntary servitude under
which the seamen have b^n,
and are, in the foreign trade
still suffering." ^
1900
Protested against more than."
one cargo carrying vessel being
towed at one time unless they
are capable of taking care ctf
themselves at sea, under sail or
steam. "We believe that there iB
no hope of miaterially increasing
the number of native seamen 08
long as those in our merchant:
marine still are subject in a for
eign port to involuntary servi
tude.
1901
The Commissioner of Navisstr .
tion said there is no provtston-
of law empowering any officer
of the government to regifintft
the numbei- of vessels in tow,
although the matter was refesed;
to in the report- of the bareou
for 1868; that the chances for
the passage of any legislation,
upon the subject would depeopi
to an extent upon "A, speoffi©
statement of the losses of bor^'
and their crews." Exeeutlw
council instructed to iiifonn
President of the U. S. that tiwafc-
ifis with foreign countries; per
mit involuntary servitude for
seamen. Und^manning of: yea-
sels is drivir® native seamOB;
from the sea.
1908
Condemhed praetiee of brllilih
Ing Chiaamw frcun China and;
placing them on American "Ves
sels. , Legislative committee had
defeated attempt toTestore pro
visions of the old law denytog
right of seamen to quit, thOlT
(Continued on, Page. }). ^
http://www.pdfcompressor.org/buy.html
L'AE SEAFARERS LOO Faee Ibreo-
•r
WHAT'S EOmO
Ammnd the Jl^rts
BOSTON
Recently there appeared at
the Boston office a young chap
who asked if he could join" our
imion as he had heard we had
better conditions, better crews,
and more harmony on board
ships under our jurisdiction.
After questioning him to some
length I was told the following:
He was 20 years old, an Am
erican by birth, and had applied
to the RMO for a berth on an
American vessel. The RMO ship
ped him on a Panamerican ves
sel as coal burning fireman for
$65.00 per month with the prom
ise that if he sg,iled on her for 6
months they would get him U. S.
Seamen's papers and they would
permit him to sail on his own
U. S. ships. Well, he made one
trip on her which lasted two
months and came to the con
clusion that any sane person
would go* insane If they made a
second trip. Also he wished to
know from me why it was that
his government did not think
him good enough to permit him
to sail on a TJ. S. merchant ves
sel and yet talked him into
signing on a Panamanian vessel.
I told him the best way to find
out was to ask the United Fruit
Co. or his Congressman and as
an American citizen he had a
right to know.
Here is an example of our gov
ernment crying for seamen to
man "New Liberty Ships" and
when our earnest youth apply,
the same government acts as a
shipping master for another
government in supplying youth
ful American citizens to, work
under coolie conditions and scab
wages. Yet year after year they
- send a representative to some
labor conference, at Geneva or
London with instruction to bring
before representatives of other
governments ways and means to
increase safety at sea and high
er wages for seamen so that
American shipowners will not
be compelled to compete under
such disadvanbagious competi
tion as practiced by foreign
shipowners. It reminds m^ of
the story of "Finky Lou," but
that's another story.
r have good news for Brothers
Armstrong and Wallace. At long
last they can expect to receive
the packages of Roach exterm
inating powder that was prom-
ise<i them at the last Geneva
Conference. With 4 foot of water
in our Galveston Hall I wonder
what Brother Wallace intends to
do with his package.
I was seriously thinking of
putting Brother Dushane on my
moiling list as I understand
some Washington offices are in
fested with Roaches.
I see where Jimmy Corfue is
making another trip on the
same ship as steward and all the
stewards dept. are signing on
again with him, WeU^ such pop
ularity must be deserved, land by
the way, J.unmy, Mayor Tobin
of Boston certainly enjoyed your
stories.
MOBILE
JOHN MOGAN, Agent
It has been the contention of
this organization ever since the
inception of the Maritime Com
mission, that it was nothing
more or less but machhiery to
eliminate the maritime unions
from the field. The ship oper
ators will stop at nothing to re
vert back to the old fink days.
To stubstantiate my argument
I will just give you a little cita
tion of how the W.S.A. functions.
Tuesday July 27, 1943 the S.S.
was scheduled to sign
articles for parts & ports im-
known. The crew demanded a
transportation letter back to riie
port in the Gulf like all other
ships out of this port. The com
pany refused to sign the letter
with the statement that the
W.S.A. would not permit them
to go for any thing else but
Regulation No. 64 of the W.S.A..
Now for the benefit of every
body concerned this regulation
No. 64 was drafted by a bmich
of high pressure lawyers in
Washington, and by all accounts
it took them three months to
draft it—^which may be a smart
job, I lam not commenting on
that phrase of the picture. I
wiU admit that ever since Pearl
Harbor, when labor gave the
pledge to the President that it
was waiving all rights to strike
for the duration, the industrial
Giants got busy immediately
with all of their stooges in
Washington to push labor back
on its heels and they have done
a very good job of it too.
Getting back to ' the Robin
Line Liberty ship and the trans
portation letter, both sides back
ed and filled arounded for two
days and on Thursday morning,
July 29, the W.S.A. ordered the
shipping commissioner down to
the ship at 10 a.m. to sign the
ship on. The W.S.A. informed
the crew that they would have
to sign Regulation No. 64' or else,
and the crew just informed
them that it was else, and for
them to go right ahead and get
themselves a mew of factory
sailors.
Now every single person that
was involved in the beef very
frankly admitted that the crew
was one hundred per cent right
in their demand, but W.S.A.
would not permit the company
to sign anything else but regu
lation No. 64. Now this Regula
tion No. 64,' in the Preamble the
instructions to General Agents,
all Agents are to, use their dis
cretion on the using of Regula
tion No, 64 as a rider, but they
did not allow them to use them
discretion In this case. So it's
very obvious that as far as the
Statement of Principles is con
cerned the W.S.A. doesn't have
any idea of living up to it. If
that is not a. violation of the
Statement of Principles, cut my
legs off and call me shorty.
The RMO put a crew aboard
and the good old ship, sailed
that., way.
OLDEN BANKS, Agent
NEW ORLEANS
Things are still just barely
making the grade down here.
Pew ships, plenty of men, plenty
of squawks and still plenty of
the old fashioned chislers by
the companies.
The pay off for the week was
a new Waterman ship showed
up to start the week and the
men on deck got very very in
sulted because of the fact that
the ship wds not built, or rather
rigged, to fit all hands at the
present time. The crew and the
gun crew just could not seem to
get together about who ate
when. The result that after a
few drinks the men called the
hall and ordered replacements.
I pointed out to the men that
they would have to stay put un
til we found out whether or not
that we could get replacemente.
They promised that if the re
placements were not down there
tliat they would sail the ship
i-ather then put the union in a
spot. Result that after a few
more heaves on the back splice
they all returned to the ship and
packed up them gear and va
moosed.
This at sailing time with the
result that the company natur
ally called the RMO and sailed
the ship about four Hours later.
This is the sort of reports that
the M.C. and C.G. the Navy and
all the other bureaus like to
compile and send in reams of
stuff on. Just a few more of
these things are needed to real
ly put the ax to the men that
are sailing the ships. All this
took place on a new ship that
came here from MobUe. It seems
to me that this crew, if things
were all that bad, could and
should have notified the Mobile
branch, instead of waiting for
sailing day to start a beef.
A little trouble on one of the
ships with a colored stewards
department. Around sailing time
it's been the habit here lately
for these gents to get off the
ship and we have been forced to
issue trip cards to quite a num
ber of men to sail the ships. This
time the only men that sailed
the ship were the steward and
the 2nd cook, the rest of the
dept. was filled out. with the
Filipino boys, who, once they get
a ship, hold on pretty good. So
we can look for this ship now to
be a solid Filipino ship. Tliis
may teach a needed lesson to
those who need it.
We have a couple of very nice
looking halls on the string here
so expect to have something
definite to submit to the mem
bers very shortly.
SeatnenAnd Their Struggle
ARMY, Agent
{^Continued from Page 2)
employment even when a vessel
is in a safe harbor. Demanded
repeal of treaties permitting in
voluntary servitude; repeal of
law prohibiting licensed officers
in the merchant marine from
leaving their employment; op
posed ship subsidy bill because
it was calculated to extend the
transportation monopoly now
held by the railroads on land in
to and over the sea •without in
any way helping to develop a
rfative or naturalized body of
American Seamen.
1903
Arresting and returning to
their respective vessels such sea
men as deserted is contrary to
Human Liberty; employment of
inexperienced men as seamen
has caused large loss of life;
Congress should enact a law
giving all seamen full right to
quit work in any safe harbor;
Urged Congress to prohibit tow
ing of more than one vessel not
capable of being managed un
der its own power; those that
cannot be managed alone are
known as coffins. We demand
the same individual and person
al freedom for seamen that is
enjoyed by other workers; we
protest against a continuation
of a system of contracts to work
that are enforcable by impris
onment as degrading to the sail
ors and dangerous to other
workers.
1904
Renewed demands for laws
governing rafts. Undermanning
of ships has caused great loss of
life and Congress should pro
hibit this reckless gambling with
human lives. Demanded treat
ies be amended to prevent own
ership of one man by another.
1906
Condemned the disregard of
human life as practiced by some
vessel owners who often' send
one steam vessel to tow a num
ber of heavily loaded barges
which spmetimes are cut adrift,
and the helpless seamen find a
watery grave. Endorsed^ bill to
prohibit inefficient and insuffi
cient crews on passenger vessels,
lack of which caused three dis
astrous wrecks and loss of life
In New York harbor, San Fran
cisco Bay and off Vancouver Isl
and; employment of Chinese on
American vessels declared vio
lation of the exclusion law; de
manded laws to prohibit over
loading of vessels. The freedom
won by other workmg people has
been denied seamen, leaving
them to involuntary servitude;
they have been forbidden the
right to combhie to obtain in
creases in wages -to correspond
with those of men of equal skill,
thus making it impossible for
them to marry, preventing boys
from seeking the sea and men
from remaining there to tho
detriment of our merchant ma
rine and the serious danger to
our national safety and prestige;
asked amendment of the pilots
age laws of Virginia which com
pel vessel owners in the coast
wise trade to pay pilot fees al-
thouh no service is performed
by pilots or deemed necessary.
1907
We note with pleasure the de
feat of the anti-pilotage bill. Its
defeat is in the interest of the
safety of life and property at
sea. We freely admit that the
law as it stands works a discrim
ination against sailmg vessels hi
favor of the steam vessels, but
hold that the proper way to
abolish the discrimination is to
restore compulsory pilotage as
regards steam vessels. A proper
regard for the life of passengers,
leaving the crew out of consid
eration, demands nothing less.
Reaffirmed demand for law abol
ishing imprisonment for seamen
who quit work in a foreign port.
1908
Demanded laws to prevent
further deterioration of the
U. S. merchant marine similiar
to the English—i.€.: No person
to be signed as an able seaman
unless he has served at least
three years on deck at sea, must
be a citizen and have a suffici
ent knowledge of the English,
language to understand orders
on board. Reaffirmed demand
for abolition of involuntary ser
vitude of American seamen in
foreign ports. Condemned law
delegatmg to the inspection ser
vice the power of determining
the number of officers and men
to be employed on steam vessels
as it does not provide standards
of skill, language or numbers
by which inspectors are to be
guided.
FRANK GREEN—G-52
WILLIE SMITH
WILLIE NELSON
LEROY LANNON
JAMES THOMPSON
LEROY GREEN
JOSE HERNANDEZ
A VOSB
R SHEDDEN
M. McCONNELL
P. G. NOVAK
ANDRES CORTES
ANTHONY ONORATO
S. CRAWFORD
ARTHUR J. DWYER—F 8823
Earl Esco G-1
Raymond Martinez ... P 8619
Attention Agents!
»
Wallace Sweat, G-58, signed
on in Jackstrnville, Florida and
signed off in New York. He is an
anti-union performer and re
fused to pay his dues. Be cer
tain that he doesn't ship on an
SID vessel.
KEEP CLEAR WITH YOUR DRAFT BOARD
By observing the following simple instructions you will
continue to receive deferment from military service. Fail
to observe these rules and you may wind up in the army.
WHEN SIGNING ON; Give the clerk or skipper all the
information neeessary to fill out RMO Card No. 47 (Green
Card).
WHEN SIGNING OFF: See that Card No. 48-A is prop-
perly filled out by skipper or clerk.
Ship out before your allotted time ashore has expired.
If you have not yet filled out the Green Card, contact your
draft board and let them know that you are sailing.
T
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http://www.pdfcompressor.org/buy.html
Page Four THE SEAFARERS LOG Friday, August 13, 1943
I
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f-' •fc
I
' !•-'
Yard Workers Get Raw Deal
On Wages; Continue Fight
Unions in the shipbuilding
industry are not giving up ifchelr
battle for wage increases, despite
rejection of their plea by the
National War Labor Board, it
was made known this week by
Vice President William A. Oal-
^vin of the International Broth
erhood of Boilermakers.
A. F. of L. unions in the indus
try had demanded raises for over
a million shipyard workers, equal
to the advance in the cost of
living since the spring of 1942,
when present wage rates were
established at a national ship
building stabilization conference
in Chicago.
At that time, on the urgent
plea of President Roosevelt and
other government oflRcials, the
unions accepted an 8-cent-an-
hour raise, though they were en
titled to 13 cents under provis
ions of their agreements which
called for increases in line with
the rise in the cost of living.
RELIED ON "F.D.'s" PROMISE
Uiiluu representatives made
the sacrifice on the promise
of government spokesmen
that if the administration
failed to hold the line on
prices, wages would later be
adjusted. ^
At hearings before the War
Labor Board several weeks ago,
labor's spokesman Insisted the
government fulfill that solemn
pledge, but the board. In a de
cision issued this week, by an
8-lo-4 vote, denied any general
increase, claiming it is barred by
the "Little Steel" formula and
the administration's stabiliza
tion policies. All four labor mem
bers of the board dissented.
We're keeping up the battle
for justified wage adjustments
despite the decision of the
board," Calvin declared. "Prices
are still climbing, land the board,
in fairness to the workers, can't
maintain its arbitrary wage ceil-
mgs forever. At the proper time
we will renew our demands."
S.LU. CREWS LAUDED
Unions At Peak Strength
With 13,000,000 Members
Union membership in the United States and Canada was
placed at an all-time high of 13,000,000 by the Office of War In
formation this week.
Tlie OWI estimated gains in the past year alone at 1,500,000
members. Since the bottom of the depression, rolls of the unions
have more than quadrupled.
A. F. of L. strength was put at close to 6,500,000, C. I. O. at
5,000,000, independent railroad brotherhoods, outside of those affil
iated with the A. F. of L., at 420,000, and other unaffiliated unions,
such as the United Mine Workers, Typographical Union, Brewery
Workers and various organizations of telephone employes, at
1,100,000.
Among the most spectacular advances in the last 12 months
were those scored by the Machinists and various unions in the
shipbuilding industry, such as the Boilermakers, the OWI report
disclosed. These organizations have doubled their strength.
^AOM, JksL 3Uld)tA, fijtMA,—
One day last week, Edward J. Noble, a business man who once
eerved as undersecretary of commerce, paid $8,000,000 to the Na-
ildonal Broadcasting Company for its Blue Network. This trans
action raises two or three points worth considering.
The tangible property owned by the Blue Network is probably
hot worth $500,000. Why pay $8,000,000 for it? Because that will
enable Mr. Noble to control airways which are owned by the people
of the United States. Do the people get anything for the use of
the airways? Not a penny. That seems a little rough on the
people, but that's the way things are done nowadays.
Mr. Noble land the interests which put up the $8,000,000 for
him, will be able to whisper their ideas—^thcir propaganda into
your ear every day and every night for an indefinite period. That's
worth a lot of money to anyone who wishes to influence public
opinion in America. It is significant that the names of Mr. Noble's
financial associates have not been mentioned up to date.
For more than 20 years, this newspaf>ers has been warning
Americans that interests, which are very powerful but not particu
larly scrupulous, have been moving .steadily toward a certain goal:
They wish to establish, a "vested right" to the people's airways—
and they have almost rea'ched their goal!
The attempt to regulate them has been largely futile, because
the radio moguls have succeeded in corrupting most of the regu
lators.
About the only "out" for the American people is to insist that
Uncle Sam establish his own national broadcasting-system, sup
ported out of the Public Treasury. That doesn't mean that the
privately-owned companies would be put out of business. It does
mean that the people would have the unrestricted right to use a
part of the airways which they own.
This would not be popular with the radio monopolists and
their newspaper backers. Tlie monopolists are prepared to spend
millions on lobbyists, crooked propagandists and still more crook
ed" politicians to block any move looking to reform.
—Labor
{Continued from Page 1)
that when labors' enemies are
forced to say such things—the
case must be overwhelntog.
The iWSA letter on the Matt
Ransom is reproduced in the
columns at the right. The text
of the WSA letter on the Wil
liam Wirt follows:
War Shipping Administration
Washington, D. C.
August 2, 1943
Seafarers' International Urdon
of North America
Room 213
2 Stone Street
New York City
Gentlemen;
The Liberty ship, S.S. WIL
LIAM WIRT, launched July 4,
1942, at Bethlehem - Fairfield
Shipyard, manned by members
of your Union was the first ves
sel of the huge allied convoy to
dock in tlie historic North Afri
can invasion last November.
The U. S. Navy reports that
the WILLIAM WIRT, last Janu
ary, ran the gantlet of five air
attacks in the Eastern Atlantic
and Mediterranean, shooting
down four enemy planes and
two more "probables." Although
damaged by near misses and by
a bomb which penetrated to its
highly inflammable cargo but
failed to explode, the WILLIAM
WIRT held her position in the
convoy and discharged her cargo
on schedule.*
Only by remarkable teamwork
of the Merchant Marine, officers
and crew and .the Navy gun
crew under fire was this notable
victory won. More power to you
an.
Very truly yours.
WAR SHippiNO ADMINISTRATION
V/ASHINOTON
EDWARD MAOAULEY
Deputy Administrator
Unsinkable Boats
Being Constructed
»
Large-scale construction of a
new unsinkable type of lifeboat,
which is far superior to the
standard lifeboat at present in
use on ocean-going veiisels, has
begun in 'British shipyards*^ and
is making satisfactory progress,
the main office of the Interna
tional Transport Workers' Fed
eration in London reports.
The main features of the new
boat are a highly elevated and
enclosed forecastle and poop,
kapok or cork-filled fenders
round the gunwale and extent
sive storage space for water.
Eight large water tanks are fit
ted low in the center of the boat.
The new boat, as demonstrat
ed in exhaustive trials, can be
lowered in smooth weather by
a single drop at an angle of 70
degrees, either bow or stern
first, and without shipping any
water. It can also right itself
from.a list of 100 degrees. The
experiments were conducted un
der supervision of the shipping
authorities and witnessed by
union representatives who, laud
ed the performance of the new
boat type.
Keep lii Touch With
Your Local. Draft Board.
AOgUtt t, i9t3
eenlKrtrs' Int»pnatl#n|il Union
of Horth Aaorlon ' ^
Rooa 213
e Stona Strnat
Hav yorte City
Oantlanani
Tha Ubarty tUp. S. 8. uiTt W. lUKSCU* Mimed ty '
BMibsra of your Union vaie approaoUne an Afirloan port aritb
« aaluatla earso of Any auppUaa irttan aha atruok an. aanqr
alnaa Tha idolant aoq)lofion rippa<i Into har hoira Tha ahlp
tlraddared undar tha l^aota Oraylah-blaok mtar iraa throan
cna hundrad faat in tha aira Than a aaoond axploalon fol-
lowad, tha thlp bagan to aattla and finally the abandon ahlp
Order waa glTaua
Rhaa all handa ware aafa in llfahoaiat Captain
iiataall noted that tha raaaal had eaaaad to aattloa Tilth a
TOluntaer orair of alx nan, ha oUabad to the alanting daok
of tha raaaal idioaa bow «aa alnoat buried in tha aaa, .. Tha
nan ra-fl'rad tha bollara and finally tha logy raaaal
undar any aa tha aerena began to turn again. Manned V
alceleton ore* of four aan abora daok and tan balov, aha pro*
eaadad nithout further inoidant to port and dliohargad bar
oargo.
Said Captain Mataalli "I gira dradlt to all bmda
for their ooolaaaa apd apaoial oradit to Ubarty aUpi ehioh
gas. atand »n wcpleaion of tMa na^tude and atill ba ahla to
eooa in undar their oim ponar." Tbia aagnifloant job ty tba
Mn nho biiilt and aaiiad tha 1U.TT w. SAHSOH haa again hmrad
our Aaariota Marohant Marina.
Very truly youra.
Bdaard liaaao^ f
Oapuly Adninlatrator
Out of the Focs^l
by
3C~
Last week Headquarters received a call from one of the 90
day wonders asking us to help two of his buddies who were picked-
up by the Navy Shore Patrol at the Rialto Ball Room for imper
sonating Navy men.
This information must be amusing to the old-timers in our
organization, as they have to tolerate these pseudo mess and
wiper officers running around the ship with their high pressure
hats and uniforms. These maritime trainees have been told on
numerous occasions as soon as they joined the union that they
didn't have to wear those uniforms any longer and that they were
no longer under the jurisdiction of the WSA. One bright guy of
17 told us he couldn't get any girls unless he wore the uniform.
Another one said that he couldn't walk the streets of New York
without a uniform or he would be beat up. About 10,000 of our
membens come from New York and we don't see them being beat-
up by anybody.
AAA.
The old Robin tub that would makle 6 knots with the wind on
its tail finally came to rest at the bottom of the sea. Forunately,
no one was lost. One of the Alcoa C-2's was recenWy lost with no
casualties. Everytime Paul Hall gets to Baltimore he has a new
Re^utlon for the brothers to ponder over. Two Sundays ago we
made a trip on the Hudson Day Liners and when we istepped into
the Dining Room we thought we were aboard the Acadia as a lot
of Eastern stiffs were saUing the Day Line ship and working below
the Union scale. These very same men will be looking for a break
from the membership when the war is over.
MONEY DUE
p. MARTINEZ, LEWIS FEARS
and E. FRIMOS: You have over
time coming from the Bull Line.
Collect 115 Broad Street, New
York City. • » » • •
WILUAM NICHEL has over
time coming from Calmar Line,
39 Broadway, New York City.
Steward's Department of S.S.
Frellnghausen has money due
for extra meals. Collect Water
man line. New York City.
• • •
S.S. John Latrope: Chief cook
and Steward have division of
wages due. Crew which' uutde
complete trip has difference of
'advance money coming. Collect
Calmar Line, New York City.
* * »
The following men have
money coming from Smith &
Johnson, 80 Broad Street, New^
York City: BELLAH, BI^
MANN, BILDE, BLAME, C^-
FREY, ENGER, FAIRCLOTH,
FALLONE, GATELY, HTI.!.,
MACE, RUNGE, RUTKOWSKI4.
SIVCO, WEINBERG.
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