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STATE
NAME OF tORKER
ADDRESS
DATE
SUBJECT
cdo r'c 5 /kin R 0 hi 5)
Forms to be Filled out for Each Interview
FORM 4
Circumstances of Interview
New York
William Wood
7012 67th Place, Glendale, L. I.
January 10, 1939
°BOILED HAM FOR THE STARBOARD MATCH*
1. Date and time cf. interview January 4, 1939 800 p.m.
January 5, 1939 1100 pais
2. Place of interview 38 West 70th Street, WC
3. Name and address of Informant Harry W. Garfield, 38 W. 70th St., NYC
4. Name and address of person, if any, who put you in
toucn with informant. Miss M. D. Candee, The Seamen's Church Institute, NYC
5. Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you
None
6. Description of room, house, surroundings, etc.
The small back roam occupied by Captain Garfield is on the fourth floor
of a very nice, respeetable leaking reaming house built of brink and stone.
His roam is meagerly furnished with a cot, a bureau and a dhair. West
Seventieth Street, en which stand several expensive -looking houses, runs
into Central Park 'Nest.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, for any of the forms, each
bearing the proper heading and the number to which the material refers.)
FOR!
Per sonal History of Informant
STATE New York
NAME OF It011an William Wood
ADMESS 7012 67th Place, Glendale, L. I.
DATE January 10, 1939
SUUJECT "BOILED HAM FOR THE STARBOARD WATCH"
1. Ancestry Probably Anglo-Saxon
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
2. Place and date of birth Stockton, California, 1881
3. Family No information
4. Places lived in, ulth date Stockton, Cal; San Francisco, Cal; Sydney,
Australia; New York City.
5. Education, with dates High School graduate, Stockton, Cal.
O. Occupations and accomplishments, with dates
Seaman and navigator. He holds a Master's
license
7. Special skills and interests He constructs ship models, writes good narrative
and sings chanteys and songs.
8. CommUnity and religious activities
None mentioned
9. Description of informant Height about 5'8"; weight about 165 lbs.; weight
about 165 lb..; complexion medium; hair greying; slightly bald on forehead;
disposition, friendly; gentlemanly appearance and deportment.
V). Other Points gained in interview Captain Garfield is evidently in reduced
circumstances, and is unemployed.
(See "Extra Comment" Form D)
FORM C
Test of Interview (Unedited)
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
STATE New York
NE OF WORKER Willie* Wood
ADDRESS 7012, 67th Place, Glendale, L. I.
DATE January 10, 1939
SUBJECT KUM RAM FOR THE STARBOARD WATCH, as told to William Wood
*The Lord sends the food
And the Devil sends the cooks.*
Sailors' Proverb
There may have been hungrier vessels afloat than the American
barque, "Condor," when I made a trip in her as an A.B., about thirty-
five years ago, but all hands in the forecastle agreed that she vas the
poorest feeding ship that any of us ever had sailed in. Our Japanese
cook was an *owners' man." He thought, no doubt, that the best way to
save money for the stockholders and curry favor with-ihm captain was to
keep the sailors on a starvation diet.
We left Puget Sound in December, 1903, with a cargo of lumber
for Cape Town, South Africa. It took only a few days to discover that
none of us would be likely to suffer from indigestion through over -eating,
or develop a case of gout because of the richness of the food. Conditions
became verse as the time passed, and the growls from our cosmopolitan
crew were loud and long. Bill Watson, my pal in the second mate's watch,
hailed from the land where thistles grow. He was away past middle -age
and knew all the wrinkles that were worth knowing. He had been in some
tough ships, and was quite a diplomat and a sea lawyer. The canny old
Scotsman was something of a philosopher, too. "Thank the guid Lord,"
he used to say, "It's no gain' to last forever, ma laddie. Juist tighten
up yer belt a wee bit each day, and the first thing ye ken we shall be
around the Horn and get a fair wind all the way to the Cape of Good Hope."
The food got so poor that we decided to send a deputation
aft to oomplain to the skipper. The committee consisted of Hansen
a Swede, Tony- an Italian, two Americans Jim Coleman and myself,
and Bill Watson. Coleman acted as spokesman, and Tony and Hansen carried
the beef -kids, one containing salt horse that was nothing but fat and
gristle, and the other one half filled with the dish -water the cook
palmed off on us for soup.
The skipper met us at the foot of the ladder isading to the
poop. He listened while Jim politely asked him whether it was fair to
expect a crew of men to work a ship on such rations. The only satisfaction
we got was, "What in Hell do you think this ship is? A floating restaurant,
to fatten up a lot of gluttons? Go for'ard, and eat your dinner. If
I hear any more grumbling I'll speak to. the cook, and maybe you'll really
have something to complain about."
As WA started back towards the deck -house, the Japanese passed
to windward of us with a large smoked ham, steaming hot from the galley,
for the officers' table. The aroma nearly drove us frantic. *If
sailors got cabin food," remarked Bill, "it might ruin their stomachs,
and besides: the skipper and mates might have to eat fo'csitle grub
afore we get to the Cape. That would be awful, ye ken; it wouldna be
the richt thing.* We ate our miserable dinner in silence, and at eight
bells went out on deck and relieved the port match.
All that afternoon, Bill and I worked on top of the house,
repairing some boat gear. The skylight window was open, and we could
hear the clatter of the cook's pots and pans. Occasionally, too, we could
hear him singing to himself in his native language. The pleasant odor
of boiled ham, wafting its way upward, only reminded us of the long and
hungry passage -ahead of us. 14 heard the 000k looking the galley door,
and saw him shuffling along the deck as he made his way to his roam for
his customary afternoon nap.
My pal walked over and gazed longingly through the strong
iron grating that proteoted the galley skylight. The bars were six inches
apart. Be beckoned to me to look down. There, on the sideboard below,
we could see the ham. It seemed as though only a few slices had been
out off. Bill said he always had been alkeleegious mon," but that he
never had thought it sinful for sailors to steal food on board of a ship.
Be supported this theory an the ground that appetising morsels should
be kept out of reach; usually they are.
Forecastle conversation in the second dog -match, that evening,
was confined to discussions on the merits of various delicacies obtainable
4
ashore. Tony expressed his opinion of the joys of eating Italian
spaghetti. The Swede said that a big steak was his favorite dish and
that he was going to find the largest one to be had in Capetown. Fred,
a young Cockney, said that his mouth metered for a plate of fried fish
and chipped potatoes. Jim and I agreed that bacon and eggs were hard to
beat, while Bill avowed his fondness for boiled ham. At eight o'clock
the other watch went on deck, and we who had the watch below prepared to
turn in until midnight. Bill stayed up smoking a little while longer
than usual, and I noticed him searching into his kit bag. At last he
found what he apparently had been looking for-- a small, red, tin box,
A
flat in shape and about two inches square. This he carefully placed in
his trousers, pocket, and then he undressed, lowered the wick in the
forecastle lamp and turned in.
When we went on deck again at midnight I had to take my two;
hour trick at the wheel and my pal, Bill, had to stand his two hour
lookout on the forecastle head. At four bells (2 a.m.), we both were
relieved and we strolled up and down the forward deck together, passing
and re -passing the looked door of the cook's galley. The night was
somewhat dark. There was no moon, and only a few stars were visible.
Our -watch-mates, with the exceptions of the man at the wheel and the
man on the lookout, were pacing the after deck. No one was near the galley.
The men below were sleeping in their bunks.
Bill suddenly paused in his stride, and said to me in a low
voice, "I've sailed in some hungry ships cot of Glesgie, but Mont- I've
never seen the likes 0 this wagon. She isna fit tato sail under the
Stars and Stripes." He stopped a moment and then continued: "If the
Old Inn thinks I can live on fresh air and suction, he's making a big
mistake."
BO took me by the arm, and leading no to the forward end of
the deck house, he whispered, "Keep yer eyes peeled, ma lad, and keep
yer ears open and yer mouth closed; I've got toe hurry." Pulling something
from his pocket which, in the dim light, seemed to resemble the little
tin box he had fished out of his bag, the previous evening, Bill stealthily
mounted the iron rungs of the perpendicular ladder leading to the top
of the deck -house, and vanished into the darkness.
He had been gone about fifteen or twenty minutes, and I was
commencing to feel a little uneasy. IS were sailing "by the wind," and,
any minute, the second mate might take a notion to order a pull on the
lee braces. I felt still more concerned when I heard a banging sound
suggestive of pots falling. The noise came from the direction of the
galley, but there was no light. I knew the cook would not be stirring
about until after four o'clock, and I was afraid that some of the men
pacing the deck might have heard the din.
Whatever could my pal be doing? Had he broken into the galley
through the skylight? That was almost impossible beoause of the heavy
iron bars; besides, he would have great difficulty in climbing out again.
I crept towards the galley door and tried the handle. The door was
looked fast, as the cook had left it. Hastening Utak to the forward
part of the house, I got there just in time to see Bill descending the
ladder with something bulky under his arm. He made his way quickly into
the forecastle, and by the light of the dimly burning oil lamp I saw
him wrap a fine ham, nearly whole, in a clean dungaree jacket which
he pulled out of his kit bag. Hiding his prize under his pillow, he
took from his trousers' pocket the little tin box and replaced it in
the bag. Then he hurried back on deck, just as the second mate yelled
out the order, "Lee fore brace."
By the time we had finished taughtening all the braces and
coiling up the gear it was almost four o'clock, and when eight bells
were struck the watch was relieved and we went below. As soon as the
last man was inside the forecastle door, Bill brought forth his spoils
from under the pillow and said: "The Lord sent manna to the starving
Israelites in the wilderness, and some kind Providence has sent a de-
leecious ham tae the poor hungry seamen o' the starboard watch of the
barque, Condor. Dinna tempt Providence, na lads, by asking foolish
questions. There's enough for us all, and I'm going to out it up.
Each mon sall get his whack, and he'll get nae mair. This is to be a
banquet fit for a king."
While favoring his astonished watch -mates with his little
speech, Bill was busily dividing the ham with a sheath knife. He made
six equal portions one for each man and there was at least a pound
to the portion. I never saw food disappear so quickly into the mouths
of human beings, and I can say, truthfully, that I have never eaten a
meal with greater relish. "Noo," said Bill, "let a 'word to the wise'
be suffeecient; forget that ye ever heered el such a thing as boiled ham,
to say naething o' tasting a slice." He opened the forecastle door and
threw the bone over the side. Hardly fifteen minutes had passed since
we had come off watch, but the last remnant of the feast had vanished.
We lit our pipes for a few minutes smoke before turning into our bunks.
The dawn was breaking, and the last man to undress had just put out the
light ',ten angry mutterings in Japanese greeted our ears.
Only a bulkhead partition separated the cook's galley from
the forecastle, and the heathen's angry voice, growing louder, left
no doubt in our minds that he had discovered his loss, and that he was
vowing an awful retribution an some person or persons unknown. The
hubbub of utensils being thrown and kicked about made it seem as though
he were trying to wreak a vengeance on every pot and pan. After the
noise ceased, I heard faint chucklings issuing from the direction of
Bill Watson's bunk.
Those of us who had enjoyed the early morning repast were
somewhat surprised that nothing was said about the affair when we went
on deck to stand the forenoon watch. Perhaps the pangs of guilty con-
science were troubling Bill and me. I don't know. But we seemed to feel
an unusual iciness in the attitude of the officers, that day, and whenever
we were anywhere near the quaterdeok we could sense the penetrating eyes
of the skipper, as though he were looking us through and through. Once
I saw him talking earnestly with the cook the Old Man was reputed to
speak Japanese fairly well, and I surmised that they were discussing the
possibility that someone among the sailors had a key to the galley. I
told Bill about it and he agreed with me. He said, "They're planning
to set a snare, just the same as auld Satan lays doon tae ootch the unwary
feet of the sinful, but they'll no find this bird fleeint into their
trap."
The weeks dragged along. Our little adventure seemed to be
a closed incident. So discreet were the men who had participated in the
forecastle banquet, that not one of them ever made reference to it in
his conversation. We weathered Cape Horn in good style, passing the island
of Deigo Ramirez about the middle of March.
One Saturday afternoon, when we were about halfway across the
South Atlantic, rolling steadily towards Capetown with a nice stiff breeze
on the port quarter, I noticed a fragrant and familiar odor coming from the
cook's domain. There was no mistaking that smell; it was of smoked ham,
boiling in the pot. No doubt it was being cooked a day ahead of time,
and would be warmed up the following day for the captain's dinner. To
satisfy my curiosity and confirm the accuracy of my sense of smell, I
climbed to the top of the house that evening, in the second dog watch,
on the pretext of hanging some shirts up to dry. Passing the galley
skylight I glanced down, and there, sure enough, was a huge kettle with
the lid off, pushed away to the corner of the stove farthest from the
fire. Half submerged in water was a freshly cooked ham. When I told
my pal about it, his eyes fairly lit up.
We had the first watch below that evening, and I noticed that
Bill fumbled about in his kit bag after the rest of us had turned in.
It was about half past eight when he lowered the light and crawled into
his bunk without taking off his trousers. Soon afterwards I fell
asleep. I don't know haw long I slept, but I was awakened, suddenly,
by a succession of unearthly yells prooeeding from the other side of the
bulkhead partition. At the same time I heard the pit -a -pat of bare feet
scurrying overhead. The yells were succeeded by loud and angry jabberings
in Japanese. The -whole watch below were awake by this time, and we all
tumbled out on deck to see what was the matter.
Bill "Watson, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, and who had
no shoes on, reached the galley at the save moment as I did just as
the door opened and the cook came out, still hollering and jabbering
away and clutching wildly at the seat of his pants. The first mate
and the watch on deck, having heard the commotion, were now on the scene,
wondering what could have possessed the cook, whose English was very
difficult to understand even when he was at peace with the world, and
whose ravings now meant nothing. "What's wrong with him?" the mate
demanded, "has he gone crazy?"
"I think, sir," volunteered Coleman, "that the full moon
has made him get like that. I've heard that the Japanese people suffer
a lot from this kind of madness." Bill said he had heard the same thing,
and that the best cure for a moon -struck person was to dip his head in
a bucket of 'later.
There was hardly a man in the forward crew who did not detest
the cook, as much for his arrogance as for his stinginess with the food.
Now was the time to get back at him. Bill's suggested cure was an in-
spiration. Near by stood a large tub of salt water which was used for
washing decks every morning. Without any delay, Tony and the Swede picked
our friend up bodily and doused him head first in the tub.
-10
They were about to baptize him a second time when the
captain came hurrying along the deck, and explanations followed.
"The cook tells me," the Old Nan said, "that some one of you fellows
broke into the galley, where he was sleeping, and stabbed him in the
seat of the pants."
Even as the skipper was talking, a torn spot vas plainly
visible in the victim's trousers, but it was equally plain to us that
the Old Man didn't quite believe the story. It was too ridiculous.
Why should anyone want to break in and stab the cook in the stern?
And how could anyone get out of the galley without being seen, and
lock the door after him? The mate was fully convinced, by now that
the cook was either mad or had awakened out of a nightmare.
Next morning, word came forward that the skipper actually
had discovered and treated a slight wound just where the cook bad said
he was hurt. A more scratch, it proved to be; the Old Man told the mate
he thought the cook ranifoul of a nail. Sunday passed away quietly as
usual. The sailors were fed their Sabbath -Day dinner of boulli beef,
stringy and tough out of the big osms from the Chicago packing houses
and marked "Crew Beef," probably to make sure that, by no mischance
would it ever be served at the officers' table. For supper we had the
customary "cracker hash," made bytreaking up hard Liverpool pantiles
with a belaying -pin and moistening the crumbs with watery soup saved
from dinner.
It was Bill's lookout from eight to ten that night and when
I relieved him on the forecastle head, he said to me, in a low voice,
-11
"Mon, ye cam' Terra near gettin' another feast last nicht. I didna ken
the heathen was &tiepin' in the galley." This is all he would say on
the subject, and as I watched him walking aft to report his relief I
wondered what in the world could have been the old fox's technique.
Sometime afterwards, when we were nearing Capetawn, I
happened to be at the wheel one morning. The Captain, in one of his
few benevolent moods, engaged me in conversation. He thought it prob-
able that the Condor might have to wait two months or more for a new
cargo after discharging her load of lumber, and asked me if I thought
that any of the seamen would like to be paid off when we arrived. I
knew what was in his mind. He was estimating the amount of money that
could be saved in wages if the men were willing to leave. I told him
that while I could not state with certainty what plans the others might
have, I myself fully intended leaving.
We finally arrived, and the day soon came to pay off. Most
of the forward crew chose to accept their discharge, to the skipper's
unooncealed gratification. While the Commissioner was waiting for the
accounts to be rendered, the captain stated that he wished to add the
pries of one ham to the articles purchased from the slop -chest by
William Watson, Able Seaman. This demand, the philosophic William
challenged vigorously and in no uncertain terms, on legal grounds as
well as on general principles. And he was sustained by the Commissioner.
Seeing that he had lost the point, our skipper said to Bill:
"Well I'm willing to forget about it if you tell me haw you got the ham
the first time, and what happened between you and the cook on the night
-12
he was sleeping on the bench in the galley. Furthermore you'll have
to give me the irm." But my Scotch friend was not putting his foot
into any of "Auld Satan's" snares. He no longer had to fear possibility
of vengeance harsh discipline or curtailment of meager diet. "First,
Captain," he said, "pay mm ma honest wages, that I've worked for, and
then tell me what make ye think I took yer ham*"
The money was handed over, and after it was carefully counted
and stuffed into Bill's pocket, the Old Man said, *Well, Watson, I knew
you took the ham, beoause the cook saw you open the forecastle door
early one morning as he was unlocking the galley to go to work. He
recognized you, with a big bone in your hand, and he saw you throw it
over the side. When he entered the galley, he found pots and pans on
the floor, his large kettle upset, and discovered that the ham was mis-
sing."
The captain watched Bill's face closely whileveaking, but
my palls countenance was like a stone image. The skipper continued,
"The cook is certain that he made no mistake of identification in your
ease. Be is not sure, however, who it was that stabbed him as he slept
in the galley. As a matter of fact I am not satisfied that he was stabbed
at all, although I dressed a superficial wound on that part of his anatomy
which nature provided for him to sit dawn. The whole thing is a mystery
to me. Clear it up, if you can, like a good fellow, and I shall hold
nothing against you."
Watson hesitated a moment, and _then delivered himself as
follows, speaking slowly, as if measuring his words: "Aweel, Captain,"
-13
he said, *yelr Terra kind, and pm no wantin' tae leave ony hard feelin's.
I'll no deny that I like boiled ham, and I'm no sayinl who it was that
removed the fine specimen that was missed from the galley. But I'd ad-
vise ye to tell that puir benighted heathen tae keep the skylight window
closed after dark, in case some hungry sailor nicht be prowling around
on top of the hoose, devisin' ways and means 0 procurin' something tae
eat.* AA he spoke, Bill draw forth from his trousers pocket a little red
tin box, and a small ball of heavy whipcord from the pocket of his coat.
Opening the box, he displayed three fair sized fishhooks, bound together
with fine wire and surmounted by a handy loup, to which the end of his
whipcord could be attached very easily. *Ye see, Captain,* he concluded,
a hungry mon nicht be tempted by Satan tae go fishint between the bars
0 the skylight gratin' for something nice tae eat, and he nicht possibly
haul up a fine ham. And tbin, again, if the cook is sae daft as tae
sleep on a hard bench in the galley, when he has a nice comfortable
bunk in his aim room, he canna blame Providence if he gets hurt.*
With that, Bill plucked from the hooks a tiny piece of cloth
which had a definite resemblance to the nether garment of the Japanese
cook of the American barque, Condor. He closed the box and returned it
to his pocket, together with the roll of whipcord. We left the office
amid roars of laughter from the Commissioner and our late captain, and
hurried to the nearest restaurant to enjoy a good meal. There we found
several of our shipmates eating with gusto.
FORM D
gxtra Comment
STATE New York
NAME OF WORKER William Wood
ADDRESS 7012 67th Place, Glendale, L. I.
DATE January 10, 1939
SUBJECT BOILED HAM FOR THE STARBOARD WATCH
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
My informant, Captain Harry W. Garfield, who is at present
unemployed, formerly was associated with the Fang Shun Exhibition
Corporation, in an enterprise to bring from China and exploit at the
World's Fair a large junk. Captain Garfield's official title in the
company was Maritime Director. The invasion of China and the blockade
of its coasts by the Japanese negated the company's plans and left
the captain economically impoverished.