A Dream of the North Sea by James Runciman

J >> James Runciman >> A Dream of the North Sea

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

Now, I put it to any business man, "Is not this a result worth paying
for, if one wants to invest in charitable work?" I repeat that the
Mission is indirectly effecting a national insurance; the men think of
England, and of the marvellous army of good English folk who care for
them, and they are so much the better citizens. We hear a dolorous howl
in Parliament and elsewhere about the dearth of seamen; experts inform
us that we could not send out much more than half our fleet if a pinch
came, because we have not enough real sailors. Is it not well for us, as
Britons, to care as much as we can for our own hardy flesh and
blood--the finest pilots, the cleverest seamen, the bravest men in the
world? They would fight in the old Norse fashion if it came to that, and
they would be the exact sort of ready-made bluejackets needed to man the
swarms of _Wasps_ which must, some day, be needed to defend our coasts.

So far for purely utilitarian considerations. Again, supposing you take
on board a hospital ship a man who is enduring bitter suffering;
supposing you heal him, bring him under gentle influences, lead him to
know the Lord Jesus Christ and to follow Him, and send him away with his
personality transformed--is not all that worth a little money, nay, a
great deal? I am fully aware that it is a good thing to convert a Jew or
a Bechuana, or even a Fantee--their rescue from error is a distinct
boon; but, while honouring all missions to savage nations, I like to
plead a little for our own kindly breed of Englishmen. Already we see
what may be done among them; good-hearted amateurs are willing to work
hard, and the one hospital cruiser--One! among so many!--is succeeding
splendidly. Give the English seamen a chance, then.

The interesting West African is clearly a proper object for pity as to
his spiritual condition, but, to my mind, he has, in some respects, the
jolliest, easiest life imaginable. Give him enough melon, and he will
bask blissfully in the sun all day; you cannot get him to work any more
than you can get him to fight for his own safety:--he is a happy, lazy,
worthless specimen of the race, and life glides pleasantly by for him.
Spend thousands on the poor Fantee by all means, but think also of our
own iron men who do _not_ lead easy lives; think of the terror of the
crashing North Sea; think of the cool, imperturbable, matchless braves
who combat that Sea and earn a pittance by providing necessaries (or
luxuries) for you and for me. Save as many souls as you can--"preach the
gospel to _every creature;_" heal as many bodies as you can; but, since
the world's resources are narrow, consider carefully which bodies are
to have your first consideration.

Years ago I had no conception of the amount of positive suffering which
the fishermen endure. I was once on board a merchant steamer during a
few months, and I was installed as surgeon-in-chief. We had a few cases
which were pretty tiresome in their way, but then the utmost work our
men had to do was the trifle of pulling and hauling when the try-sails
were put on her, and the usual scraping and scrubbing and painting which
goes on about all iron ships. But the smacksman runs the risk of a hurt
of some kind in every minute of his waking life. He must work with his
oilskins on when rain or spray is coming aboard, and his oilskins fray
the skin when the edges wear a little; then the salt water gets into the
sore and makes a nasty ulcer, which eats its way up until you may see
men who dare not work at the trawl without having their sleeves doubled
to the elbow. Then there are the salt water cracks which cut their way
right to the bone. These, and toothache, the fisherman's great enemy,
are the ailments which may be cured or relieved by the skippers of the
Mission smacks. In a single year nearly eight thousand cases have been
treated in the floating dispensaries, and I may say that I never saw a
malingerer come on board. What would be the use? It is only the stress
of positive pain that makes the men seek help, and their hard stoicism
is very fine to see. A man unbinds an ugly poisoned hand, and quietly
lets you know that he has gone about his work for a week with that
throbbing fester paining him; another will simply say that he kept about
as long as he could with a broken finger. Then there are cases of a
peculiarly distressing nature--scalp wounds caused by falling blocks,
broken limbs in various stages of irritation, internal injuries caused
by violent falls in bad weather, and for all these there is ready and
hearty help aboard the Mission vessel.

Scarcely one of the North Sea converts has turned out badly, for they
usually have the stern stuff of good men in them; they have that manly
and passionate gratitude which only the true and honest professor, free
from taint of humbug or hypocrisy, can maintain, and I say deliberately
that every man of them who is brought to lead a pure, sober, religious
life, represents a distinct gain to our best national wealth--a wealth
that is far above money.

I know that my dream may be translated into fact, for have we not the
early success of the superb hospital smack to reassure us? Let us go a
little farther and complete the work; let us make sure that no poor,
maimed seaman shall be without a chance of speedy relief when his hard
fate overtakes him on that savage North Sea. The fishers are the forlorn
hope in the great Army of Labour; they risk life and limb every
day--every moment--in our behoof; surely the luckier children of
civilization may remember their hardly entreated brethren? No sentiment
is needed in the business, and gush of any sort is altogether hateful.
God forbid that I should hinder, those who feel led to aid the members
of an unknown tribe in a dark continent, for in so doing I should be
contravening the Divine injunction to evangelize all nations: but, on
the other hand, I will discharge myself of what has lain as a burden on
my conscience ever since I first visited the smacksmen; I will cry aloud
for _help_ to our own kith and kin, more, _more_ HELP than has ever yet
been given to them!

These men are splendid specimens of English manhood; their country is
not far away; you can visit it for yourself and see what human nerve and
sinew can endure, and if you do you will return, as I did, filled with a
sense of shame that you had spent so many years in ignorance of your
indebtedness to the fine fellows in whose behalf my tale is written. I
am as grateful as our brave souls on the sea for all that has been done,
but I incontinently ask for more, and I entreat those to whom money is
as nothing to give the Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen its hospital ship,
for every fleet that scours the trawling grounds, but especially a fast
or steam cruiser--a _Robert Cassall_--so that the wounded fisherman, in
the hour of his need and his utter helplessness, may be as sure of
relief as are the Wapping labourer or the Mortlake bargeman.

JAMES RUNCIMAN.

APPENDIX B.

Mission to Deep Sea fishermen.

Instituted in August, 1881.

The Mission was designed, in humble dependence upon the blessing of
Almighty God,--

1. To carry the Glad Tidings of God's Love, Mercy, and Salvation in our
Lord Jesus Christ to the thousands of Fishermen employed in trawling and
other modes of fishing in the North Sea and elsewhere, and in every
possible way to promote and minister to their spiritual welfare.

2. To mitigate the hard lot, and improve the condition of the Fishermen,
physically and mentally, by all practicable means, and meet many urgent
needs for which, heretofore, there has been no provision, especially in
supplying medicine and simple surgical appliances, books, mufflers,
mittens, &c.

For the above purposes Medical Mission vessels are stationed with ten
fishing fleets, and numerous Clerical and Lay Missionaries and Agents
have visited the Smacksmen. It is, however, generally conceded that the
time has arrived for effecting a large development of the Medical work.
No fewer than 7,485 sick and injured fishermen received assistance
during 1888 at the hands of the sixteen surgeons in the service of the
Society, or from the Dispensaries in charge of the Mission Skippers, and
the experience of this and previous years warrants the substitution in
every fleet of a cruising Hospital, carrying a resident Surgeon, for the
type of vessel hitherto in use.

The _Queen Victoria,_ the Pioneer Hospital Ship, is now at work, while
the _Albert_, a sister ship, is being constructed at a cost of L3,750;
but it is of urgent importance that these should be efficiently
maintained, and that other vessels should be provided for similar
service.

To meet this need the full price [L3,750] of a _third_ Hospital Ship, to
be named the _John Sidney Hall_, has now been paid to the Mission, and
L1,300 towards the cost of a _fourth_, to be named the _Alice Fisher_. A
further sum of L2,450 is required upon this latter fund.

FORM OF BEQUEST.

"I give and bequeath to the Treasurer for the time being of the MISSION
TO DEEP SEA FISHERMEN, whose offices are now at Bridge House, 181, Queen
Victoria Street, London, E.C., for the general purposes of that Mission,
the sum of----pounds [state in words]. And I declare that the said
Legacy shall be paid free from Legacy Duty, and that the same, and the
Legacy Duty thereon, shall be paid exclusively out of such part of my
Personal Estate as may be lawfully bequeathed for charitable purposes,
and in priority to all other payments thereout."

MISSION TO DEEP SEA FISHERMEN.

Patron.
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.

Founder.
E.J. MATHER, ESQ.

Council.
THOMAS B. MILLER, ESQ., Chairman and Treasurer.
W.F.A. ARCHIBALD, Esq.
R.M. BALLANTYNE, Esq.
C. ARTHUR BARCLAY, Esq.
Rev. W. ADDINGTON BATHURST, M.A.
HENRY A. CAMPBELL, Esq.
THOMAS GRAY, Esq., C.B., Chairman of Finance Committee.
F.J.S. HOPWOOD, Esq.
R. SCOTT MONCRIEFF, Esq.
THOMAS ROBERTSON, Esq.
Rev. JOSEPH E. ROGERS, M.A.
A.T. SCHOFIELD, Esq., M.D.
T. GILBART-SMITH, Esq., M.D., F.R.G.P.
FREDERICK TREVES, Esq., M.A., F.R.C.S., &C., Chairman of Hospital
Committee.

Hon. Naval Architect
HENRY E. BROWN, ESQ., M.I.N.A.

Editor.
G.A. HUTCHISON, ESQ.

Auditors.
MESSRS. BEDDOW & SON.

Solicitors.
JAMES CURTIS, ESQ.
MESSRS. SEAGROVE & WOODS.

Bankers.
LLOYDS BANK, Limited, 72, Lombard Street, E.C.
MESSRS. GURNEYS & CO., Great Yarmouth.

Secretary.
ALEXANDER GORDON, ESQ.

Offices.
Bridge House, 181, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C.

"I rejoice to know that this most important and blessed effort has
already achieved such good results out on the stormy seas. It rests with
us to contribute liberally to its maintenance."--The Archbishop of
Dublin.

"The undertaking is a blessed one, and will be accepted by our Heavenly
Father as an offering of true devotion."--The Bishop of London.

"I desire to express my most cordial sympathy with the active efforts of
the Mission, and my earnest hope that the public will liberally support
it."--The Bishop of Norwich.

"It does one's heart good to watch the benefit conferred by these
Mission smacks. God bless them! They go forth in the fulness of the
blessing of the Gospel of Christ."--The Bishop of Exeter.

"I have myself heard smacksmen speak in most grateful terms of what the
Mission has done for their class; and I recently heard one of the
largest owners state publicly that his employes had become 'better
servants, better men, better husbands and fathers, better in every way,'
through the work carried on amongst them while at sea."--The Duke of
Grafton, K.G.

"The only effectual attempt that has been made to counteract the work of
the _coper_ has been carried on through the agency of the Mission
smacks. It is not, as a rule, easy to estimate how much or how little
practical good is effected by missionary agencies, but here the case is
clear. I gladly add my own testimony to that of others, and say that, at
present, the Mission affords the only relief from the temptation and the
only remedy to the evils of the _copering_ system."--W. Burdett Coutts,
Esq., M.P.

"I look upon the Mission vessel as a blessing to the trade of the
port."--The Mayor of Great Grimsby.

"It is indeed an advantage for our fishermen at sea by means of these
vessels to enjoy the same privileges as we ourselves do on shore."--The
Mayor of Great Yarmouth.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12