"A Medium in Which I Seek Relief": Manuscripts of American Sailors 1919-1940Main MenuIntroductionPublication IntroductionTranscriptionsThe SailorsBeginning of PathThe ShipsBeginning of PathContext & AnalysisBeginning of PathSources / CitationsBeginning of PathAnnie Tummino3ab49bb2dc491ebce8f162f5757538b6789c8434
Melville on Ship's Heirarchy
12020-04-03T12:25:24-07:00Annie Tummino3ab49bb2dc491ebce8f162f5757538b6789c8434331953Noteplain2020-04-03T12:29:40-07:00Annie Tummino3ab49bb2dc491ebce8f162f5757538b6789c8434In Redburn Melville says "For sailors are of three classes—able-seaman, ordinary-seaman, and boys; and they receive different wages according to their rank. Generally, a ship's company of twelve men will only have five or six able seamen, who if they prove to understand their duty every way (and that is no small matter either, as I shall hereafter show, perhaps), are looked up to, and thought much of by the ordinary-seamen and boys, who reverence their very pea-jackets, and lay up their sayings in their hearts."