 |
| Original Watercolour from the East Coast of Canada, Artist unknown. |
ANTIQUE COLLECTORS / DEALERS / HISTORIANS CAN BENEFIT FROM THESE ADVISORIES OF THE PAST
INFORMATION CONTAINED IN HEALTHFUL LIVING BOOKS HAS A MODERN DAY RELEVANCE - DON'T KID YOUR SELF
OUR RESPECTIVE FAMILIES, OF STRIPPS, SHEAS, CURRIES AND JACKSONS, TRAVELLED BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THE OCEAN, FROM EUROPE TO NORTH AMERICA AND BACK, BY SCHOONER AND THEN BY STEAMSHIP; ON MY JACKSON SIDE, GOING BACK TO THE CONTINENTS EARLIEST SETTLEMENTS CIRCA THE 1600'S. MY GRANDMOTHER'S KINFOLK, THE VANDERVOORTS, WERE AMONGST THE ORIGINAL PIONEER SETTLERS OF NEW YORK STATE, AND NEW YORK CITY, AND OF THIS THERE IS CONSIDERABLE DOCUMENTATION. THE AREA OF THE HISTORIC HUDSON RIVER VALLEY, WAS WHERE THEY HAD THEIR FARMSTEADS.
THROUGH THE COMING CENTURIES, OUR FAMILIES DID WHAT SO MANY EMIGRANTS HAD TO, IN ORDER TO FIND NEW AND PROSPEROUS LIVES, BEYOND THE CITIES AND TOWNS OF ECONOMICALLY DEPRESSED EUROPE. SUZANNE'S FAMILY CAME FROM KERRY COUNTRY, IRELAND, AND ABERDENESHIRE, SCOTLAND; AND MINE, ON MY GRANDFATHER'S SIDE, FROM THE REGION AROUND LIVERPOOL, IN ENGLAND. MY GRANDMOTHER, ON MY FATHER'S SIDE, WAS A BERNARDO CHILD, FROM, MOST LIKELY, LONDON. HIS FATHER WAS A NASTY LITTLE IRISHMAN FROM BELFAST, AND TOOK A SHIP TO CANADA IN THE EARLY 1920'S. THE POINT IS, LIKE YOUR FAMILIES, OURS HAD A LOT TO DO WITH THE OCEAN, AND ITS DISTANCES BETWEEN NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE. SUZANNE'S FATHER WAS TRANSPORTED BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, WITH THE ARMY IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR, AND MY FATHER WAS A SAILOR ON THE CANADIAN NAVY SHIP, COATICOOK (FROM QUEBEC), SERVING AS PART OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON. I DON'T KN0W HOW MANY YEARS OF COMBINED TRAVEL, OUR ANCESTORS WOULD HAVE SPENT TRAVERSING BODIES OF WATER, BUT BACK A FEW CENTURIES, IT WAS A PRETTY COMMON ENTERPRISE. I EVEN HAD ONE GREAT, GREAT, GREAT UNCLE, WHO USED TO DO A LOT OF BUSINESS IN THE TROPICS, BUYING AND SELLING MERCHANDISE, MAYBE EVEN STEALING SOME; AND POTENTIALLY A PROFESSIONAL BUCCANEER ALTHOUGH WITH A LAST NAME LIKE "JACKSON," HE WAS PROBABLY A PRETTY LOW-KEY PIRATE; UNLESS HE HAD A DIFFERENT NAME WHEN HE WAS IN A SWORD FIGHT. MAYBE "LONGJOHNS JACKSON."
SO WHEN I CAME UPON THE SECTION IN THE 1862 "UNIVERSAL RECEIPT BOOK," ABOUT SURVIVING AT SEA, FOR SAILORS AND PASSENGERS, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE WORTHWHILE TO RE-RUN A PORTION OF THE ADVISARIES. THE ORIGINAL TEXT, KNOWN AS "MACKENZIES RECEIPT BOOK," WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE 1820'S, AND ALTHOUGH MY COPY, FROM A MUSKOKA HOMESTEAD, WAS REVISED AND RELEASED IN UNITED STATES, IN 1862, AS A FOURTH EDITION, FORTUNATELY MUCH OF THE INFORMATION, WAS ALSO PART OF THE FIRST ISSUE RELEASED IN ENGLAND. THUS, MANY FUTURE HOMESTEADERS WOULD HAVE HAD ACCESS TO THIS BOOK, WHICH WAS AN IMPORTANT SELF-HELP BOOK FOR FRONTIER LIVING AS WELL. THERE ARE MANY MEDICAL INCLUSIONS HOMESTEADERS WOULD HAVE GREATLY BENEFITTED FROM, CONSIDERING MEDICAL HELP WAS OFTEN MANY DAYS OF TRAVEL, REMOVED FROM THEIR CABINS IN THE WILD WOODS. THERE IS A SECTION OF COOKERY ADVICE AS WELL. BUT FOR TODAY'S COLUMN, I'D LIKE TO TAKE YOU ON A LITTLE TRAVERSE OF THE OPEN SEA, AND JUST WHAT A SAILOR NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT HEALTHFUL LIVING.....AND BASIC SURVIVAL FROM ALL KINDS OF OCCUPATIONAL PERILS. ONCE AGAIN, MANY OF OUR KIN, WOULD HAVE HAD TO BE AWARE OF THE SAME ISSUES AND MALADIES OF OCEAN TRAVEL ONBOARD SOME LEAKY OLD SHIPS.
THERE WILL BE SECTIONS THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY PREJUDICIAL, BUT BASED ON THE TIME-PERIOD THEY WERE WRITTEN, IT IS TO BE EXPECTED. THERE ARE OTHER REFERENCES, WHICH WILL FORCE YOU TO READ BETWEEN THE LINES, SUCH AS THE ISSUES OF STAYS IN PORT. THERE WAS A SERIOUS ISSUE OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES, BUT THE TEXT WORKS ITS WAY THROUGH THIS ISSUE DELICATELY. THE "DUMPING OF SEWAGE," IS ANOTHER ISSUE, AND YOU WILL DISCOVER WHY HARBORS IN THE TROPICS WERE BREEDING PLACES FOR DISEASE. AS TO THE ISSUE OF SHORE-LEAVES AND INTOXICATION OF SAILORS, MY FATHER, A SAILOR IN THE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY, TOLD ME MANY, MANY STORIES ABOUT THE FUN AND GAMES PLAYED IN THE CITIES WHERE THEY WERE ANCHORED IN PORT....AND YES, THEY'D CURL YOUR HAIR. ON ONE OCCASION, IN SAN FRANCISCO, I BELIEVE, MY FATHER WAS ON SHORE-LEAVE, AND WHOOPING IT UP, AND WHEN HE AND HIS MATES GOT BACK TO THE SHIP, HE LEARNED THAT ANOTHER SAILOR HAD BEEN FATALLY SHOT FOR CHEATING AT POKER, DURING A GAME ON THE SHIP. ED WAS OFFERED A SEAT IN THIS GAME, BUT REFUSED BECAUSE THERE WAS MUCH MORE FUN TO BE HAD IN TOWN THAN ON SHIP. HIS LIFE WAS SPARED AND MY LIFE WAS GUARANTEED, SEEING AS IT WOULD BE ANOTHER DECADE BEFORE I WAS BORN.
"PURIFICATION OF WATER BY CHARCOAL - NOTHING HAS BEEN FOUND SO EFFICIENT FOR PRESERVING WATER SWEET AT SEA, DURING LONG VOYAGES, AS CHARRING THE INSIDE OF CASKS WELL BEFORE THEY ARE FILLED. CARE AT THE SAME TIME, TO BE TAKEN THAT THE CASKS SHOULD NEVER BE FILLED WITH SEA WATER, AS SOMETIMES HAPPENS, IN ORDER TO SAVE THE TROUBLE OF SHIFTING THE BALLAST, BECAUSE THIS TENDS TO HASTEN THE CORRUPTION OF THE FRESH WATER AFTERWARDS PUT INTO THEM. WHEN THE WATER BECOMES IMPURE AND OFFENSIVE AT SEA, FROM IGNORANCE OF THE PRESERVATIVE EFFECT PRODUCED ON IT BY CHARRING THE CASKS, PREVIOUS TO THEIR BEING FILLED, IT MAY BE RENDERED PERFECTLY SWEET BY PUTTING A LITTLE FRESH CHARCOAL IN POWDER, INTO EACH CASK, BEFORE IT IS TAPPED OR BY FILTERING IT THROUGH FRESH BURNT AND COARSELY POWDERED CHARCOAL.
"NO PRACTICE HAS ANSWERED BETTER THAN THAT OF CHARRING THEIR WATER CASKS ON THEIR INSIDE. THREE CASKS OF WATER IN ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S DOCK YARDS, OF THREE YEARS STANDING, WERE PERFECTLY SWEET WHEN TAPPED. THERE IS, THEREFORE, LITTLE DOUBT BUT THAT WATER MAY NOW BE PRESERVED FRESH AND FIT FOR DRINKING FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME, IN CHARRED BARRELS."
"CLEANLINESS - TO PRESERVE SEAMEN IN HEALTH, AND PREVENT THE PREVALENCE OF SCURVY, AND OTHER DISEASES, IT WILL BE FURTHER NECESSARY TO KEEP THE SHIP PERFECTLY CLEAN, AND TO HAVE THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF IT DAILY PURIFIED BY A FREE ADMISSION OF AIR, WHEN THE WEATHER WILL ADMIT OF IT, AND LIKEWISE BY FREQUENT FUMIGATIONS. THIS PRESENTATION WILL MORE PARTICULARLY BE NECESSARY FOR THE PURIFICATION OF SUCH PLACES AS ARE REMARKABLY CLOSE AND CONFINED.
"PREVENTION OF DAMPNESS AND COLD - THE COLDNESS AND DAMPNESS OF THE ATMOSPHERE ARE TO BE CORRECTED BY SUFFICIENT FIRES. CLEANLINESS ON BOARD OF A SHIP IS HIGHLY NECESSARY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH OF SEAMEN; BUT THE CUSTOM OF FREQUENT SWABBINGS OR WASHINGS BETWEEN THE DECKS, AS IT TO0 FREQUENTLY PRACTICED, IS CERTAINLY INJURIOUS AND GREAT, FAVOURS THE PRODUCTION OF SCURVY, AND OTHER DISEASES BY A CONSTANT DAMPNESS BEING KEPT UP."
"EXERCISE AND AMUSEMENTS - THE MEN SHOULD BE MADE TO AIR THEIR HAMMOCKS AND BEDDING EVERY DAY; THEY SHOULD WASH THEIR BODIES AND APPAREL OFTEN, FOR WHICH PURPOSE AN ADEQUATE AMOUNT OF SOAP OUGHT TO BE ALLOWED; AND THEY SHOULD CHANGE THEIR LINEN AND OTHER CLOTHES FREQUENTLY. IN RAINY WEATHER, ON BEING RELIEVED FROM THEIR DUTY ON THE DECK, BY THE SUCCEEDING WATCH, THEY SHOULD TAKE OFF THEIR WET CLOTHES INSTEAD OF KEEPING THEM ON, AND LYING DOWN IN THEM, AS THEY ARE APT TO DO. TWO SETS OF HAMMOCKS OUGHT TO BE PROVIDED FOR THEM. IN FINE PLEASANT WEATHER, AND AFTER THEIR USUAL DUTY IS OVER, THEY SHOULD BE INDULGED IN ANY INNOCENT AMUSEMENT THAT WILL KEEP THEIR MINDS, AS WELL AS THEIR BODIES, IN A STATE OF PLEASANT ACTIVITY, AND PERHAPS NONE IS MORE PROPER THAN DANCING. THIS MAKES A FIDDLE OR A PIPE AND TABOR, DESIRABLE ACQUISITIIONS ON BOARD OF EVERY SHIP BOUND ON A LONG VOYAGE.
"EFFECTS OF CLIMATE - IN WARM CLIMATES THE CREWS OF SHIPS ARE HEALTHIER AT SEA WHEN THE AIR IS DRY AND SERENE, AND THE HEAT MODERATED BY GENTLE BREEZES, THAN WHEN RAINY OR DAMP WEATHER PREVAILS; AND THEY USUALLY ENJOY BETTER HEALTH WHEN THE SHIP IS MOORED AT A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE FROM THE SHORE, AND IS WINDWARD TO ANY MARSHY GROUND OR STAGNANT WATERS, THAN WHEN IT IS ANCHORED TO LEEWARD OF THESE, AND LIES CLOSE IN WITH THE LAND. MASTERS OF VESSELS STATIONED AT, OR TRADING TO, ANY PARTS BETWEEN THE TROPICS, WITH THEREFORE SET PRUDENTLY, WHEN THEY HAVE ARRIVED AT THEIR DESTINED PORT, TO ANCHOR A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE FROM THE SHORE, AND AS FAR TO WINDWARD OF ALL SWAMPS, POOLS AND LAKES, AS CAN CONVENIENTLY BE DONE, AS THE NOXIOUS VAPOURS WHICH WILL BE WAFTED TO THE CREW, WHEN THE SHIP IS IN A POSITION OF THIS NATURE, WILL NOT FAIL TO GIVE RISE TO DISEASES AMONGST THEM.
"CUSTOMS TO BE OBSERVED WHILE ON SHORE - WHEN UNAVOIDABLY OBLIGED TO SUBMIT TO SUCH AN INCONVENIENCE, SOME MEANS OUGHT TO BE ADOPTED TO PREVENT DISAGREEABLE CONSEQUENCES FROM ENSUING. FOR THIS PURPOSE A LARGE SAIL SHOULD BE HOISTED AT THE FOREMAST, OR MOST WINDWARD PART OF THE SHIP, SO AS TO PREVENT THE NOXIOUS VAPOURS FROM COMING AFT; THE CABIN, STEERAGE, AND BETWEEN THE DECKS SHOULD BE FUMIGATED NOW AND THEN, AND THE SEAMEN ALLOWED TO SMOKE TOBACCO FREELY. UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, IT WILL BE IMPROPER TO PERMIT ANY OF THE CREW TO SLEEP FROM ON BOARD, WHEN STATIONED OFF AN UNHEALTHY SHORE; BUT WHEN NECESSITY OBLIGES THEM TO DO SO, FOR THE PURPOSE OF WOODING OR WATERING, A TENT OR MARQUIS SHOULD BE ERECTED, IF A PROPER HOUSE CAN NOT BE PROCURED, AND THIS SHOULD BE PITCHED ON DRYEST AND HIGHEST SPOT THAT CAN BE FOUND, BEING SO SITUATED, AS THAT THE DOOR SHOULD OPEN TOWARD THE SEA. UNDER COVER OF THIS, A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF HAMMOCKS ARE TO BE SUSPENDED FOR THE ACCOMMODATION OF THE CREW BY NIGHT, AS THEY WOULD BY NO MEANS BE SUFFERED TO SLEEP ON THE OPEN GROUND. IF THE TENT HAPPENS UNFORTUNATELY, TO BE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF A MORASS, OR HAS UNAVOIDABLY BEEN PITCHED ON FLAT MOIST GROUND, IT WILL BE ADVISABLE TO KEEP UP A CONSTANT FIRE IN IT BY DAY, AS WELL AS BY NIGHT, AND AS FURTHER PREVENTION AGAINST THOSE MALIGNANT DISORDERS WHICH ARE APT TO ARISE IN SUCH SITUATIONS; THE TOBACCO, AND TO TAKE A WINE GLASS FULL OF THE COMPOUND TINCTURE OF PERUVIAN BARK EVERY MORNING, ON AN EMPTY STOMACH, AND THE SAME QUANTITY AGAIN AT NIGHT."
"CAUTIONS WHEN IN TROPICAL CLIMATES - IN TROPICAL CLIMATES, THE HEALTHFULNESS OF SEAMEN WILL MUCH DEPEND UPON AVOIDING UNDUE EXPOSURE TO THE SUN, RAIN, NIGHT AIR, LONG FASTING, INTEMPERANCE, UNWHOLESOME SHORE DUTIES, ESPECIALLY DURING THE SICKLY SEASON, AND UPON, AND OF THE ATTENTION PAID TO THE VARIOUS REGULATIONS AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES. THE BAD EFFECTS OF REMAINING TOO LONG IN PORT OF ANY ONE TIME (INDEPENDENT OF IRREGULARITIES OF HARBOUR DUTIES, PARTICULARLY AFTER SUNSET, AS WELL AS DURING HIS MERIDIAN POWER) CANNOT BE TOO STRONGLY ADVERTED TO BY THE COMMANDER OF EVERY SHIP; AND THEREFORE A MEASURE OF THE HIGHEST IMPORTANCE IN THE NAVY, IS THE EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AND NATIVES OF THE COUNTRY, OR AT LEAST MEN ACCUSTOMED TO THE TORRID ZONE, IN WOODING, WATERING, TRANSPORTING STORES, RIGGING, CLEARING, CAREENING SHIPS, & ETC.: AND IN FINE, IN ALL SUCH OCCUPATIONS AS MIGHT SUBJECT THE SEAMAN TO EXTENSIVE HEAT OR NOXIOUS EXHALATIONS, WHICH CANNOT FAIL TO BE HIGHLY DANGEROUS TO THE HEALTH OF THE UNASSIMILATED SEAMEN. NOTE - YOU MUST CONSIDER THE TIME IN WHICH THIS WAS WRITTEN, SO AS FAR AS BEING RACIST, IT WASN'T EVEN A REMOTE CONSIDERATION. "THE PRACTICE OF HEAVING DOWN VESSELS OF WASTE IN THE WEST INDIES, IN THE ORDINARY ROUTINE OF SERVICE AT LEAST, CANNOT BE TOO HIGHLY DEPRECATED, AS WELL FROM THE EXCESSIVE FATIGUE AND EXERTION IT DEMANDS, AS BECAUSE IT IS A PROCESS WHICH REQUIRES FOR ITS EXECUTION LOCAL SECURITY, OR, IN OTHER WORDS, A LAND THAT IS LOCKED, AND THEREFORE GENERALLY AN UNHEALTHY HARBOUR. THE INSTANCES OF SICKNESS AND MORTALITY FROM THE EFFORTS OF CLEARING A FOUL HOLD IN AN UNHEALTHY HARBOUR, ARE TOO NUMEROUS TO BE SPECIFIED." OBVIOUSLY THE POOP HAD TO GO SOMEWHERE, AFTER A LONG VOYAGE. WHY NOT DUMP IT IN A SAFE PLACE? OPEN WATER?
"INTOXICATION - A VERY PRODUCTIVE SOURCE OF DISEASE IN WARM CLIMATES AMONG SEAMEN, IS AN IMMODERATE USE OF SPIRITOUS AND FERMENTED LIQUORS, AS THEY ARE TOO APT, WHILST UNDER A STATE OF INTOXICATION, TO THROW THEMSELVES TO THE BARE GROUND, WHERE, PERHAPS, THEY LIE EXPOSED FOR MANY HOURS TO THE INFLUENCE OF THE MERIDIAN SUN; THE HEAVY DEWS OF THE EVENING, OR THE DAMP CHILLING AIR OF THE NIGHT. THE COMMANDER OF A SHIP WHO PAYS ATTENTION TO THE HEALTH OF HIS CREW, WILL THEREFORE TAKE EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION TO PREVENT HIS MEN FROM BEING GUILTY OF AN EXCESS OF THIS NATURE; AND LIKEWISE THAT THEY DO NOT LIE OUT IN THE OPEN AIR, WHEN OVERCOME BY FATIGUE AND HARD LABOUR."
"THE DIFFERENT VOYAGES OF THAT CELEBRATED NAVIGATOR, CAPTAIN COOK, AS WELL AS THAT OF THE UNFORTUNATE LA PEROUSE, INCONTESTABLY PROVE THAT DUE CARE AND A PROPER REGIMEN, SEAMEN MAY BE PRESERVED FROM THE SCURVY AND OTHER DISEASES, WHICH HAVE FORMERLY BEEN INSEPARABLE FROM LONG SEA VOYAGES; AND THAT THEY CAN THUS SUPPORT THE FATIGUES ON THE LONGEST NAVIGATIONS IN ALL CLIMATES, AND UNDER THE BURNING SUN."
SO HERE NOW, IS A LITTLE PIECE ABOUT NOXIOUS AIR. WE'VE COME A LONG WAY TO UNDERSTANDING JUST HOW NOXIOUS THESE FUMES ARE, ESPECIALLY LONG TERM EXPOSURE TO SECOND HAND SMOKE! IT WAS ACTUALLY BELIEVED TOBACCO SMOKE WAS BENEFICIAL, AS A SORT OF CLEANSING AGENT FOR OTHER SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION.
"SMOKING OR FUMIGATING SHIPS WITH CHARCOAL OR SULPHUR, IS THE MOST EFFECTUAL MEANS OF KILLING ALL KINDS OF VERMIN, AND IS THEREFORE ALWAYS RESORTED TO, BUT IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT NO SAILOR, NOR BOY, BE ALLOWED TO GO UNDER THE DECKS UNTIL THE HATCHES AND ALL THE OTHER OPENINGS, HAVE BEEN FOR THREE HOURS UNCOVERED; IN THAT TIME ALL NOXIOUS VAPOURS WILL BE EFFICIENTLY DISSIPATED."
IN THE NEXT BLOG, I WILL OFFER YOU AN EXCLUSIVE LISTS OF DO'S AND DON'T, AS RECOMMENDED BY CAPTAIN COOK HIMSELF, AS OFFERED FOR THE GOOD HEALTH OF SEAMEN. AS WELL, SOME TIPS ON "PRESERVATION FROM DROWNING AND SHIPWRECK."
IT SHOULD BE NOTED AS WELL, THAT MANY OF OUR FAMILY MEMBERS, WHO ARRIVED IN CANADA, AND UNITED STATES, ON SAILING VESSELS AND LATER ABOARD STEAMSHIPS, DATING BACK HUNDREDS OF YEARS, WERE TRANSPORTED IN TERRIBLE CONDITIONS, AND OFTEN LANDED IN NORTH AMERICAN PORTS, BEING DEATHLY ILL FROM CONTAGIOUS INDIVIDUALS, THEY CAME UPON IN STEERAGE CLASS. SOME DIDN'T SURVIVE THE JOURNEY. MANY INFANTS SUCCUMBED. WHILE NOT ALL EMIGRANTS WERE FORCED INTO STEERAGE CLASS PASSAGE, IT DID REPRESENT THE MAJORITY OF THOSE SEEKING REFUGE IN A BETTER, MORE PROSPEROUS LAND. SO AS WE CARRY-ON, WITH THIS STORY, DATED 1862, WE WILL READ MORE ABOUT WHAT WAS DONE BY NAVIGATION COMPANIES, HAULING THIS HUMAN CARGO, TO IMPROVE HEALTHFUL CONDITIONS ONBOARD. BUT MOSTLY WHAT WAS NOT DONE. IT WAS UP TO THE PASSENGERS AND CREW TO LOOK AFTER THEMSELVES.
THANKS FOR JOINING TODAY'S BLOG. MORE FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY IN TOMORROW'S SUBMISSION.
No comments:
Post a Comment