At the outset of the voyage you wonder at the
lack of fine dress, and hastily judge the modest men and women about you
to be somewhat commonplace, but after days at sea and many acquaintances
made, you discover your mistake and learn that your companions are
thoroughly cosmopolitan. In fair weather the decks are playgrounds where
children at games enliven the scene, and sailors' songs are heard.
When the old clipper ship took from four to six weeks to cross the
Atlantic, a weekly paper was printed. On some of the swift liners of
to-day on the fourth day out a paper is issued, when perhaps the steamer
is "rolling in the Roaring Forties." The sheet is a four-page affair,
about six inches wide and nine inches long. It gives a description of the
ship signed by the Captain; the daily runs of the ship follow, the
distance still to go is stated, and the probable time it will take to
make port; under "General Information" you learn about seasickness, what
you have not already experienced, the necessity of exercise aboard ship,
also much about the handling of luggage in Europe; some of the prose and
poetry is sure to be good, and is contributed by skilled writers among
the passengers.
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