E-text prepared by Jason Isbell, Emmy,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
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American Merchant

Ships and Sailors

By

Willis J. Abbot

Author of Naval History of the United States, Bluejackets of 1898,etc.

Illustrated by Ray Brown

New York
Dodd, Mead & Company
the caxton press
new york.

1902

BOOKS BY WILLIS J. ABBOT

NEW ENGLAND EARLY TOOK THE LEAD IN BUILDING SHIPS

Preface

In an earlier series of books the present writer told the story of thehigh achievements of the men of the United States Navy, from the day ofPaul Jones to that of Dewey, Schley, and Sampson. It is a record Americansmay well regard with pride, for in wars of defense or offense, in warsjust or unjust, the American blue jacket has discharged the duty allottedto him cheerfully, gallantly, and efficiently.

But there are triumphs to be won by sea and by land greater than those ofwar, dangers to be braved, more menacing than the odds of battle. It was aglorious deed to win the battle of Santiago, but Fulton and Ericssoninfluenced the progress of the world more than all the heroes of history.The daily life of those who go down to the sea in ships is one of constantbattle, and the whaler caught in the ice-pack is in more direful case thanthe blockaded cruiser; while the captain of the ocean liner, guidingthrough a dense fog his colossal craft freighted with two thousand humanlives, has on his mind a weightier load of responsibility than the admiralof the fleet.

In all times and ages, the deeds of the men who sail the deep as itspolicemen or its soldiery have been sung in praise. It is time forchronicle of the high courage, the reckless daring, and oftentimes thenoble self-sacrifice of those who use the Seven Seas to extend the marketsof the world, to bring nations nearer together, to advance science, and tocement the world into one great interdependent whole.

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