Are We a Declining Race ? 



thirty years ago, when the 42nd " Black Watch " 

 were stationed there, will readily acknowledge 

 that it would be hard to find now such types of 

 manhood as were then seen in the 42nd, in the 

 Blue Marines at Eastney, and among the seamen 

 gunners of the Excellent. Many of the latter 

 volunteered for the Arctic Expedition that fitted 

 out at Portsmouth in 1874, in H.M. ships Alert 

 and Discovery. 



The rollicking, happy - go - lucky, broad- 

 shouldered, hairy-chested " Jack Tar " seems as a 

 type to have disappeared, and we now have a 

 more sedate, and, according to public opinion, 

 more respectable class of men to man our " iron 

 walls." Yet it must be borne in mind that mere 

 " respectability " (rightly or wrongly termed 

 such) cannot successfully replace hardihood in 

 such a rough and ready life as that of a 

 seaman. 



Only a few months ago, I read, in Truth, that 

 the trial trip of one of H.M. ships had to be 

 abandoned because the greater part of the 

 men were incapacitated through seasickness. 



Shade of Nelson ! This is a most alarming 

 state of affairs if the vessel was manned by blue- 

 jackets, as seems to have been the case, for the 

 editor of Truth, commenting on the condition 

 of the men, hints at improper feeding as a 

 cause. 



At a matter of fact, the men are fed very 

 much better now than they were thirty years 

 ago. In the first place, owing to greater facilities 

 of transport, provisions may be carried to foreign 

 stations in better condition than formerly, and 

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