WAGES AND PROFITS 167 



wages is maintained, and there are not too many cases, 

 of exceptional good fortune. An expert like Alderman 

 Mudd, of Grimsby, a practical deep-sea fisherman and 

 an owner of many crafts, calculated that the average 

 weekly earnings of a skipper were 4. ; a chief engineer, 

 465. ; a second engineer, 365. ; a mate, 353. to 405. ; a 

 third hand, 275. ; a deck-hand, cook, and trimmer, 245., 

 with food in addition, in all cases. This provisioning is 

 a most important consideration, and it should not be 

 forgotten that lodging is provided for a considerable 

 portion of the year, especially in the case of fleeters. 

 The entire estimated cost of a private soldier in a Line 

 regiment is ^75 a year ; that is supposed to be what he 

 gets out of the country in the way of pay, rations, and 

 clothing and lodging. Considering his toil and dis- 

 comforts, a trimmer, for example, is undoubtedly not 

 so well off as the ordinary British soldier, to say 

 nothing of the superior advantages of the Household 

 Troops. 



Like all share systems this method of remuneration on 

 the North Sea is subject to great fluctuations. Writing 

 to me from one of the fleets, a skipper said: "At 

 present the North Sea is using us very well, but, by 

 George ! we have had about ten real bad days " (the 

 month was November) "and are fair tired of rolling and 

 knocking about. Yet it has done us all good, for the 



markets have taken a jump and time too. Skipper 



for sixteen weeks did not round 305. per week ; a mate 

 was telling me that for ten weeks his wife received 155. 

 per week, and that brought him 5 in debt at the end 

 of the two trips. Another told me that they had to 

 part with some of their home, to keep things going. It 



