A judicious
shipmaster will warn his young mates about this.
The usual system of mess room for engineers, the officers messing in
the cabin with the master, is a good one, though it is a question
whether it would not be a _very_ good thing if the chief engineer
always messed with the master so long as he was a decent, respectable
man. It is often one of the causes of ill health in the master that he
keeps too much to himself, seldom if ever speaking to his officers
except on business connected with the ship. A man who does this has
far too much time to think, and if he has any trivial illness is apt
to brood over it and actually make himself ill.
It is much wiser and better for all concerned that the master should,
within certain limits, be on friendly terms at any rate with his first
mate, if not with all his officers. Any man with common tact can
always find means for checking undue familiarity, and it will
generally be found that officers treated as equals instead, as is
often the case, as though they were an inferior race of beings, will
be much more inclined to do their work with zeal, and to back up the
master in all his troubles.
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