Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 April 1916 — STRANGE SIGNS ON SHIPS [ARTICLE]

STRANGE SIGNS ON SHIPS

Have Little Meaning to the Uninitiated, But Are Plainly Understood by Sailors.

Strange signs frequently hang from ships which puzzle even dwellers in seaport towns to guess the meaning of. A basket slung from the mainmast head is a sailor’s sign to notify that the cargo has been loaded or discharged, as the case may be, and that the ship is ready to start on her next trip. This she cannot do until the usual board of trade formalities have been observed, and the ship’s papers, which, while a ship is in port, are deposited with the board of trade, have been returned to the captain. A generally mysterious emblem is a besom lashed to a mainmast or bridge railing. This is to signify that the vessel is for sale. Occasionally a dark blue stripe may be seen running fore and aft on a vessel; as a matter of fact, this Is a sign of recent bereavement. Blue is the sailor’s mourning, and the stripe of this color takes the place of the black margin or bqnd used by the landsmen as a notification of death.