{"id":"01KG8AME6YQXMFJEZAKK20CSZM","cid":"bafkreiaqgvgxtquijngijzztgztvkptv4s6jysfirfiwxtasxflwgtypl4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":7134,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 3","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":7089,"text":"other ward-room gentlemen occasioned no surprise; for almost every day\r\nsome bundle or other is coming off for them, especially for the Purser;\r\nand, as the master-at-arms was always present on these occasions, it\r\nwas an easy matter for him to hurry the smuggled liquor out of sight,\r\nand, under pretence of carrying the box or bundle down to the Purser’s\r\nroom, hide it away upon his own premises.\r\n\r\nThe miserly marine, Scriggs, with the pick-lock eye, was the man who\r\nclandestinely sold the spirits to the sailors, thus completely keeping\r\nthe master-at-arms in the background. The liquor sold at the most\r\nexorbitant prices; at one time reaching twelve dollars the bottle in\r\ncash, and thirty dollars a bottle in orders upon the Purser, to be\r\nhonored upon the frigate’s arrival home. It may seem incredible that\r\nsuch prices should have been given by the sailors; but when some\r\nman-of-war’s-men crave liquor, and it is hard to procure, they would\r\nalmost barter ten years of their life-time for but one solitary “_tot_”\r\nif they could.\r\n\r\nThe sailors who became intoxicated with the liquor thus smuggled on\r\nboard by the master-at-arms, were, in almost numberless instances,\r\nofficially seized by that functionary and scourged at the gangway. In a\r\nprevious place it has been shown how conspicuous a part the\r\nmaster-at-arms enacts at this scene.\r\n\r\nThe ample profits of this iniquitous business were divided, between all\r\nthe parties concerned in it; Scriggs, the marine, coming in for one\r\nthird. His cook’s mess-chest being brought on deck, four canvas bags of\r\nsilver were found in it, amounting to a sum something short of as many\r\nhundred dollars.\r\n\r\nThe guilty parties were scourged, double-ironed, and for several weeks\r\nwere confined in the “brig” under a sentry; all but the master-at-arms,\r\nwho was merely cashiered and imprisoned for a time; with bracelets at\r\nhis wrists. Upon being liberated, he was turned adrift among the ship’s\r\ncompany; and by way of disgracing him still more, was thrust into the\r\n_waist_, the most inglorious division of the ship.\r\n\r\nUpon going to dinner one day, I found him soberly seated at my own\r\nmess; and at first I could not but feel some very serious scruples\r\nabout dining with him. Nevertheless, he was a man to study and digest;\r\nso, upon a little reflection; I was not displeased at his presence. It\r\namazed me, however, that he had wormed himself into the mess, since so\r\nmany of the other messes had declined the honour, until at last, I\r\nascertained that he had induced a mess-mate of ours, a distant relation\r\nof his, to prevail upon the cook to admit him.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 3"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJS32V8KWVR1XVNNS595G","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AME6YK8MPCNDN5YGEJPS0","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AME6Y4RPZRCV7J60H45QR","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:37.086Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:48.301Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}