18

Q. How old were you when you made your first trip?

A. Eighteen months.

19

Homemade Hammock used by Kathryn Ladd.
1902
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

20

Q. How did you live at that time? What kind of sleeping accommodation did you have?

A. Well, they made this large square canvas box and it was hung up there, like a hammock, a swinging hammock would be hung, and that was put in my family's stateroom which was a large 16 foot stateroom about 10 feet wide with an alcove for a huge bed. There was plenty of room there to swing this hammock. And until I got old enough for my own stateroom, which was across the cabin on the other side of the vessel, why I slept there. But I was quite indignant, I can remember, being told that was going to be my cabin, that I was going to be alone. I remember I was quite annoyed about it, because the berth was all by itself, it was up high and there was a big board to keep you from falling out, and I had to climb over a settee in order to get up to it, you see. And I didn't like being perched way up there like that.

21

Q. Knowing that the type of men that some of these sailors were, being alone in your stateroom did you ever worry?

A. Oh goodness no. First of all, I didn't know that kind of type of man. I always thought the sailors were lovely and they were always making gifts for me. And there was a kind of very ornate (which I am sorry I didn't keep) puzzle, which actually had buttons in the middle of it, but I had to shake it and hear it there, and think it probably had lovely jewels in it, you see. But was all made of pieces of wood and they were carved, and they put them together and it made a round like a hedgehog ball, you see, with all these things sticking out. And that would take hours and hours and hours, of course it would give them something to do. I don't know who gave it to me. But I had all sorts of little gifts the sailors would give to a child. The sailors loved the children, and as far as that goes, they all took care of her, but nevertheless there was always the chance that there would be one maverick among the crowd, you see. As a whole, even the roughest sailors would be nice to a child. At Christmas time I always gave them…. I was allowed to…. well father or mother arranged for pipes, tobacco, and we made candy and we did that up and the cabin boy would take that up….a huge basket of this and I would go around and give all the sailors their Christmas presents. So there was a good feeling between the sailors and the Captain and the Officers. But there had to be perfect discipline. I mean, it might be a case of saving the vessel from a wreck, unless there was complete discipline, you see. I mean, in a storm, you had to move quickly.

22

Captain's cabin of the 'Belmont'
1905
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

23

Q. Did you ever get seasick during those storms?

A. No, I never did. I didn't know anything about seasickness. Mother was once in awhile when the vessel would be pitching which was going that way, you know, she wouldn't feel too well, and she would say, 'Now Kathryn, be quiet.'

24

Captain's cabin looking forward
1905
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

25

Q. What did you do during the times you were going through these storms?

A. Well, we were kept in bed. I was kept in my stateroom, and it was rather hard. You'd be tied up during the storms maybe for three days. You couldn't get out of your bunk, because it would be dangerous to be allowed. My father would come down and see me and then go in and talk to my mother for a few minutes. The cabin would bring us meals of a sort. I can't remember what we had to eat, but we couldn't have had very much, because the cook couldn't have done much cooking with these terrible storms. The waves would be like mountains. I would get up and look out of the porthole, and first thing my nose practically touching the water when I'd look out, you see. Then slowly she would roll over the other way and I would look and see the huge waves, and then I would see the sky, and slowly she'd go down again and there would be a pitching with it, but she would roll and pitch, you see. After a few times I would tire of that and I would go back to hanging on the board. My father would say, 'Well, just one more day of the storm and then I think it will begin to lessen.' These sea captains knew the weather very well, you know. They would watch it. They were very good weathermen. So, consequently he would say I think another day, and I would get up and say, 'Father, can we get up yet?' And he would say, 'Well, perhaps this afternoon it will be safe.' So we would get up in the afternoon, and Mother and I would make for the chairs which were fastened to the floors, you see, and we would just sit there hanging onto the chair because it would still be rolling. But my idea of a really good time, at that time, was to get on a pillow on one side of the vessel, and as she rolled, slide down on the hardwood floors. There were no carpets on the floors when you were at sea because it was too damp - so slide right down to the other wall. So I would do that for awhile, but Mother would stop me after awhile - she couldn't stand it, watching me!

26

Grace and Kathryn at the rail
1903
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

27

Q. Well, this was after you were out. What did you do when you were confined to your bed?

A. Oh well, there were some crayons, and if I was old enough I did some reading. Beforehand, I don't know what I did. I must have been rather a good child, because well, I stayed in bed because I knew I had to. Everybody was disciplined on the boat and of course, I was disciplined along with the rest. I mean, I never saw anybody disobey my father. So it never entered my head not to obey him. I knew he had to be obeyed because everybody else obeyed him.

28

Kathryn entertains chickens to tea.
1904
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

29

Q. But you were in that stateroom all by yourself. Weren't you scared?

A. Oh no, not scared, not a bit scared. When I first went to sea I would be a little bit scared, the first night hearing the racket, and I would think oh my father is in charge and he didn't act scared, why should I, I should be ashamed of myself. I was a great admirer of my father, so consequently if he wasn't scared I wasn't scared.

30

The 'Belmont' in port.
1905
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

31

Q. What kind of 'racket' are you referring to?

A. Well, the vessel chattering. You can't imagine what a noisy thing a sailing vessel is. And she creaks and the ropes creak, and the sails creak, and she screeches and she howls and she yells. Really, when you are all by yourself in this complete silence, the racket that she's chattering, she's doing, and growling and grunting, you wouldn't believe it. And you'd hear all this, not to the point that you couldn't talk over it, but when there's complete silence it sounded like an awful lot. After awhile you don't notice it.