So now, I was on the SS Antinous, the Flagship and pride of the Waterman Line, commanded by Commodore Duncan Stewartt. It was on the Antinous, after a series of rapid promotions, that I became the youngest chief steward in the company late in 1929.

     The Antinous was the only ship in the company fleet of 15 ships that had Filipinos employed: her entire steward department was composed of Filipinos. Though there was no law or rule regarding the manning of American ships in those days, complete segregation prevailed. Most of the personnel in the steward department on cargo ships were Negroes or Filipinos. It seemed that this was the only department open to us.

     Until the late 30's and the Second World War, no appreciable number of the black and brown races was employed in the deck and engine departments of American ships. Since, by law, only deck and engine personnel could attain officer ratings, this resulted in an insignificant number of either race becoming a ship's officer in the American Merchant Marine. It was not until after World War II, more particularly in the 50's, when civil rights advocates became more militant in their fight for equal rights and opportunities for all, that complete integration became the rule in manning American ships.

     The Antinous, owned by the U. S. Shipping Board and operated by Waterman Steamship Company as the agent, was undergoing repairs at the time. After her repairs in a Mobile shipyard, she just laid tied up to the docks for several weeks, waiting for cargo.

     In early October she loaded cargo for Europe in Mobile, Gulfport, and Pensacola, then went back to Mobile where we signed foreign articles for Bremen and Hamburg, Germany. The first several days after we sailed from Mobile, I became seasick and the Chief Steward did some of my work in the galley.

     The captain of the Antinous, Capt. Duncan A. Stewartt, was the typical ship's master of adventure stories: he ran his ship with an iron hand and a soft heart. Of all the ships' captains I ever sailed with, Capt. Stewartt was the best.

     Only a handful of chief stewards stayed with him for more than one voyage. He was known to call an erring crew member to his office and show the man by physical demonstration who was master of the ship. This, of course, was done in the absence of any witness. On his soft side when a crew member was lost at sea during a storm in 1929, he asked the crew for donations and doubled the amount before sending it to the widow.

     When any crew member got sick, the Captain personally took care of him I saw him bring a cup of coffee or tea to sick seamen in the middle of the night. When it came to cleanliness and maintaining his ship "ship shape", Capt. Stewartt had no peer the SS Antinous was like a yacht, the cleanest ship in the fleet.

     The Antinous was on the Bremen Hamburg run, considered by many seafarers of the time as the best. This accounted for the very little changes in our crew. Another factor was that even though our wages were low, the crew very seldom ran out of money. One reason was everything was cheap in Germany and our dollar went a long way. Another reason was Capt. Stewartt's liberality in advancing money to the crew, especially to those whom he wished to keep on the ship. As provided by Maritime law, seamen were allowed to draw half of their earned wages, after deducting the allotments to their families. Capt. Stewartt let the crew draw all the money coming to them and, in many cases, more than what was coming to them.

     Oftentimes men missed a day's work or were late for their jobs. Seldom did he "log" them for missing work while in port but let the men work extra, at night or weekends during the return trip, with the result that the ship always returned to Mobile very clean.

     The Chief Steward's frequent absence from the ship and my faithful performance of my duties did not escape the notice of Capt. Stewartt. When we returned to Mobile, he fired the Chief Steward and recommended me to the Port Steward as his replacement. Because that was my first trip as second cook and I had never been a chief cook, a prerequisite for becoming chief steward, the Port Steward vetoed the captain's recommendation and offered the position to the Chief Cook. The Chief Cook took the job with the understanding that I would help him with his record keeping and I agreed. I was promoted to chief cook.

     I was still getting seasick, but I was not compelled to work when I was sick. The Chief Steward did my work whenever I felt woozy on account of the rough seas. He and I became fast friends.

     After three trips as chief cook, I was taken ill with the flu and confined in the Mobile Marine Hospital. The Chief Steward, who was doing my work, decided to quit but Capt. Stewartt prevailed on him to stay on, giving him part of my wages until I got well.

     I was still in the hospital when the crew signed on articles for the voyage. Another chief cook was hired when the Chief Steward quit the ship. He had decided previously that this would be his last trip on the Antinous. Capt. Stewartt told the Port Steward that I was to be promoted to chief steward. On the day of sailing I was still in the hospital. The Port Steward told Capt. Stewartt that he had to hire a chief steward or be assigned one. Capt. Stewartt would not have it. He insisted on promoting me to chief steward. This Capt. Stewartt carried a lot of weight with the company: he was a personal friend of Mr. John B. Waterman, owner and president of the firm.

     On sailing day, Capt. Stewartt came to the hospital and talked to my doctor; he took me to the Federal Building to the Shipping Commissioner's office to sign on the ship's articles; and he took me aboard the ship. I went to bed. A couple of hours later, we sailed for Pensacola, Florida, our last Stateside port.

     For several days, I stayed in bed, getting up only for meals and typing the menus. The Captain saw to it that work in my department was done properly. Thus at age 23, I became the chief steward of the SS Antinous, the youngest to hold that position in the Waterman fleet, if not in the entire industry.

     Since leaving Honolulu for the mainland, I had kept up correspondence with the Hall's. Before we left Pensacola for Hamburg, I wrote Mr. Hall telling him of my promotion. The answer I received from him was so exceptional that I have treasured it all these years. How important and precious this letter is to me can be judged by the fact that even though I lost money and important papers such as my naturalization papers and my marriage certificate, I still have this letter, yellowed with age, some 60 years later.

     Along with the Bible, this one letter, which I have read countless times, has inspired me and guided my public and private life. To it I attribute the type of man I am. I have lived an exemplary life as a seaman. I have given good, honest, and loyal service to my employers. As I look back through the 45 years of my working life, I can truly say, "Thank you God and Mr. Hall for your guidance."

             September 30th, 1929

             Dear Felipe:

     I was pleased to receive your letter written September 8th from Pensacola and to learn that you are doing so well.

     When school closed last year Mrs. Hall and the two girls came to Manila and we kept house on Taft Avenue until last January this year when they went to Europe. Ellen was at school in Lausanne, Switzerland for three months learning French, Spanish and Italian as well as singing. On April 24th I left Manila and met the family in Naples. We spent about two months traveling through Europe and arrived in New York about the last of August. Catherine and Ellen are now in Los Angeles going to school and Mrs. Hall is with me here. I am planning to leave for Manila October 3rd and expect to return to Honolulu some time about the first of next year. Mrs. Hall will not go with me but will probably go before long to Los Angeles.

     It is very gratifying for me to know that you have made the best of your opportunities and that you are getting along so well with your work. This more than repays me for any little I may have done to help you when you needed help. Your life story so far is quite an interesting one and it might be that in your spare time you could write a little history of it. In such a responsible and important position as the one you now hold, where you will be handling goods and perhaps money belonging to the ship, it is most important for you always to remember that the company which employs you is depending on you to look after its interests. It is paying you a good salary not only because of your ability to do the work but because it has confidence in your character and honesty. It is because I had the same confidence in you that I have continued to take an interest in you. The best way to show your appreciation of what I have done is to do nothing which you would be ashamed to tell me. In a responsible position like that of a chief steward there will perhaps be temptations sometimes for you to do things which are not quite straight or to place orders which will be for your own advantage but not for the company's advantage. At such times, try to remember that the company is trusting you to do what is right and to act in their interest and that I also am depending on you to justify the confidence I have put in you. It is nice to get money for the sake of the good you can do with it but it is not much good for anything else. A good rule when you are in doubt about anything of this kind is to give the company the benefit of the doubt rather than to give it to yourself. Sometimes it may look like "easy money" as they say, to do something which you know in your own heart is not right and not fair to your employers but I believe you will put the temptation aside when you ask yourself, "What would Mr. Hall like me to do in this case?

     Another thing I want you to avoid at all times and that is gambling. I don't believe that you do gamble and I urge upon you never under any circumstances to begin. No business man will give a position of trust to a man who is known to gamble because he knows it is very easy for a gambler to become a thief. He does not mean to but he may borrow money which is not his own in order to cover his losses and then he may lose more and before he knows where he is he is a thief. All this advice may be quite unnecessary in your case but I want you to know how I look at these things and I am very anxious as also are Mrs. Hall and the members of my family, that you will justify our faith in you that you will make good in the very sense of the word and deserve the confidence your employers have shown in you when they gave you this fine position.

     I shall send your letter to Catherine and Ellen as I know they will be very much interested to hear of your success. We shall always be glad to hear from you. My address is c/o Honolulu Iron Works, Co., P.O. Box 3140, Honolulu.

             Yours very truly,

             Wm. G. Hall

WGH:ds

(Copy of this letter sent c/o American Consulate, Hamburg, Germany)

     Had I been promoted as chief steward on another ship instead of the Antinous under the tutorship of Capt. Stewartt, no doubt my job would not have been such an easy one at the start. Since I began work as a second cook and baker on the Antinous over a year ago, there had been few changes in the crew. Seamen in those days developed a close relationship after sailing together on the same ship for some time. This was the case on the Antinous. There was much camaraderie: we worked together, fought together, and became broke together.

     The relationship between Capt. Stewartt and me became more than a mere captain crew relationship: it was almost a father son relationship. I had more privileges than the rest of the ship's personnel, including the officers. Sometimes I was allowed to miss the ship on sailing and join her at the next port; and I was allowed to have friends come aboard for short visits. Capt. Stewartt advanced me all the money I asked in foreign ports, to the extent that at times my payoffs were meager. When I was seasick or given time off, he saw to it that the steward department functioned normally.

     In return, I cleaned his quarters and even did some painting. Without any union or union rules to govern seamen's working conditions, working 10 or 12 hours a day was not unusual, especially on the return voyage. Every piece of brass had to be polished and every deck in the saloon and alleyways had to be freshly painted when we were boarded for quarantine inspections and other formalities by government and company officials. Though I had longer working hours, I was happy in my work because of the compliments we received from shore officials on the cleanliness of our ship. The other men in the steward department and I were truly proud of our ship.

     An amusing incident happened in Rotterdam, Holland. As part of my routine when the ship was in port, I checked Capt. Stewartt's room before supper to see if he had returned from the agents, where he got the money for the crew's advance. I was the only person besides Capt. Stewartt who had the keys to his quarters, but that evening I didn't need them his door was unlocked. I found Capt. Stewartt sprawled on his settee and the bag of money on the table. He must have been counting it when he fell asleep. He had had one too many when the ship's agent brought him aboard. I took the money and left the room just as I found it unlocked. I locked the money bag in my locker and went to supper. Before I could finish eating, the Chief Mate called me to the Captain's room. Capt. Stewartt was frantic. He told me he had lost the money bag and did not remember where he had left it in the taxi or in the last bar he was in. I played my game for a minute or two before I told him what happened and retrieved the money. I don't remember Capt. Stewartt being in that condition again when he went ashore to get the ship's money for the crew.

     The fact that I could stay so long with Capt. Stewartt made me popular with the company officials, including Mr. Waterman Capt. Stewartt and I called him "Mr. John". He was proud of the Antinous and came aboard often. Whenever Capt. Stewartt knew that Mr. John was coming aboard, he would let me know ahead of time. The day he visited, our ship's menu would include split pea soup, boiled corned beef, cabbage and potatoes, and bread and raisin pudding: Mr. John's favorites. I believe I was one of the very few, if not the only crew member on a Waterman ship that Mr. Waterman addressed by his first name instead of his title. In this case, Steward.

     The years I spent on the Antinous were punctuated by interesting events, some were personal. On my first voyage as chief steward we encountered a severe storm in the North Atlantic. A week before we were to arrive in Bremen, we ran into the storm. Our two life boats were smashed to bits, part of the flying bridge was destroyed, and one of our deck hands was lost overboard.

     In early January 1933, I watched as Hitler and his hordes of Nazi followers staged a torchlight parade in Bremen. This was just before he became the Fuhrer of Germany. On several occasions, I was the unwilling witness of Hitler's storm troopers' vandalism against Jewish places of business, one of which was Mr. and Mrs. Krauses's store in Hamburg where I traded often.

     This was the same year I became engaged to a pretty German Fraulein. When I wrote the Halls of my intention to marry this German girl, they strongly advised me against marrying out of my race. My love for the German girl was overwhelming, so I ended my correspondence with the Halls. I was ashamed to be a disappointment to them in this area of my life.

     In March 1933, the Antinous did not go to Hamburg, but went instead to Antwerp. I had my German fiance come to meet me in Antwerp. One night we decided to go aboard my ship to see the captain. The lighting on the docks was not good and she was not familiar with the dock, so I climbed the gangway first. She was following me up the gangway, when I heard her scream as she slipped and fell into the water between the dock and ship. I jumped in after her.

     We were lucky that we had instructed the cab driver to wait for us. He heard my cry of "help!" and raced up the gangway to find the man on watch, who was having coffee in the messroom. Between the two of them, they managed to pull us out of the water. We went aboard to dry off and change into dry clothes my fiance had to wear some of my clothes to the hotel.

     In 1933, Capt. Stewartt was given the command of the SS Kenowis, the first of the company's cargo ships to be converted to a passenger cargo ship, carrying 12 passengers. There was no official objection when he suggested that I be the chief steward of this newly converted ship. The major factor in my favor for being chosen as the chief steward of this first Waterman cargo passenger ship was my record of service and feeding cost on the Antinous. The company budget for feeding a crew in the 20's and 30's was 65 cents per man per day. Mine was much lower. Most of the time I fed for less than 50 cents per man per day without complaints from the crew or officers.

     This low feeding cost and the reputation the Antinous had as the cleanest ship in the fleet influenced other captains to choose Filipino steward departments on their ships. As a result, a number of my former cooks and messboys became chief stewards. When Waterman expanded its fleet in 1935, there were five ships with Filipino steward departments.

     On the first trip the Kenowis made to Liverpool, England, she developed a lot of engine trouble and laid up for general repairs. Several of my crew and I were allowed by the company to stay aboard during the time she was idle. We cleaned and painted quarters in exchange for lodging and meals we ate some of the ship's leftover provisions. There was no union then to govern this arrangement, but this incident was to work hard on the Filipino seamen later when the seamen's union was established.

     When the Kenowis was reactivated, we Filipinos in the steward department who worked without wages during the idle period were the first on the payroll.