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Sociology

Poverty - by James Platt

As soon as the crew are on board the watch must be set. There is the first watch, from eight till twelve at night; the middle watch, from twelve till four; and the morning watch, from four till six; and after that the dog watch.

Once I asked my father to let me keep watch with him. It was the first watch, from eight to twelve. It was on board the Pitt, a 74-gun ship, in Portsmouth harbour. A lantern, with born sides, containing a tallow candle, with a red cotton wick, to show it belonged to the naval stores, was hung between the entering port, or ship's door and the bell, and a half-hour glass stood on a table under the lantern. At eight o'clock all the lights but this lantern were put out, and the bell struck eight, the half-hour glass turned over for the sand to run through, and when it was all through I turned it over again, and ran to the bell, struck one, and cried "All's well." I should say the bell only strikes as high as eight, so that four o'clock, eight o'clock, and twelve o'clock, are eight bells, and half-past these hours, one bell. The other ships in the fleet followed, and there was quite a chorus of "All's