Tom

living out life
2008-07-02 04:28:13 (UTC)

Wreckers

I read a book recently about "wreckers". From the early
1800's up until the early 1900's there were ships
specifically set up to rescue other ships that were stuck
on the reefs in and around the Florida Keys. The wrecker
crew would save the people on board and then commence to
salvage the cargo, often in foul weather and at the risk
of their own lives. Of course, they did this with the
expectation of being rewarded for their efforts.

There was an extensive court system set up where a judge
determined just how much the salvage crew should be
rewarded. The judge also had the power to revoke the
wrecker's license if he thought they acted
inappropriately.

There were differences of opinion about whether these men
were saviors or scoundrels. On one hand, they risked life
and limb to save lives and cargo, but on the other hand,
they did it for profit. From what I was able to gather,
there were more good guys than bad in the business. A lot
of times, they would work for hours, sometimes days to
salvage the cargo from a ship and then only be rewarded a
small amount.

I don't know what it was like to be a wrecker, but it
seems like a hard life to me and one that I would much
rather read about than live.




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