_The sail is partly lowered, the reef points are tied beneath the sail and above the boom, and the sail is then raised. A part of the sail, however, has been held by the reef points and is not spread to the wind._ ] Few really nautical things, in the old sense, are asked of modern sailors. They must be able to steer, although many ships have quartermasters whose duties are only those that have to do with the bridge. They must be able to handle the “ground tackle,” that is, the anchors and cables, but that is simple, for one has only to throw off a few lashings and pull a lever in order that the anchor may plunge to the bottom as the cable roars through the hawse pipe. To weigh anchor a steam valve is opened, or an electric switch is turned, and a windlass brings in link after link until the anchor once more is snugly in place, while the hawse pipe drips water and the anchor flukes drip mud. The sailor then has only to wash the mud from the flukes with a hose, clamp down a “slip stopper” to make the cable secure, and the task is done. Sailors are supposed to know how to lower and handle the lifeboats, and many of them do, but alas, the smartness of small boats under oars is almost gone. Such a thing takes practice and coördination, and few indeed are the merchant ships to-day that can muster a boat crew worthy of the name. And even that is less necessary than it was, for motor boats do the work in ports, and lifeboats need only float for a time before they are picked up by some ship that has caught the radio call for help. And to float they need no seamen, for nowadays they are both noncapsizable and practically unsinkable. If a ship goes aground where there is no help, the old method of using small boats to carry an anchor out to seaward and of hauling the ship off by means of a cable made fast to the anchor, is seldom enough in these days of large ships to accomplish the task. The unfortunate ship is either beyond help, save for her crew, or needs a sea-going tug or two and a crew of professional salvagers. And so I could go on through many more phases of seamanship, proving that the knowledge required of deck hands is less than formerly. But the knowledge required of officers is another matter. [Illustration: A FREIGHTER TIED UP TO A PIER _The lines shown running from the ship to the pier are often used in slightly different arrangements, but always it is advisable to run lines diagonally in order that slight movements of the ship away from the pier may be checked gradually and without breaking the lines. Furthermore, this arrangement prevents movement ahead or astern._ ]