A bellboy, you could go anywhere. You know, I mean you go
from the decks of the ship to the storeroom right up to the
Captain's bridge. When it was rough, you could go up there
just to see the waves, you know, it was right up on the top.
But on our time off we used to go up to New York where Maddison
Square Gardens used to be on Eighth Avenue, there was a big sports
shop there, on Eighth Avenue and Fifteenth Street, which is only
four blocks up from where we docked, and we all bought these roller
skates, and of course when you're coming home and the ships rolling
like that, we'd go down the working alleyway and you have
waterproof doors going across sections, and we'd come along and
we'd jump over them.
Of course some poor old waiter was coming up, in his late 50s,
with his bad feet, and a little bellboy would come flying through
the door on roller skates. And then we'd go on the afterdeck
when it was rolling, and the dare was you'd start one end you'd
come right around the Queen Mary, round the bollards on roller
skates and of course the ships going like this (gestures) and
you're careering down like this... until the passengers seen us
from above decks and of course reported those boys were going over
the side... and then of course we'd get sent for or the Officer of
the Watch would come down and reprimand us all and take our
names. Then we'd be off limits and nobody... bellboys not
allowed on the after deck at any time with roller skates. And
we used to climb up the mast, because the mast was right inside of
our cabin I’d say, and go up two decks and get in, because you used
to go up the mast from inside and we used to climb up there and
we'd get up to all sorts of tricks.
