The fishermen of the North Sea fleet were as rough and ready as the
old buccaneers. They were constantly risking their lives and they had
not much regard for their own lives or the lives of others. With them
life was cheap. Night and day they faced the dangers of the sea as
they worked at the trawls, and when they were not sleeping or working
there was no amusement for them. Then they were prone to resort to the
grog ships, which hovered around them, and they too often drank a
great deal more rum than was good for them. They were reared to a
rough and cruel life, these fishermen. Hard punishments were dealt the
men by the skippers. It was the way of the sea, as they knew it.
There were more than twenty thousand of these men in the North Sea
fleets. Grenfell must have been overwhelmed with the thought that he
was to be the only doctor within reach of that great number of men.
"Heal the sick"--that was his job!
But he resolved to do much more than that! He was going to "Preach the
Word" in smiles and cheering words, and was going to help the men in
other ways than with his pill box and surgical bandages.
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