Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1895 — LIFE ON BOARD SHIP. [ARTICLE]

LIFE ON BOARD SHIP.

THE HOUSEKEEPING ARRANGEMENTS ON A MAN-OF-WAR. Something About the Messes--The Table Expenses Are Paid by the Officers--Entertaining Visitors. To you of the land who have plenty of room for all the various depart- j ments of your housekeeping affairs it may be interesting to know how the several hundred people crowded beneath the decks of a big man-o’-war manage to exist comfortably in the contracted space allowed. Generally well forward on the gun deck there is the galley, on which all the cooking for the officers and men 1 Is done. This galley is a large range fastened down to the deck with iron straps, and from early morning till sundown it is surrounded by the cooks, preparing and cooking the food for the various “messes,” or different tables aboard the ship. If it be a flagship, that is, one bearing an admiral in command of a fleet or station, the first mess in importance is that of the admiral, who has all to himself a steward, a cook and a boy. He may eat alone in his cabin or have the captain and members of his staff with him. Then comes the captain’s mess in his separate cabin, with the same complement of servants. Next we go down into the ward room, where the fifteen or twenty watch officers, engineer officers, paymasters, doctors, chaplain and marine officer are all together in a big mess, with a stew ar I, a cook and fiva or six servants or ward room boys, as they are called aboard ship. In this mess one of the officers is elected caterer, and has general supervision of everything pertaining to it —the general direction of the steward and boys and of the menu—and the grumblings of the discontented members are directed against this official. Contrary to the general idea of the civilian who visits the ship, the officers are not furnished everything by the government, but must pay for all their food from their monthly pay, and the caterer becomes the treasurer of these payments from all the officers. Of course the stewards, cooks and boys are regularly enlisted in the service and all hold minor fighting stations, at which they regularly drill, but every mouthful of food is bought by the officers themselves.

Until quite recently the officers of the messes were required to buy their own kitchen utensils and dishes, glassware and tableware, but these are now furnished bj r the government, leaving the officers only the napery to buy. The steward is intrusted with the duty of buying the daily provisions for the mess and seeing that the cook prepares them properly and that the boys serve them well. His value depends upon his knowledge of marketing, cooking, and the discipline he has among the boys,, and last, but far from least, upon his honesty, for in a large mess' he may handle hundreds of dollars in a month. The duties of the boys, beside serving the officers at meals, consist in keeping all the staterooms in order, as well as the messroom. The stewards are generally old and tried men, who have served through the intermediate stages of boy and cook, while the boys are of every grade of efficiency and every nationality. Ships on the China station generally have Chinese or Japanese boys, as they are quick to learn, generally honest and quite amenable to strict discipline. Those on the home station have Japs when they can be procured, and otherwise white or colored servants. Next in importance after the ward room officers’ mess is the junior officers’ mess, made up of the junior line and staff commissioned officers and the naval cadets, and, perhaps, of all the officers aboard ship. The members of this mess enjoy life the most; for though even crowded into narrow quarters, where they must eat, sleep and live in one room, the buoyant spirits of youth assert itself and good humor reigns. The next mess in order of rank is that of the warrant officers, which, like the junior officers, has its quota of steward, cook and boys. These warrant officers are the gunner, carpenter, boatswain and sail maker, who, while they do not carry a commission, hold important positions on shipboard and are “warranted” by the President to their several positions, on which they have a life tenure, unless dismissed by sentence of a general court martial for some serious offense against military or naval law.

Thus, having finished with the officers, who must buy their own food, and who accordingly follow their own inclination in that matter very much as people ashore do. let us turn to the enlisted men, the blue jackets and marines, who live on a ration issued by the government, each ration being of the average value of thirty cents per diem. Among the enlisted men there are also grades of rank, and the petty officers, who are given more or less authority in the various departments, generally have a mess by themselves where they live plainly but neatly and well. The other enlisted men are divided up into messes of ten or fifteen men each, and each mess has a cook taken from their own number, who prepares the food with the ship’s cook and his assistant. This ship’s cook is an important personage among the enlisted men, and upon him rests the responsibility of preparing the bean soup and other dishes that are the same for all, while the mess cooks prepare the especial dishes for each mess. The ship’s provisions of beans, flour, salt and corned meat and canned goods occupy space in large storerooms especially designed for the purpose, and the stock is quite extensive when laid in for a long cruise. The day’s provisions are served oht In the morning, and the contracted space around the galley is crowded until dinner time, when a signal is piped by the boatswain, the tables come down from the deck beams above, where they are stored when not in use, the knives forks, spoons

and agate ware dishes are set out from the chest in which each mess keeps it belongings, and in ten minutes the meal call soui ds and the three or four hundred seamen and marines and engineer force are eating their dinner, 'which if in port, may consist of fresh meat, roasted or stewed; boiled potatoes, ■ anned corn, fresh bread, coffee, with perhaps, a dessert of “duff," as bread puddingis called, or even “plum duff,” the same pudding with raisins in it.. If at sea for a long time, salt meat or corned meat is used, and perhaps hard tack instead of bread, and baked beansand bean soup often appear in the menu. In the olden time grog was served out at the mast each day at noon, but the influence of temperance societies stopped this, and now the “jackey” is lucky if he is allowed a bottle of beer before dinner and supper. On the old ships the water supply was an important thing, and water was sparingly served out, but the modern system of condensing the sea water has made a plentiful supply for all, and the time of eighty and ninety day passages is gone with the old sailing ships. In most other navies an allowance is made by the government to each officer for theentertainmentof “public visitors” while on a foreign station, or of “foreign visitors” on n home station, such as the officers of other friendly governments and navies who are officially or semi-offi-cially entertained. But in our service such entertainment, while practically obligatory according to the laws of custom and general usage, must be paid by the officers themselves, and in case of a great celebration or naval review may become quite an important expense, yet, of course, such guests are none the less welcome. The stores laid in for a long cruise are often enough to last fora year or more, and great care in the inspection and packing of such things is necessary to prevent loss by the spoiling or wetting of salt and meats. Thus the commissary department, which is in charge of the paymaster, is quite an important branch of the service. After all, in spite of the narrow quarters, shifting markets and days at sea the housekeeping of a man of war may well be taken as a model, even for those whose lot is cast on the dry land.—Washington Star.