Morning journal and courier., 1881-08-13
The Ships Cook.
[From the United Service. ]

Nor is his food prepared by chef skilled in his art Cord0ns bLeu do not engage as
 ward-room cooks, and clefs de coisipe shun
 the man-of-war with such absolute success
 that one has never yet been seen on deep
 sea cruiser. The cook of the '.man abaft the
 mast'' is nondescript creature, whose like
 is encountered nowhere in the world except
 on board naval vessel of the United States.
 He is, ordinarily, not even an honest, teach
 able man, nor will the exigencies of the ser
 vice permit such to be had, for his duties
 are of nature that an angel from heaven
 could not perform them for any length of time without having destroyed in him every particle of celestial virtue. His
 galley is small, and, microscopic as it is. it is
 shared by his brother in misery, the ships
 cook, he whom the crew familiarly know as the Doctor" Charley Noble" the galley funnel, is, with frequency absolutely mad
 dening, either too long or too short, and the
 cowl of it is, ninety-nine times out of hun
 dred, so ineen1ously arranged as to effectual-
 ly deter any fire, except that which rages in the breast of it's master. Beside this primary cause of dissatisfaction there are others
 which render the life of a ward-room cook that of perpetual misery. The cry of Tall
 hands and the cool, although not literally,
 is often euphemistically uttered. This is so
 because it is considered that the services of every man on board ship are needed whenever an evolution is to be made or yard budged, and hence the knight of pots and pans Is frequently hailed from his culinary duties just at the moment when his soup is in it's most delicate throes and his entree approach ing happy completion. He needs no sec ond call, for quick obedience has been taught him by the gentle clasp of the handcuf and the quiet of the cool and vermin-infested brig, and hence, when the shriu pipe of the boatswain summons his brother idlers, the carpenters, the painters the tailors, the bar
 bers, the berth deck cooks, the baymen, the marines and the ward-room servants, he
 springs to the ropes and hauls with all his might on the lib halliards or the main sheet,
 despite the fact that his roast is burning to crisp and his chef G9uUTe simTaering into 8 tasteless mass After time the repetition of this experience, with it's accompanying
 blessings from the caterer of the mess for not
 performing impossibilities, because monoto-
 nous and then wearisome, and then nature,
 strained to her uttermost, asserts her power.
 The wearied cook, finding it impossible to do
 two things at the same time, seizes the first
 convenient opportunity, and, with the pro-
 ceeds of his petty offerings in his pockets,
 slides ashore without even saying good-by to
 the marine at the gangway, or leaving his
 postofice address for the edi6cation of the
 ward-room mess. During term of three
 years dozen or so cooks come and go, and
 the stomach of the 'tman abaft the mastn be-
 comes inured to change, and accustomed to
 the touch of the prentice hand Greasy
 soups, over-done beef, soggy potatoes, leath-
 cry steaks, woolly chops and hannel-like
 emeIets, to say nothing of sour bread, muddy
 coffee and bitter tea, become such familiar
 fare that when the cruise is up his digestive apparatus recoils at the kickshaws of Del monieo or the simple dietary of his humble country home.
 Two boys, sons of William Potter, of 1-A1 XETA1