Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-03-29

expense must come out Of their own peck
cts.
1t will be noticed that the first article
IN the above list is bread This does not
mean the fresh wheat bread which is COM
mon upon the table of the landsmen, but
means hard tack or ship biscuit, which is
put up in big canvas bags. When a ship
is in port the ordinary loaf bread is pur-
chased for the sailor, and while the ration
of hard tack is only fourteen ounces, the
men are given a pound of loaf bread day.
The beef referred TO is salt beef and so is
the pork. They are put up so as to keep
in any climate and for any length of time.
In every port. however, where the ship
goes, where it can be done, fresh beef is
procured as often as four time a week.
The daily allowance of salt beef is about a
pound, but pound and a quarter of fresh
beef is always given. and with it a pound
of fresh assorted vegetables, such as tOma-
toes, potatoes, cabbages, etc, according
as they can be procured. The preserved
meat mentioned above comes in cans and
very much like the compressed cOrned
beef in common use. 1t is a change from
the salt beef and pork, but it is a matter
Of fact that the sailors do not care very
much for it, and a comparatively small
quantity of it is taken on board. Flour is
served out to make ''dutf,' which is eaten
with apples or mOlasSes. The apples are
tNut'ti dlcu w a patent DIOCeSSs anu " uen
cooked taste very much like the fresh
fruit. With the salt beef that is served
out to them is given rice as a vegetable,
and with the pork is given beans. Tea is
served on some ships, but the sailors do
not care for it very much as a drink. Gen
orally, however, coffee is served the first
thing in the morning when the sailors turn
out at bre akfast, with tea at supper.
Pickles and vinegar are given out occasion
ally as anti-scOrbutics.
There is not much change in the bill of
fare of a sailor on board ship. What he
shall eat and what he shall drink is a
matter Of official regulation, and it is most
strictly adhered to. On Sunday he is given
the following: Fourteen ounces Ofbiscuit,
three-quarters of a pound Of preserved
meat, half pound Of rice, four ounces of
sugar, either half an ounce of tea or two
ounces of coffee, two ounces of butter and
SIX ounces of tomatoes. On Monday he
receives the same quantity of bread and
one pound of salt pork, the same quantity
of tea and sugar and ahalf pint of beans
On Tuesday he is served with one pound of
salt beef, half a pound of flour and two
ounces of eyap0rated apples. On We'd
nesday he gets one pound of pork again,
half pint of beans with four ounces Of
pickles. The bill OF fare on Thursday is
the same as on Wednesday with the adj
dltiOn of half pint of mOlaSseS. Friday
is the same as Tuesday. Saturday is a
repetition of Monday, with the addition of
half pint of vinegar.
Not only do the men care little for the
preserved beef, but they also have no par
ticular fOndness for rice. Very frequent
ly when the rations are served the men do
not take rice, and they even frequently
omit to take flour. They are always fond,
however, of their salt pork and beans. and
it is asserted when they are in port. with
the opportunity of getting fresh meat and
vegetables, they will ask that their favor
tie dish be continued. A sailor will, how
ever, frequently increase the variety of
his food and add several luXuries to his
bill of fare by vary ingenious arrange
ment. The law provides that if a man
does not use ratiOns which are assigned to
him, that he shall receive thirty cents a
day in lieu thereof. The rations are more
bountiful than a single man can eat and
it is usually the custom for one man in
every five to commute his ratiOns and take
the money value in place of it. There are
twenty men in mess, one of whom is a
mess cook. For his services in preparing
the meal he cOmmuteS his rations, and is
fed by the rest of the men out of their al
lOwance and keeps the thirty cents for his
own private use Three others of the
twenty, however, also commute their ra-
tiOns and are fed out of the allowances of
the remaining number of their mess. The
thirty cents which they each receive is
turned into a general mess fund, which
increases at the rate of ninety cents day.
When the men are in port one of their
number is empowered to spend this money
in procuring fruits and other luXuries. In
no other naval service can an arrange
ment like this be carried out. The ratiOns
served in the French and English nayies
is entirely too meagre to allow sailor to
foI ,Ior, Of l,fs
messmates' allowance. In some of the
foreign nayies, also, Communication is not
allowed, and a sailor has to take what is
given himNhether he GAN oat it or sfOt
1t is generally supposed that naval
officer eats and drinks at the governments
expense. This is not the case. He re-
ceives his Communication for his ratiOns of
salt pork, salt beef, rice and beans, which
he does not care to eat, but this amount is
by no means as large as his mess bill. The
commanding officer of a ship is allowed
his silver ware, crOckery, table linen, ETC.,
but all the other officers have to furnish
these themselves. A paymaster in the
navy said to the Post the other day that
very often their losses were as much as
their salary. He cited an instance when
he was ordered to Cuba from Boston.
Each officer on board the ship contributed
$l25 piece to purchase crOckery, table
linen, mirrors for their state rooms and
other necessary furnishings. 1t was in
the middle of winter, and on the first ten
days oftheir passage they encountered six
separate and distinct cyclones. AS a
natural result, by the time they reached
Key West, every bit of their crOckery and
all their mirrors had been smashed up,
and nearly every cent that they invested
was total loss. They made another sub
scriptiOn, however, and refurnished the
boat. Just before leaving Havana they
gave to their own private steward the sum
of 5000 to 60 on shore and buy them pro-
visions for the hOmeward trip. The cap
tain had given orders to sail at certain
hour. When that time came the steward
was not on board the ship, although he
was seen in the distance in a row boat,
making frantic efforts to attract the at
tent on Of the ships officer. The captain
decided that he could not wait, so the
steward was left behind. The officers
were compelled all the way home to live
upon the same food as was furnished the
sailors. When they reached the port of
Boston they found the steward on the
wharf waiting to receive them. His story
was that he had gone to another United
States naval ship in the harbOr and re-
ported to the captain, who advised him to
return to land with his goods, sell back to
the dealers what he had purchased and
use the money in buying passage back
10 DOSlOH. lie SOlu JnG PROVISIONS at q
sacrifice, and when he met his officers
again he turned over to them about $50
out of the $500. The balance was a total
loss to the officers, besides which they had
lost their Communication all the way home
by being compelled to accept the govern
ments provisions. That trip, the pay
master stated, cost him $50 a month for
his mess alone, enough to have kept him
comfortably at any tirst-class hotel.
Another expense upon the officers is the
entertainment of brother officers of foreign
ships and foreign officials. For this no
allowance is made by the government. al
though in the English navy the captain
never entertalns at his own expense.
United States officers, however, are not
willing to be outdone in hospitality, and
they receive and entertain guests out of
their own private funds.
The world is divided into five naval sta
tiOns, namely The Asiatic, European, Pa.
cific, South Atlantic and North Atlantic.
On each of these there is naval store in
charge of an officer of the pay corps. A
great many other kinds of stores are kept
for the supply of vessels. In some in
stances the stores are purchased on the
spot, but many articles are sent out by
the government. Rice and tea, of course,
are not sent to China, but many things are
sent from the United States which could
be bought at a lower cost abroad. For in
stance, United States vessel recently
had occasion to replenish its supply of to-