The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1884-03-07
LIVING IN THE FORECASTLE.
A Deep-water Sailors Description OF
the Food He HID TO Eat


"You want to know how we fellows
live in the fo'cas'le, do your" said an
old weather-beaten Jack tar in answer
to query of New York Tribune re-
porter. "Well, we have a hard time
of it taking it by and large. Take
man, for example. that ships for deep
water voyage. He gets, say slSor $50
month. The focas'le is generally
crowded to death and amt fit for dog
to live in at its best Its chock-a-block
full Of rats and coclsroaches, with
a smell of bilge-water, when we are in
the warm latitudes, that would turn
the stomach of anything except shell
back. When we first leave port the
grub is pretty fair. The salt horse, or
salt beef you shore-going folks call it,
is comparatively fresh; the weevils
and worms haven't had chance at
the hard tack, and the water tastes
something like water. Once in while
we have soft tommy or soft bread
It's after we've been to sea for month,
or six weeks, that we catch it. Why,
I've seen meat that bad, that the doc
tor as we call the cook aboard-ship,
had to take it out of the 'harness-cask,'
in which it is kept on deck, with tongs.
We got to like it that way after
while. It's fun to see some of those
coasting sailors get hold of piece of
hard tack that's doubled the Horn two
or three times. I've seen 'em take
piece aAd break it on the edge of a sea-
chest with a marlin spike OR Delaying
pin and carefully pick out the weevils.
Bless you, we don't take such trouble
after we've fairly taken to growing
barnacles on our backs. We just soft.
en- it bit in coffee and take it in.
weevils and all. l don't know how
that is, but they amt half so bad
when you get used to 'em. You know
when we are in port, the water tanks
are cleaned out and whitewashed
After the water has stood in them for
three or four weeks, and we get into
hot weather, it has the taste of a mixture
of whitewash and iron rust, and to say
it's fiat. is to put it mildly. You can
guess what nice drinking it makes.
"shore-going folks would think that
that sort of grub would 60 pretty hard
but we get so used to it that we wont
have anything else. The nearest /
ever came to being in mutiny was
aboard tea-clipper from New York
to Shanghai. The salt junk gave out
and the old man. fed before-the-
mast hands on timed meats. The
boys liked it frst--rate for day or two,
but then they began to growl and sent
man aft The old man said the
men forward were living on cabin
grub and wanted to know what allied
'em. We'll, you see, sir, said the
man, there amt no chaw in the meat
you send forward When the boys
found out that it was all they could
get, they made the best of it. Why,
there's more chaw in that salt beef
than theie is in piece of India rub
Der. I've chawed on piece for a
whole watch, and it was as good when
l went below as it was when l went
on deck. Thursday is generally duff
day aboard ship. Duff is first-class
when you get used to it. 1t is made
of -four and water and salt. IT the
doctor is in good humor, he puts il
some raisins. Then it is boiled gen,
orally in the coppers along with the
meat, and it is served to the men with
a tot of molasses.
"The grub amt served as well as it
is in a first class eating-saloon ashore.
It's generally brought into the fo'cas'le
by one of the boys in kids A kid is
little wooden tub. The meat is in
big hunks and the men chop it off
with their sheath-knives There amt
any ceremony. Every man makes a
dive for the kid and the strongest
and quickest man gets the best piece
OF meat. The boy generally gets
what's left, if he amt smart enough to
hook a piece before he gets to the
fo'cas'le, which he most generally is"
Tptorior friaa