Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-03-05
LYING IN TIE FORECASTLE.
A Dcop.Tater Sailors Description oi
the Food lie Had TO Eat.

A Dcop.yrater saiior's Description OF
the Food lie Had TO Eat.
"You want to know how we fellows
live in the fo'cas'lc, do you?" said m
old weather-beaten Jack tar in answer
to a query of New York Tribune re-
porter. "Well, we have hard time
Of it taking it by and large. Take a
man, for example, that ships for deep
water voyage. lie gets, say Sl8or $40
a month. The fo'cas'le is generally
crowded to death and amt fit for a dog
to live In at its best. Its chock-a-blocs
full of rats and cockroaches, with
a smell Of bilge-water, when we are in
the warm latitudes, that would turn
the stomach of anything except a shell
back. When we first leave port the
grub Is pretty fair. The salt horse,'or
salt beef you shorc-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 a 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 ab0ard-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 a
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 a
piece and break it on the edge Of a sea-
chest with 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- 1t bit in coffee and take it in.
wcevils and ALL l don't know how
that il, but they amt half so bad
when you get used o'em. You know
when we are in port, the water tanks
ire cleaned out and whitewashed.
After the water has stood in them for
three or four weeks, and we get into
hot wcather,i it has the taste Of a mixture
Of whitewash and iron rust, and to say
it's fat, is to put it mildly, You can
guess what nice drinking it makes.
"shore-go.ng folks would think that
that sort Of grub would go pretty hard,
but we get so used to 1t that we won't
have anything else. The neartst /
ever came to being in mutiny was
aboard a tea-clipper from New York
TO Shanghai. The salt junk gave out
and the old man fed beforo-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 We're living on cabin
grub and wanted to know what allied
'em. well, 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 bet
tlan thee is in Il piece Of India rub
Ter. I've chawed on piece for q
whole watch, and it was as good when
| went below as it was when | went
on deck. Thursday is generally duff
day aboard ship. Duff is lirst-clasS
when you get used to it. 1t is made
of flour and Water and salt. If the
doctor is in a good humor, he puts in
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 il
is in first class eating-saloon ashore
It's generally brought into the fo'cas'lt
By one Of the boys in kids. y kid i
little wooden tub. The meat is ir
hig hunks and the men chop it of
with their sheath-kniyes There aim
any ceremony Every man makes
dive for the kid and the stronges
and quickest man gets the best pIec'
of meat. The boy generally get
what's left, if he amt smart enough tt
hook a piece before he gets to th'
fO'cas'le, which he most generally is"
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