Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-07-09
THE STEAMSHIP STEWARD.
A Curious combination who Is
fully Appreciated by the
Ocean ySysger

A Curious combination who Is
tally Appreciated by the
Ocean yoyager
The steward is curious combina-
tion of waiter, chambermaid and sailor.
lie must serve at table, do general
housework, have a sailors stomach
and balance himself on sailors legs
At one moment he is resplendent in
blue coat and brass buttons, and is
handling macaroons and champagne;
the next you see Of him he is stagger-
ing coatless along the dimly-lighted
gangway with a feather duster and a
slop pail. In stormy weather, the ma
hTuyers he goes through in the table
service and in chamber work, fiva
those of an athlete in a circus ring.
lilo sleeps in black hole devoid OF
light and air, and he keeps his clean
linen, with his pals and brushes, in
little cupboard just outside your cabin
door, but just where the meeting be-
tween himself and his toilet takes
place nobody knows. Occasionally he
may be seen on deck of an evening
smoking his pipe among the steerage
but as rule he does not appear out
side, and although he lives at sea he is
as pale as shop girl. When you are
seasick he is your only friend, the only
inmate of the vessel who pretends to
regard you without levity, the only
being through whom you feel that
you have any grip on life. But his
tender care Of you springs from in
terested motives, and he would leave
you to die in neglect if he did not feel
that in nursing you he was nursing a
glittering golden coin. In his inmost
heart he has no respect for you; he
prefers the beef-eating, cOcktail-drink-
ing veteran of the smoking room to
the demonstrating, grue[sipping inva-
lid of the cabin.
One of his most arduous duties is to
answer questions, for he feels it neces-
sary to suit the tastes of the question
ba To toll tba TRUTH I'rnn1
the manner of your interrogation he
strives to learn what sort of reply
will crafty you most, and then frames
one accordingly. The same subservi-
viency marks all his conversation
with you. If you wish to reach port
in the morning he assures you that
the ship always arrives in that part of
the day; and if you prefer to arrive in
the afternoon, he modifies his state
ments to correspond. If you are in
haste to get away from your landing
place, he will conjure up train for
you which will leave at any hour you
wish, to convey you in any direction
If you enjoy rough weather, he assures
you that you will encounter plenty of
it, but if you wish the sea to moderate,
he tells you that the glass is rising and
that dead calm is close a hand
When you embark, the steward
takes your measure with his practised
eye, decides what sort of traveller
you are, what is your commercial value
in the steamer world, and what is the
amount OF attention which it will be
worth while to bestow upon you. But
whatever may be his behavior to you
during the voyage, he will smother
you with kindness towards its close,
and will run to you twenty times
day to ask if he can do anything for
you. The entrance into port is his har-
vest day-the grand reward for which
he ploughs the sea and cultivates with
such assiduous toll the nauseated pas
senger. If you turn out to be what he
considers factory crop he gathers you
and your luggage up with scrupulous
care and your pathway to the gang
plank is strewn with flowers. If you
prove barren of fruit you are trampled
under foot, and left to get yourself out
of the way in the best fashion you can.
With the exception of an occasional
pull at your whisky bottle, the steward
never steals. We should hate to
cross the ocean without him.-NelC
Yorh Mail and EapreSS.