Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-08-07
JACKS BILL OF FARE.
pELIcAcfEs AND sUesTANTIALs or
THE FoREcAsTLE TABLE.
The Mysteries Of sCouse in All Its varie.
ties-sea DOughnuts Fried In Pure
Whale BlubbeF-ship
BIN Of Fare
New York SUM-

low, stopped before q South street junk
store the other day and looked over the
odds and ends displayed, When one Of
them saw q substantial iron spoon among
other stuff, he took out some money aud
paid 5 cents for the spoon.
"What did you buy that spoon for.
JackY" said a young man who recognized
the two men as sailors.
well, sonny, l don't mind givin' you
a bit of information. That ere spoon is
TO hist in a SPOUSE. Generally / uses my
knife. but my mate here says a spoon is
more perlite, and enables q teller to git to
windWard of the rest of the mess when
they hogs it.
"Scouse?" said the young man inQuir.
iucly. "Scouse2 What's scouse?"
@Scouse, " said the gray. haired junk
wears in his youth. lis about the most
common article of food aboard ship. 1t
is made of biscuit, or what the soldiers
call hard tack. The biscuit is broken up
and soaked In water. Then whatever
odds and ends of meat may have been left
over from the preceding meal in the cabin
and perhaps an additional amount equal
to q pound of meat for ten pounds of
scouse, is mixed In. The whole is baked
and sent to the men in the forecastle at
meal time in the dish it was cooked in.
The men scoop it out into little tin pans
and eat it with their knives. Some times
potatoes take the place of biscuit,
and that makes lobscouse- Sometimes
beans and biscuit are mixed in about equal
parts, aud then 1t is called bean scouse-
You wouldn't fancy eating beside a dozen
men like those two just now, but after you
had got your sea appetite you would call
scouse o good dish, especially If two or
three onions had been cut in.
~What else do the sailors have to eat2"
"Dandyfunk is a common dish. You
would call it molasses scouse, maybe, for
it is o mixture of powdered biscuit and
molasses, baked in O pan. 1t is not an ap.
petizing dish, but it is a nourishing feed,
and that is the main thing at sea. With
the solid grub, the men get what
is called coffee for breakfast and
dinner, and tea for supper. l have
never been able to learn just what
those drinks were made of, but they
are hot and bitter, and serve to warm the
men in cold weather, and quell the cray.
ings Of appetite, Vinegar is served out
also, and when the meat is bad it helps
the men to eat it The vinegar neutral.
ICES the taste Of saltpetre in salt beef and
the faint of pork. l have seen beef
served with the crystals of saltpetre ad-
herring to it. Vinegar is powerless in such
cases"
"Dont the men have any dessert2"
%Yes; on Sunday. Every one has
heard of duff. 1t is made of -four boiled
in o canvas bag. EXtravagant cooks put
in o little lard and salt On rare occa.
sions a handful or two of raisins will be
added This is served with molasses.
Pumpkin funny is a sea luxury, and il
is made of dried pumpkins stewed UP
into sauce Ond sweetened with molasses.
Ships vary as much as boarding houses in
the matter of grub, but the most of them
vary only in the cheapness of the stuff
and in its lack Of good qualities.
l shipped on q bark out of New
Bedford once for a cruise In the
Pacific We had a green hand for cook
but after we'd trained him o bit ht
did pretty we'll. He ives an inventor. HI
made mines pies for all hands one Sun
day after we'd been three months at sea
You will wonder where he got his fresl
beef. He didn't have any; he fresheneC
the salt beef, until it was about t~asteless
He didn't have any cider, but he ha(
some gFog from the cabin, and what Will
a plenty Of chopped raisins and dried ap
pies, it madeth that good a pie that he couiC
have got the boatswain to split kindlinG
for him afterward by just saying thi
. word. You see 1t wa getting TOWARD
Thanksgiving, when a Yankee sailor
bankers for mince pie.
> "Did you ever eat any of the whalt
meat?"
ayes. but sailors aren't partial TO it
E The rule is to serve out a barrel Of fouI
every time whale is killed. The fou,
is mixed with molasses into doughnuts
which are cropped into the try kettle!
filed with boiling bllbber."
"In the fish oiI2"
"You never made q bigger mistake ii
your life than when you Imagined it wa!
offensive fish oil The fresh blubber Is o.
sweet to the smell and taste as any lea.
lard you ever saw. Old Yankee skipperl
who eat both kinds say that sea dough
nuts are better than shore d~oughnut
{ every day in the year"
a How do they feed you on a fishing
smack"
: "The grubs all right. We have plenty
= of meat bread, vegetables and coffee ant
, tea. Sea pie is q good enough dish fol
me. 1t is made Of beef and pork dashed
e up and boiled with a lot of hashed vege
2 tables, and a little powdered biscuit fol
> t~hickening. When it's about done th'
cook makes o crust of flour and lard anC
akinp noWdpr and n1ta II in n nan anC
y pours the stew into it, and covers til,
d whole over with another crust; and wher
it's baked be sends it into the cabin
b and the watch below turns 70 and scafrl
it quick.
The following is the bill of the fooC
consumed on one mackeTel schooner be
Y tween June 80 and Nov. IS: Veal, II
q pounds; pork, 40 pounds beef, IA
pounds; flour, 203 pounds; meal, 4 pecks
bread (haTd tackl AS pounds; potatoes
4 Of bushels; molasses, SO gallons; rice, 81
" pounds; beans. 8 bushels; vinegar,
, gallons; mustard, / can; saleratus, ]
pound; peppersauce, ! bottle; coffee, 81
pounds; chocolate, / pound; lard, 81!
pounds; butter, 8 pounds
The quantity and quality OF Q sailor
food are regulated by law. When tn
law Is obeyed sailors live well, but not &
Il well as mechanics of corresponding skill
h and intelligence on shore. Here Is Jackt
bill Of fare for one week, as laid dowI
in the oct Of congress approved
5 June q 1872; Sunday, / pound Of bread
d II Of beef, 1 ounce of tea, ! ounce o.
It coffee, 2 ounces of sugar, and
quarts of water. The allowance of bread