The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-05-02
THE ATLANTIC STEAMERS.
THE voRAcIoUs APPETITE OF AN
OCEAN GREYHOUND.
Mountains OF Flesh Devoured-Fii-
teen Tons OF Potatoes ON Trip
The Crockery Breakage.

Mountains of Flesh Devoured-Fif
teen Tons Of Potatoes on Trip
The Crockery Breakage,
There is an enormous profit In the
steamship business during the spring and
summer months, the gross receipts from
a single voyage frequently rising above
100000 When the Etruria, the um-
bria, the City of New York or any other
of the great liners leave her dock with
from five to six hundred cabin passengers,
as they do regularly every week, between
the middle of April and the middle OF
July, receipts from the cabin average
more than 800 for each person, and rep
resent in the aggregate 100000. The
other sources of income from the ship,
such as freight, the mails, the Storage
and the bar, amount to almost as much
again
The Captain and the higher officers on
| board the first-class liners come in for
general share of prosperity in the spring
of the year by giving up their rooms,
| which are among the best on the ship,
to people who are willing to pay for them.
These deck cabins are very desirable, es-
pecially where there is family party.
| The Captains cabin costs one or two
hundred dollars extra, which he divides
with the company. The first, second,
third and fourth officers and the first en-
gineer are among those whose rooms may
be thus obtained. These individuals are
generally very glad to give them up and
find place for the voyage somewhere in
the depths of the ship. There are nearly
three hundred persons in the crew OF
vessel of the first class, among them be-
ing the Captain, six officers, the purser,
the surgeon, who is compelled by British
law to be there, and receives fees from
passengers; sforty-s seamen, twelve en-
gineers, sevcnty-two stewards, SIX stew
ardesses, twenty-four cooks and liz
tiremeii
There is not q vessel on the ocean that
can seat more than $50 people in the
main dining-room. For this reason there
are two dinners served when the passenger
list runs above that number, and you are
asked at the office whether you prefer the
first or second dinner-one at $50, the
other at 7-and this, with the number of
your room, is put on the purser's list with
the number of your place at table, and
when it is once fixed no change will be
made. An officer presides at each of the
main tables, and the highest honor is to
sit at the Captains table--if possible, on
his right or left-and great tact is re-
ouired to arrange the seats satisfactorily
and give no cause for jealousy among the
passengers. s
The perishable food only is bought in
this country, and such things as melons,
oysters, peaches, cigars, tomatoes and
other articles that are cheaper and better
here than abroad, together with the
necessary supply of coal to carry the
ship across the Atlantic. All of the
groceries and wines are purchased on the
other side, the supply being laid in for
the round trip.
When vessel of the first class is lying
at her dock in New York in the spring
months with nearly thousand people to
feed for seven or eight days, she lays in
an enormous amount of provisions, which
: are put in the ice room. Of fresh beef
the usual amount is Is, 900 pounds, with
760 pounds of corned beef, $3.50 pounds
of mutton, $50 pounds of lamb, $50
pounds of veal and the same amount OF
pork, and about 1000 pounds OF fresh
fish. These figures may well make the
thrifty housewife stare in open-cycd Won
der. What could she do with the fifteen
tons of potatoes put aboard every ten
days2 These ocean grcyhounds are well
supplied with game, as the list OF the
head cook, which was recently seen by
the writer, showed 200 brace of grouse as
being put aboard for single voyage,
with 900 fowls, 300 chickens, 100 ducks,
so geese and 80 turkeys, besides 30
) hampers Of vegetables, 220 quarts of ice
cream, 1000 quarts OF milk and 1l,5oo
eggs.
It is said that if the ocean dried up,
. you could trace the route of the trans
atlantic steamers by rows of empty cham
payne bottles between here and Europe,
, which is not surprising, seeing that the
/ Cunard Line alone uses about twenty-slX
thousand bottles of champagne per year.
The bar is most important department
,, on a large passenger ship and the profit
, from this source is said to often exceed
$ $4,000 from one trip. All of its goods
are put on at Liverpool for the round
. trip, or at Havre or Bremen. The con-
? sumption for one voyage includes 100
,, bottles of champagne, $50 bottles OF
claret, 5000 bottles of ale, $500 of porter,
{ $500 of mineral water and $50 bottles OF
various spirits. Lemons are used on an
average Of It per head per day, apples
!. "a per head per day, and oranges at the
Q rate of three per head per day. The
$ groceries for the round trip include 65C
hounds of tea, 1900 of coffee, 1900 OF
J. white sugar, $500 of moist sugar and 75C
i of pulverized sugar.
The round trip takes twenty-five days
i during only one-half of which are the
e passengers aboard; yet it consumes on one
: ship 1900 pounds of cheese, 1000 pounds
! of butter, $500 pounds of ham, and 1000
pounds of bacon. Rough weather is ex
9 pensive to the steamship company in thu
h large breakage of crockery which it en-
!, tallS among Iue Cdpih Poo9ch6ei" "hN
I, stewards, and the record of recent voy
: age showed among the broken articles 90'
$ plates, $50 cups, 43s saucers, 1913 tumb
!, y lers, 200 wine glasses, twenty-seven dc
o canters, and fixty-three water bottles
The steamers of one line running between
;. New York and Liverpool sell "a, OO'
4 cigars per year, $1,000 cigarettes ant
!, IS, 900 pounds of tobacco. Among tn
J, other items Of the yearly supply whlcl
4 appear in the annual report, covering tn
# entire feet of sixteen ships, are one am
7. half tons of mustard and two tons Q
Q pepper, 1900 bottles of pickles, 500
4 tins of sardines, fifteen tons of marmal
abe, twenty-tons of raisins and currants
+ thirteen tons of split peas and fifteen ton
1 of barley, SO, 600 loaves of bread OF eigh
: pounds each, fifty -four tons of ham, thirty
three tons of salt, thirty-four tons
oatmeal and ten tons of yellow SOAP