Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1890-02-08

wiped. into a corner. SO that it slide
| not away and smash And even
| then the entire dish washing ap-
paratus. yourself included. slides
gently across the deck to leeward You
litter lying about indifferently but what
it slides and sneaks away with the roll Of
| the vessel to some secret crevice, and is
long lost When your best dinner is
cooked in rough weather. it is a time of
trial, terror and tribulation to bestow it
safely on the cabin table. You must
harbor your kindling and matches as ga
credly IA the ancients kept their house.
hold gods. for if not, on stormy morn
ings. with the drift flying over the deck
and everything wet and clammy with
the water surcharged air Of the sea, your
breakfast will be hours late through ina
bIity to kindle fire, wllereat the cook
catches it from that potentate of the sea,
1.-The old man." and all the mates raise
their voices and cry with empty stom
achs, LET him be accursed."
One great trial with me lay in the diff
ficulty Of distinguishing fresh water
from salt mean by the eye. We sea
cooks use salt water to boil beef and po-
tatoes in: or rather to boil beef and pork
and steam the potatoes. So | usually
had pail of salt water and one of fresh
standing by the galley door. Sometimes
these got mixed up. always found
this out after making salt water coffee,
but then it was too late. They were
particular, especially in the cabin, and
Il Il IL
strictly disciplined vessel the cook, for
such an offense, would have been COM
PEELED to drink quart or SO Of his own
coffee, but some merciful cherub aloft
always interfered and got me out of bad
scrapes Another annoyance was the loss
Of spoons and forks thrown accidentally
overheard as flung away my soup and
grease clouded disl,water. 1t was in
deed bitter when, as occupied in these
daily waslings, allowed my mind to
drift to other and lighter scenes. to see
the glitter Of spoon or fork in the air
or sinking in the deep blue sea. and then to
reflect that already there were not enough
spoons to 60 around. or forks either
Our storeroom was the cabin. Among
other articles there was key Of molasses.
One evening after draining 4 quantity
neglected to close the faucet tightly.
Molasses, therefore. Oozed over the cabin
floor all night. The cabin was freshet
Of molasses. Very early in the morning
the captain, getting out Of his bunk,
jumped both stockingcd feet into the
saccharine deluge Some men will
swear as viSorous!y in a foot-bath of mo-
1,,.,, ,,,J e
He did 1t was very black day for me,
and life generally seemed joyless and un-
inviting; but cooked on.
The Henry was full Of mice These
little creatures would obtrude themselves
in my dough wet up for fresh bread over
night. become bcllired and die therein
Once mouse thus dead was uncon-
sciously rolled up in Il biscuit. baked with
it, and served smoking hot for the morn
ing's meal aft. 1t was. as it were, an in
voluntary meat pie. OF course the cabin
grumoled; Lut they would grumbc at
anything. They were rs particular q bout
their food IA an habi.ue of Delmonico's
wisl, Row at times had saved that bis
cult to add to my collection of odds and
cniibics. Still cvcn the biscuit proved
but an episode in my career, cooked
on, and those | served stood aglast, not
knowing what would come next.
| After five months of self training |
graduated on pies | studied and
wrought out the making of pies unas-
sisted and unt:uSht. Nine were sea
mincc pies: material. salt beef soaked to
freshness ana boiled tender. dried apples
,,,tncc,o ,I
them good This was one of the few
feathers III my culinary cap. OF course,
their goodness was relative. On shore
such a pie would be scorneu But on
long sea voyage almost any combination
of -four. dried fruit and sugar will pass
Indeed. the appetite, rendered more Wig
orous and perhaps appceciativa by long
deprivation from ilEurics. will take not
| kindly to Cried apples alone. The
chang cs in tn" weekly bill of fare at sea
run something thus: Sundays and
Thursdays are "Lu!f days" Tuesday,
bean day; Friday. Goldfish and potato
day. some vessels have one or two spe-
cial days for pork, salt beef. bareback,
tea and coffee are fluids and solids to fall
back on every day dreaded the max
ing Of duifs. or flour buildings, to the
end of the voyage Rarely did attain
success with them.
\ duff is quantity of flour and yeast
or yeast powder. mixed, tied up in Il bag
and hu!ed until it is light. Plum duff
argues the in ton OF Il quantity nf rails
ms. Plain lutt Is duff without raiSins
But the proper cooking of duff j.
rather u delicate matter IF it bols too
long the -four settles into Il hard putty
like mass whpreunto there il ntithe,
spongness. lightne>s. nor that porous
ness which delights the heart of a cook
when he takes his .iutT froni the seethin.
ealdron II the dali does not boil long
enough. the interior is still paste II
II duff stops boiling for ever SO few min
Ites. great damage results And some
times duff won't do properly. anyway
Nine were generally of the hardened
species. and the pl,.n,s eyinccd II ten
dency to hu!d nE,ss meetings at the bot
/. 4 4