Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-10-02
NAVAL HOUSEKEEPING
BLESSINGS OF THE OFFICERS MESS
ON BOARD A MAN-OF-WAR.

An Arrangement That Is i'm Reality Al
most State of Ideal Communism.
How Cooperation On Big Ships Enables
Well Paid Men to Live Cheaply.
Naval officers below the rank of COM
mander, with salaries varying from $1,000
TO 49, year, manage to maintain de-
gree of style that to the ordinary civilian
no better off seems absolutely mysterious.
Not only must naval officer keep himself
supplied with the half dozen styles of uni
form enioined by the government, but he
must be able when ashore to present de-
cent appearance in civilians attire; he
must stop at good hotels; he must asso-
ciate with civilians of social position cor
responding to his own, and if he has
wife and children he must maintain them
in good style. All this is made possible
largely by means of that species of domes-
tic communism known as cooperative
housekeeping. The officers mess aboard
ship is nothing more or less than such
species of communism.
When mess is made up aboard ship
each man in the combination contributes a
certain sum for the purchase of supplies,
If he happens at the moment to be short of
funds he may draw two months pay in
advance. The common fund is placed in
the hands of a caterer chosen from the
mess, and the supplies are purchased in
bulk and at the lowest possible cost. Thus
the mess is started The caterer makes
careful calculations, allowing for breakage
and other losses, adds small percentage
of profit and then retails his supplies at
prices considerably below current rates
ashore.
Creme de menthe, popularity known as
green mint, is a highly popular cordial
among naval officers and, in fact, is said
to have been first called to the attention of
the discriminating American public by the
mess of a United States man-of-war
Green mint retails in saloons and even in
clubs at fifteen cents per glass, but the
mess rate aboard ship is ordinarily just
one-half that price. The price of the best
champagne in well managed mess is
usually under So per quart. The price
ashore is from $3.50 to 50. Is. The best inn
ported cigars are retailed to the mess at
from 40 to 60 per cent below shore prices
CHEAP LIVING.
There are ordinarily two officers messes
below decks aboard a United States ship,
the wardroom mess and the steerage mess
The latter is for midshipmen and other
Juniors. The captain messes alone in sol
emn state, and if the vessel be flagship
the admiral may have his own separate
table. The cost of living in the wardroom
mess is ordinarily from thirty-five to forty
dollars a month, exclusive of wines and
cigars All transactions are on the credit
system. Whenever bottle of wine or
cigar is ordered the purchaser "writes
chit" of the amount.
These chits are summed up at the end of
the month and payment is made either
directly by the debtor or through the pay
master. No chit is given for meals, and
each officer is entitled to take guests on
board to breakfast or dinner as often as he
will. At the end of the cruise the profits
of the mess are divided pro rata among the
members, and if the ship goes out of COM
mission whatever stock of stores is on
hand is either auctioned off to the officers
or sold to the mess of some other ship.
Whenever an officer is detached from a
ship before the end of the cruise or before
the mess breaks up, he settles accounts
with the mess caterer. If he has been mod
crate in the use of wines and cigars he may
carry off handsome share of profits.
The beauty and economy of the mess sys-
tenn is best shown on long cruises. At GER
tain intervals United States ships make
the cruise through the Mediterranean and
lied seas, down the east coast of Africa,
around the Cape of Good Hope, westward
to Montevideo or Rio, and possibly thence
homeward. The voyage to Rio may occupy
nine months or a year, and if there has
been no lettering in luxurious Mediterra-
mean ports the trip will have been highly
e.,
eight months the total cost of living may
he under fifty dollars per month for each
officer. AS pay ranges from 500 to 300 per
month it is easy to estimate the possible
saving.
AN OFFICERS SAVINGS
The wise officer who has started such a
cruise with nothing against him on the
governments books reaches Montevideo or
Rio with from $500 to $4,000 to his credit in
the paymaster's hands. To be sure, there
are entertainments to be returned at ports
where foreign ships or foreign army hosts
are encountered; but mems hospitality
aboard ship is vastly cheaper thing than
hospitality ashore.
It's the savings of long cruise that en-
able naval officers to live we'll ashore, to
maintain their families in moderate com
fort and to indulge in the luxury of leave
or shore duty, with the accompanying de
crease in pay. In fact sea pay is purposely
made higher than any other upon theethe
DRY that the officer if he has a family,
must maintain them in separate estab-
lishment ashore, whereas it is taken for
granted that with shore duty he shall
manage to have his family at the same sta
ton with himself. All this sometimes
works an apparent hardship, for shore
duty does not always include quarters suf-
icient for a family, and the officer finds
himself with decreased pay and increased
expenses.
The mess caterer is person not to be
envied. He must engage servants, see to
the purchase of stores, consult individual
tastes as far as possible, and hear with
what patience he may the grievances of
dozen or perhaps Il score of men. If the
beer gives out between Alden and the next
port, he must endure the curses of the
thirsty If tine wine turns sour in the
tropics he is criticised as an injudicious
buyer 1t frequently happens in Haytian
waters that no fresh meat is obtainable for
weeks together. Baked beans were sub
stituted for meat by one ship cruising in
these waters, and all on board returned
with horror of the favorite New England
dish-New York Sun.