Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-10-30
IN THE COOKS GALLEY.
BHIPS' COOKS AND THEIR
VARIOUS HABITS.
How che Principle OF Caste Makes Trou.
BILE on "a Steamer Manned by
Coolies-Dsath Prefer
red to PorkerA

The kitchen side to seafaring life
has many phaser. Nothing is of uni.
versal application. There is much di-'
versity in the provisions of ships as
in the capability of the men who pre-
pare the food.
On English vessels, manned by for
eign crews-such for example as the
Peninsular and Oriental or the British
India line-cooking, SO far as the
sailors are concerned would appear to
be very simple matter, says the Sat
urday Evening Post. Lascars and
Coolies, il is we'll known. live princi-
pally on curry and rice etc. Beef
and mutton they rarely eat and as for
pork in any form, they are forbidden
to touch that by their religion.
Their adherence OF this particular
sort of 'unclean meat was curiously
illustrated when the Indus broke
down in the Gulf Of Lyons. Moham-
medan fatalism had the Lascar sailors
so firmly in its grip that they coulF
not be induced to come on deck
Nothing, indeed, would make tho
oven move.
At last bright idea occurred TO one
OF the officers. The gentlemen IL
question threw four little pigs down
into the forecastle among the Lascars.
Thinking it better to face death than
lose their souls the sailors rushed
upon deck, and began work in down
right earnest and so the ship was
saved.
Feeding Asiatics, then, seems very
easy. But, as Buttercup sings, thingA
are seldom what they seem. Such
men refuse to eat or even touch, any
thing killed or cooked by a person not
OF their particular caste. The Lascar
sailors on vessel are always OF a diff
ferent caste from the stokers and
these again from the coal trimmers.
and consequently cooks have TO be
allotted to each.
One fair-sized steamer the writer
has in mind is engaged in the regular
China and India traffic, and carries
quite polyglot complement of cooks
one ''colored gentleman two Chi
nese, and one for the coolies. OF
course. the officers always try to get
the particular kind of sailors all OF
one Caste but this is not always prac-
ticable. and then there is a good deal
of trouble and expense in consequence.
Asiatics are, however. badly paid
only at the rate Of about e. a mouth
and often less.
In the case OF nominally English
manned ships. Chinese and negroes
are often preferred as cooks. They
take pride in keeping their galleys
spick and span. and some of them
promptly resent any intrusion on their
domains. They are too, excellent
cooks To the two races cooking
seems to come naturally. as Dogberry
saws OF reading and writing. Certainly,
such Chinese and negro cooks as the
sailor meets with are adopts at making
nautical dishes.
They often shine in the preparation
OF spotted dog" or a mixture OF rice
and currants, plum duff or pudding
(sometimes satirically called 'pips
and putty W and pease pudding while
in the making OF 'wet scouse" (com-
posed of pounded biscuits salt beef.
dried apples, etc, stewed together)
and dry scouse" (the same MIXTURE
baked) they are not easily beaten
1t goes without saying, then, that
they can bake good bread. make pea
soup, prepare the salt beef and salt
pork. and So forth.
, On some vessels the cook is only
} expected to ring the changes on two
dishes. One day dinner consists OF
, pea soup and salt horse" or beef; the
next salt horse and pea soup. For
, variety's sake. the order Is reversed
And so the thing goes on from week
end to week end. with the possible
, exception OF Sunday. Other cooks
, those on large sailing ships and steam
ers-havc ;ir capability more thor
oughly tes..l.
, 1t is interesting TO note by the way.
that the articles OF many vessels con-
/ tain schedule OF the amount of food
each seaman will receive per day. and
that when the articles are signed the
crew can demand the allowance. As
matter OF fact. captains often allow
; the sailors all they want and insist
, upon the scale being followed only
when they find there is waste. The
cost OF such food per man Is from Is.
Cd. to Is Cd. per day.
'Darkey" cooks are often great
characters" One spent the greater
par. OF his time in reading the Bible
Seated on his galley doorstep OF an
evening. with spotless trousers and
white apron, and with enormous sill
ver-rimmed spectacles on nose. he
looked peace and calm personified and
liked nothing better than to expound
the Gospel to such as would listen to.
| him. But underneath that quiet exte-
rior was a sleeping volcano. An Or
binary seaman one Sunday morning
came TO the galley and began to irri-
tate the pious cook. In second the.
darkey seized him. and. throwing hix
OIL the hot stove. held him there until
the shrieks OF the writhing victim.
brought some OF the officers TO the
rescue.
Mosquitoes I'm Jersey.
The boy was small one, who lived