Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-09-23

NAVAL HOUSEKEEPING.
THE OFFICERS MESS ON BOARD
a MAN-OF-WAR.
An Arrangement that is in Reality State
CT Communication Co-Operation
Enables Well PAID Hen to
Live Cheaply.

| mander, with salaries varying from $1,000
| to $500 year. manage to maintain de-
| gree of style that to the ordinary civilian
| no better off seems absolutely mysterious.
| Not only must a naval officer keep himself
supplied with the half dozen styles of uni
form enieined By the government. but he
must be able when ashore to present a de-
cent appearance in civilians attire; he
must stop at good hotels; ne must asso-
cate with civilians of social position cor
responding to his own, and if he has a
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 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
| 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 a small percentage
| of profit and then retail5 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 81 per quart The price
ashore is from $50 to So. 10. The best i'm
| 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 Il United States ship,
the wardroom mess and the Storage mess.
| The latter is for mdshipnleu 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-tive TO forty
dollars month, exclusive OF wines and
cigars. All transactions are on the credit
| system. Whenever a bottle of wine or q
| 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
| 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
! Red 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-
economical for all on board For seven or
eight months the total cost of living may
be under fifty dollars per month for each
| officer As pay ranges from Sl00 to 300 per
| month it is easy to estimate the possible
| saving.
AN OFFICERS SAVINGS.
| The wise officer who has started such
| cruise with nothing against him on the
| governments books reaches Montevideo or
| Rio with from $500 to 1000 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 well 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 the the
| ory that the officer, if he has 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
|
| duty does not always include quarters suf-
| ficient for 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 a
| dozen or perhaps score of men. Ii the
| beer gives out between Alden and the next
| port, he must endure the curses of the
| thirsty. If the 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
I stituted for meat by one ship cruising in
| these waters, and all ION board returned
| with horror of the favorite New England
dish.-New York Sun.
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