The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-09-29
NAVAL HOUSEKEEPING,
BLESSINGS OF TIE OFFICERS, MESS
ON BOARD A MAN-oF-WAR.


most State of Ideal Communism
How Cooperation On Big Ships Enable
Well Paid Men to Live Cheaply.
Naval officers below the rank of com
mander, with salaries varying from 81 .OO
to s., 500 year, manage TO maintain a de
| gree of style that to the ordinary civilian
no better off seems absolutely mysterious
Not only must q naval officer keep himself
| supplied with the half dozen styles of uni
| form enjoined by the government, but he
muse be able when ashore to present de
! cent appearance in civilians attire: be
must stop at good hotels; he must asso
ciate with civilians of social position cor
responding to his own, and if he has q
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 q
species of communism.
When a mess is made up aboard shin
each man In the combination contributes a
certain sum for the purchase of supplies.
Ii 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 retails his supplies at
prices considerably below current rates
ashore.
Creme de menthe, popularity known as
green mint is 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 a well managed mess Is
usually under 50 per quart The price
ashore is from Sc. 90 to 1915. The best i'm
ported cigars are retailed TO the mess at
from 20 to 90 per cent. below shore prices.
CHEAP LIVING.
There are ordinarily two officers messes
below decks aboard q 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-tive to forty
dollars a month, exclusive of wines and
cigars. All transactions are on the credit
system. Whenever bottle of wine or a
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 Oest 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-
mean ports the trip will have been highly
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 500 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 $1,000 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 a vastly cheaper thing than
hospitality ashore.
It's the savings of a long cruise that en-
able naval officers to live well ashore, to
IuelT III D1OQeFdJe
'ort and to indulge in the luxury of leave
IT shore duty, with the accompanying de-
,rease in pay. In fact sea pay is purposely
made higher than any other upon the the
Dry t the officer, if he has family,
must maintain them in separate estab
ishm ashore, whereas il is taken for
grant that with shore duty he shall
manage to have his family at the same sta
ion with himself. All this sometimes
works an apparent hardship, for shore
luty 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
nvied. He must engage servants, see TO
he purchase of stores, consult individual
astes as far as possible, and hear with
What patience be may the grievances Of a
Iozen or perhaps a score of men. II the
'eeT gives out between Alden and the next
'ort, he must endure the curses Of the
hirsty. II the wine turns sour Ia the
ropics, he is criticised as an injudicious
Iuyer 1t frequently happens in Hsytisn
waters that no fresh meat is obtainable for
veeks together. Baked beans were sub
tituted for meat by one ship cruising in
hese waters, and all on board returned
Nth horror of the favorite New England
York Sun.
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