The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-11-05
DINING AT SEA.
Elaborate and Costly Table Service
on Ocean Steamships.
Immsnse Quantities Of vicsuals Required
on . voyage-Ths Rest and Oh DIGEST
of Fare-Oslicacies in Abund-
ancs ut All Times.

ON voyaEe-Ths Rest and Choicest
lof Fare-Dslicacies in Abund-
ancs ut All Times
| Yachting may DO pursued chiefly To-
pleasure, but incidentally it is for SHARP
ening the appetite. The capacity OF tn
average ocean travellers stomach is pro
verbal, and, unless seasickness inter
venes, he becomes q gormandizer from
the time he leaves shore until he lands OF
it again. So thoroughly appreciated il
this that the stewards department. OF
| pleasure yachts and the great Atlantic
| steamships is made = very inportan
Office, and nothing contributes 50 much
| to the pleasure of the voyage as com
| plete and varied larder Of the most tempt
| ing nature, says . writer in the Detroit
Free Press" Social life on yachts cen
| tiers around the table in tho richly up
holstered cabin, where the entertainment
can be as expensive as the owner desires
and tho cost of yachting is often in direct
proportion to the amount Of money de-
voted to eating and drinking.
No less important is the dining room on
board of the first-class ocean steamships,
and the four or five meals a day are indi-
cative Of the passengers marvellous Apo
tites.
The DINING service II elaborate and
costly. surprising in amount and
variety that of the finest hotels in the
world. For six Of eight day voyage
the boating palaces load up with provis-
ions sufficient to support goed-sized city
for several days. Everything is Of the
finest quality, served in the most approved
style and attractive form, making the
pleasures Of DINING on shipboard allur-
ing enough to elicit praise from the
hypercritical epicure.
Although the service varies slightly on
typify all the others. The dishes and tbs
art of crockery are similar to that found
at the leading hotels in Paris. Tho Ger
man liners give dining services that arc
not excelled by any, but there il slight
SAVIOR of Germany and her people in the
various odd compounds and mixtures
that appear on the table. The English
arc AA0WlSO
English, or American, and the tables
are loaded down with all of the dslica-
cies so much appreciated by tho travel
ers.
Most Of the large steamships furnish
four or five meals day. and each one is
an elaborate affair. To attend to these
tables about one hundred cooks and
stewards are EN- ployed, thirty or forty
saloon walters, and a dozen or more
carvers, dishwashers and stewardesses.
The force of men required for the kitchen
and dining room on large ocean steam
of manv ocean ships.
Breakfast is generally served at 8
o'clock, luncheon at 1890, dinner at
and cold meats and salads again at 9 p.
m. On some of the steamships coffee and
rolls are served at in the morning to
accommod at the early risers. Between
these meals anything can be ordered by
applying to tho steward. or by literally
tipping the walters. Drinking is ne less
important than eating, and the bar is
SO well patronized in tho summer time
that an enormous stock must be car
ried.
Buying provisions for ono of the large
steamships is a work that requi res ex-
perience, for it is more Important than
buying for large hotel. The supply
must be large enough to last for tho en-
tire voyage, and often for emergencies
h.
from port for several days later than
usual. The amount Of provisions also
varies with the number Of passengers en-
gaging berths, but as the lists are gener
ally made up weeks before the steams hip
sails this is not disturbing element in
the stewards calculations.
One large steamship, in the middle of
the travelling season, will generally carry
provisions made up about as follows:
From Is, 600 to 10000 pounds Of beef,
from 1000 to 1000 pounds Of corned
beef, 1000 or 5000 pounds Of mutton,
dozen barrels of salt pork, 400 or 500
pounds of veal, nearly 1000 chickens,
ducks and birds, and various other fresh
meats. Picked meats are no less i'm
portant, and nearly 500 cans are stored
away in the larder; also, nearly 1000
eggs, 200 or 800 barrels of potatoes, 100 or
200 barrels of -four and enough green stuff
to stock four or five ordinary grocery
stores. Several tons Of different kinds of
fresh and sailed fish are carried, and all
of the minor articles of diet in proportion.
Wines. brandies and champagnes are pro-
vided in large quantities, and these, with
mineral waters, often serve as the chief
drinks for the passengers.
Such partial list Of the eatables re-
quired for one trip across the ocean gives
an idea of the amount consumed by the
several hundred hungry passengers. Tho
painted ware. One steamship carries
from 5000 to Is, 600 pieces. The break
age is naturally very large and it is cal
culated that on each voyage hundreds or
more pieces will be broken through the
Of passengers or walters.
The expense Of enc trip across the At
lantic assumes greater proportions every
year for the steamship owners, and the
increase is largely due to the better din
ing service which they endeavor to give
to their patrons. The amount Of eat
ables consumed and damage done to
dishes and furniture would seem greater
than the actual price paid for a frst-
class ticket. Nevertheless, despite the
great cost and expense, the steamship
appear to thrive aud grow
rich of their transatlantic passengers.
An idea of the cost of pleasure yacht
ing may be gathered from these figures,