The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-10-29
DINING At SEA.
Elaborate and Costly Table Service
on Ocean Steamships
immense Quantities of Victuals Required
voyage--The Best and Choicest
of Fare--DeIicacies In Abund-

Immense Quantities of victuals Required
on a voyage-The Best and Choicest
of Fare--DeIicacies in Abund-
ance at All Times
Yachting may be pursued chiefly for
pleasure, but incidentally it is for sharp
ening the appetite The capacity OF the
average ocean travellers stomach is pro-
verbal, and, unless seasickness inter-
venes, he becomes q gornnand1zer from
the time he leaves shore until he lands ON
it again. So thoroughly appreciated is
this that the stewards department on
pleasure yachts and the great Atlantic
steamships is made a very important
office, and nothing contributes SO much
to the pleasure of the voyage as COM
plete and varied larder of tine most tempt
ing nature, says writer in the DETROIT
"Free Press" Social life on yachts cen
ters around the table in the richly up
holstered cabin, where the entertainment
can be as expensive as the owner desires,
and the 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 day are indi-
cative of the passengers marvellous appe-
titles.
The DINING service is 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 good-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
the different lines, one steamship will
typify all the others. The dishes and the
art of crockery are similar to that found
at the leading hotels in Paris. The Ger
man liners give dining services that are
not excelled by any, but there is a slight
SAVIOR of Germany and her people in the
various odd compounds and mixtures
that appear on the table. The English
steamships are likewise distinctively
English, or American, and the tables
are loaded down with all of the delica-
cies SO much appreciated by the 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 a large ocean steam
ship is thus much larger than the crews
of many ocean ships.
Breakfast is generally served at 3
o'clock, luncheon at 1890, dinner at s
and cold meats and salads again at 8 p.
m. On some of the steamships coffee and
rolls are served at 6 in the morning to
accommod at 9 the early risers. Between
these meals anything can be ordered by
applying to the steward, or by literally
tipping the walters. Drinking is,no less
important than eating, and the bar is
30 well patronized in the summer time
that an enormous stock mus be car.
ried.
Buying provisions for one of the large
steamships is work that requi res ex-
perience, for it is more important than
buying for a large hotel. The supply
must be large enough to last for the en-
tire voyage, and often for emergencies
| when storm keeps the steamship Out
| from port for several days later than
| 81 a on
varies with the number of passengers en-
| paging berths, but as the lists are gener-
ally made up weeks before the steamship
| 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 $1,000 to 10000 pounds of beef,
from 1000 to 1900 pounds of corned
beef, 1900 or 5000 pounds of mutton.
| several hundred pounds of fresh pork,
dozen barrels of salt pork, 400 or 800
| 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 III oA0 A0IuCit cloo, AASrAA- ~ WV
eggs, 200 or 300 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 a 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. The
articles are served up in fine crystal and
painted ware. One steamship carries
from 5000 to Is, 900 pieces. The break
age is naturally very large and 1t Is cal
culated that ON each voyage hundreds or
more pieces will be broken through the
carelessness of passengers or walters
The expense of one trip across the At
lantic assumes greater proportions every
year for the steamship owners, and the
| increase is largely due to the better din