The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-03-23
LIFE In THE NAVY
HOW OFFICERS KEEP HoUSEt
ON MEN-OF-WAR. -
The Salaries Paid-Assessments to3
Provide for the Ward-Room Of ..
ficers' Mess-The Clothing
That is Required.

~ CR Government gives to the
naval officer only the salary that
Y is fixed by Congress, and from
this salary he must not only
furnish and keep himself supplied with
the half dozen patterns of uniform pre-
scribed by the Navy regulations, but he
must also be able always to present
a decent appearance in civilian
|. clothes when on shore and of duty; he.
must also provide himself with the nec-
essary bed linen and bed clothing. for his
>stateroom on board ship; also to pay his
proportion Of mess expenses on board
ship, which are increased considerably BY
the entertainment at luncheon and din
ners of officials at home or abroad, es7
pecially in the furnishing of wine; and
If he is so unfortunate as to have wife
and children he must provide for their
support on shore. The officers mess on
board ship iista sort Of cooperative house.
keeping. But it seems absolutely mys1
terious to an ordinary civilian how it Is that
an officer of the rank of lieutenant, ona
who has been in the service twenty-eight
or thirty years, as many of them have.
and receives only $4,000 q year. when st
sea and $4,000 when on shore, manages
to maintain the degree of ''style" that
he must do. -
There is Just as much system In naval
housekeeping as there Is in the daily
routine of drills; il fact there Is no othert
living embodiment of system that can
compare with that Of the Navy officer.
In the organization of the ward-room
officers mess on board ship each member
is assessed certain amount, generally
about $40 mouth, and this goes into
the mess fund, of which one of the ofij
GERS, who is elected as caterer, has charge
The caterer arranges for the daily bill of
fare, and instructs the steward just howl
much he may spend when he goes ashore
in the market boat in the morning fotf
the supplies. The tableware is furnished
by the Government, but all breakages
are charged against the mess. Then,
too, the cost of wine for personal use as
well as for the entertainment of guests is
an extra expense from that OF the Iegu-
Lar mess. And in the ward.room mess
there are officers of the rank of ieuten-
ant who do not receive salary within
$500 of that of the lieutenant Of more
than ten years. service. z5 i.
The uniforms as at present prescribed
are special full dress, full dress, social
full dress, dress, undress aud service
dress. For these each officer Of ands
above the rank of ensign must be pro-
vided with the following: special full
dress coat, of blue cloth, double breasted,
lined with silk serge, swallow-tail pst-F
tern, two rows of nine buttons on the
breast, standing collar enclrcled with
gold lace, and gold lace on the sleeve;
full dress coat, of Ozark navy blue cloth,
of the pattern of a civilian dress coat,
five large navy buttons on each breast.
and always to be worn open; dress coat,
frock coat of navy blue cloth shaped tof
the figure, double breasted, with two
large rows of large navy buttons on the
breast, nine in each row, skirts to be-
full, and with shoulder straps, also gold
lace on the sleeves; service coat
a coat of dark navy blue cloth
shaped to the figure, to descend to the
top of inseam of trousers, trimmed with
lustrous black braid, with the corps
badge and grade devices embroidered I'M
gold on the collar; full-dress trousers Of
dark navy blue cloth, having strip OF
gold lace down their outer seam; un-
dress trousers, the same as full.dress,
except that 10 gold lace is required;
overcoat, an ulster of dark navy blue
cloth; double breasted, made to button|
to the neck and hood made to button
to the neck. Then there are the chapeau,'
costing about $50; the epaulets, costing
about $50; shoulder straps, costing from
So to $40; the cap, waistcoat, black silk
cravat, gloves, sword and sword-belt,
sleeve ornaments and the summer or
tropical suits, including helmet. The
entire suit OF uniforms will not cost less
than $500 or $60O.-New York Tri-
bune.