The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-10-12
A T EACH TRIP.
Enormous Cost of a Single Voyage of
the st. E.Orfs.

the st. Eoufs
The expense of running the new steam
ship st. Louis, of the American line, is
somewhat enormous. For a round trip
between New York and Southampton, as
figures by an expert, the cost to the
company is. between $4,000 and $50, 900,
according to the season.
No single individual on the st. Louis
gets a large salary. OF course, the cap
tain heads the list, getting about $1,000
a year. The chief officer gets about
81. 500, which is somewhat small when it
IS remembered that the bulk of the
heavy work falls on his shoulders. The
second officers pay is $1,000, while the
third and fourth officers only get from
5000 to 5000. The crew of the st. Louis
numbers 40 men. Two hundred of these
are in the engineers department, and all
are directly under the authority of the
chief. The stewards department is the
next largest, numbering ITO in all. The
sailors, including the deck officers. num-
Der but forty.
The engineers department is the most
expensive of the ship, owing to immense
coal bills. The st. Louis burns more
than 300 tons a day, or about 1850 tons
in the round trip. This means an ex-
penditure of $40 alone. The salaries
and engineering supplies. including the
thousand and one things needed for the
vast machinery of a great trip, call for
IS. 200 more every round trip. The chief
engineer draws $4,000 a year, and his i'm
mediate assistants receive $780,, 81, 20(
and s., 900, respectively. The stokers or
fremen average $50 a month, and the
furnaces of the st. Louis require 1870 OF
them, working in different shifts.
The purser does not get much in the
way of salary. as the company in fixing
the pay figured on the large bonuses he
received for changing money and perform
ing the little services which the wealthy
traveller does not hesitate to pay for lib
orally. HIS salary is S., 1000 a year, but he
makes another $1,000 in fees and some
times considerably more. The ships sur
geon only receives $500 a year for the
same reason. He is brought into contact
with the numerous real and fancied
individuals of the wealthy class, and,
although no one is compelled to fee him,
few fail to do so, and a big popular
ship like the st. Louis is worth in the
neighborhood of $4,000 to $4,000 a year.
provisions for a round trip cost in the
neighborhood of $4,000 and the salaries
of the stewards men amount to 5000
more. The stewards are the least pad
of any on the ship, for the reason that
IN the fees of the passengers they col
lect a very respectable sum annually.
All the pay they get is $50 a month, but
they take in $40 a month in tips. The
Chief Steward receives 81, 500 a year and
in all makes about So, 600.
Breakage and ware and tare on the
ship and it's furnishings are very heavy
and nearly $1,000 a trip is required to
for repairs. Washing of the ships linen
means an expenditure big enough to
support a mar for a yea in the lap of
luxury.
While the expenses are great, of course
the income is proportionately large. A
round trip that costs $50. 600 should bring
at least $1,000 into the Golfers of the
company, if not considerable more. But
when the expenses are down to $50, 900
the company is glad to break even.-Bal-
timOre News.