The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-01
AN ARMY OF MEN AT WORK
TO KEEP THE BIG FLOATING PAL
ACES IN THE BEST OF
ORDER.
TRIP THROUGH ONE OF THEM
Shows the Latest improvements in
Modern Living Are All to Be
Found.

a trip on the great passenger ships of
the Northern Steamship company have
noted that housekeeping is carried on
with the precision of machinery. 1t
takes an army of men to keep the big
floating palace boarding house in order
and boarders from growing.
On the steamships North West and
North Land the passenger lives like
prince. He has comfortable room his
bath, his shave, his morning coffee or
tonic, his dainty and we'll cooked meals,
a place to smoke, to read, to write, to
listen to music, and place to loll and
drink in sunshine and ozone.
He goes into the dining room regular
ly Of course, the lake air gives one an
appetite, and to meet Vhis yearning of
the inner man, this important room IS
kept open from in the morning until
midnight. A place of luxury is this
dining room. There are five bills of
fare used during the day. With hun
dreds of passengers taking meals it
is understood that it takes a good deal
of linen, and most passengers will be
surprised to learn that the napkins and
tableclOthS alone cost at the factory
the neat sum of 81, 900. The long list
of good things to eat may lead the
bOarder to wonder how such variety
and quality can be stored and handled
with such promptneSs. A tour of the
kitchen, pantry, store rooms and re-
frigerators will reveal all sorts of queer
closets, bins, presses and cubby holes.
The main store room looks like a while
sale grocery. The wine locker is a long
an upward tilt. The refrigerator is
filed with choice sides of beef, joints of
mutton and dressed chickens, turkeys
and the like.
Within easy distance of the dining
room, but so arranged that no odors
enter, is the kitchen, with it's long
range and ovens. Adjoining the kitch-
en- is the pantry, frescoed with silver
ware and lined with shelves filled with
crockery. Pocketed away there are
cups and dishes by the hundred Then
there is big ice box for cold meats
and butter, and line of glistening tea
and coffee urnS. The breakage of
china and glass during the season is
considerable.
It is hard to get the exact amount
Of provisions used on the Northern
steamships in the round trip, but it is
enough to supply a small army, and
must make a we'll defined lane the
whole way from Buffalo to Duluth.
Each ship has six Water-tight COM
partments, and should any two or these
through accident fill with water, the re-
naming four will still float her The
tinishings and furnishings of the Iii
terror Of each ship are as fine as in
the most elegant and costly homes.
The cabins are spacious, and made
beautiful with mahogany in polish and
delicate carving, with panels of modest
tracingS and colors, with relief work
picked out in gold, with richly uphol-
stored furniture of special patterns,
with carpets soft to the foot and OF
harmonious colors. The staterooms are
arranged in double line on each side
of the ship.
The refrigerating plant has a Ca
| pacity of eight tons of ice daily, and
| cold compartments for perishable pro-
| visions, having space of $500 feet
| The ice machine also manufactures
| 1000 pounds of ice daily for table and
| other uses.
The system Of hot and cold water ap-
| planes and steam heating apparatus
| on the North West is not equalled on
| any other ship afloat Running water
at pressure greater probably than
| that Of any city system in the country,
| Is striking feature, and does away
| with any possible danger of fire ever
| getting Roadway.
The electric lighting equipment con-
slsts OF three sets of connected triple
expansion engines and dynamoS of
| 1900 16 candle power light capacity.
| The incandescent lamps in use exceed
| by 800 the number on any ocean steam
| ship. The electrical equipment is so
| comprehensive and complete (the finest
| on any craft in the world), that it has
! attracted wide attention and comment
n m md oil otIiOso
| tons. The search light, of 100000
! candle power, is the largest on any
! merchant vessel in the world, and this
particular one was in use on the Liberal
Arts building at the worlds fair
| The government inspection gives her
| the highest rate of classification in
| every particular. this including life
saving appliances not equalled by any
| other vessel afioat
The steam boilers, twenty-eight in
! number, set in three double batteries,
| are of the Bellville tubular pattern,
used in the French navy. 1t takes
| thirty-siX men equally divided on eight
hour shifts to throw coal under them.
The motive power is given by two
| engines, CT the vertical quadruple eX-
| pansion type, the style used on yachts
of high power, and their use on ships
Of this size is an innovation. Each
| engine develops 1880 horse power, each
| utieS screw OF propeller having TOUR
| blades with total diameter of thirteen
| feet and can push the ship forward at
| the rate of twenty miles an hour.
There is nothing lacking on these
steamships There is a doctor on call
if you should need one. You have
library of books to make selections
from. An orchestra provides music
| Usually there is some one aboard will
ing to sing, but you are not obliged
to go to the music room unless you
want to. If you get tired of lounging
around in the cabins or watching the
wheels go around, you can go up on
the roof, on deck. ard look at the
passing ships, the shore, or the water
Its a great trip, the one between Du-
luth and Buffalo on the steamships
| North West or North Land