The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1898-09-09
BATTLESHIP GALLEY.
NEAT LITTLE AFFAIRS PRESIDED OVER
BY JAP COOKS.

BY JAP COOKS.
Despite Their Grim Surroundings of Armor
and Armament, They Are Home1ike Inside
and Provide Jack with Cookery of Un-
doubted Excellence.
When the news of Commodore
Dewey's great victory at Manila was
sent over the wires it was recorded
that during the entire engagement Pay
master Martin made and served coffee
to the officers and men. 1t is difficult
to associate a kitchen and cook with
a battleship, but every one of the big
fighting monsters with its terrible
guns and it's turrets and flags has it's
kitchen. 1t is called a galley" on
board ship, and it is one of the most
important places on board to both the
officers and the men.
Nothing gives an American tar such
relish for food as the smell of powder
and smoke.
It has become quite fashion of late
to divide battleship up as though it
were human, giving it brains and eyes,
a heart and lungs, but no prominence
is given to the galley or the man in
the galley, who is quite an important
parsonage. The man in the galley is
usually Japanese, for almost every
one of the big ships has Jap cook
and staff of servants of the same ma
tionality. The boys wait on the Off
GERS table, dust, clean silver, carry
messages, and attend to minor house
keeping duties in way that would put
the average housemaid to a great dis
advantage.
There is a large hotel range with
splendid ovens, from which each day
the cook turns out tempting brown
Ioaves, and even pies and cakes, that
must make many a Jackie think of
home. There are great copper soup
boilers and coffee boilers in which
these two items of the menu are pre-
pared by the gallon. Then there are
copper pots and pans on shelves in
rows, bright and shining as those in
the kitchens of cur great New York ho-
tells. There are cupboards, too, in
which the sugar and the spices and
other cooking condiments are kept all
nicely labelled, for there is no slip
shod housekeeping on a man-of-war.
There are other cupboards with slid
ing doors and spring locks that when
opened disclose rows of cutlasses and
rifles and great long revolvers in racks
from the floor to the ceiling.
The china, silver, and glassware
used on our American battleships are
pretty enough to delight woman, and
women as a rule are particular about
china. The sailors have ruder ware,
but that used at the officers mess is
white and fragile, with a device of an
anchor in gold on each piece. The
glasses, which are fixed in stationary
racks on a sideboard in the wardroom,
which, by the way, is drawing room,
sitting room, dining room, all in one,
are of cut ware and are ornamented
with naval device. Some of the bat
tleships have gorgeous silver services,
but that ordinarily used is up-to-
date and complete set Of spoons, knives
and forksin allthe different sizes. Then
there are individual pepper mills in
silver, salt cellars, and salvers, all Of
which are kept in shining perfection.
The sailors on board our American
ships live much better than the work
fngman on land. When in port they
have fresh meats and vegetables; and
when at sea for any length of time the
terrors of the old-time regimen of salt
pork and salt beef are mitigated by a
supply of canned vegetables, which
give variety. Besides this, Uncle Sam
is so generous to his men that the
allowance for each is too much, and
they have formed system of pooling
the supplies which gives each man
an amount of money which he can
spend for extra things for the table.
Modern Siege Guns.
With the arrival of the American
troops in Cuba new factor in the
war appears-the siege guns.
The besieging forces are composed
of infantry, cavalry, dismounted caval-
ry and light artillery batteries of the
United States Army. The work of the
1ast-named arm of the service will be
of high Importance
The heavy siege guns used are OF
N pm