The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-06-04

warship. A bofnbardncnt or aahaval bat
tie may take place during the day, but UNI
less it is Of unusual Importance mess gear
is piped thrice il the ship is still afloat.
Dur bluejackets do their own cooking.
! The captain may haye his special steward,
! the senior officers their japanese chef, but
the men who mess forward choose their
cooks from among themselves. Perhaps
you Imagine the result to be crude cook
cry. Don't believe it. Jack may not live
on the fat Of the land, but what he does
eat lanst b well prepared. II it is not,
the man who prepared it lily suffers.
Tho galley in the modern battleship or
armored cruiser Is o distinct apartment,
with steel walls, situated either in the SUI
p~erstructure or on the gun deck. An inn
mense range Of the latest pattern, supple
mentad by smaller stoves, is presided over
by the cooks of the different messes aft
and tho ships cook.
1t is about the busiest place aboard ship.
Such is the system, however, that the cook
ing goes on smoothly, and b meals are
always ready on time.
The food for all on board, the admiral
and the newest apprentice, is prepared in
the same galley, and, despite the fact that
as many as 20 cooks are crowded in the
SIilHft DlttCt To tliG SehIl.C OAll-C, Il t1O ID
! slight and the work is expedited in a
! marvellous manner. This is due to the
fact that discipline and system prevail
here as elsewhere on board a naval vessel.
The ships cook is the arbiter of al dis
putes, and as he is generally a man Of
diplomacy he has little trouble in preserv-
ing order. His position is n of impor-
tance, and the emoluments are consider
able.
Most Of the cooks on American men-of-
war are shipped as landsInon, but many of
them earn the wagesof chief petty officers.
The pay of q landsman is only SIG q
/ month, but there are cooks for chief petty
officers messes in the navy who receive
from the men belonging to the messes as
much as $50 a month for their services.
Tho messes may pay their cooks whatever
they choose, but the lowest sum paid a
man-of-war mess cook for his services is
/ SIS a month.
1t should b noted that the mess cooks
! themselves do none of the d~ishwashing.
Every mess cook has at least one striker,
whom he pays out of his extra salary for
doing the dishwashing and other scullion
work, and some Of them have three or four
strikers.
The division of messes on board a war
vessel is arranged by rule. The admiral
] and the captain cat in solitary grandeur
in their respective cabins, each having a
steward, a cookand d servant to look after
his comfort. The wardroom is occupied
by the senior officers. In the Storage
country, as it is termed, mess the junior
officers and the .paymaster's clerk. The
warrant officers, the boatswain, carpenter,
gunner and sailmaker have an apartment
to themselves, and the chief petty officers
have a corner of the berth deck for their
table. The marines, ~firenlen, petty Off
GERS and sailors are messed in their re-
spective parts of the berth deck.
The cooks arc called by the corporal Of
the guard 30 minutes before reveillc in the
morning to give them ample time to pre-
pare the great pots, or rather pals, of cof-
fee which are given cut, hot and steam
ing, directly after hammocks are slowed.
Coffee is made by drawing boiling water
into pals containing the ground berry.
| Condensed milk and sugar are added to
suit the taste of the COOK himself.
At Z O'Clock mess gear is piped, and the
tables, swung from the car1ine beams dur
ing tho night, are lowered. A striker ar
ranges the benches and set3 the table.
Each sailor Is furnished with q porcelain