Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-06-06
EARNINGS OF MAN-oF-wARSMEN.


on the pay received by the enlisted
man In the navy as being so small that
a cruise is practically thrown away
He may be astonished at the variety OF
means resorted to by really thrifty
men aboard ship to add an honest dol
lar to their income, and stlll more so
by the really snug sums with which
many In even the lowest grades are
paid OFF at the end of u cruise.
The variety of ways by which extra
money Is earned on board every man.
of-war can he but briefly described In
one article, burt even a bare enumern-
tion is Interesting as showing how
thrift and ingenuity has It's rewards
even under ordinarily adverse circun-
stances.
As the same means are resorted to
on every vessel, and by the same class
of men, those Of energy and Resource,
1t Is only necessary to take as an Illus
trsltion one of our big cruisers. whose
crew really corresponds to a small VII
lage. ON such n vessel the crew IL
divided up into a dozen or more
"messes." In which certain number
of men OF the various grades, cor
responding to family ashore. mess
together for the three years. Each
man Is allowed by the government 80
cents per day, or about 80 per month,
known as a ration" A certain mum
Der of these "ratlons," instead OF being
paid In staple food by the paymaster
are COMMITTED" that Is. paid in
money to the caterer" of each mess
with which to buy extra food and deli
cacies from shore.
This caterer" IL chosen by his fel-
low-memhers OF the mess generally for
a period of one month, and has the
handling OF the general funds Of the
mess, which are augmented by sub
scription Of from 81 to 50 per month.
The ships cook has nothing to do with
the preparation OF tho dishes OF the
messes, but Is In reality Il kind of lord
high admiral OF the galley, receiving
the various eatables already prepared
In the pans and pots. from thc berth
deck cooks" at the galley door. and
announcing the fact when the food iH
cooked and ready for serving. So,
really all the important functions of n
COOK, such as preparing the dishes.
setting the tables, washing up. et<.
are performed by the berth deck
cooks"
These latter may belong To any
branch of the service below the grade
or petty officer. and above that an ap-
prentice, Such positions are generally
taken by men in the grade OF coal
passer landsman. Such men are re-
heVed from all other duties, except the
necessary drills, and besides receiving
their own ration. are generally paid
one and sometimes two extra rations IN
money. So that n cook whose rating ~
that or a coal passer, and who re-
celVes as SUCH $50 per month from the
government, receives besides at least
$50 per month from his mess, which
swells his pay to from S42 to $50 per
month. Many OF these men devotion
into surprisingly good cooks. and as
such are eagerly sought after by the
caterers OF messes. They can easily
save three -fourths of their salary, and
in hundreds of cases are paid on nj
the end OF three years with more than
SlO0D, Showing which Is not often
made by men of their standing In civil
life.
The natty uniform In which Jack APP
pears on shore is never from the stock
of-the paymnster on board ship. Ready
made uniforms are served out 10 those
who desire them, but thew are rather
ill-httlng affairs. and after n man has
passed the recruit stage and begins to
draw his pay" he invariably has his
clothes made by one of the Vulnerable
tailors on his vessel. These men are
called "sheenies" by their patrons. In
the dim past some really good naval
tailor must have 81 bped ON a cruiser
ana there piled his trade, and since
then the art has been handed down,
until on every vessel there are from
six to dozen men who IN leisure mo-
mients ply their trade and It is a well
Known fact that not even the best
tailors ashore can give to n bluejacket
suit that swing and flow that IN char
acteristlc OF n true sailors rig"
The man-of-war tailor may belong to
any grade or department Sometimes
he ls coal passer, fireman or oller, hut
more OFTEN seaman, gunner's mate
or qunrtermaster II he has proved
good tailor, he IL allowed his hand Sow
ing machine, and after the decks have
been cleared up and he IL off duty, he
takes himself to some favored corner
of the dec and, spreading his mat,
places his machine on-a ditty box be-
fore him and begins hts work. His pa
irons draw sufficient colth for uni
form, and the "Sheeny" receives 81 for
making II up. with all the trimmings
and gill-guys about the flaps and
pockets so dear to II sailors heart
Some of these men who are known to
be especially expert have such rush
of business that they pay regular as
sistants from among the ships com
pany. These men and boys are the "ap-
prentlces.' and upon becoming pro-
hcient buy sewing machine and
launch out into business for themselves
There Ia always mendlng to do for
both men and officers, and the bust
ness is extremely profitable.
These tnllors are the most prosperous
Of all the extra money making class
on board ship some OF them add n
much as $50 per month to their wages
nreman's monthly nay IL S35 a
quartermaster gets about the same,
according to his class, and seaman
SIG. so II can easily be computed how
much he Increases his salary. Many of
these men have been known to leave
vessel at the end of n three-year
cruise with from $1,000 toSl 800 clear
money. one quartcrmaster was paid
off from the cruiser San Francisco. a
few years ago with $4,000, representing
clear saving OF $1,000 per year.
The Croesus Of the crew, however in
the ships barber. This was at one
time regular rating in the service.
but was abolished, and now the office
is usually held by "landsman." The
holder of this valuable privilege is eN-
cused from nearly all duty. and Is al
lowed some little unused corner about
the deck, where he can set up a couple
of chairs. In crew OF 500 men he is
sure to have couple OF hundred GUS
toners. His rates are 90 cents per
month for two shaves week aud a
hair cut once n month This money Is
paid out each month by tho paymaster.
and taken from the account of the
customer The barber IL kept pretty
busy, of course, but he keeps an as
sistant paying him about So a month.
There Is also about 50 per month re-
ceived from each customer among the
officers, so that barber on the aver
age man-of-war receives from S7i to
800 per month to be added TO his ofH-
ctal salary of $l6. It is safe to say
that few, II any, BARRIERS in civil life
receive such pay.