Evening star., 1898-02-19

WI YC ti1PT business of eating on
| mi board q man-of-war
"f The ships cook is a
good deal of blue jacket. and he needs to
De very carefully handled and nursed by all
| hahos forward Among petty officers he is
| sec'iio ohiy TO the master-at-arms in the
| degree of respect that he exacts and re-
| ceives at the hands of the ships company.
| Sailors and marines of experience fully un-
| derstand the importance of standing well
in his estimation. While they are perfectly
Well aware that they'll get their rations.
| anyhow. even if they happen to be regard
| ed with slanting eye by the ships cook.
they are bothered by the knowledge that
to be out of favor with the ships cook is
| 10 be considered not altogether right gen.
aine or on the level by all hands forward.
II has always been thus in the American
| ravy. No reasonable explanation can be
| given why even the old-timers in the serv-
Ice almost invariably seek the ships cook S
| opinion of new men aboard before passing
| Judgment upon them, but the fact remains
that they do. Capt Cutie it will be re-
| memhered, had a singuarly profound ap-
preclauon OF the wisdom and attainments
| OF his friend Jack Bunsby, although the
4 lay mind discovers little basis for such ad-
| miration In the humorously barren mental
| exudations Of Bunsby. But the American
"
| He is always man-o' wars man of many
years of sailorZing. and he works his way
| into the galley through the possession of
certain qualities, the most essential of
which Is that sort of ready pugnaciousness
| that fits him to give perpetual verbal or
| even fistic battle to mess cooks and strikers
who develop ideas of their own about the
| right way to run a man-o'-war galley. The
man-o-war ships cook is always a solld
! man in the physical sense of the word, and
| he is capable of very great extremes Of
| friendship or hatred The man forward who
| stands in with him gets privately prepared
| their appearance on mess tables forward.
The man who treats the ships cook with
| indifference has a job to square himself
| with the ships company.
| An Arbfter of Destiny.
| A new quartermaster comes aboard with
| his bag and hammock.
What do you make o. that bucko? ?"
one of the old.time rs inquiries of the ships
| cook a day or so later.
The ships cook sets his teeth down on
| his pipe and makes no reply. A few days
| later the same question is put to him. If
| The new quartermaster has improved his
opportunity to get on an even keel with
| the ships cook, "A good seaman and a
! proper shpmate, is the latter's reply to
| the question But if the new man has fail
| ed to make his expected devoirs around
| the galley door, "A rotten ratline and a
| lubber." says the ships cook, and the
| new man has got something TO live down.
| for the ships cooks opinion gets all over
| the vessel in no time.
| In general the officers of a man-of- war
| treat the ships cook with unusual consid-
| Grafton, for even they know that the ships
cooks opinion of them officers and sea-
| men counts greatly for or against them in
| the matter of gaining and holding the
| spect il-will of the men up forward.
| The ships cook is never very far from
ha NH nxx-Jx- NtI-
| Ger comes over the side If, not having
| been a former shipmate of the officer, he
| does not know the latter's qualities. he
sizes him up at a glance. and in nine cases
| out OF ten he does this with prophetic
| accuracy. And when a man-o'-war ships
| cook remarks of a new officer whom he
| thus inspects, Hes got list to starb rd
| from salutin and knucklin' to the skip
per, and he's a proper bucko first mate for
| n lime e-jucer'-(American sailors name for
| a British man-of-warb-the new officer
! must set to work Immediately to redeem
himself if he has the wisdom to care to
| lop off the burden of the reputation be-
| slowed upon him in this initial estimate
| of the ships cook.
| Could Brook No Criticism.
| couple Of young ensigns of compare
! lively little experience in the fine art Of
| handling men forward undertook a couple
| of years ago to make it warm for an Irish
| ships cook serving on a man-of-war fit
| ting out at the Mare Island navy yard for
a cruise on the China station. This ships
| cook had been in the American navy man
and boy for thirty-four years, and no man
| could prowl around the forward decks of
| men-of-war for that length Of time without
| developing a crusty temper. This Irish
| ships cook was undeniably short of speech
| when addressed in like fashion by young
officers, but he was one of the best men of
| his rating in the navy, and he was well
| known to all of the older officers in the SER
| vice, from the chief Of the bureau of navi-
cation down to the junior commanders.
| The two young ensignS. officers of the
| deck, criticised the cleanliness of the gal
| ley on several occasions. A man-of-war
galley is kept cleaner than Dutch Kitchen
and this Irish ships cook was a notably
| clean man in his business. But when the
young officers made their criticisms the
| ship was in dry dock and necessarily not
| up to the floating standard of cleanliness,
either in galley or cabin, and so the Irish
4 man muttered that they could go to the
| devil without rafting his pans and skillets
sufficiently to drown his remark He went
up to the mast for 1T. and was severely
| called down by the skipper. The Irish
| ships cook got shore liberty a couple of
| hours later, went down to San Francisco.
| hoped aboard an express train and was in
| Washington five days later. He went to
| the Navy Department.
| What's the matter. Mike?" he was asked
| by half a dozen officers that he had been
shipmates with when they were middies.
| WHeTe your snip, anu why are you NOT
| aboard of herr"
'Ofs dayserter." Mike replied. Then he
related to them his grievances.
"Ofd rather put in me two or three-year
bit in Boston for goin over tn soide thin T.
bake cracker hash on thot packet for tn
Iingth av Chinese cruise" :" was the way
he wound up.
The officers smiled. The cook had not been
away from the ship for ten days, the period
of time that must elapse before a non-re-
turning bluejacket or marine can be de-
clared a deserter according to the reguie-
tions. and 50 Mike was assigned to a ship
| on the North Atlantic station on which a
ships cooks billet was vacant.
Does No Cooking Himself.
A man-of-war ships cook has the dozen
or so of mess cooks, who do the actual
cooking aboard ship. under absolute con-
troll. The ships cook himself does not do
any cooking. He Is the master of the gal
| ley wherein the cooking is done, and the
mess cooks who do the boiling and steving
and roasting are merely his satellites. The
man with the representation Of a curved
Iron pan on his sleeve for a rating badge
apportions the amount of space each cook
may occupy with his utensils on the range
and on the galley tables. times them IL
they dOd0er around criticfneS q ke,In