Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-06-13
EARNINGS OF MAN-oF-wARsMEN
Governments Pay Largely Augmented
by Thrifty Sal ors.

AAA@J A|-NA VI D
The average person ashore looks
upon the pay received by the enlisted
man in the navy as being so small
that a cruise IS Practically three years
thrown away. He may be astonished
at the variety of means restored to by
really thrifty men aboard ship to add
an honest dollar to their income and
still more so by the really snug sums
with which many in even the low
est grades are paid off at the end of
cruise.
The variety Of ways by which ex-
ira money is earned on board every
man-of-war can be but briefly des-
cribed in one article, but even bare
enumeration is interesting as show
ing how thrift and ingenuity has it's
rewards even under ordinarily ad-
verse circumstances.
AS the same means are restored to
on every vessel, and by the same
class of men, those of energy and
resource, it is only necessary to take
as an Illustration one of our big
cruisers, whose crew really cor
responds to small village. On such
a vessel the crew is divided up into
a dozen or more 'messes, in which a
certain number of men of the various
grades, corresponding to a family
ashore, mess together for the three
years. Each man is allowed by the
government soc per day or about SO
per month, known as ration" A
certain number of these "rations,"
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 delicacies from shore.
This caterer is cho-en by his fell
low members 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
subscription of from 50 to SIS per
month. The ships cook has nothing
to do with the preparation OF the
dishes Of the messes, but is in reality
a kind of lori high admiral of the
galley, receiving the various eatables
already prepared in the pans and
pots, from the "berth deck cooks
at the galley door, and announcing
the fact when the food is cooked and
ready for serving. So, really all the
important functions of cook, such
as preparing the dishes, setting the
tables, washing up, etc., are per-
formed by the ''berth deck cooks"
These latter may belong to any
branch of the service below the
grade Of petty officer, and above that
of an apprentice. Such positions are
generally taken by men in the grade
of coal passer or landsman. Such men
are relieved from all other duties,
except the necessary drills, and be-
sides receiving their own ration, are
generally paid one and sometimes
two extra rations in money. So that
a cook whose rating is that OF a
coal paser, and who receives as such
S22 per month from the government,
receives besides at least $40 per
month from his mess, which swells
his pay to from $42 to $50 per
N1dAJ vi tAO0O 4A4OA4 NASSS~O&>
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 off at the end of three years with
more than $1,000, a showing which
is not often made by men of their
standing IN civil life.
The natty uniform in which Jack
appears on shore is never from the
stock of the paymaster ON board snip.
Ready-made uniforms are served out
to those who desire them, but they
are rather Hitting affairs, and after
man has passed the recruit stage
and begins to "draw his pay he
invariably has his clothes made by
one of the innumerable ta1lors on
his vessel. These men are called
'iSheenies'' by their patrons. In the
dim past some really good naval tai
lor must have shipped ON a cruiser
and there piled his trade, and since
then the art has been handed down,
until on every vessel there are from
six to a dozen men who in leisure
moments ply their trade, and it is
well-kn0wn fact that not even the
,, best tailors :. ashore can give to a
bluejacket suit that swing and flow
that is characteristic of a true sailors
"rig." III ~.@}
The man-of-war tailor may belong
to any grade of department. Some
times he is coal passer, fireman or
oiler, but more often seaman, gun
ner's mate or quartermaster. If he
{ has proved a good tailor, he is al
lowed his hand sewing-machine and
after the decks have baen cleared up
and he is off duty, he takes himself
to some favored corner of the deck,
and, spreading his mat, places his
machine on a ditty box before him
and begins his work. His patrons
draw sufficient cloth for a uniform,
&o,