Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1898-02-24
FLOATING HOTELS.
THAT Is WHAT the OCEAN STEAMSHIPS
ARE NOWADAYS.


Across the acknowledgements Bills Tor
Eatables and Drinkables.
How many men In the ordinary
walks of life have any idea as to what
IL the cost Of operating modern ocean
.reyhound?
Give me the luxuries Of life and I
will dispense with the necessaries,"
said James Russell Lowell. We now
find that the luxuries are reckoned as
being the necessaries on board mo-
dern ocean liners, and the designation
floating hotels" Is up-to-date In its
Significance. Modern voyagers find at
their convenience promenade twice
500 feet long, provided with comfor-
table extension chairs and sheltered
| from sun and rain by the awning deck,
making an ideal place for rest or ex-
ercise. There is, on the same deck,
the smoking-room and a pantry ex-
pressly for the service of those who
prefer to lunch or dine in the open air
rather than in the saloon. Artistic
decorations, soft, rich effects produced
by the most beautiful woods and cost
Hest upholstery obtainable suits of
rooms, with ample wardrobes and clo-
sets, ingenious and hygienic toilet ar
rangements, electric lights and bells
In profusion, all these combine TO
make the traveller as comfortable ar
sea as on shore.
Dinner over, and after an exhilirat-
| ing stroll on the promenade deck,
passing, with but single step into
a luxurious drawing room, glowing
with color, replete with artistic rugs
and carpets, charmed by the music
from magnificent organ. the traveller
mutually reflects on the enormous en-
ergy and ingenuity and boundless cap
ital which have made possible all this
luxury.
Consider the provisioning OF a ship
for one continuous voyage. 1t takes
quite little activity in the barn yard
to lay the one thousand dozen eggs
necessary, and when we consider two
tons of butter and half q ton of lard
and condensed milk enough,if expand
ed again, to float the ship, and thirty
thousand pounds of vegetables and
fruit In their natural state, and several
tons in cans, we find that our friend
the farmer must needs look after us.
no matter in what part of the world
we move. Thousands Of pounds of
coffee, tea, chocolate, and cocoa are
also provided, to remind us of home.
Then, every well-provisioned liner car
ries from 20 to 30 thousand pounds of
fresh and a proportionate quantity of
smoked and sailed meat.
The writer questioned one Of the
most prominent officers of large and
wellknown liner recently about the
quantity of potables consumed on
board ship. After a moment of deep
thinking. he said:
Last month in one voyage Of one
ship they served over 10000 glasses of
beer" He added that the drink bill
for the first and second cabins alone
on that ship for the voyage amounted
to more than 1000.
Every year." said he, "our patrons
consume in the neighborhood of $4,000
bottles of beer, 10000 bottle of mi
neral waters, 5000 bottles of spirits,
and 5000 bottles of wine"
The agent of another line was found
wrapped in melancholy contemplation
of a slip of blue paper. In answer to
a question by the writer, he said:
Want to know what liners cost, do
you? Say, young man, wait till l cool
off. Look at that paper while you're
waiting. Just think, 900 plates, $50
cups, 43O saucers, 1913 tumblers, 200
wine glasses, % decanters, and 63 wa
ter bottles smashed in one week! oh!
it's daisy!"
Another great expense in running
liner is that connected with the great
boilers and engine. In the average
boiler of an ocean liner the tubes are
so numerous that IL placed end to end
they would stretch away over a space
of ten miles, whereas, If the condenser
tubes were similarly treated they
would make a line twenty-five miles
long. Twenty men are required simply
to open and shut valves and twist
levers. The operation of the machin-
cry entails the employment of upward
of $50 firemen, stokers, and greasers.
One large ship consumes more than
300 tons of coal per day, or about 3
600 tons on the trip from Southampton
to New York. Now, when we figure
that the coal in the bunkers costs
about 1915 cents per ton, we see that
the coal item alone amounts to $1,000
or $4,000.
Then there is the salary account.
How small after all is the remunerat-
ton of those who have stood bewteen
us and danger on many dark and
stormy night! What are the slight
discomforts of cabin or staterooms
when compared to the labors of those
who stand at their posts in the engine
room, In the gloomy stokehold or on
the storm washed decks?
A fair salary for the commander Of an
ocean greyhound is from $1,000 to S5,-
600 per annum; the first officer re-
ceives, as a rule, from 1925 to $50 per
month. The engineer gets as yearly
salary about $4,000. The monthly sti-
pend of stokers and greasers is about
$40, and that of common sailors about
$14.
All these observations go to show
that a modern liner Is an expensive
institution. According to prominent
steamship man, the cost OF fitting out
steamer and sending her across the
ocean and back varies from 100000 to
500 .OO0-Commercial America.