The Portland daily press., 1899-09-01
COURSE DINNERS ON A TUG
The Marvellous Fare tho sailors on tn,
Nottingham Receive.


and cake for common sailors aboard ship,
would say was never contemplated ex-
cspt perhaps as the wild dream Of some
landlubber, bat to these the tars of at
least one vessel hailing from New York
are no strangers, and oil this comes, too,
from one Of those soulless railroad corpor-
ations which sit up o. nights trying to
devise schemes for taking the food out Of
the mouths of the children OF the down.
trodden workingman and the oppressed
walking delegate.
| IL Is on the Central Railroad OF New
Jerseys big ocean-going tug Nottingham
that all this luxuty ahounds. Capt.
Clarence Jingle, as good skipper as ever
roamed the sailed seas. Is the master OF
the Nottingham, and it is he who ex-
ponds. with lavish hand, the ample sum
provided each month for the keep Of him
self and his ships company. The Not
tlngham is seldom over three days away
from this port OF Boston and fires foods
are therefore always tn be had. The
nottingham has a steward and an assis-
tans cook. and these on deyolvts, under the
captains generous eye, the duty of pro.
yisioning the ship. At each port of call
fresh meat, potatoes and other vegetables,
and fresh milk ara taken aboard, and at
o time, unless delayed by storm is
this crew reduced to fare of salt meats
or canned goods.
The writer spent week on the Noting
ham during one of her trips, and the
establishment shown by the iandsinan at
the unexpec.ed high state OF living was
Source Of great amuseInent to the skip
per- The expected salt horse, coarse bread
or sea biscuit. and cheap black coffee,
without milk or sugar. were not oncs seen
upon the table during the voyage. lhe
! crew had exactly this same fare as that
enjoyed by the captain and his officers.
lhe only difference noted in the treat
ment Of the officers and men was that the
sailors had no one to wait on them at
their big table for'ard. For breakfast
there would be oatmeal and milk, de-
liciaus fresh rolls or biscuit coffee, sirloin
| steak or chops, fried or boiled eggs. and
boiled potatoes, The chief meal, how
ever, was at noon, when the steward was
suppose to ''lay himself out. for big
| spread, particularly on Sundays.
First there was vegetable soup, or clam
chowder, then fish, either porgies, haIibut
steak, bluefish or houI uerg; roast beef,
| boiled chicken, roast mutton or all three;
| green corn, suecotasn OF fresh beans and
| boiled potatoes. with pickles and olives
| in plenty. After that came pie or pud-
ding with cake and tea, coffee or chooo-
late, or ice cream, the latter made with
fresh milk II obtained in time ashore
or with the condensed article, which by
the way makes as good ''cream" as fresh
milk. The zoe cream freezer is as big as
| the jolly shippers heart. None, from the
master down, need na afraid of passing
his plate for second helping, though the
| Ice cream dishes on, the nottingham are
| not dainty in eiZe. For the evening meal
| there are cold meats, hot potatoes and
| vegetables. sometimes canned lobster
| or salmon, served plain or in salad, and
tea and coffee. The skippsr contents him
self with wonderful dish of cheese and
| bread and milk, composition calculated
to hopeless clog the wheels of any diges-
| tive apparatus save that of a sea captain
| who can take his trick at the wheel for
| forty hours straight In hurricane and
live on ping tobacco and excitement with
out turning hair during that time
AS each captain has an allowance for
| feeding his ship's crew it depends on
the captain how well his men fare. be-
| cause all that Is left OF the allowance ut
the end of the month, If any, goes 20 him.
| The Jersey Central has two other big
/ boats whose masters have the same allow
enoe for food, and theii crews arc said to
live comparatively high. but the Noting.
/ nAiH IuhtbrI sctFib W nave Us tae
sailors say, "Dug" on good living He's
a Southei ner, and in season regales his
guests and officers with luscious water
melons, and while they ARE disposiDg of
| these he tells in inimitable dialect the
story of the colored farm hand who one
day after killing rogsum was on his
way home to cook the animal for spp-
per when he met another darkey astride
a morse. The one with the 'possum began
to tell with great gus51 OF the Luculla n
| feast he was about to enjoy.
"Ah'll stuff him WV stuiiin', bake him
nice an brown, and dish him up all
cnhered wiz grady ne began, while the
one astrids the horse. with eyes wide
open and mouth watering. sat reeling
about on his mount In an eostacy of joy
10 the mere contemplation OF such re-
p st, when the other reached ''All cobered
vi Z graby,' the horseman could contain
himself no longer and shouted: "Look
ahsah. man. Jon stap dat; stop dat, ]
{ la yeh; IL yonh tell ME any mob about
eai ah postum Lahll tall right smack
down Of e dis yere hess.
| Though the crew Of the Nottingham