The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-03-03
sURFMRU ARE GOOD COOKS
wen 81 the Government Aife-snvlug
seationa Along the Atlantic
Coast Live Wei.

The retired surfman was inclined 60
Be ~taIllative, and after filling his pipe
with a liberal supply Of trough and
ready and applying a match to It he
said;
81 often read about these chefs who
do the cooking for the milionaires
and get enormous salaries. In my
opinion they get more than they aEs
really worth, for there are % many
Americans who could do the work as
wen. To-day there is a small army
Of men doing service in Uncle Sans
hfe-saving stations along the coast
who are the best of cooks. As q rule
their knowledge Of the culinary art is
not confined to the preparation alone
Of plain dishes, but includes pastry
cooking and bread baking as wen. I
know surfmen who would do credit
to any mans kitchen. I spent more
than 20 years in the ~life-saving
ice and have taken an active part in
feasts that were fit for the gods. In
more recent years I have been a guest
at some Of the best hotels in the
cities of the east. / have dined at the
homes of wealthy men who prided
themselves on the ability Of their
h-igh-salaried French and italian chefs
But for all that 1 still know Of men
in the l~ife-saving service who could
discount some Of these chefs.
There are men in some Of the sta
tions who have been cooking of and
on for a quarter of a century. They
have been aided by the knowledge Of
their mothers and grandmothers, and
there were and still are some mighty
good cooks in Jersey and old Virginia.
There is not a set OF men anywhere,
take it the world over, who are bet
ter livers than the ~life-saving crews
of the governments They have a va
riety of food, and it is prepared in
such a manner that one seldom hears
Of a surfman having dyspepsia.
"At present there are seven surfmen
at each ~life-saving station, in addi-
ton to the captain or keeper. Every
man has to take his turn as cook ex-
| cept the captain. The same crews do
duty year after year, with seldom a
change. When one drops out through
old age or disability the new man
who fills the vacancy is supposed TO
have some knowledge of cooking. AS
a rule, the additions to the crews have
had a year or two of experience as
substitute surfmen, and during that
time they are drilled in the art OF
meat, vegetable and pastry cooking
and bread baking. They take an in
terest in this part Of the work, and
when they become regulars they are
well qualified to take their turn in the
kitchen. Each member Of the crew
does his trick OF one weeks cooking
and then has six weeks off. In this
manner each man has a chance to
demonstrate his ability as a caterer
Each tries to Guido the other in max.
ing his week one of gastronomic Joy,
New and delicious dishes come along
quite frequently. Usually some wife
sweetheart or mother has instructed
the cook how to prepare the dainty.
Gas bread, pie and cake bakers the
suTfmen have few equals. Through
force Of circumstances they all be
come expert bakers. The stations arr
generally in isolated places, far from
stores where bread can be purchased
They must depend on themselves fol
their supply. And such bread! 1t Il
none Of the chaf, dosed with alum
and bad water, that is handed out il
many Of the city bakeshops. It i
white and laky, the kind that oul
grandmothers and mothers baked ant
sent to the country fairs to win pre-
miums. Delicious pies, buildings anC
cakes are products Of the ~life-savin.
station Kitchen stoves. AS game cook
many of the men excel. Wild fowl ar
ever plentiful in the waters along tn.
coast, and there is hardly a day passe
during the fall, winter and sprinl
months that does not find ducks
geese or some kind of snipe on tn
surfman's bill of fare. The men VIII
shoot the game know how to prepar
it. At nearly all seasons of the yea
fish Of a dozen varieties are plentiful
'There are no better fed men in tn
country than the l~iFe-saving crews
The cost of all the good food they ca
is small. Every article purchased 70
table use is accounted for in a day
book and at the end of each mont
the amount expended is divided int
eight shares, and each man, the car
tain included, pays his portion, whic
rarely amounts to a sum exceedin.
/, eight dollars a man."
II tell you OF eight dollars a mont
the surfmen live better than the al
erage man does on $5O."-N. =, Sun.