The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-09-24
BRITISH JACK AT SEA
Meagre Fare That Is Dealt Out
By Admiralty
PEA SOUP. PLAIN DUFF
IF HE DEPENDED ON RATIoNS
BE WOULD STARvE.

With that sublime ignorance OF all that
goes on on board Of our ships OF war that
characterizes the great majority OF larids-
men, it is popularity supposed that the
| Jolly Jack Tar has only, like passen-
ger. to answer the call 10 meals py SisseiHF
down to an abundance of well cooked 1000.
| that he receives periodically certain
| changes of raiment, so that he shah al
| WAYS be srartIy dressed, and that the
/ wages he receives is all his own 10 speiiu
| or save as he feels inclined; o,s,5ar-
/ able of a shock to these contented Ii 1leI,
says F. T. BulIen in the LONDON 2alIy
| Mail to learn that nothing could Wen De
\ farther from the truth ,..-s
In the first place, oaternal aqmln MS
| tratiOn has decreed in its wisdom that not
! only shall Jack receive a minimum guam
] tity of food, and that it shall be taken at
most of US consider natural for eating as
| they can well be- In spite of the tact that
in these days good sort bread, mace I ,l,srl
/ every day, is much cheaper ana more
| easily obtained than the finty outrage
known as navy bread the latter Is sun
| served out, even to ships companies tnat
are never more than q few days az sea
| a week being long passage TO theIE1 Beer
| by the authorities, and then wantCnly con-
/ verted into the worst food possible, an
| its nlrtrftfve Qualities burnt out of it with
1 salt. and its very appearance made as
| gusting. Split peas, of course, are served
| out once every three days, for the minds
| seem to be saturated with the idea that
| the sailor can only be properly nourished
/
| age sailor Ioafhes pea soup. even when it
/ is favored with one-forty-eighth OF an
ounce of celery seed per man per day
Then Change.
As a change from pea soup. duff is
served out on the day following pea soup
which, however it might disagree with a
| landsman's notions of what a pudding
| should be is far s1Iperior to ANYTHING
| going by the same name in the merchant
| service This ia an adjunct to salt beef,
4 he r7atr 1lxy crOi Wit
| On the third day comes Fanny Adams.
| as the sailor calls timed meat, and with
tables .-'''''' 4'''---- 07'o-''
But these are almost too. much. even for
| the sailor hardy stomach. so he aVailS
| himself of his privilege of saving (of which
| more presently, and does not take up
those vegetables at all For a beverage
ne gets cocoa once day; anc TINS IL i
| probably that constitutes the sheet anchor
| of his allowances. For navy cocoa is fam
| Gus Wherever ships hOat as being 1000 and
| drink of the best quality combined 1t
| would ill-agree with shore folks digestion
| though, being in its natural state with all
| its fat, and. Indeed. looks more like brown
| soup than anything else. Tea he gets for
| supper and at midday a gill of the best
| rum. watered down to make 1t drfnkabIe.
| This, however, he can commute for tea
or cocoa or three-farthings per day. which
| Now, the incidence OF meals IS as fol-
| lows: Five a. m, breakfast, consisting
| of a pint Of cocoa and biscuit. Noon, din
ner, pork and pea soup, or beef or duff, or
| Fanny Adams and dried potatoes Sup
1 L p l..
| d SalIOrS opportunity Tor cultiVaung
healthy appetite, he will hardly manage to
| get enough of that food down, even with
| ward off some terrible spasms of hunger
before the next morning at a. m, which
This arrangement of meals and allow
ance of food is called by the sufferers
| Bare Navy" and TO be compelled to ad-
| reason, TO be equivalent to a sentence of
Starvation But 10 understand its full
j n h. FOOD
| itself, As TO condiments, vinegar is al
! lowed. being an anti-sco-pUtic; a tiny
| quantity OF pepper is allowed. but no pep
| per pots; mustard pots are served out but
no mustard This iattev information was
| who considered it a sple1.Sgd effort at
| practical joking on the part OF the admi-
| rally
Provision Shop on Board.
Well, how does Man-o-var Jack man
| age to keen himself what he fs-unap-
| proachable in physique by any other body
of men in the world? Only by developing
housekeeping, aided by the concession on
the part of his employer, the admiralty
! the concession to carry provision shop
on board of each ship, which the FIRST
| lieutenant IS compelled to manage. Nor
and stands behind a counter to sell ali
packets of .fags'' 10 sidae 81 baooI P 9,
fnd1gnlIy is spaI ed nm; CUT he has never
theless, all the correspondence and finan-
eial worry of chandlery business. with
solns 1870 a year superadded to his other
muIUfar1ouS duties The actual selling is
Gone py petty ofhcers, appointed in some
| mysterious way Tor their special business
qualifications; the buying is usually. done
oy the cooks of the various messes. Here
aSdIh, explanation Is needed the COOK
OF mess does no cooking. He manages
the feeding affairs of his particular mess
or so many men, keeps the mess accounts
and upon him il depends whether hfs
rnesSnates live like lighting cocks OF
are half starved He arranges about
hrrn CHI 4
stood that every ration served out TO a
seaman, with the exception of meat. NAV
De ieSSened oy the recipient to two-thirds
of its amount. the value OF the rennainine
third being credited TO him. So that mor1
paIatable food may be bought with il
| Nov. II this were done tor every fndi.
Nldual on board, the amount of book.
keeping 1t would entail would be over,
Wheinlns- Here the mess system comes
| IN and saves the situation: but. even a.
| II Is, the bookkeeping entailed upOn m
clerical staff is of huge proportions. FsoI
! every mess Is a fairy large hOuSehOlu
vantage the combined SAVINGS me IN t DesI az
supplemented by an amount contribute
! by each member, averaging in the chanDs
squadron 12s Sd per month The bow.
cry and not having yet learned the lessoT
, | OF providence and economy.
Are Always Hungry.
For instance, at the morning s.Stanf
easy and change Clothes a period %
| twenty-five minutes from $40 a m . boI
with a healthy appetite will find NO All,
hcuIty in devoUring tin of sar9i6es
salmon or lobster. and a chunk of breaT
with Dutter. all of which dainties he mus
PPaS LOT me men, on the other hand
naXlng learned to control their apuetiTes
VIII not be so reckless, but will do viii
a rasher of bacon or a slice Of tfraet
! corneo beef and bread; and there are feV
OF Inem who viii buy sweets. as the
Stt SSrSrS 90, or penny packets of cigar
etts- Ihey prefer TO purchase the lea
TOBACCO supplied by the ship at cost pric.
IN pond; and .'perique'' il up theuseix-e,
Tor smoking Neither will Won find q NO.
buying tin of condensed milk. DI1lgE PIN
mole in its top. and sucking ont ths
contents, as boys are fond of doing
SO many of the men-.sstaid T,ar >, -
they are called in the service-arp mar.
Ileq' ana receiving wages of between e:
anu - per month, that they must ex-or
else every elnrnc,rr,icaI -. SASI-