The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-02-20


What do YOU take me for?" asked the
old shellback. after a pause. a baIly
ijjit? man who will spin yarn before
he gets his crew aboard will do worse
when Re gets out of soundings. l don't
believe word you say, and, for one, re-
fuse to sign
Ii Pays to Feed Jack.
And the doubtful Thomas more common
ly called Jack fell back from the counter.
| Everything that the skipper said was alb
sOlutely true, for within the last ten years
the most improved methods of caring
for the merchant mariner off shore have
been adopted by the biggest owners, who
now believe that Il lays in the long run
to feed and house Jack properly II is
about three years sirce a Liverpool firm
/ decided to put female cooks on all of its
sailing ships, and the plan proved so ad-
| yantageous so far as economy alone was
! concerned. that a dozen other large ship
| ping firms of the United kingdom have
| since adopted the same plan. 1t is a COM
| mon thing to find large sailing ships con-
| nected between cabin, galley, and fore
| castle with electric push buttons and an
nunciat0rs, and the master of Glasgow
| bark has even been known to lay a strip
of carpet in the forecastle.
! The first man to hit upon the idea of
| supplying fruit ana fresh bread, instead of
the famous bareback and salt horse was
| Capt. Vaughan, of the British bark So
| kOtO. Ele made it a practice while in port
! TO give the crew watermelons, peaches
and any kid of fruit that the market at
! the time afforded. At sea he had no such
1 thing as an allowance. The men, he ex-
| planned to the cook, We're to eat as much
as they liked. and this was to include
canned vegetables, potatoes, and pre-
served meats. The rest of the mercantile
world stood aghast at the courage of
. Capt. Vaughan, and predicted an early
4 end Of the experiment. The master Of the
/ SokOto showed that not only did il cost
| less to feed the crew of his ship than In
| did any particular crew on any of the
| other vessels belonging to the same firm,
/ but that the men, appreciating the delica-
| cfes, went about their work more cheer
| fully, kept the craft looking like a parlor
| and did not want to leave at every port
as is generally the case.
Comforts for the Crews.
| The sailing fleet that is owned by Is
may, Imrie & Co., of the White Star
Line, have particular accommodations for
I the comfort of their crews. The firm has
discovered that the improvements are
profitably employed, too, inasmuch as the
vessels carry larger cargoes and get along
with a smaller number of hands. Among
the first vessels 10 reach out for improve
I1ents in behalf of the sailor was the
James Kerr, of Liverpool This vessel.
built of steel, was of about 5000 tons dead
weight. SIZE vas rugged as a four-masted
bark. All the spars were of steel and
there were double topgalIant and topsail
yards. Tle yards on the three masts
were of The same relative size. that a
spare topgalli Mt sail might be bent on
either the fore, main, or mizzen topgal-
liant yard. With the use of several small
capstans Of a very ingenious make the
heavy topsail yards, weighing some four
tons each, could be hoisted by five men
in about ten or eleven minutes In the
old days, and even now on many ships.
setting the topsails required all hands at
The halliards. The capstans on the Kerr
were not worked by handspikes, but by
witch handles.
The Kerr had a Didship bridge deck
house, containing a magnificent saloon,
with bathroom, office. sleeping and dining
rooms for the captain, and a piano was
provided for the saloon Each officer had
his own room htted up in the finest mail
steamer fashion. In the forepart of the
saloon accommodation was reserved for
ward, in a deckhouse. the quarters for
the sailors were situated there being
lockers and shelves for each man, and
outside in passage a place for hanging
wet clothes. A WashhOuse and bath
house was also provided for the use of
the men.
4 Garden Shipboard.
The skipper of the British ship Mowhan
has a garden on shipboard. in which ne
grows garden truck during voyage He
first conceived the idea when bound 10
Portland, Ore. from Belfast. Ireland. On
this occasion he had as ballast 2.Oc0 tons
OF Irish soil, which according TO Barney
history. is the most fertile IN the world.
The seeds were planted In the soil shortly
after clearing the Irish coast. and they
came up all right, growing cabbages. |
lceks. turnips. radishes, lettuce, peas, and
beans with remarkable rapidity. while the
ship was in the tropics OF the South At |
lsutic. The crew took turns wedding AMI |
cuitiyating the plants. Coming around the |
Horn, the garden was replanted and By |
the time they seached the equator in the |
Pacific everything was again ablOom Ex-
ccpt for a drove OF pigs that were on |
deck, and which broke adrift and got into l
the garden, there were no drawbacks to |
the gardening on shipboard. and the crew |
had abundant vegetables while the trio |
lasted. The last pig vas killed and served |
UP with green vegetables just before the /
ship entered the Columbia River Accord |
irg 70 one Of the ships officers, the only /
Thing that the "ould 500" did not grow /
during this trip were shamrocks. The 1
captain OF the MOWhan has had a garden /
on shipbOsrd ever since
Several years ago the Liverpool Train
ing Schcol OF Cookery vas organized ard I
obtained the cO-opers ton % the Liverpool 4
ShipOWneTs' Association The special OBJ
Ject Of the school IS 70 prepare men for 4
sea cooking Within the last twelve /
months a total Of eighteen era 1uates have
taken certificates and have been shipp..,. I
on sea-go.ng vessels Not long since a |!
Swedish steamer arrived al Baltimore 4
her lef. becaUs. the captain dismissed the i
female cook. On another occasion the fe-
male cook Of Danish steamer at Phna- /
delphIa asked for permission 10 20 ashore 4
and Was refused. The cook was very pOpu- 4
lar with the men. and the members Of the 4
crew waited upon the master and told 4
him that unless liberty Was granted her i
they would all take French leave. She WAS 1
permitted 10 20 ashore. The female cook .
Is great power at sea. and one OF them i
has been known 20 be In league with the 1
chief engineer. who refused 70 heat the .
cabin Of an Objectionable captain until he /
came TO tine.
Raies for tht,Fereeastie.
wag who has studied the many
changes IN what was once the cod ana /
dismal forecssile. vas making a trip on a 1
sailing vessel. which had all the ln.- /
provemeBfs for sailors and he was 81 sur
prised that he prepared and huns Up in