The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-16
BATTLESHIP COMMISSARY.

Reform in the Mess Scheme-Sample Bll! of Fare on the Kearsarge. The reforms and changes in the com missary administration of the battle ships of the navy which for the past year have been going on in an unos- tentatious manner without attracting much comment or newspaper note, have, it is believed by the navy officials, proved a marked success. The method of paying the seamen, appropriatlng ra- tions and providing mess has, during the past few months, been considerably changed and modified on a few of the battle ships, and it is believed that the experiment will result at no very dis tant date in the adoption of a modern system throughout the navy. The plac- ing of the army and navy officers on a
 uniform rate of salary and the adoption
 of the personnel bill were noticeable de-
 velopments in the system.
 The sailor in the employ of Uncle
 Sam has probably as little regard for
 the power of money as any class of in
 dividual who works for a livelihood in
 the state. To him money means only
 something with which to make change,
 and he is more liberal with his small
 earnings than any other servant of the
 government. Nevertheless, the system
 of paying the sailor and providing for
 him, is a very complex one, and char
 acterized by an abundant amount of red
 tape.
 It is the grub" scheme which espe-
 ciaIly appeals to the sailor, and any
 o1,o ,f onc. arouses the ire or the pleasure of this
 unique figure. The new commissary scheme which has been in vogue on the
 Kearsarge for the past year was last
 week adopted on the Massachusetts, and will soon be instituted on several other battle ships
 Under this plan, the entire crew of the ship is classed in one mess For ev- cry sailor the government allows 30 cents day for rations. The entire sum Is paid over to the paymaster of the ship who delegates one of his subor- dinates to purchase the provisions and apportion them. The subordinate acts in the capacity of steward and is re- sponsible to the paymaster. One-quar- ter of the mess money Is set aside for the purchase of special rations which are, however, divided equally among all of the men. By this plan three-q quar- ters of their allowance is used for the ordinary" supplies and the other quar- ter for "speciar' stuff, including such delicacies as may be purchased on a cruise.
 Under the old method the sailors were allowed to "mess" for themselves. That ;,,&o o;o oF dozen or IS men, appointed a steward for each company, who uses quarter of the mess money for buying things | not provided by the government. For instance out of one days mess money l to sS, $2 is used by the stew ard for special stuff. This method is at | present. In vogue on many of the vessels, | put it Is gradually falling into disfa- | yor.
 The officers and large number of the | sailors say that the new plan furnishes | he best mess in the history of the | navy As is always the case on ship, however, the kicks and complaints are l numerous and often heard. The men | ike to handle their own money and | make all kinds of charges of collision md misappropriation when they are lot allowed to.
 "We gave them a fine turkey dinner n Thanksgiving day, as good as they ould get anywhere" one of the officers n the Kearsarge said, "but they weren't satisfied. In fact, one of the ailors went to the admiral with the .ick that pigeon liver hash should have cen provided instead of turkey. as he aid turkey was too coarse meat. And hat is the way it goes most of the time. 'hese fellows, who have been accus- omed to half starving, want wine jelly omed to half starving. want wine, jelly he service"
 The officers mess separately and pro- idle as good table as they can afford he chief advantage of being an officer ], however, that he has access to the canteen." Wines and beer are on the ally schedule of the officer and are be-