The National tribune., 1902-06-26
HOUSEKEEPING
ON SHIPBOARD.
Something About the Management of the
Culinary Department CT Big Battle.
ship.

ship.
1t requires mint of money, as the say
ing goes. to provide furniture and supplies
for Uncle Sans peerless new battleships
| and cruisers. \ naval officer stated to
the writer the other day that to fit out
one of these vessels for n cruise is q big
ger job than equiping Il first-class hotel.
Here" he said. lis floating fortress
as long as two city blocks. with all mod
ern conveniences and complete restaurant
facilities lighted throughout by electricity
Il gigantic fighting machine and military
barracks combined. Her steel walls bris-
Ting with guns. shelter small army of
men. The cruiser New York. for example,
has crew numbering $50 seamen. besides
10 marines and A officers To feed them
all for year. at the Government rate of
allowance, costs 100000"
The naval officer further stated that on
going into commission such ship must be
furnished throughout, from the kitchen,
which is as complete as that of Il great
city hotel, to the Captains cabin. She
carries large stocks of stationery. hard
ware and apothecarys goods, and is pro-
vided with tools for all sorts Of trades.
Everything conceivable that may be
needed for purposes of war and peace is
shops or factories are accessible. Usually
the vessel is provisioned ror only three
months. because there is no room to store
more. The rations are purchased by the
Navy Department and comprise such ne
cessities as hard bread, corpmea!, oatmeal.
hominy. flour. salt pork, beans, peas, rice,
preserved meats, butter, coffee and rca
Every man in the navy, from the last
one shipped mp to the Admiral. has an al
lowance of so cents n day for rations.
which he may draw either in food or in
money The Paymaster of the ship has
charge Of all the provisions. which are
dealt out by the yeoman. who is in turn
assisted by the "Jack-o- dust" The lat
ter attends to opening barrels and pack
ages.
While in port fresh provisions are serv-
ed, each man receiving one pound Of fresh
bread, one and a quarter pounds of fresh
meat and one pound of fresh vegetables
every day. These take the place of the
ordinary rati0ns. only tea and coffee being
provided in addition The allowance is at
all times so liberal that the enlisted men
cannot possibly consume the whole of it,
so they take part of their allowance in
cash, with which extras" are provided
for the messes.
The methods of housekeeping on board
of warship are interesting. All of the
officers and men are divided into little
clubs, each of which has its cook and
manages its own affairs. These clubs are
called messcs. There is the Captain
mess. the Ward-room mess. the Junior Of
ficcrs' mess, the Petty Officers mess and
the Mems messes. Every Officers mess
has caterer, who is elecred periodically
from its own membership. Officers are
required by the naval regulations to serve
in this capacity when called OIL. though no
one can be compelled to hold the place
more than two consecutive months 1t is
a post of responsibility, the incumbent
having to direct the purchase of provi-
sions, to keep accounts and to pay all bills
The Captain caters for himself. He messes
by himself in his cabin, and eats alone
save when he chooses to invite officers to
dine with him. When the vessel is flag
ship he may mess with the Admiral or
not. just as he elects. The Admiral of
course, has his own cabin. The Captain
has II seward, his own private cook and
two cabin boys. The Admiral has like
class of servants, with an extra cabin boy
if he so desires. These boys" OF war
vessel are enlisted men at least 81 years
old.
The Ward-room mess has its own cook
and steward. On the New York this
mess comprises 30 officers and has six
boys" The junior mess embraces En-
signs and Midshipmen. 1t has a cook.
steward and four boys" The Warrant
Officers mess is composed of the sailmak-
er, gunner. carpenter and bOatswain. 1t
has cook. steward and one hoy" The
same provision is made for the Petty
Officers mess, including the Master-at-
Arms. Quartermaster. Paymasters' yeo-
man and Apcthecary. The messes of
Warrant officers and Petty officers are
conducted just like those of the higher
officers, drawing money for their rations
and buying their own provisions.
The enlisted men are usually divided
into messes of u. Each of these elects
its own caterer and selects one of its
number for cook, with the approval of
ant requirement for the post of cook is
ability to make bread. Good bread-mak-
ers are in great demand for such posi-
tons. The mess cook receives from the
mess wages equal to the money e1uiya-
lent of from one to two ratiOns monthly.
That is to say, from $3.50 to S1S.6O a
month. This salary is in addition to his
pay from the Government and renders
the position very desirable. The incum-
bent draws the rations from the Paymas-
ter and prepares them for the table. But
because the allowance is greater than is
needed. he takes only eight rations i'm food
and the remaining four in money. The
cash thus obtained goes to form what is
called the mess fund, to which each men,
Der of the mess usually adds about 50
monthly. The mess fund pays the cook
and provides all sorts of Injuries. such
as sweets, condensed milk and MANY 9TH
er good things that can be purchased
when in port.
description of the management of
the Ward-room mess will serve with few
notifications, for all the officers messes
The caterer buys the provisions. He gets
them on shore when the ship is in port.
Except when compelled to do so, he does
not purchase from the vessels stores. but
draws the rations for the mess in cash.
lie does, however, obtain from the YES
sells stores what he needs in the way of
cooking butter, sugar, rice, beans, pork
and canned meats, paying for them i'm
money, because these articles, as dispens-
ed by Uncle Sam are just as good of their
kind as can be procured and are furnished
at about cost.
Members of the mess pay their bills
monthly to the caterer. The cost of board
to each officer in the Ward-roOm is usu-
ally about $50 month. 1t is somewhat
less on the Asiatic station, the markets
IN that part of the world being cheaper.
There is balance left over In the cater
er's hands which goes to make up the
mess fund. This fund in the Ward-room
Will sometimes amount to as much as ST.
OOO. 1t provides for the replenishment of
crOckery, for entertaining by the MACS