The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-28
LIFE ABOARD A NARSHIP
FARE THE BLUEJACKET GETS
FOR 30 CENTS A DAY.


w y bmVutt w y ~ W HhtuAh y hFht
Mos Tsrs From Inland states.
How many housewives would like TO nave
to cater for a family for 30 cents a head IA
day? That's exactly the sum IL costs Uncle
Sam. n he has something like 10000 bluS-
jackets to feed ut his man-of-war table.
Even on ordinary days a sailor sits down
to a fare no civilian need sniff at. says the
Home Magazine. Eggs. boiled potatoes.
bread and butter and coffee form his break
fast one morning. Perhaps the next he has
sausages and corn bread. .
Roast veal with gravy. boiled potatoes.
~succotash. bread and butter, gingerbread
and coffee is an ordinary dinner menu.
while fried pork chops. bread and butter.
apple sauce and ten Ia the bill OF fare sub
mitted by the steward to the paymaster
for the same days evening meal.
That the fare agrees with him is attested
by his hospital record. Seldom more than
five to ten men are sick at a time from the
ships crew Of $50.
Not all the seamen are brought up near the
! sea. Many Of them are inland boys who run
away from home for the life on the brine.
The books Of the Virginia. for instance. bear
this out with a record that Of the $50 sailors
600 have enlisted from States as far inland
as Idaho and Wisconsin.
Every minute Of the day aboard ship Ia
lived according to rule. At $50 O'Clock In
the morning the sailor is aroused by the call
OF three bells. Thirty minutes IL allowed
him for flashing his hammock, DC. After
that he is allowed to take IL down only by
special permission. There is no sneaking Il
on for seductive little naps intbe day.
His breakfast Ia served at $50 o'clock,
five bells. Twelve seamen mess at one table,
one OF their own number receiving an extra
stipend Of IS monthly from Uncle Sam for
waiting on his comrades.
This assignment is now generally made in
rotation. Jack tars have been known to
come to blows in their zeal to secure it.
Then again, when stationed in warmer
chimes. IL was not always easy to find men
willing to o~ficiate.
Uncle Sam sets seven tables, in accord
ance, with his rules Of class distinction.
which are as fixed and answering as the
laws Of the Modes and Persians. There is,
first, Admirals mess, at which the head
officer is served in solitary state. Second.
Captains mess, at which the presiding
officer enjoys the same lonely distinction.
Third, wardroom officers. or j~oliication
mess, so called for the good times enjoyed
by the tableful of commissioned officers
below the rank Of Captain.
Fourth. the junior officers mess, consist
ing OF midshipmen, the young graduates
OF Annapolis. who. having been educated
at Uncle Sans expense, are now getting
their first maritime experience. Fifth. the
chief petty officers mess, for those in rank
below the midshipmen. Sixth, the warrant
officers mess. who, by pull. special ability
or act OF prowess, have raised themselves
from the enlisted ranks. Seventh and last
but not least. is the general or mess table
where the lusty ,appetites Of the rank and
file are assuaged.
Uncle Sans officers want the fat Of the
land. and supply II from their own purses.
By special clubbing arrangements among
themselves an officers mess is provided
at a cost to each officer Of $40 a month.
Even a colored chef is retained.
His souf1es and his salads are true works
Of art. The key Of the wine chest he guards
with Jealous care. But all this is a matter
OF reckoning between him and the officers.
Uncle Sam enters not at all.
Uncle Sans head housekeeper, the pay
master, indeed, has quite enough on his
mind trying to keep nearly a thousand
lusty men satisfied with their grub and at
satisfaction Of the Navy Department audi
tor at Washington. 1t is no light under
taking.
The paymaster, in truth. must be a man
OF rare parts, and is rightly esteemed one
OF the ablest and most honored officers in
the service. Take the qualities needed 10
make a successful hotel man. Add to them
those to make the popular leader. Throw
seasoned with u~ntiring zeal for the interests
OF his men. and you get the kind OF mixture
Uncle Sam has to fin before he appoints
his paymaster.
cruise no wonder his brow is knotted. Max
ing out the next meals order while in port
ia one thing. Simply a confab with his
steward as to whether II shall be 500 pounds
OF Ash or $50 pounds Of pork and a barrel
and q half OF beans.
By the ships regulations every mar Is
allowed a daily stipend Of one and three
quarters pounds Of fresh meat. For the long
voyage, however, it's a different matter.
The stipend must be reduced and more salt
meat consumed. The ships cold storage
capacity il 10 1000 pounds.
Here is where the paymaster's real oppor-
tunity OF generalship enters. Everything
his men will need for the next sixty days
must he planned to meet that capacity.
And meantime there Is ice to be manu-
featured, without infringement OF Uncle
Sans prohibition against any form OF
ammonia plant aboard; there is some 10
gallons Of distilled water to be purchased
Gt is cheaper to buy this in port than TO
nave it distilled aboard and some 5000
pounds Of meat to be inspected.
No hotel kitchen could be more ny to
date in its equipment. Electricity plays
no slight role, There is electricity to heat
the irons in the up to date laundry for the
officers clothes.
Electricity turns the grinders for the
dough in the ships bakery, where 1000
loaves are baked daily. Electricity too
heats the coffee in the great brass caldrons
lin construction exactly like the French
drip coffee pot OF your own table. madam.
only each Of these holds $50 gallons).
MOI IN any hygienic device overlooked.
The pRymaster IL responsible for tho
healthdDf his men. The very cups in their
water tank must be germ proof. After
drinking, each man il required To rinse nis
cup in a special tank filled with antiseptic
solution.
When under the weather he IL permitted
to use only such medicines a. are supplied
by the ships doctor. Even the contents of
the c~anteen, his own private supply shop
where he buys his Injuries, are carefully
inspected by the paymaster, with n keen
view to excluding liquors or any other
article deemed injurious to the health OF
his men.
The man-o'-war seaman must be a jack
OF all trades. Very early in his career
he learns to sew on his own buttons in
some cases even makes his own clothes
For the clumsier fingered there is the ships
tailor.
Uncle Sans price for the material and
f~ashionjng Of the regulation navy blue
sailor suit Ia 81. Once the uniform il pro-