The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-03-19
THE LINERS PURSER,
Hls Difficult Role, on a Transat
lantIo Steamship.


This OMoer must ApsoIutsly Possess
Tact and q All Things to All Men
A Purssr's sklllfuI Play With Tw'
AntsporIstio opsra Queens.
In the smoking room Of d great trans
atlantic liner which arrived In New
York recently, after q trip made In no
fur from record time. conversation
among those who were not MT card
turned TO the purser OF the vessel. wht
by his courteous bearing. his well Or
dercd energy and air Of snyoir fairs
generally had attracted from tho pas
sengers an unusual degree Of attention
The talk, began about half an hour bc
fore II was time for the lights to 10 out
The man With the pipe had observed
that the officers activity was simulnt
sd. The man sitting next, tho head ol
n brokerage hrni. smoking the most OK
pensIye partaga 10 be had In tile case
near the door. held differently. ltshort
ly came 70 Showdown" to fall Into
smoking room vernacular.
well. n you aay NO, whatsdoes b.
do, no muchf" asked the man with the
pipe.
The smoker started TO tell him. liz
began perhaps twenty minutes before
closing time. and when one after an
ollcr the esciric lights faded and died
he was not half through. This should
indicate that the purser In a man Of
some importance aboard ship. and
those who NO read II will not drift far
from true course. lie 10 an impor'
tant man--in bin way the most Impor.
tant In the employ OF the steamship
company.
Even ashore md In some other voca.
ton the purser would be a striking
personality. No doubt In a way his
Office makes him what hs Ia. but at the
same time he had 20 be Of the stun OF
which pursers are made before ha ever
saw & Steamship This may be read to
mean that lnstlnctlvely hc must be a
good fellow. oh, assuredly be must bs
every Inch OF that. He must have u
hnndahake and smile ms magnetic an
were President McKInley's. Hc must
tell good story we'll and listen to q
bad one with laughter. AT the same
time In his mental aud physical equip
mcnt be must bo endowed with n not
insignificant alloy OF Iron. aud he must
stand flrm IN emergency md frown
aud swear with facility equal TO that
which he cvinccs In slapping man
hpon the back or In touching the
springs Of mlrth.
He should be and is all things to all
men. He In sympathetic ns well az
hale and hearty and well met. He has
a head for iignres which could not be
otherwise. since he IL the eompanys
financial man atioat lie pays all sal.
aries: no cares for the money and val
uables OF passengers. which. OF course.
necessltates honesty OF sterling sort;
he pays for all supplies he knows all
about the cargo and all about the pas
sengers A purser who forgets the
face OF a man who has sailed on his
craft once before is Of little value to
his employers When Congressman
Jones goes abroad for his summer va.
cation, he proceeds forthwith TO the
purser's Office, smile illuminIng his
face and seasoned hand outstretched.
why. how do you do. Congressman
Jones7" This In wha: he gets.
Do you suppose that this representa-
tive of the people win ever afterward
sail for Europe with any other purser.
on any other vessel or iinep Not NO
long an pride turks within the bosom
OF mankind.
Tho purser In this respect must be
the equal Of hotel clerk. and every
one knows how utterly inept the man
who stands at the gateway Of
gilded hostelry wouldebe without his
memory for faces and names. Not
alone that. but besides being n man OF
resources and ability and a genial wit
the purser must possess In eminent
degree that God given qualification.
that subtle yet luminous estate Of NOR
al and mental eQulpolse, which men
call tact-curIosa felicltas, II an old
patron Of tho line finds fault because
tho stateroem In which he usually
travels has been taken by some one
else monta before, II is the purser
who must apply soothing verbal en-
brocatlon aud make clear the fact that
the former stateroom compares In no
way with the present apartment.
Complaints as to food come to the
purser through the chief steward for
final adjudication, and II In the galley
there are signs OF dissatisfaction or
unrest he must enter the realm Of pots
and pans and argue with the two as
sistant cooks, II may be. until they
shake hands or at least promise not
to allow their personal jealousies to In
terfere with their culinary duties until
they reach port.
They do tell n story Of a purser who,
In arranging for the usual wednesday
night entertainment, offended two
prlma donnas--one queen of Wag.
merriam and the other an empress Of
light opera-by assigning the principal 4
place on the programme to the pride
of English burlesque. 1t may have
been that the pursor being Brltisher,
was swayed by patriotic emotion to
nwnh m HnwwaA ms wall tha nannaatAv,