The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-01-04
THE LINERS PURSER.
His Difficult Role on a Transat-
Iantic Steamship.
DIPLOMAT AND SAILOR TOO
This Officer Must Absolutely Possess
Tact anG Be All Things TO All Mon.
A Purser's SkiIIfui Play With TWO
Antaoonistic Opera Queens.

n furseTS SkiIlTul ray WIKI TWO
Antaeonistic Opera Queens
In the smoking room of great trans
atlantic liner which arrived in New
York recently. after trip made in not
far from record time. conversation
among those who We're not at cards
turned to the purser of the vessel, who
by his courteous bearing. his we'll or
dered energy and air Of SAVIOR faire
generally had attracted from the pas
sengers an unusual degree of attention.
The talk began about half an hour be
fore it was time for the lights TO go out.
The man with the pipe had observed
that the officers activity was simulat-
ed. The man sitting next, the head of
a brokerage firm. smoking the most ex-
pensive partaga to be had in the case
near the door, held differently. 1t short
~ came to a showdown" to fall into
smoking room vernacular.
We'll, if you say so. What does he
do, 50 much?" asked the man with the
pipe.
The smoker started to tell him. He
began perhaps twenty minutes before
closing time, and when one after an
oLler the electric lights faded aud died
he was not half through. This should
indicate that the purser Is man of
some Importance aboard ship and
those who so read it will not drift far
from true course. He is IN impor-
tant MANN his way the most impor.
tant i'll the employ Of the steamship
company.
Eren ashore and in some other voca-
ton the purser would be striking
personality. No doubt in way his
Office makes him what he is but at the
same time he had to be Of the stun of
which pursers are made before he ever
saw a steamship. This may be read to
mean that instirctively be must be a
good fellow. Oh, assuredly he must be
every inch Of that. He must have a
handshake and smile az magnetic as
were President Mckinley's. He must
tell good story well and listen to q
bad one with laughter. At the same
time in his mental and physical equip
ment he must be endowed with a not
Insight icant alloy of iron, and he must
stand firm in emergency and frown
and swear with facility equal to that
which he evinces in slapping a man
upon the back or In touching the
springs Of mIrth.
He should be and Is all things to all
men. He Is sympathetic as well as
hale and hearty and well met. He has
head for figures. which could not be
otherwise, since he is the company's
financial man af1oat. He pays all sal
aries; he cares for the money and val
uables OF passengers, which, Of course.
necessitates honesty of sterling sort;
he pays for all supplies; he knows all
about the cargo and all about the pas
sengers. purser who forgets the
face of q 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, q smile iIlumining his
face and seasoned hand outstretched.
"Why, how do you do, Congressman
Jones!' This Is what be gets.
Do you suppose thar this representa-
I've Of the people will! ever afterward
sail for Europe with any other purser.
on any other vessel or line? Not so
long as pride turks within the bosom
Of mankind. /
The 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 |
gtlded hostelry would be without HIS
memory for faces and names. Not
alone that, but besides being a 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 equipoise, which men
call tact-curiosa felicitas. If an old
patron of the line finds fault because
the stateroom in which he usually
travels has been taken by some one
else month before. it is the purser
who must apply soothing verbal en-
Drocatlon and 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
hnal adjudication, and if in the galley
there are signs OF satisfaction or
unrest he must enter the realm of pots
ana pans and argue with the two as
sistant cooks. it 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 a story Of a purser who.
In arranging for the usual Wednesday
night entertainment, offended two
prima donuas-one a queen of Wag-
merriam and the other an empress of
light opera-by assigning the principal
place on the programme to the pride
or English burlesque 1t may have
been that the purser, being 4 Britisher.
was swayed by patriotic emotion to
such a degree is to veil the necessity
or handling problem manifestly deli {
cate with the usual Machiavellian
adroitness OF his craft At all events,
the mistake soon became apparent.
The exponent Of Wagner sulked In
1er cabin, coming delicious Teutonic
swear words. Some one. taking her
'ide said something in the presence
II the English beauty. and there wa.
hiatus in that entertainment or in
he plans for that entertain n!ent which
made plenty OF small talk mi no sp,au