The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-01-04

the room OF the operate queen. the
purser has this note now. As nearly
as the writer remembers il reads some
thing as follows:
NY Adorable and Gifted Mrs. Mt is
not Tor me to assume the place OF honor
on the programme tomorrow niSht whom
upon this vessel aoides the queen OF all
song Accept these flowers. Accent M
love! Accept my request TO appear wh,r-
ever on the programme may please your
fancy PeccaVi. GesundheIt! ProStt For
something OF the sortI- AT thy feet be
lieve me, ELSIE F30<-,C<
OF course the celebrated protaEonfSt
of heavy opera accepted the flowers.
sent her love. her thanks. her es
TEEN, and asked-nay. begged-tnat she
be allowed 10 rcljnluish the honor
cast at her feet. The burlesIuo queen.
need it be said. appeared in the place
10 which the programme assigned her.
This man. as will appear. is no SLOUGH
of purser
furserS are born, not made They sire
selected by steamship companies with
special eye to the duties they are ca. led
upon to perform. a large line. such Is
the North German Lloyd line for in
stance, or the Ham LT- line. selects Il
man for the position and puts him To
work in the purser's department with
the title Junior assistant purser. Above
him there Is the assistant purser. who
IS in line as soon as vacancy shall o.
cur for the office of purser on one of
the humber ships of the line No man
is ever promoted from the assistant
pursershlp of large vessel to he head
Of department on the same vessel. He
goes to any OF the smaller craft, from
which purser has been elevated to fill
the vacancy on the larger vessel.
A purser on one of the great German
boats is man to reckon with and a
constant delight to the soul lie
knows the name OF every wealthy
ocean voyager Of whatever nationality.
and when ia the mood he can stand in
his otrle and retail DELIGHTFUL bits Of
anec0ote and flashing Characterization
Of those who figure prominently on the
passenger list.
Jones: WHO iss Jones?" he will ex-
CLAIM responsibility to an inqusltiYe
newsFa therer. "EeII, he ISIS der white
wash king OF South Dakota. So"
Pursers have full charge of the ship
accounts. They Pay the salaries of
some 700 men. and at the same time
it Is the purser who must wise the per
sonal and baggage declarations Of pas
sengers. clearing up Cloudy points to
the end that when the customs OFT GERS
come aboard the passens GERS will go
through without trou lie or annoy
ance. He is also responsible Tor the
cargo. He it is that checks the mani
tests and signs them, which signature
is taken to mean that the vessel has
in her hold just what the company
contracted for and nothing more. He
Is held responsible for the proper con-
dition, in fact, of every paper pertain
ing to the ship, which is g task worth
the full time of any ordinary man. An
officer Of great line in speaking of
the purser and his duties said that he
would advise no young man to encOur-
age purser ambition unless he loved
work, constant and arduous.
On the other hand, pursers have more |
fun on shipboard than any other officer. !
Their duties bring them In close con
tact with passengers, and many firm /
friendships are thus formed. One OF |
the most popular was an Englishman !
who. strange to say, was attached to
The French line. He could speak |
French, of course, as well as he could |
English and carried off affairs with |
Gallo tact and facility. He is now en-
joylng the fruits of a successful life
saving invention. Another purscr in
the White Star line was so popular
that his friends urged him to come
ashore and start a fashionable rcStau-
amt in this city. He yielded to the
but the result WAS not all !
that could have been hoped for.
So far as running a ship is concerned,
4 purser is absolutely lost. But he
Knows the management of small boats,
ind in time of accident he has charge
Il one.-New York Post