The Washington herald., 1912-10-13
Arranging to Feed Tars BY Electricity

great extent the diet Of the navy. ank
one of its advantages b that th0 voGe.
tables preserved in such faahiou occupy
comparatively little room
Somebody ought 70 write Q sm,ahoW
the "B1ue5acket and TIE Deon,s Dlne0
time immemoriai beans hays bean .
soup and baked with silt pork. On every
warship in ths navy thsy ass asRvsd tvics
Q week for breakfaSt Sunday. and Wed.
pesday. 80 fAr as thsy are concerned
no improved method Of cookery has been
evolved In centuries. Even tD this day,
for the prsparation Of baked baans. tha
old.fashioned "scouss-kettla." - empaoy.
holds eight gallons.
TIVE Kitchsns.
The Psnnsyivanis viii have tvo 1dtch-
ems. n 10 customary on board Of war
ship-the crews galley and the of1oers'
galley. The latter. Of course. win b
much smaller than the other. Twenty.
ive oficers will compose the wardroom
mess. The Junior officers mess will num-
Der fifteen. and the twelve warrant officers
VIII have. a. In usual. q mess OF their
own. The captain messes all By himself.
being In this particular highly exclusive.
On the other hand, the admiral. when
the vessel 10 serving a. hagship. win
mess with nine officers who compose his
personal stan. Each of these messes will
have . pantry of its own. with . steam
table.
The men will be split up into messes
Of twenty. each having two tables to
eat at Each mess will be served BY .
''messman." temporarily appointed from
its own number. whose duty IL will be
to get down the tables (which are hooked
overhead during hours between meals).
to get the dishes and other gear from
the scullery, to set the tables. and to
procure the eatables from the galley. The
messing deck is cleared ten minutes in
advance Of each meal. nobody but the
fnessmen being allowed on II. When the
meal hour arrives. the officer Of the deck
tells the boIn's mate to pipe" for break
fast, or for dinner. as the case may be.
He plays q little tune on his pipe and
the men file In.
The men are obliged to wait on them
ever, enlisted as such. to wait on tbs
tables of the oficers-twelve for the
wardroom. six fer the admiral. four for
the junior officers. and three for tho war
rant officers. These mess-attendants. al
though their employment is Of . n,enial
character. are expected to take their part
In fighting the ship. They have their
pass ammunition for the guns, to carry
wounded. or to do something else useful.
There is no such thing as non-combat.
ant on board. Even the paymasters have
work 10 do in case OF Tight
Navy Feeds $4,000.
With a total family numbering 49,
600 to provide for. the United States Navy
is obliged to tackle the housekeeping
T. utkh Urian.
tific methods. 1t il necessary that the
entire fighting force shall be kept in a
state. OF the highest efficiency. and to
this end II must be well fed. The food
must be not only adequate in quantity
but appetizingly cooked and served To
the men Is allowed by law certain
ration. The warrant officers get the same
ration. md likewise the chaplain. But
all of the commissioned officers. except
the chaplain are obliged to subsist them
selves Each of their messes chooses
one Of its own number for a certain Pc
riod as caterer and he draws the sup
plies. rendering his accounts to the mess,
which Chips in to meet the bills.
All Of the food supplies are originally
bought by the Navy Department under
definite specifications Bids are invited.
and the edIbles being purchased in enor-
nous quantities. they are obtained at the
most wholesale Of wholesale rates. The
chief distributing center is the navy yard
in Brooklyn. II il the paymaster on each
warship who has charge OF all such sup
plies which he receives IN bulk. and OF
him is required a careful accounting for
everything delivered to him. down to the
last pound Of flour and tin Of vegetables
As one may well imagine. his job on
great battleship such as the Pennsyl-
vania is no sinecure.
On every holiday. such as ChrtstmaA
or Thanksgiving. a special effort is made
to give a feast fitting the occasion. the
dinner menu Is as elaborate as circum-
stances permit-depending mainly on dis
tance TO the nearest market for fresh
provisions The statutes allow the issue
Of chicken or turkey in place OF other
meat on such holidays. The small saw
ings of the messes are lavishiy contrib
buted and for additional luxur!es drafts
arc made upon the entertainment al
lotment." accrued from the slight prohts
on sales from the paymasters stores;