The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-11-02

cables and soft bread, no matter what the voyage
he may be on. Modern refrigerating plants ana
modern cooking methods are to be thanked Tor
that.
On the hundreds of new ships which are being
built for the merchant marine by the United States
shipping board careful attention is paid to the
equipment for storing, cooking and serving food.
The government is fully aware that sailors, like
soldiers, work best on well-flled stomachs.
Care is taken also that efficient men are en-
ployed as cooks on the nations new merchant
fleets. Good sea cooks are not numerous, even in
normal times, Having that fact in mind, the
United States shipping board, with the thorough
ness that marks all its efforts to create an un-
equaled merchant marine, is engaged In training
an adequate number of cooks to man the galleys Of
its new ships. Young men of character and inteIli-
gence are chosen for instruction.
The training of cooks Is part of the work done
by the shipping boards recruiting service. This
service has a fleet of training ships, based at At
Iantic and Pacific ports, on all of which young
Americans are taught by experienced cooks the
serious business of preparing good food at sea.
Besides that. the board has special cooking schools
on two of the ships-the Meade, u former Atlantic
liner stationed at Boston, and the steamer Dorothy
Bradford, stationed at New York.
Cooking at sea is by no means the same thing as
cooking on land. The sea cook has several things
to bear in mind that the land cook, in hotel, restau-
rant or home kitchen never has to think about.
Take for instance some of the precautions he
uluol ODoCING uo ItuSlIdlcu ny the IOll0WinR
"Don'ts for Sea Cooks:"
Don't expect the stove to remain in a perpend,sular
position. nor the cook. You are on a moving
platform. namely, the ships deck. which often
rolls and sways with the motion of the ship In
the sea-
Don't I'LL a kettle full of liquid, The rolling Of the
ship will cause the contents to slop over and
with fats may start a nre.
Don't allow pots and pans to get adrift. As a guard
against this. the galley range has an iron rail
around 1t.
Don't permit dishes to be left on dresser or pantry
shelf as on land II you do they Will slide OF
and be smashed. There are little pigeon-holes
for each kind. into which the dishes At, there
being a high bar across the front. with a space
cut out through which a dish may be reached
and lifted out
On modern ships the serving is done by men In
the stewards department, called stewards, so the
sea cook of today needs none OF that ~dexterity Of
foot that oneiegged John Silver showed as he
begged his way aft with dinner along the slippery
deck in the brig of Treasure Island"
II is a truism aboard ship that only a cook who
likes his lob is worth his salt. A discontinued cook
will spoil good food. This psychology Is recog-
nized by the shipping board in choosing young men
for training as cooks. Only those who volunteer
for the job are wanted. There are plenty who do.
Out of 5000. apprentices always on the training
shIps a certain percentage may De counted on 10
ask for training as COOKS.
Tbese Young men are serving on the nations
.bridce of ships" from patriotic motives. Some
nav 90 back to their home towns when the war
60 over: but others will remain In the merchant
marine. and will take a part In the countrys peace
evnonsion at sea as dignlhed as that taken by
eonro,n mate or engineer ON the ship on which
thew serve. Nor will they snffer In a financial
wav. for ) ~chief cook gets 500 month wages. be-