Show I 1 A SHIPS STEWARD EWARD GREAT MAN INDEED IN HIS OWN estimation relations Bel atlon with passengers Passe neen ht blu little cubby where everything I 1 Is X nat pat and la in Ort arrangement the I 1 pot pet of the dadles HE steward la Is a very ery great man in c I 1 01 0 1 the sailing world I 1 I 1 1 mean and I 1 fancy i he maintains his I 1 prestige in the circles I 1 he frequents ashore on a sailing vessel his position is unique and I 1 important and his N I 1 self esteem and carriage must be measured accordingly though often his stature but little exceeds five feet says a writer in the I 1 new york post technically he may have a few superiors aboard but his innermost consciousness recognizes none save the ca captain etain for him his veneration vene ratto n is absolute he lords it over the sailors and as for the cook give him your pity for the steward will show ow hm little especially if he is black and his superior lord of the galley but halt half so the steward ste bards s day dav on a big merchantman begins about 4 in the morning cook already is shirring and serving coffee to the changing watches what a gloomy picture it forms A bleak morning somewhere down in the southern ocean after a hard night of gales the ugly iron colored hearing sea outside blurred against uglier iron colored clouds the forlorn est waste that human eve can look upon and J the lonely dripping figures about the wet decks showing drawn faces white in the dirty gray light the coming dawn is only beginning to struggle out of the awful night and the da day promises so little worth the effort no wonder that the glistening yellow vellow coats group eagerly for the coffee before oil I 1 skins are cast off and boots turned I 1 out to dry dr around the galley fire then the steward goes to the captains room with coffee and the work of preparing breakfast for both cabin and forecastle begins in the galley soon after 7 the steward waits on the cabin table he H brings the food from the galley in a large basket which is deposited on the pantry floor and oh the narrow escapes that he has in 1 crossing the main deck and dodging seas on bad mornings and the disasters I 1 that have overtaken overtake that basket 0 on the davs when the sea recognized 0 no ceremony in entering even the sacred regions of the pantry what a fascinating little cubby it is when he I 1 is a good steward and everything in his domain shines everything is so compact and secured in such orderly arrangement there are lockers beneath i the shelves cupboards and sheltered i stowing places above and cups 1 in n rows swinging from the ceiling what hiding places that astute man contrives therein you discover if you make night raids for food after his busy day dav is over after breakfast the steward washes the dishes polishes the pantry again sweeps the cabin puts that and the captains room in order and cleans and I 1 fills the lamps this is no insignificant I 1 function on a sailing vessel also he I 1 is superintending super intending dinner preparations a aa various other mysterious vocations I 1 I 1 forward when eight bells strikes he comes into the cabin in and mounts a stool to wind the clock and put the hands so many minutes forward or back according to instructions directly afterward he is sighted crossing from the galley to the after house bearing a soup tureen with often a dog or two or perhaps cats a pig or a monkey forming a capering sniffing I 1 appreciative escort quick and alert I 1 he serves the dinner courses always with the badge of his office a towel hanging over one arm take that away and I 1 do not know where he would be whether it is dirty or not is unimportant por tant but he must feel its presence dinner out of the way this man of many calls is darting forward forba d and aft until 2 when he appears on deck or wherever the voyagers are sitting with tea lea then he disappears for a time and let us nope hope gets a nap but a hearty hot supper is on table at 5 and then follow more clearing and hustling at sunset the inside lamps are lighted and he climbs the companionway with a binnacle light under each arm by this time it is the dog watch and he has time for a little chumming with the second mate mameor or if his dignity permits to join or at least to watch w atch the singing dancing and frolic going on among the men forward though bread for morning Is yet to be mixed at 8 his labors end and he retires early always prepared however for an instantaneous turning out at any alarm nevertheless I 1 have often thought that the stewards is the most enviable position on the ship there are no long lonely hours for him his days must fly by and meantime a goodly sum Is piling up to his account he enjoys the sort of importance that appeals to natures like his much power in lesser directions and little responsibility while the comfort of even his superiors depends largely on his good win will moreover his position admits of the various companionships companion ships on shipboard I 1 believe that his is the only one that touches at some point every other life in the ship it he Is intelligent he may act tn in a certain sense as clerk as wen as serving man to the captain and may mange manage that interesting saturday feature of ship itte efte known own as slops the sailors shopping there are ladles ladies aboard he is the only man an besides the mates ate who holds converse with them and swe some limes he Is very bright and companion able he knows all the events and gos ir I 1 4 Z W av 5 ae A e 4 sip forward which Is the ont only y plaes where any form 0 of f society exists on a 8 merchant ship and if he be will he can retail many a hit bit of local color when other interests are scarce |