BEST FED NAVY.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18462, 17 August 1925, Page 8

BEST FED NAVY.

ALSO THE BEST PAID. GOOD LIVING QUARTERS. (SrECXAL TO "THIS PRESS. ) AUCKLAND, August 18. The claim that the American Navy is the best fed Navy in the world is borne out by a visit of inspection to tlio galleys and a glanco at a typical 1 » ono - Tlie system of cooking for very large numbers demands science in tho kitchen. Ono would hesitate to say tho tho galleys aro letter those on, for instance, 11.M.> • ' but there is no doubt the faro varied. For each mess a nest tainers made of hcat-retaimup aiumin ium is produced, and thus the roaches tho tables in perfect eondiUou. Tho dishes are kept in inotal frn nes m a scullery, where they aro sterilisedl m water of intense heat after each meal. Tho bread is baked cm board »» electric, ovens and, generally speaking, tho standard of hygiene throughout the galleys and places where lood is piepared is hardly less perfect than in a dentist's room, a sick bay, or an operating theatre. . , Following is a typical days menu. Breakfast: fresh fruit, corned beet hash, tomato catsup,, hot corn bread, oatmeal and milk, bread, butter and coffee; dinner: cream of potato soup, hot roast beef with brown gravy, beans, baked potatoes, marblo cako with coconut icing, bread, butter and supper: steamed Frankfurters, boUccl sauerkraut, boiled potatoes, pickled beets and onions, fruit, jam, bread, and tea. In the menus for the week 6ucn dishes catch the eye as oyster soup, pumpkin pie, spinach and eggs, iced, cinnamon "snails," oreamed corn, canned peaches, homing grits, and other foods one seems to havo mot with ill American fiction. In the list of provisions carried one finds an immense variety. There are three kinds of flour, including buckwheat flour; there are all sorts of preserved meats and fish j there aro canned asparagus, beans, beets, corn, peas, pumpkin, 6pinach, and tomatoes, canned or dried apples, citron, coconut, peaches, and raisins. There is no individual rationing. Naturally definite quantities aro issued to tho cooks, but tliero is plenty for all, and if a man feels particularly hungry ljo can always get a second helping. Tlie average cost of feeding the men op this trip is 51 cents a day, or just a fraction over 2s. About Pay. It is olaimed that the American Navy offers higher pay than any other fighting service in the world. It is difficult to make a comparison, seeing that tl»o rate of pay increases with length of service, and of course With rank. A boy receives 21 dollars a month when lie joins, and a chief petty officer with setirico approaching 16 years may get about 160 dollars a month, or £32. lti is possible for a man to rise to a position carrying £2O a mouth in four years. Allotments aro made by officers and men to their families, and if they so desire they may make deposits upon which they are paid interest of 4 per cent. Often a man who retire-s a-tter 16 years' service- takes out .with him 1500 or 2000 dollars in addition to a. liberal pension. The conditions under which the men lire are very satisfactory. In casements behind the guns of tho deck batteries there are airy places where a certain number can live under very pleasant conditions, and combined ventilating and heating apparatus makest for healthy conditions. In quarters Jower down on the California and Oklahoma an experiment is lieing tried with bunks instead of hammocks. These are simply wire stretchers oiu hinges that fold back against the walls during tho day. Whether they are an improvement upon JiammOcks remains to bo proved.