THE SEA COOK.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3132, 28 August 1922, Page 2

THE SEA COOK.

(My C. i’ox Smith).

“We’ll all throw dirt at the cook !” --so runs one line of the furling chanty, “Daddy Doyle’s Hoots.’’ furnishing elo(|uent testimony to tlie low esteem in which that functionary’s attainments are held at' sea. Such nicknames as “Old Slush” further evidence his general repute, while to call a man a “son of a sea-cook” has ever been to offer him one of the worst of insults. On the whole the modern sea-cook is a much more competent sort of person than he used to he. Hoard of Trade regulations now compel some degree of qualification for the job, whereas the sailonnan in bygone days was at the mercy of an> unscrupulous and incompetent scoundrel who could get himself taken on for the voyage by pretending to he a cook. His victims had no remedy, doing aft in a body to lay their grievances before the “old man” might bring about an improvement —or it might not. Probably the latter, since even if the captain was inclined to listen to complaints lie could not do much to mend matters. Cooks cannot be replaced in mid-ocean, and the only thing was to grin and abide. And some sorry messes crews sometimes had to put up with. But, to look at the other side of the picture, a. clean, well-kept galley is one of the pleasantest corners of a ship. With its stove—a closed one, of course —at one side, its array of shining kettles and pans, and its pots hanging from hooks on the ceiling so that the weather cannot shake them down, it might serve for compactness and handiness as a model to house-designers. Sometimes' some excellent smells come from it: and the sea-cook, despite the uncomplimentary nature of most literary references to him, is often a bit of a “character” whose acquaintance is worth making. Frequently old sailors who are not physically able to serve as seamen will sign on as cook. and they can generally tell sonic in

teresting yarns if the mood takes them. The cook 1 in a sailing ship had, of course, certain nautical duties to perform, on occasion. When "all hands" were called to "bout ship," for instance, the cook had his station assigned to him, usually having to attend to the foresbeet. Some ships carry a Chinese cook, and very good cooks they often are if you don't impure too closely into their methods! A peep into the galley of a Japanese ship will generally reveal some queer dishes in course of preparation—bamboo shoots, for example, and dried lishes of strange smell and hue. T remember a cook iu a Glasgow barque on the Pacific coast who was a most urbane and polished person'. And not long ago I saw a woman seacook. It was in a Finnish barque, and the mate said she was an excellent cook, and 1 very good to the men.