Probably three-fourths of the troubles that arise on board ship are due, directly or indirectly, to matters connected with food. Certain it is that nothing conduces more to the maintenance of a comfortable and contented ship than an ample supply of good and well-cooked viands. Various schemes have been put forward from time to time with a view to rehabilitating British merchant sailors, so long a dwindling quantity, in our mercantile marine, and it is satisfactory to know that the proportion of their foreign rivals in our employment has been checked and even slightly diminished during the past two or three years. But the bringing about of a large increase of respectable British sailors will much depend upon the amelioration of some of the conditions of life and service afloat, and from this point of view the reformation of sea-cookery may be looked upon as a very important factor. Side by side with better cookery one would like to see the food served up to the men in a more decent manner than is now too frequently the case. What, for instance, can be more abominable than the mess-kids so often in evidence ? Hunger must indeed be a good sauce when it enables men to eat, I can scarcely say enjoy, their meals served up in such unappetising utensils. Again, how few of the forecastles of our vessels are fitted with mess-tables ! Attention to a few items of this description would cost but a mere nominal sum, and, at the same time, would greatly add to the comfort of those who, by the very nature of their employment, are cut off from much that is deemed essential ashore. 9 There is also another point closely allied to this cookery question that should not be overlooked, and it is this : We are frequently told that many of our seamen are in the habit of getting drunk upon the least possible provocation, and I would ask : What is so likely to drive men to drink as bad accommodation and indifferent victuals ? Moreover, it must be remembered that, no matter how good the raw provisions may be, if they are improperly cooked the food cannot be anything else but bad. Who can be surprised if men who are compelled to live for long periods on badly cooked rations, and in the unsavoury atmosphere of a dingy forecastle, should, when opportunity offers, succumb to the attractions of the comparatively palatial public house ? It is only in accordance with the instincts of human nature that they should do so, and I venture to think that few of us have the right, everything considered, to cast the first stone. We are all very much the victims of circumstances, and are potentially influenced by our environments, whether for good or for evil, and one is at a loss to understand why it should be imagined that sailors are formed of a different material to other people. It may be laid down as an axiom that the better the surroundings of our seamen, the better will the conduct of the men themselves become.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Probably three-fourths of the troubles that arise on board ship are due, directly or indirectly, to matters connected with food. Certain it is that nothing conduces more to the maintenance of a comfortable and contented ship than an ample supply of good and well-cooked viands. Various schemes have been put forward from time to time with a view to rehabilitating British merchant sailors, so long a dwindling quantity, in our mercantile marine, and it is satisfactory to know that the proportion of their foreign rivals in our employment has been checked and even slightly diminished during the past two or three years. But the bringing about of a large increase of respectable British sailors will much depend upon the amelioration of some of the conditions of life and service afloat, and from this point of view the reformation of sea-cookery may be looked upon as a very important factor. Side by side with better cookery one would like to see the food served up to the men in a more decent manner than is now too frequently the case. What, for instance, can be more abominable than the mess-kids so often in evidence ? Hunger must indeed be a good sauce when it enables men to eat, I can scarcely say enjoy, their meals served up in such unappetising utensils. Again, how few of the forecastles of our vessels are fitted with mess-tables ! Attention to a few items of this description would cost but a mere nominal sum, and, at the same time, would greatly add to the comfort of those who, by the very nature of their employment, are cut off from much that is deemed essential ashore. There is also another point closely allied to this cookery question that should not be overlooked, and it is this : We are frequently told that many of our seamen are in the habit of getting drunk upon the least possible provocation, and I would ask : What is so likely to drive men to drink as bad accommodation and indifferent victuals ? Moreover, it must be remembered that, no matter how good the raw provisions may be, if they are improperly cooked the food cannot be anything else but bad. Who can be surprised if men who are compelled to live for long periods on badly cooked rations, and in the unsavoury atmosphere of a dingy forecastle, should, when opportunity offers, succumb to the attractions of the comparatively palatial public house ? It is only in accordance with the instincts of human nature that they should do so, and I venture to think that few of us have the right, everything considered, to cast the first stone. We are all very much the victims of circumstances, and are potentially influenced by our environments, whether for good or for evil, and one is at a loss to understand why it should be imagined that sailors are formed of a different material to other people. It may be laid down as an axiom that the better the surroundings of our seamen, the better will the conduct of the men themselves become.

Sea Cookery