Chief Stewards Info

[j.sabourn]

Ive sailed with ch.stwds or butlas of varying nationalities, there was always ways of making money on the side, some chief stewards were honest and some had fleets of houses in Shields and I knew a couple who are probably dead by now. The obvious way on Hong Kong Articles where every purchase was by cash, especially in Rotterdam there was a standing 10 percent discount on all consumables this if dishonest could be put in pocket, this was more or less the same world wide. Finally when British companies copped on to this they took all cash transactions off the ship and took themselves no doubt.
The company I served my time with had a standing feeding allowance of 8 shillings a day on the agreement if the Ch. Steward kept it below this figure he received a nice bonus. When I was mate in Capetown I needed a wire for one of the cranes so went along to see the Chandler in the Chief Stewards cabin ordered the wire, think it was about 800 pounds and signed for it. They delivered the wire and was of the wrong size so reordered the smaller wire which was 300 pounds. The Chief Steward said just take the difference back off the Chandler which was 500 pounds, being a lot younger then and with higher morals I refused and a new receipt was given. Today I would probably have to think about as there are plenty around with no moral ethics and may have thoughts about joining the club. My thoughts then and were always the employers or those who paid the wages their interests came first, the company which have been discussing with Bill Morrison allowed the master up to 30 pound a month for entertaining charterers in 1983, I had no feelings of remorse using. As regards Bonds if a company bond don't know, but if a masters bond he used to be paid by the master to do so. Some Chief Stewards were very honest and others not so. It soon became apparent early in the trip. Cheers JS

[cappy]

##in the 50s and60s i never was on aship were the officers got different food from the crowd down aft ie firemen and sailors .....that was on tankers dry cargoes and ore carriers and coasters ......all had the same food the only time i saw a special item of food was when the old mans wife on a ore carrier brought him a large special cheese and a case of lobster tails ...which i shared with him .....without his knowledge ....on bigger passenger vessels perhaps this difference happened .....as for dishing out the wack ...there was always as much as was required ....unless some dickhead in the messes decided to do a bit of home trade......on one 11 monther after the ist day out a geordie AB frim shields presented himself for dry stores and stated we want oourwack .....i said no need bonny lad you can have what you want there is plenty aboard.......him we want wor wack .....no problem .again we want wor wack ....well effit have your bloody wack and dished him out the wack ....the somali firemen just asked for stores they got plenty ...3 or 4 days later.....geordie is back ....how has them firemen got loads of tea sugar butter connie onny breadand jam and weve got nowt left ....this was a modern day at that time AB ......not a old timer ...had bad meat once or twice and bad bread due to flower but never went hungary thats for sure...cappy

[Jim Brady]

Cappy do you remember when steaks came from the galley to the pantry and one would have a mushroom on it to indicate that that was the captains.One ship I was on I was doing something so the pantry boy served the saloon steward.Next thing the sal/stwd shouts one steak captain,his steak had gone the pantry boy had served it.The cadet was just about to get stuck into it when it was whipped from under his nose.
Regards.
Jim B.

[Red Lead Ted]

Being chief steward on liners may have been very different to that on cargo or tankers.
Their position was varied in many ways, responsible for all catering crew and ordering and supply of stores. But they were also responsible for keeping costs down and paid commision on what they saved the company. To achieve that it often meant that the bloods had to go without, wingers ahd to become magicians to satisfy the needs of them. One particualr item alwasy in short supply, dry tea, there must have been a good outlet for it somewhere else for it to be so scarce. Breakfast in tourist only saw streaky bacon, and eggs, boiled or fried maybe even poached but scrambled, never!!!

John, To be honest its the last job i would take aboard ship, Seemed to me a Chief Steward was in a loose loose situation, If the grub was lets say not the best feeder the crew was on his back, If he took it on his head to go overboard and budget the shipping company was on his back, He was responsible for shoving salt tablets down everyone's throat, If a crew member coped for a nasty dose of anything you where sent to see the Chief Steward, I recall the crews mess steward bringing in our main course of spam salad on a Harrison boat, Bloody big scouser looked at him shaking W T F is that ??????? Where is the Chief Steward................. ERRRRRR I think he is on deck having a smoke Tony, Tony took the tray of spam salads off him went on deck and spotted the uniform sat on bollards Lamped him one put the salad all over his bloody head..............AYYYYYYYYY Take that up top and swap it for there main course. He had only knocked seven bells out of the radio officer

[cappy]

never heard of a spam salad as a main course on any ship i was on .....salad were always put out for the night watches with iether corned dog or pilchards in tommy sauce ....sure stunk in hot climes .....iwas never on a ship were there was not three courses for lunch and dinner inc a good soup....duff every sunday ....plenty rice pud and tinned fruit...the bridge box was always a sandwich of cheese or pilchards or corned dog .....same for engineers box ........never ever had a tabnab ...never had a pig and whistle....or a crew bar of any kind iether for crew or officers.....but had better food apart from odd weevils or maggots than i ever had at home ...bacon and egg every morn ....plus burgoo and even curry ......only bad food was on collier and coastal tanker weekly boats.........do recall some eggs really musty taste....and bread like rock due to bad flour.....but always meat twice a day......cappy

[Captain Kong]

I have been on some terrible BAD Feeders. on your pound and pint.

Six ounces of fresh offal, per man per day PERHAPS. The only fresh meat was from the cockroaches. More protein in a cocky than a beef steak, pound for pound.
Gone to bed hungry, unable to sleep for the hunger pains. Nicholas K, of Kiriakides of Athens , the Captain, Mate and Chief Mate all skinned out in Port Lincoln, it was so bad.
Chief Steward measuring out and weighing your whack on the scales for each man and his thumb on the scales. one tin of connie onnie per man per ten days. Tea leaves weighed out per man . thumb on the scales. only getting half of what you were entitled to.
Ordered fresh meat in Cochin, 12 goats on the hoof came down to the gangway. "Wheres the fresh meat?"
"This is very fresh meat Sahib."
had to make pens and feed them straw, Galley boy had to slaughter them as and when required,
We could all walk down the gangway six abreast, whistling, we were so thin.
On the Fyffes banana boats, Load stores in Garston, five days later, in Las Palmas, carry them down the gangway, Chief Steward, Captain counting wads on money. Our diet after that was bananas. Fried bananas, stewed bananas, boiled bananas, roast bananas, grilled bananas, frappy bananas, we were going bananas.

Then joined ESSO, The very best feeders of all time, a menu on every table, a Bottle of Wine on every table of four men, every Wednesday and Sunday.

Cheers
Brian.

[cappy]

wouldnt of gone on a greek .....noske svenska ok ....but no greek ....a lad i sailed with in shields ......a so called hard man told me a few years ago now his twin sons got a pierhead jump on a greek tanker 30 years ago and he has heard nothing since......if the diet was like yours on the greek brian they probably starved to death....regards cappy

[John F Collier]

wouldnt of gone on a greek .....noske svenska ok ....but no greek ....a lad i sailed with in shields ......a so called hard man told me a few years ago now his twin sons got a pierhead jump on a greek tanker 30 years ago and he has heard nothing since......if the diet was like yours on the greek brian they probably starved to death....regards cappy

If the food was as scarce as Brian's experience and them being Greek maybe they thought That was "the fresh meat" coming aboard, JC

[John F Collier]

Being in the Galley and Pantry most of the time I always seemed to have the pick of what I wanted and never went hungry, I only went to the catering dept for that reason and was once told by a chief stwd "Collier you are the most unlikely steward I have ever met" I only went to catering as my brother in law was a stwd and told me that the food and cabins were better.

[Red Lead Ted]

never heard of a spam salad as a main course on any ship i was on .....salad were always put out for the night watches with iether corned dog or pilchards in tommy sauce ....sure stunk in hot climes .....iwas never on a ship were there was not three courses for lunch and dinner inc a good soup....duff every sunday ....plenty rice pud and tinned fruit...the bridge box was always a sandwich of cheese or pilchards or corned dog .....same for engineers box ........never ever had a tabnab ...never had a pig and whistle....or a crew bar of any kind iether for crew or officers.....but had better food apart from odd weevils or maggots than i ever had at home ...bacon and egg every morn ....plus burgoo and even curry ......only bad food was on collier and coastal tanker weekly boats.........do recall some eggs really musty taste....and bread like rock due to bad flour.....but always meat twice a day......cappy

Cappy, I kid you not i can remember that day well, French onion soup for starters. Followed by the spam salad, I also had the best of feeders for me a shell tanker had a 2nd cook and baker and boy could he bake you talk of tabnabs and a tin of bully left out for the watch, This ship had a bar full of pastries and all kinds of delight full tabnabs right around the clock. The guy was as black as the ace of spades not one soul aboard the ship could express his name so he got without prejudice called midnight even the skipper new him as midnight, Would not happen these days, To this day i can make a meal out of a tin of pilchards or sardines, And another cuisine that has vanished from our menu these days a butcher cant sell you them kidneys on toast for breaky all nutritious and a good scran to boot Regards Terry.