507 APPENDIX. A FEW remarks on the personal outfit, expenses, &c., of a Naval Cadet may be of service to candidates. The following price list of articles necessary for a cadet's first equipment may be taken as a fair sample of such estimates. Some of the prices are less than those charged by outfitters generally; and, as the compiler of this one seems to have given general satisfaction, we may assume that the articles are good, and the prices sufficiently remunerative. 1 Registered Improved Iron-bound Sea Chest, No. 3637., with Improved Zinc Wash Tray and Foot Bath 1 Not Registered, from 1 Dress Coat, Vest and Trowsers 1 Superfine Uniform Round Suit 1 Second Cloth ditto 1 Double-breasted Blue Waistcoat 1 White Cashmere ditto 6 Indian Jean ditto, at 7s. 6d. 1 Watch Coat and Trowsers £ s. d. 4 10 0 2 10 0 5 5 0 2 2 0 1 Summer Cloth, or Cashmere Jacket and Waistcoat 1 Patent Waterproof Coat, Leggings, and Goloshes 1 Blue Flushing, or Pilot Reefing Jacket 6 Pairs Russia Drill Trowsers, at 10s 6d. 12 Imperial Military Duck, at 9s. 6 Unbleached Scrubbing ditto, at 7s. Dowlas, or Linen Jackets 6 Cotton or Merino Drawers, 3s. to 5s. 24 Cotton Socks, 8s. 6d. to 10s. 6d. 6 Worsted ditto, 1s. 3d. to 1s. 6d. 36 Shirts, with Linen Fronts, Collars, and Wrists, 3s. 6d. to 5s. 6 Baltic Flannel Shirts, 8s. 6d. to 12s. 6d. 6 Night Shirts, at 3s. 6d. 12 Linen Collars, 7s. 6d to 10s. 6d. 12 White Cambric Pocket Handkerchiefs, 10s. 6d. to 4 Table Cloths, 4 yards each, 2s. to 3s. per yard 1 Dirk, Belt, and Gold Knot, 27. 15s. to 31. 3s. 1 Improved Quadrant or Sextant, from 17. 16s. to 4l. 10s. 1 Box of Mathematical Instruments, from 10s. 6d. to 17. 18. 1 Telescope and Signals, from 27. 10s. to 31. 3s. 1 Dr. Inman's Navigation and Tables, new edition - 1 0 0 1 Portable Desk or Writing Case, from 12s. 6d. to 1 Set of Silver Spoons and Forks (according to number required by Mess) 1 Looking Glass 1 Leather Case, fitted with Silk, Thread, Buttons, &c. 0 365 696 Registered chests differ from those hitherto in use, in being more expensively finished, and having drawers. Drawers are objectionable; inasmuch as midshipmen's chests must be frequently carried on the upper deck of lighters when "taking a passage," and of small craft when clearing the lower deck. In a lee lurch, or heavy rain, the drawers in the ground tier of the registered chests are filled with water; moreover, in clearing the holds, the chests in the cockpit are frequently so blocked up as to be inaccessible except at the lids. In well-regulated messes, the table cloths are purchased as part of the mess equipment, and a small advance on the entrance money for this purpose is well bestowed; otherwise much valuable room is taken up by the stowage of these articles in the chest. When soiled, they are unfit for a place among clothing, and consequently are always to be found either mouldering in the "scran bag," or being used as knife cloths in the steward's pantry. The best pattern for telescopes is Ross's 1 foot glass; it should be fitted with a strap and signal card. A new edition of "Inman's Tables" has recently been published, which costs 17. Spoons and folks must be silver, not plated; and are more easily identified by initials than by crests. The rising extravagant habits, which threatened to supplant the old-fashioned frugality and manly indifference to epicurism, have been so promptly checked by the Authorities, that it is needless to do more than quote their Circular on the subject. "[Circular No. 282.] 66 'Admiralty, 12th December, 1856. "(Expense in Messes of Her Majesty's Ships.) "My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have lately had reason to believe that much greater expense has been incurred by the Messes of Officers in some of Her Majesty's Ships than is sanctioned by the Rules and Custom of the Service; and, from complaints which have been made to their Lordships, that mess debts have not been liquidated at the proper time for payment by the Officers contracting them, and claims have consequently been made upon Officers, who were subsequently appointed, to subscribe for the discharge of debts to which they had given no sanction: 66 My Lords have to call the attention of the Officers of the Fleet to these irregularities, in order that they may be avoided in future; and their Lordships desire that the Officers of the Ward Room will adopt such measures as will enable their Messes to be maintained with credit and comfort, and free from extravagance, and thus set a becoming example to the junior Officers. "In regard to the Gun Room Messes; my Lords have on several occasions had brought to their notice circumstances of extravagance and mismanagement, which have been caused by the unnecessarily high subscriptions, and the use of expensive wines and spirits, totally at variance with the custom of the Service and the pecuniary means of the Officers. "With a view of putting a stop to such irregularities, my Lords direct that the subscriptions to the Gun Room Messes shall never exceed the sum of eight pounds for entrance, and that the monthly subscriptions, including all extras, shall not be more than thirty shillings. "Their Lordships further desire that no wine, except port and sherry, or wine of the same class and price, and no spirits, except the ship's allowance, be used in the Gun Room Messes. No wine, spirits, or beer are to be received on board any of Her Majesty's Ships without the written approval of the Officer in command. "Their Lordships have also been led to believe that, in some of Her Majesty's Ships, Messmen, under the designation of Stewards, are still permitted to carry on the sale of provisions, wine, spirits, &c., to the Messes of the Officers as well as to the men, in direct contravention of the Admiralty Order of the 30th May, 1851. The attention of the Officers of Her Majesty's Ships is called to this subject, as nothing can tend so much to irregularity in a Mess, as well as to injury to the discipline of a ship, as to permit any person to make a traffic by the sale of provisions, spirits, &c., instead of the messes being properly conducted by their caterers. "The Commanders-in-Chief and Senior Officers in command of Stations are hereby directed to take the necessary steps for carrying out these Orders. "By Command of their Lordships, "To all Flag-Officers, Commanders-in-Chief, Captains, and Commanding Officers of Her Majesty's Ships and Vessels." "R. OSBORNE. In this Circular it is not intended that wine expenses should be included in the "thirty shillings." The custom of the service, as gathered from very numerous mess statements, admits of ten shillings a month as being a sufficient sum wherewith to cover a youngster's wine bill. |