CHAPTER XLVIII.
PURSER, PURSER'S STEWARD, AND POSTMASTER IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
As the Purser's steward so conspicuously figured at the unsuccessfulauction of my jacket, it reminds me of how important a personage thatofficial is on board of all men-of-war. He is the right-hand man andconfidential deputy and clerk of the Purser, who intrusts to him allhis accounts with the crew, while, in most cases, he himself, snug andcomfortable in his state-room, glances over a file of newspapersinstead of overhauling his ledgers.
Of all the non-combatants of a man-of-war, the Purser, perhaps, standsforemost in importance. Though he is but a member of the gun-room mess,yet usage seems to assign him a conventional station somewhat abovethat of his equals in navy rank--the Chaplain, Surgeon, and Professor.Moreover, he is frequently to be seen in close conversation with theCommodore, who, in the Neversink, was more than once known to beslightly jocular with our Purser. Upon several occasions, also, he wascalled into the Commodore's cabin, and remained closeted there forseveral minutes together. Nor do I remember that there ever happened acabinet meeting of the ward-room barons, the Lieutenants, in theCommodore's cabin, but the Purser made one of the party. Doubtless theimportant fact of the Purser having under his charge all the financialaffairs of a man-of-war, imparts to him the great importance he enjoys.Indeed, we find in every government--monarchies and republicsalike--that the personage at the head of the finances invariablyoccupies a commanding position. Thus, in point of station, theSecretary of the Treasury of the United States is deemed superior tothe other heads of departments. Also, in England, the real office heldby the great Premier himself is--as every one knows--that of First Lordof the Treasury.
Now, under this high functionary of state, the official known as thePurser's Steward was head clerk of the frigate's fiscal affairs. Uponthe berth-deck he had a regular counting-room, full of ledgers,journals, and day-books. His desk was as much littered with papers asany Pearl Street merchant's, and much time was devoted to his accounts.For hours together you would see him, through the window of hissubterranean office, writing by the light of his perpetual lamp.
_Ex-officio_, the Purser's Steward of most ships is a sort ofpostmaster, and his office the post-office. When the letter-bags forthe squadron--almost as large as those of the United Statesmail--arrived on board the Neversink, it was the Purser's Steward thatsat at his little window on the berth-deck and handed you your letteror paper--if any there were to your address. Some disappointedapplicants among the sailors would offer to buy the epistles of theirmore fortunate shipmates, while yet the seal was unbroken--maintainingthat the sole and confidential reading of a fond, long, domestic letterfrom any man's home, was far better than no letter at all.
In the vicinity of the office of the Purser's Steward are the principalstore-rooms of the Purser, where large quantities of goods of everydescription are to be found. On board of those ships where goods arepermitted to be served out to the crew for the purpose of selling themashore, to raise money, more business is transacted at the office of aPurser's Steward in one _Liberty-day_ morning than all the dry goodsshops in a considerable village would transact in a week.
Once a month, with undeviating regularity, this official has his handsmore than usually full. For, once a month, certain printed bills,called Mess-bills, are circulated among the crew, and whatever you maywant from the Purser--be it tobacco, soap, duck, dungaree, needles,thread, knives, belts, calico, ribbon, pipes, paper, pens, hats, ink,shoes, socks, or whatever it may be--down it goes on the mess-bill,which, being the next day returned to the office of the Steward, the"slops," as they are called, are served out to the men and charged totheir accounts.
Lucky is it for man-of-war's-men that the outrageous impositions towhich, but a very few years ago, they were subjected from the abuses inthis department of the service, and the unscrupulous cupidity of manyof the pursers--lucky is it for them that _now_ these things are in agreat degree done away. The Pursers, instead of being at liberty tomake almost what they pleased from the sale of their wares, are nowpaid by regular stipends laid down by law.
Under the exploded system, the profits of some of these officers werealmost incredible. In one cruise up the Mediterranean, the Purser of anAmerican line-of-battle ship was, on good authority, said to havecleared the sum of $50,000. Upon that he quitted the service, andretired into the country. Shortly after, his three daughters--not verylovely--married extremely well.
The ideas that sailors entertain of Pursers is expressed in a ratherinelegant but expressive saying of theirs: "The Purser is a conjurer;he can make a dead man chew tobacco"--insinuating that the accounts ofa dead man are sometimes subjected to post-mortem charges. Amongsailors, also, Pursers commonly go by the name of _nip-cheeses_.
No wonder that on board of the old frigate Java, upon her return from acruise extending over a period of more than four years, one thousanddollars paid off eighty of her crew, though the aggregate wages of theeighty for the voyage must have amounted to about sixty thousanddollars. Even under the present system, the Purser of a line-of-battleship, for instance, is far better paid than any other officer, short ofCaptain or Commodore. While the Lieutenant commonly receives buteighteen hundred dollars, the Surgeon of the fleet but fifteen hundred,the Chaplain twelve hundred, the Purser of a line-of-battle shipreceives thirty-five hundred dollars. In considering his salary,however, his responsibilities are not to be over-looked; they are by nomeans insignificant.
There are Pursers in the Navy whom the sailors exempt from theinsinuations above mentioned, nor, as a class, are they so obnoxious tothem now as formerly; for one, the florid old Purser of theNeversink--never coming into disciplinary contact with the seamen, andbeing withal a jovial and apparently good-hearted gentleman--wassomething of a favourite with many of the crew.