MESS MANAGEMENT. . 435 
A two battery Mess establishment would be :— 
One butler, one waiter and a kitchen-man under the cook. The 
butler would get say 25s. a month and food, the waiter 15s. to 20s. 
and the kitchen-man 15s. The butler might draw his rations into the 
Mess and the other two might feed in barracks if necessary. ‘The 
butler and waiter should receive shoes, ties and Mess clothes, which 
should be made by a good tailor, not by a soldier, so-called, master- 
tailor ; if clothed by the latter they will look more like convicts than 
a gentleman’s servants. 
The most important tradesman is the butcher. Make friends with 
Staff of small 
messes, 
Tradesmen, 
the butcher and go and see him constantly if you wish to have old and. 
tender mutton; when he finds out that you know Southdown from 
Dorset and three-year-old from yearling mutton, he will begin to 
respect you. ‘T'he best butchers I have met have been sportsmen as a 
rule, the worst I ever met was a preacher, his mutton was very tough, 
like his discourse. 
Meat when delivered from the butcher should have the weight 
ticket on it and date when killed, the weight should be entered in the 
day-book to check the bill by. 
Fishmongers in country towns are not as a rule good, and anywhere 
where you have a good express service and are within three hours of 
London, it is far better to deal direct with the Army and Navy Stores, 
they are the best fishmongers I know of. When at Christchurch from 
1887 to 1890 we dealt with them and never had any bad fish during 
that time, neither was the fish ever late; fishmongers in London will 
supply fish at a given rate per diem. I paid the Army and Navy 
Stores 9d. a head a day for first class fish, but if you take the common 
sorts in turn, such as haddock or halibut, they will do you very well 
at 6d. ish for five was found enough for eight for dinner and nearly 
enough for four at breakfast and dinner; fish is cheap in a Mess and 
you should have a good supply always. When you have guests a 
post-card to London the night before brings down whatever you want. 
When quartered in a country place but little game is as a rule 
bought, the Mess is generally amply supplied by the good friends with 
whom the officers shoot. At all out stations in England I have been at, 
we generally had more than we could manage. If game has to be 
bought, the Army and Navy Stores again is the cheapest place to deal at. 
With regards to poultry, the Mess Secretary, with but little trouble, 
can generally find out some farmer’s wife in the neighbourhood who 
will supply the Mess direct and save the middle-man’s profit. I have 
constantly done this and it does good to the farmer; on the same 
principle, officers when possible should buy all their forage direct from 
some farmer in the district who grows it. 
It is extraordinary how hard at times it is to get good butter in the 
country, and here again I should advise dealing direct with the pro- 
ducers ; there are, however, creameries springing up in all country 
towns and farmers now generally sell their milk direct to these firms. 
I think greengrocers are as a rule the most unsatisfactory trades- 
men, they usually supply stale vegetables and make big bills; they 
should be most carefully watched and everything should be sent back 
Fish, 
Army and 
Navy auxil- 
iary stores 
for fish; 
Game and 
poultry, 
Milk and 
butter, 
Green- 
grocers, 
