Part 32 (1/2)

The linen is put into a circular ”drum” full of soapy water and whirled round and round till well washed.

It is then partly dried by being put into another metal tub, which is whirled round by electricity at such a pace that the water flies out of the clothes. These are then put into a kind of mangle between hot steel rollers, which squeeze out any water that remains, and at the same time so heats the things that they come out quite dry and ironed into the airing-room, where they receive a final drying in hot air.

The ironing of small articles like s.h.i.+rts and blouses is done by a few laundrymaids using flat-irons heated by electricity.

OUR BIRTHDAY CAKE.

While on board we celebrated our birthday--that is, my wife's birthday and my own (for by a curious chance we were both born on the same day, though not in the same year!)--and at tea-time a beautiful birthday cake appeared upon the scene, beautifully sugared and decorated with our names and appropriate inscriptions, just as if it had been made ash.o.r.e.

I do not know how the knowledge of the birthday got about, but I do know that the cake was a most excellent one, and the kind thought of the baker in making it was greatly appreciated by both of us.

FOOD AND FEEDING.

After seeing the stokehold, the engines, and the laundry, we visited the kitchens. The feeding of the pa.s.sengers is an important point, for on board are no fewer than 200 first-cla.s.s, 230 second-cla.s.s, 800 third-cla.s.s pa.s.sengers, and over 300 officers and crew--more than 1500 people altogether.

The voyage to Australia takes nearly six weeks, so you can imagine that a pretty large amount of food has to be carried on board to take the s.h.i.+p out and home again.

Tons of fresh meat and vegetables, b.u.t.ter, and eggs are stored in ice-cold cellars. Each day a supply is brought up and put into iced larders for that day's issue.

Here are some of the amounts taken in the s.h.i.+p for one voyage: 5 tons bacon, 50,000 eggs, 6 1/2 tons b.u.t.ter, 45,000 oranges, 9000 lb. jam.

In the great kitchen are a dozen cooks at work preparing the meals for all cla.s.ses--the cooking is exactly the same for all. Also the quality of food is the same, except that the first-cla.s.s get more variety and choice of different dishes. In the bakery is made the daily supply of bread for the whole s.h.i.+p, and also baked puddings, cakes, and sweetmeats.

POTATO PEELING.

There were lots of interesting machines used in the kitchen to save time and labour.

For instance, there was a machine for peeling potatoes; a round metal tub in which the potatoes were rushed round and round until their skins were rubbed off, and they were ready for the cooking-pot.

There were egg-boiling machines, which, working by clockwork, kept the eggs in boiling water for whatever time was desired, and then took them out without any attention on the part of the cook.

There was a bread-slicing machine and a plate-was.h.i.+ng machine, the dirty plates being placed in iron racks and lowered into a tank where boiling water is dashed on to them from both sides, so that they clean themselves in no time. There was also a machine for kneading the dough for making bread.

In fact, the whole place was a marvel of work and organisation all compressed into a very small s.p.a.ce, and yet done most successfully and cleanly.

A GOOD DINNER.

Here is one day's bill of fare for the third-cla.s.s pa.s.sengers, which shows that they do not fare badly. I had some of it myself, and it was excellent.

BREAKFAST