“The past two weeks have been very full ones, so that I have not been able to get the time necessary to draw up a money statement, but that I hope to do in a day or two. All or most of us have had a little touch of stomach or bowel trouble, rather disturbing to work, due to flies or meat probably; but now all of our fly screens have come and been put in place, and we have cut the meat out of our bill of fare almost entirely, so that I hope we may get on without any further sick days.
“The food question really gave us a good deal of trouble and some uneasiness, as soon as the supply of pork loins and turkey had been consumed. These had been loaded on board the ‘Celtic’ for the delectation of our men on board of the world-circling fleet; but we enjoyed them just as much, as they certainly did taste good after a long day’s work in the open. By the beginning of April, however, we had to depend on the local markets for meat. Fish was good and poultry killed in the camp was safe enough, and all meat offered for sale bore the stamp of inspection; but when half the table was dining on soft-boiled eggs, something had to be done, and we could not quite determine what. Dr. Donelson was in charge of our mess and of sanitary supervision in the camp generally; but a steady stream of native patients, from early until late, of all ages and conditions and ailments, left him little time to experiment with the bill of fare. Had it not been for the spaghetti family of dishes, we might have been in a bad way. Our Sicilian cook’s repertoire was limited too; but when the Reggio camp was broken up, we took on Baker, ship’s cook, who immediately gave us a change and some familiar dishes.
“The water was good, and we found that we could freely use it without boiling. Our supply was so convenient for the neighbors that our one outside faucet for general use was, in fact, nearly worn out, before the city water supply reached our camp.
“Notwithstanding indifferent fare, our mess was a jolly one. Our latest accession, Avvocato Serrao, contributed much entertainment. He was a talented caricaturist and often, during the
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course of the day, would disappear to his room for a while, evidently to record his impressions pictorially. Nearly every evening he would produce one or two caricatures at the dinner table, setting forth the latest camp event. Mr. Elliott managed to capture all these,—sometimes, unfortunately, failing to do so before they got into the butter,—and it is hoped that some day we may have them all reproduced.
“One evening there was an alarm of fire during dinner, and every one rushed to the scene with whatever water receptacle lay nearest to his hand. It proved to be not smoke, only the dust of a heated domestic argument; but it gave Serrao a fine opportunity to portray each one of us. Mr. Elliott was always represented with a roll of the hotel drawings in his hand; and Dr. Donelson with a squalling baby on his arm.
“For our beds, or bunks, we had sea-grass mattresses, of the kind used in steamer steerages, costing forty or fifty cents apiece, and cheap cotton blankets, at two dollars or less each. I have felt softer and warmer beds, yet we soon get accustomed to conditions; and the fact that we lived comfortably in our own cottages for three months, is a good proof of their habitability. There were some leaky roofs; but this is a fault shared by some more expensive structures; and in the heat of the day, they were hot, as all unceiled structures must be. The ventilators in the gable ends helped this much, but of course the best remedy was to ceil the interior, which some of the occupants assigned to the houses very sensibly proceeded at once to do.