An Adventure with a Genius: Recollections of Joseph Pulitzer — John Shaqi
An Adventure with a Genius: Recollections of Joseph PulitzerIreland, Alleyne
General
An Adventure with a Genius: Recollections of Joseph Pulitzer
Ireland, Alleyne
Pulitzer, Joseph, 1847-1911
In the forward bulkhead of the cabin were two silent fans, one drawing
air into the room, the other drawing it out. The most striking feature
of the room was an immense four-poster bed which stood in the center of
the cabin, with a couch at the foot and one or two chairs at one side.
Hanging at the head of the bed was a set of electric push-bells, the
cords being of different lengths so that Mr. Pulitzer could call at will
for the major-domo, the chief steward, the captain, the officer on
watch, and so on.
The bedroom was heavily carpeted and was cut off from the rest of the
ship by double bulkheads, double doors, and double portholes, with the
object of protecting Mr. Pulitzer as much as possible from all noise, to
which he was excessively sensitive. A large bathroom opened immediately
off the bedroom, and a flight of steps led down to a gymnasium on the
lower deck.
Abaft of Mr. Pulitzer's bedroom there were, on the port side, the cabins
of the major-domo, the captain, the head butler, the chief engineer, an
officers' mess room, the ship's galley, a steward's mess room, and the
cabins of the chief steward and one or two officers.
Corresponding with these there were, on the starboard side, the cabins
of the secretaries and the doctor, "The Cells," as we called them. They
were comfortable rooms, all very much on one pattern, except that of the
business secretary, which was a good deal larger than the others. He
needed the additional space for newspaper files, documents,
correspondence, and so on. Each cabin contained a bed, a wash-hand-
stand, a chest of drawers, a cupboard for clothes, a small folding
table, some book shelves, an arm chair, an ordinary chair, an electric
fan, and a radiator. Each cabin had two portholes, and there were two
bathrooms to the six cabins.
The center of the ship, between these cabins and the corresponding space
on the port side, was occupied by the engine room; and the entrance to
the secretaries' quarters was through a companionway opening on to the
promenade deck, with a door on each side of the yacht, and leading down
a flight of stairs to a long fore-and-aft passage, out of which all the
secretaries' cabins opened.
Abaft the secretaries' cabins, and occupying the whole breadth of the
boat, were a number of cabins and suites for the accommodation of Mrs.
Pulitzer, other members of the family, and guests; and abaft of these,
cut off by a 'thwartships bulkhead, were the quarters of the crew.
The lower deck was given over chiefly to stores, coal bunkers, the
engine room, the stoke-hold, and to a large number of electric
accumulators, which kept the electric lights going when the engines were
not working. There were, however, on this deck the gymnasium, and a
large room, directly under Mr. Pulitzer's bedroom, used to take the
overflow from the library.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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