An ornate door with another crystal grip opened to show a nice sized washroom. He pulled a chain next to the door and the room was flooded with light from an overhead light fixture. The designers had rightly used white tile and marble wherever possible to enhance the light from the single light bulb, and it worked as planned. He entered and a small porcelain sink with running hot and cold water was to his left as a mirror above helped reflect the light. Great for shaving, he thought as he continued his tour of an 1880 ship. A toilet bowl sat next to the sink and he noticed that the unit was higher than the type used in his time to cut down on water usage. Above the toilet was a highly polished, wooden water tank with hanging chain that had a porcelain handgrip at the end. He fiddled with the chain as he contemplated pulling it, Naw, not yet, he thought knowing that pulling the handgrip would allow the, probably two or three gallons of water, to be released and flush the toilet bowl.
Finally, opposite the toilet and against the right hand wall, was a large, claw-footed bathing tub, once again with large, ornate hot and cold porcelain gripped handles. This, he thought, is a must tonight! Attached to the wall close to the tub was half-inch, steam-filled steel tubing holding many white, thick towels with Servia sewn in gold script lettering on them. Patty knew that after a bath the warm towels acted as warm glass of milk when it was time for sleep.
A musical triangle sounded and he walked out on the deck to see a young man dressed in white walking the deck and sounding a small triangle to get the passengers attention as he said: “The Cunard liner, Servia, shall be leaving port in ten minutes should you wish to join us on deck and watch New York slip behind us. Dinner shall be served at 8 sharp.” He walked on stopping at predetermined places known only to him and the crew.
Patty went back inside and checked himself out in the closet mirror. With a grin he thought, I do believe I’m set to go.
A low whistle sounded and he felt the screw start to turn so he left the cabin and stood by the rail as one tug that was stationed at the rear of the Servia kept her from swinging in the tide, which was going out towards the ocean. The liner belched some gray smoke as she slowly backed out while the tug threw out a thick plume of black smoke as she pushed with all her might to help push the Servia’s stern against the flow of water going downstream. Finally fully out of her slip, another tug joined up alongside the first one and together they pushed the liner so she was facing south and she was off with the tide helping her single screw propel her downstream towards her destination: the Atlantic Ocean. Three loud ‘well-done,’ blasts from the Servia were answered by the two tugs as they waved her goodbye.
It was the first time that Patty noticed that there were others leaning on the same railing and all watched with their own thoughts as the ship glided down past the buildings of the great city. As they got to where the Twin Towers were to stand for a brief amount of time, Patty took his hat off in reverence that he knew nobody aboard would ever understand. He stood on deck longer than many of the other passengers and at seven-thirty went back to his cabin. He opened his valises and put his clothes away. When he saw the hairbrush he decided to brief Bill. The newest time traveler sat in the easy chair and opened the communicator. He typed his message and before sending it read it.
HI BILL, ABOARD AND SAILING. ABOUT TO HAVE DINNER AND WILL GIVE YOU UPDATES EACH EVENING. THANKS FOR THE GREAT GIG, PATTY.
He pressed ‘send.’
Patty put the hairbrush in one of the valises and locked it before leaving the cabin. He strolled slowly towards the dining room and noticed that smoke was leaving a long trail from the ship’s two funnels but she had her three sails still stowed. Boy, he thought, taking a cruise will never be the same.
Once at the grand dining room he opened the highly-ornate door and stepped in to be greeted by a group of young men, all in white, pointing to tables and escorting passengers to their seats. Patty showed his seating ticket to one of them and they pointed the way as he declined an escort. He walked down an exquisite staircase worthy of a Grand Hotel and while the alabaster banisters swung in a wide arc left and right, he chose to walk down the center of the red-carpeted staircase.
The large room was more ornate than any place he had ever been which included the top hotels of Europe. Columns covered in gold leaf seemed to sprout from the floor to the top of the twenty-foot high ceiling where they were surrounded by cherubs and exotic birds. Lavish electric chandeliers hung in a straight line down the center of the room while other light fixtures attached to walls and columns by more cherubs made sure that there wasn’t a shadow in the entire room.
The round tables were draped in white linen with English China place settings and silverware along with the finest cut-glass wine and champagne glasses. It sat ten to a table and the red velvet covered seats reflected off the highly polished teak floor. Opposite the Grand Staircase was the ship’s orchestra, elevated so the waiters would be able to enter and leave the kitchen behind the same wall. They were playing a soft melody as passengers took their seats for the first time.
Patty sat at his assigned table, number 570, knowing that Jeanine Larsen would be there also. He stood as a middle-aged couple came to the table. As it seemed the thing to do they looked at their ticket and again at the card on the table before the man pulled the seat out for his companion. Patty nodded at them from across the table and with a warm smile said, “Patty Gelardi.”
“Ah,” said the gray haired man with a huge white drooping mustache, “Jim Corbett and this is my wife, Anne.”
Patty and the man’s wife nodded and he sat to look at the menu. A voice behind him announced more arrivals as a young man dressed in the white of the Cunard line gladly showed a group of young ladies to their table: 570.
Four young women took their seats as Patty and Jim stood momentarily. Before they could make their introductions another Cunard man brought another couple and a single man to their table. As they sat, Patty stood and said, “Hello all, I’m Patty Gelardi and I suggest that since we are going to be table mates we go around the table and introduce ourselves.”
“Hear, hear,” said Jim Corbett as he stood, “I’m Jim Corbett and this is my wife of forty-four years, Anne.”
He broke the ice as a few people clapped at their longevity in marriage.
The man next to Jim stood, “I’m Fred Muchin and this is my wife Mary. And we’re not even close to being married as long as Jim and Anne.
A blonde haired young lady stood and shyly said, “Ah . . . I’m Marilyn McGelroy and I’m here with them.” She pointed to the three women she had come to the table with and a petite red head stood and grinned as she said, “Edwina Carter,” and quickly sat.
The next woman looked around and realized it was her turn. She had glasses on and took them off and said as her face reddened, “Ah, well, I’m Jane Barlow.”
A tall dark brunette stood and said confidently, “Hello, all. I’m Jeanine Larsen and I for one am looking forward to our trip.” She sat as fast as she had stood.
That left the single man who came last to the table and it looked as though he didn’t want any part of this, but he stood and holding his napkin to his chin said, Peter Canali,” and he sat back down.
They all seemed to look at Patty as the spokesperson as to what they should do next. He grinned and said, “Hey, table, let’s check out the menu.” His rough unexpected demeanor set the girls to giggling which seemed to irritate Peter Canali.
Oh well, thought Patty as he looked at his menu, can’t please them all.
If the food on this evening’s menu tastes as well as it sounds it will be a feast, he thought as he trailed his finger down the list.
Potage Brunoise
Boiled Salmon-Cucumber Hollandaise
Sweet Breads-St. Cloud
Surrey Capon-Supreme Sauce
Baked Cumberland Ham
Browned & Boiled Potatoes
Braised Bermuda Onions
Salad
Plum Pudding
Brandy &
Hard Sauce
Ice Cream
Dessert
Coffee
His thoughts were interrupted by a feminine voice. “Mister Gelardi, what wine would you recommend for the table?” he looked up to see Jeanine Larsen looking over her menu at him, her green eyes sparkling.
“One sec, Jeanine, “ he quickly cringed behind his menu as he realized he addressed her by her first name, a no-no in this time period and before he could address it, Peter Canali said in a gruff tone of voice,
“Sir, am I sitting at a table where all are known to one another but I? For, if so, I shall ask to be moved.”
Before Patty could answer, Jeanine Larsen looked over the top of her menu, her green eyes flashed with fire, her eyelids half closed as she answered for him. “Sir! You mistake a Bohemian gentleman’s relaxed style of conversation, as though we all intended to deceive you into thinking we are all together when the complete opposite is true. I and my three friends have struck up a club to keep unwanted persons out and Mister Gelardi would seem to fit right in with us.”
“And,” he retorted, “not I?”
“It is not a club that allows one to ask for admittance, sir, rather we four select a new member when a unique personality is noted.”
“Such as Mister Gelardi?”
“Yes,” she answered shaking her head and getting agreeing nods from the other three young ladies. “Mister Gelardi has a non-pretentious air about him. I do believe that he does not pretend to be a bohemian, but is indeed one from the tasseled look of his long hair to his non-conforming relaxed cravat.”
“Well,” answered Canali as he twisted his thin black mustache, if membership in your club is so easily met, perhaps I shall stay in my very own choice of living.” He stood and tossed his napkin down. “I bid you all adieu.” He stormed away and they watched with surprise on their faces as he took the Grand Staircase two steps at a time.
The waiter came over and asked, “Is that gentleman feeling well?”
Patty just smiled and asked, “Would you be kind enough to supply us with a bottle of Blandy’s Verdelho?”
The waiter dipped at his waist and said as he departed, “Excellent choice, sir.”
“Now,” asked Patty as he faced Jeanine and the three young ladies, “What club have I just been privileged to join?”
The girls looked at each other and once again it was Jeanine who answered. “Women With a Future. What do you think of that, sir?”
Patty smiled as he shrugged his shoulders, “Well I’m all for women and do believe that they are as responsible for the future as Mister Canali.”
Jim Corbett interrupted the Ladies laughing. “I agree with your choice of allowing Mister Gelardi into your club, ladies, but as I have spent thirty-seven years as a sheriff, I feel that you four have made an enemy in Mister Canali. He had a look I’ve seen many times and I advise you to stay away from him.”
His words of caution were accepted by the four of them and it took the return of the waiter and the wine he poured to bring them back to the jovial atmosphere they deserved.
“So,” said Anne Corbett, “Please enlighten me as to your club, dear ladies.”
This time Marilyn McGelroy answered. She was visibly excited as her close-cropped blonde hair bobbed on her shoulders as she spoke. “’Women With a Future’ is the brainchild of Miss Larsen but quickly embraced by we three. It is simple in that we have each set goals that at times enter into areas that are considered off limits to women.” She pointed to Jeanine and said, “Miss Larsen would become a painter of world renown even though she knows that the great art clubs and museums of the world are governed by men.” She turned next to Jane Barlow, a shy, dark brown-headed pretty girl with prim glasses. Miss Barlow is a butcher’s daughter and she would very much enjoy becoming a surgeon’s assistant. She was born and raised in England and had to come to America to attend a conference of Medical Practices in New York because she was scoffed at in the traditional English Medical learning establishments. The best they offered her was to become a bed-pan woman.” Lastly she pointed at Edwina Carter, a stunning looking young woman with long flowing jet black hair and went on, “Miss Carter is on her way to Europe to act in a Shakespearean play because an Englishman saw her perform in a small play in New York and saw her great potential that was denied her in New York.”
“Miss McGelroy has outlined us well,” said Jeanine Larsen picking up the explanation for the club’s existence. “The overall idea is to only speak of the club when the audience we are in is a receptive audience, as I feel we at table 570 tend to be . . .”
“Since Mister Canali left, that is,” said Anne Corbett to the table’s laughter.
“Correct!” continued Miss Larsen lifting her glass of wine and holding it up as a toast to which table 570 responded by lifting their glasses. “We include people who would embrace our cause and I felt straight away that Mister Gilardi did that automatically.”
“As I said, my dear Miss Larsen, I most certainly do. As I am myself in the arts, I feel that whatever talent we are given at birth, be it entertaining or the healing of the sick, that talent should be shared with others.”
A tapping of silverware against the wine glass showed that table 570 agreed with Patty. “So where did you four get together to start your club?”
“We four have been pen-pals since we were very young. We started writing to one another in grade school as a project and continued ever since. Once we all realized that our dreams had come to a dead end, we decided to band together and support each other.”
“Have you many other members?”
The four young ladies grinned as Jeanine said, “Well, sir, in actuality, you are the first.”
“The first? Well, then I am proud to be in this wonderful club.”
The waiter came by and after taking their orders Patty ordered another bottle of wine.
The wine came to the table the same time as the food and Patty gazed at his order which now seemed to be too much. He had the broiled Salmon, some sweet bread, browned, broiled potatoes and braised Bermuda onions all smothered in Brandy & Hard sauce. He sipped his wine with the meal and had vanilla ice cream and coffee after dinner.
Finished, the passengers of table 570 agreed to stroll the deck until the night’s chill sent them back to their cabins. Patty offered cigars to all and was pleasantly surprised that beside Jim and Fred taking one so did Miss Larsen. They strolled the deck attempting to match the smoke billowing from the two funnels above them.
“So,” asked Jeanine Larsen as the chill whittled the strollers down to Patty and the four young ladies, “pray tell us, Mister Gelardi, what is the art that you carry just beneath your bohemian exterior?”
“Well, first off I must plea that we four be on a first name basis as where I come from all friends are. If this is not agreeable, I understand as it is hard to break tradition.”
“Breaking tradition is what our club is all about,” said Jane Barlow, “and I for one agree to Mister Gelardi’s request. All in favor?”
The ayes were unanimous.
“Then I am Patty to all who sit at Table 570.”
“And I am Jeanine, she is Jane and here stands Marilyn and there is Edwina. And there goes tradition,” she said as she mocked tossing something overboard.
The four embraced and continued their walk.
“So, dear ladies, to answer your query as to my art, I am a voice coach.”
“Ahh,” said Jeanine, “the bohemian unveiled! Wonderful! Perhaps you will give me a lesson before we dock?”
“It would be an honor, dear Jeanine. An honor, indeed.”
“Wonderful, now I do believe that I shall turn in. I would imagine that we shall all meet for breakfast tomorrow?”
Once again nods by all showed them to be in agreement.
Once back in his cabin Patty picked up a breakfast menu that had been slipped under his cabin door, ran the bath water as he searched through his papers for something that Matt had given h
im. He pulled an upright, brass and glass ashtray next to the bathtub, took another cigar and lit it as he turned off the water and settled into the hot water. He stretched out as much as he could and flicked his ash as he opened the brochure Matt had supplied him.
It was printed on thick, manila stock and the typeface told Patty that Matt had gone back and picked up an original for him to get familiar with the ship he was on. He grinned as he read:
SERVIA
Gross Tonnage - 7,392 / Dimensions - 156.96 x 15.88m / Number of funnels - 2 / Number of masts - 3 / Construction - Steel / Propulsion - Single screw / Engines - Compound, three / Service speed - 16 knots / Builder - J&G Thomson, Glasgow / Launch date - 1 March 1879 / Passenger accommodation - 480 1st class, 750 2nd class
During the late 1870's the Cunard Board of Directors were required to consider yet another scientific discovery. Just as iron had superseded wood, so steel was about to supplant iron. The directors were convinced that steel possessed greater strength than iron, and it was lighter. The first steel ship to be built for Cunard was the Servia, and it was the largest and most powerful ship at the time (except the Great Eastern). The Servia possessed compound engines of massive proportions generating a total of 10,000 horsepower. The passenger accommodation was also of a high standard and modern appliances such as electric lamps were introduced. The fastest passage of the ship was made in December 1884, when it steamed from New York to Queenstown in 7 days 1 hour 38 minutes.
Patty smiled at the stats that Matt had passed on for his information and finished, he reached for the breakfast menu. Maybe it was the walk on the deck in the chilled air or the spirited conversation he had with the four women but reading the menu made him realize that he was ready to eat again. Not so fast my friend, he thought, you’ll come back a roly-poly if you allow your eyes to dictate to your stomach. He read the menu, Just to have something to do, he thought. It was printed on the same manila stock and said that breakfast was at 8:30 am and followed with:
BREAKFAST ABOARD THE CUNARD LINER, SERVIA
French Plums, Apples, Oranges, Water Melon, Oats, Porridge, and Boiled Hominy with Fresh Milk.
Time Travel Adventures of the 1800 Club Book VIII Page 14