MESQUITE TREE. See MEZQUITE TREE, ante.
MESS (Fr. mets, Old Fr. mes, Ital. messo, a dish, from Lat. missum, sent or served up), criginally signified a dish or portion of food; hut is used in the British army and navy in the sense of a. number or association of officers or of men taking their meals together. In societies consisting entirely of the male sex, and of one set of men continually thrown -together, it is a very important social point that the mes.s should be well regulated. 'There are consequently stringent rules—both of the service and of mutual etiquette 3ald down for its government. One officer acts as caterer, receives subscriptions from -the several members, charges the wine to those who drink it, etc.; a steward has charge of the more menial department, arranging for the cooking, purchase of viands, servants, rations, etc.
In the navy, the admiralty lend the plate and glass; in the army such expenses are rnet by the mess fund, which is kept up by a contribution not exceeding thirty days' pay, or difference of pay, on the appointment or promotion, of an officer, and an annual subs,:diption from each officer not exceeding eight days' pay, which subscription, in the case of subalterns, is, since 1872, paid by the state. Of course, each officer ha.s to pay periodically his share of the general expense for provisions, etc. In the navy, this expense is limited to a month per head for the ward-room mess, and £1 10s. in the gun-room. In the army, there is no specific limit, but commanding officers are enjoined to enforce proper economy. Government assists the mess of regiments serving at home, and on certain foreign stations where the necessaries of life are expensive, with an annual allowance of £25 for each troop or company. The whole of this allowance is to be applied in aid of the cost of the first allowance of wine, and towards reducing the daily expense of the mess, etc. The annual vote for this allowance is about £40,000.
In reghnents, there is the officers' mess, to which all the officers of the regiment are bound to subscribe their regulated entrance-fee; but it is optional with married officers to use it or not, and if they elect not to do so they are exempted from the annual contribu tion, and only pay for their share of the consumption on the special occasions when they may attend. The sergeants have also a mess, when the comanding officer can
succeed in establishing one. It is considered necessary, for discipline that these messes should be quite exclusive, though, in continental armies, and especially the French, the case is different, the utmost familiarity being encouraged between all ranks when off -duty. The social equality of officers and men, due to conscription and promotion from the ranks, suffices to account for the difference of system. The sergeants draw their rations (q.v.), supplementino. them at their discretion; the officers can draw them or not (through their messman), ba on foreign stations they almost invariably do so.
There is no mess for staff-officers with an army, unless they form private arrange ments among themselves.
In the British navy, if the ship be small there is one general mess—the gun-room—to which all the officers must belong. If the vessel have a considerable complement, there is the ward-room mess (of which the captain is not an effective member, as he dines in .his own suite of cabins), for the commander, lieutenants, master, chaplain, paymaster, .marine officers, surgeon, assistant-surgeon, and chief engineer; the gun-room for sub lieutenants, second masters, midshipmen, cadets, and master's assistants; and the engi neers' mess (governed by the rules for the gun-room), for engineer officers below the rank of chief engineer. Officers or civilians voyaging in a ship of -war as passengers are ordinarily. elected honorary members of the mess to which their rank would entitle them. Rations are uot issued to members of a mess; but. each is granted, in lieu thereof, an allowance of £1 a month, with the power of purchasing ship's provisions at government rates.
Common seamen and common soldiers in the navy and army, respectively, mess together in tables comprising a certain number, according to their ratings or squads; but this has no reference to the technical meaning of messing as applied to officers, and is .merely for the purpose of economy of fuel and labor in the cooking of their rations.