Mess (Fr. mets, Old Fr. mes, Ital. messo, 'a dish,' from Lat. missum, 'sent,' or 'served up') originally signified a dish or portion of food. In the British army and navy the men are divided into 'messes' of whatever number is most convenient for taking their meals together. Officers and sergeants also have their 'messes,' which, in addition to being 'common rooms' in which they take their meals, are much of the nature of clubs, having smoking, billiard, and reading rooms attached to them, and often libraries.
In the army each man, unless married, or for other reasons allowed to live out of mess, pays a daily rate of 5d. a day to his mess, which is managed by a non-commissioned officer under the supervision of an officer. For this sum he is provided with groceries, vegetables, puddings, and plates and mugs. A knife, fork, and spoon is part of his kit which he must always have with him. His rations ( lb. of meat, including bone, and 1 lb. of bread per day) are given him free, but are drawn in bulk for the whole mess, the meat rations being cooked together and only distributed at dinner, which is eaten in the barrack-room where usually the members of the mess live. Tea and breakfast are similarly served. The men's washing is also managed by messes, and charged in the monthly mess accounts. One of the mess is told off as cook each day. He cleans the room, sets the table, and carries up and divides the dinner, but the actual cooking is done by trained cooks. Sergeants' Messes are managed by one of themselves under a committee of sergeants supervised by an officer, the adjutant if possible. There is a small entrance fee (usually three days' pay) and a monthly subscription for newspapers, &c. Some furniture is provided by government, but kitchen and table requisites, carpets, pictures, &c. are purchased out of the mess funds.
Officers' Messes are very similar, but on a larger scale. Every officer on joining is charged an entrance fee of thirty days' pay towards the maintenance of the mess, and thirty days' difference of pay on promotion. Unless married or specially exempt, he must be a 'dining' member of the mess of his regiment—i.e. he pays the regulated price for his dinner whether he eats it or not; other meals, as well as wine, cigars, &c., are only charged if taken. All officers also pay a monthly subscription of two-thirds of a day's pay for single, and half that amount for married officers, towards keeping up the mess establishment, such as furniture, liveries, wages of servants, table-linen, &c. The only assistance received from government is £25 a year for each troop, battery, or company connected with the mess; but this is only at home and in some colonies. This sum was originally intended to allow each officer a glass of wine a day, but may be applied towards reducing the general expenses of the mess. The affairs of the mess are managed by a committee of officers presided over by the senior member. The usual cost of the meals is 2s. 4d. for dinner, without wine, 1s. for lunch, and 1s. for breakfast. The bills are paid monthly, and will generally amount to some £7 or £8, without wine, for each officer.
In the British navy there are in all ships as a rule, except in the smaller ones, four messes for officers: the ward-room, the gun-room, the engineers' mess, and the warrant-officers' mess. The ward-room includes all officers, below the captain (who messes by himself), who are above the rank of sub-lieutenant. The gun-room comprises the sub-lieutenants, midshipmen, cadets, junior assistant-paymasters, and clerks; the engineers' mess, all engineers not entitled to mess in the ward-room; the warrant-officers' mess, the gunner, boatswain, and carpenter. In troopships there is one general mess for all officers, naval and military, including the captain of the ship. The system of having one general mess has been tried in other ships, but it has been found impossible so far to arrange for a mess-place sufficiently large to allow of all the officers sitting down to their meals together. The separate mess-place for the engineer officers is, however, being gradually done away with, those engineers not entitled to mess in the ward-room messing in the gun-room. Among the ship's companies the chief petty-officers, first-class petty-officers, and the engine-room artificers have respectively their own mess-places, while the rest of the crew are divided off into messes, according to their numbers, the marines and stokers forming messes by themselves. Flag-officers and officers in command of ships can draw all their plate, glass, china, and linen from the dockyard, paying the Admiralty a percentage for the use of it. The officers of the other messes are supplied on commissioning with a complete set of mess-traps, linen, &c. free of charge, which they have afterwards to keep up at their own expense. All officers and men, admiral and second-class boy alike, are entitled to the same daily rations. Officers, however, are not compelled to take up their rations, but can take up as much or as little of it as they please, receiving instead a money allowance, which is paid into the mess-fund. The men, however, must take up two-thirds of their rations, but they can receive money in lieu of the remaining third. Rum is no longer served out to the officers, but the men still continue to receive their half-gill.