USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 13
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The prospectus of the London company reached Boston, and was made the subject of extended comment by some of the papers here. The Daily Advertiser said : "It may be assumed as an incontrovertible fact that wherever steam navigation has been established on a proper footing, and on a sufficient scale of vessels and machinery, it has not only been abundantly successful, but its performance has surpassed expectations, overcome the natural prejudices, and commanded the confidence of even nautical men ; and it has not only drawn to it all the most valuable communication in its line of transit, but also increased it in a tenfold proportion." The editorial further commended to the attention of its readers " the importance of establishing this species of communication between Boston and Halifax, as a branch of the grand line of communication between America and England: " and added, " all that is necessary to be done on our part to secure to us a full share of the benefits of the enterprise is to provide a single steamboat of five hundred tons, of the most approved construction, to ply regularly be- tween this port and Halifax." The editor of the Advertiser was Mr. Nathan Hale, one of the most far-seeing men of his time, and not long after these words were written, he did splendid service as an educator of the publie mind on the question of steam transportation on the land.
A meeting of the citizens of Boston was held October 10. 1825. the Hon. Harrison Gray Otis in the chair, to consider the question of steam communication (indirect) with Europe, and a committee was appointed " to devise a plan for establishing a steamboat line between this port and Halifax, in the event of the contemplated line between that port
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and Valentia going into operation ; " also, a plan for establishing a line between Boston and Eastport, Me. The committee consisted of Thomas H1. Perkins, George Bond, William Lawrence, David Henshaw, David Low, William J. Loring, and Henry Oxnard; and at a second meeting, December 2, it reported: " Having opened a correspondence with the president and directors of the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company of London, on the first branch of their commission, they recommend that its further consideration be postponed for the present. They do this with the more confidence as they learn from sources entitled to credit that the enterprising citizens of St. John, N. B., have already made arrangements for establishing a line between Eastport and Windsor, N. S., and they find it to be the opinion of intelligent inen that this route will be preferred by many to a direct passage from Halifax to Boston, the distance to Windsor being but about forty-two miles, and the road very good." The committee recommended the immediate establishment of a permanent line to Eastport; one or more boats had already been running on this route, and during the last season, it was said, the number of passengers brought from Eastport by that line and the packets had ranged from one hundred to two hundred a week. A large committee, of which Mr. Lewis Tappan was chairman, was chosen to adopt such measures as might be deemed expedient for securing subscriptions for the line recommended by the committee of seven.
The establishment of steamship lines upon the Atlantic seems to have engaged the thought and effort of enterprising men on both sides of the ocean, at as early a date as the construction of steam rail- roads; although, for reasons which we will not now try to explain, the former objeet had to wait several years for its successful realization. The Steam Navigation Company in London, of which we have spoken, secured a large subscription to its capital stock a year before the bill was passed for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. And at the very hour when the prominent business men of Boston were devising plans to make a connection at Halifax with the ocean line projected in Lon- don, Mr. Gridley Bryant was endeavoring to obtain their cooperation in his plan for a railway, or what we should now call a tramway, four miles long, for the conveyance of granite from the Quiney quarries to a point at which it could be shipped to Charlestown for the monument on Bunker Hill. "In the fall of 1825," he says, "I consulted Thomas H. Perkins, William Sullivan, Amos Lawrence, Isaac P. Davis and
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David Moody, all of Boston, in reference to it. These gentlemen thought the project visionary and chimerical; but, being anxious to aid the Bunker Hill monument, consented that I might see what could be done. 1 awaited the meeting of our Legislature in the winter of 1825- 26, and after every delay and obstruction that could be thrown in the way, I finally obtained a charter." Even then, Colonel Perkins was the only man who was willing to pay any assessments on the subserip- tion to the stock, and the result was that he built the road. Four years, or more, passed before charters could be obtained for the lines to Lowell, Providence and Worcester.
An able and enterprising merchant in Halifax, Mr. Samuel Cunard, was among the first to give serious thought to the problem of ocean steam navigation. Whether he had any connection with the project in London in 1825 (mentioned above) we do not know, but he managed for many years a line of brigs which carried the mails between Halifax and Falmouth, England, and he foresaw at an early day that the time would come when such a service, in the interest of dispatch as well as security, must be performed by steamers. In 1830 he had in contem- plation a steam packet service between Liverpool and Halifax, which should include Boston, and probably he never for a moment abandoned the idea. It was his firm belief that trans-oceanic steamers might start and arrive from and at their terminal points, with a punctuality not cliffering greatly from that of railway trains. The steamship was to be the railway train, without the longitudinal pair of metal rails. Mr. Brunel, the great English engineer, had a similar opinion. At a meeting of the directors of the Great Western Railway in the autumn of ES35, when some one spoke of the enormous length, as it then appeared, of the pro- posed railway from London to Bristol, Mr. Brunel exclaimed, " Why not make it longer, and have a steamboat to go from Bristol to New York, and call it the Great Western?" The suggestion was treated as a joke at first, but it bore fruit at no distant day.
That the idea of a steamship service from England or Ireland to Ilalifax and Boston was never lost sight of, is evident from a statement made by Dr. Dionysius Lardner in 1856: " Projects had been started in 1836 by two different and opposing interests, one advocating the establishment of a line of steamers to ply between the west coast of Ire- land and Boston, touching at Halifax, and the other a direct line, mak- ing an uninterrupted trip between Bristol and New York. In the year 1836, in Dublin, I advocated the former of these projects, and in 183;,
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at Bristol, at the next meeting of the British Association, 1 again urged its advantages, and by comparison discouraged the project of a direct line between Bristol and New York. When I say that I advocated one of these projects, it is needless to add that the popular rumor that I had pronounced the Atlantic voyage by steam impracticable, is utterly destitute of foundation."
It does not appear that the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company ac- complished anything, except to prepare the way for those who were to follow. In July, 1836, subscription books were opened in London for the British and American Steam Navigation Company, which was "es- tablished under a preliminary deed of settlement" on the 21st of the next October. Two of the directors were Americans, Mr. Junius Smith, of New York, who had been living in London for several years, and by whose persistent efforts the company had been started, and Col. Thomas Aspinwall, of Boston, for many years American consul in London. The plan of the company at the outset, as we learn from the London Atheneum, was as follows: " To build a line, composed of two British and two American steamships, of great size each, as sufficient to keep up a communication twice a month to and from New York ; the reason for uniting the two classes being, of course, that British ships, by treaty of commerce, are not permitted to take foreign goods to the United States-they must be shipped in American bottoms; while, on the other hand, American ships are not permitted to bring foreign goods to Eng- land, except for exportation only. By the union of both, all descrip- tions of goods are secured."
According to the third prospectus, a copy of which lies before us, the vessels of the company were to start alternately from London and Liverpool, and it may have been the intention, ultimately, to call at an Irish port, for one of the directors lived in Dublin and another in Cork. The company contracted with builders at Blackwall for a large steamer, the British Queen, which was to have "capacity for five hundred pas- sengers, twenty-five days' fuel, and eighty tons of measurement goods, exclusive of stores, provisions, etc." The Great Western was contracted for at Bristol at about the same time, and the question was, whether the first departure under the new order of things would be from the Thames or the Severn. The Great Western was the first to be ready, and was advertised to sail April 8, 1838. The British Queen could not be fitted for sea by that time; the London company, therefore, char- tered a steamer to take her place, the Sirius, a fine vessel of seven hun-
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dred tons, schooner-rigged, built for the trade between London and Cork, and owned by the St. George Steam Packet Company, and she was dispatched from the Thames late in the month of March. She started from Cork harbor, now Queenstown, April 4, and arrived in New York harbor on the evening of the 22d. She was under com- mand of Lieutenant Roberts, of the royal navy, who was lost three years later in the President. On the 8th of the same month the Great Western, commanded by Lieutenant Hosken, also of the navy, started from Bristol, and making a distance, by her log, of three thousand three hundred and twenty-two miles, she reached New York on the 23d. Both passages had been successful beyond anticipation. The judgment of one of the New York papers was strictly true: " Steam navigation across the Atlantic is no longer an experiment, but a plain matter of fact. The thing has been done triumphantly."
The following statement from a New York paper of February 23, 1838, will show how much it meant to the cities of the American sea- board, to receive as the result of these passages what they were pur- snaded was a well-grounded assurance of regular and speedy communi- cation in the immediate future with the countries beyond sca: "It is a fact that the latest advices we have from Europe were received first at Halifax, thence conveyed overland to Quebec, to Montreal, to Kings- ton, Upper Canada, and have reached us from the latter place by an extra dated the 15th inst." Twelve packets from England and France were due and overdue at that date at the port of New York.
The now famous steamers returned to England with the news of their great achievement, and they were received there with the greatest en- thusiasm. The lords of the admiralty, who had charge of the ocean mails, saw that the time was come for instituting radical changes in the packet service of the empire, and their first step was to advertise for tenders for the conveyance of the royal mails by steam from Liverpool to Halifax, Quebec and Boston. The object of the British government
in intervening at this juncture, as it did, in the establishment of ocean steamship lines was political more than commercial. The opportunity was presented to it, to unite the widely separated members of the em- pire more closely together than had ever seemed possible; and it promptly took the first great step to this end, by providing for the main- tenance of a transatlantic line to its great dependency, British North America, with Halifax and Quebec as the objective points. The ques- tion of regular communication with the United States, through the ports
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of Boston and New York, in this view of the case, would of course be a secondary consideration.
Whether Mr. Cunard went to England on hearing of the announce- ment of the plans of the British government, or whether he happened to be there at the time, we do not know; but he saw that the time for action on his part, for which he had long been waiting, had arrived. He made the acquaintance of Robert Napier, already a celebrated en- gineer on the Clyde, and by him was introduced to George Burns and David MacIver, of the firm of Burns & Maelver, proprietors of a line of steamers, of from five hundred to seven hundred tons, plying suc- cessfully between Glasgow and Liverpool. All the details of the new undertaking, the size of the ships, the power, the cost of construction, the probable running expenses, etc., were thoroughly discussed by these able and practical men ; the aid of a few capitalists was secured, with subscriptions by them to the amount of £270,000; and the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was brought into existence. In behalf of this company, Mr. Cunard made a tender for the conveyance of the mails across the Atlantic, in accordance with the proposals of the government, and his tender was accepted. The only other bid came from the Great Western Steamship Company.
The important news reached Boston by way of Halifax, and was given to the public April 13, 1839, in the following statement: "A contract has been made by the British government with the Hon. Sam- uel Cunard for the conveyance of the mails from England to Halifax, and from Halifax to Boston, and also from Halifax by Pictou to Que- bec, twice a month, for the sum of £55,000 sterling per annum. The contract is for seven years. The first boat is to leave Liverpool May 1, 1840. The boats from Halifax to Boston, and from Pictou to Quebec, to run as long as the navigation continues open between the two latter ports, to be of one hundred and fifty horse power."
This information was confirmed by a letter from Mr. Cunard to his Boston correspondents, Messrs. Dana, Fenno & Henshaw, dated Lon- don, 22d March, 1839, in which he said : "You will be pleased to learn that steam boats are to proceed from this country twice in each month for Boston, calling at Halifax. The government have given the con- traet to me for seven years certain, and it may continue much longer, -- a year's notice is to be given on either side. I am building powerful boats; they will be equal to any ever built in this country. They are 1100 tons and 420 horse power, and as the government have been very
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liberal to me, I am determined to have the best boats that can be pro- cured. 1 am bound only to carry the mail on account of government, and am to get fifty-five thousand pounds sterling, paid quarterly, - which is no small sum to assist me in paying the way ; and I think when the boats are seen, that I shall have all the passengers from Boston, and to the castward of Boston. I hope to make the passage to Boston, calling at Halifax, in twelve days. I have no doubt a steam packet will leave cach port before long, three times in the month. It will be a great advantage to Boston, and I think you should all encourage me, and I have no doubt but you will do so.
"I hope to find that you have established peace on your borders. It is not to the interest of either country to go to war, and it is to be re- gretted that the acts of indiscreet people should lead to results injurious to the welfare of two great nations."
The precise relation of Boston to the proposed line, as defined in the contract, was not what its business men were likely to be satisfied with. They had no objection to Halifax as a place of call ; but they believed that for the sake of the line itself, as well as for their own advantage, Boston should be the terminal point on this side of the Atlantic. A meeting. therefore, was convened in the hall of the Tremont Bank, April 20, "to consider what steps should be pursued to encourage the proposed com- munication by steam packets between Boston and England." Mr Francis J. Oliver presided, and Mr. Benjamin T. Reed served as seere- tary. Remarks were made by Mr. George Bond, and others; and a series of resolutions was presented by Mr. Elias Hasket Derby, and re- ecived unanimous approval. Mr. Derby was an able lawyer and public spirited citizen, and we have had an account of this meeting from his own lips. We give the most important of the resolutions:
Resolved, That we regard the establishment of a line of steam packets between Liverpool and Boston as tending greatly to advance the prosperity of this city. by increasing facilities for the direct importation of merchandise from England, as making this port an extensive depot for the receipt of cotton and naval stores for foreign shipment, and the favorite resort from the south, the west and the cast, als well for embarkation for Europe as for the purchase of goods, and, finally, as a measure destined to promote our rapid growth in population, in commerce, and in wealth.
Resolved, That while we rely on the justice of the British nation, and the intelli- gence of our own, for a speedy adjustment of the questions which have recently disturbed our frontiers, we regard the enterprise as a harbinger of future peace, both with the mother country and the provinces, being persuaded that frequent commun cation is the most effectual mode to wear away all jealousies and prejudices which are not yet extinguished.
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Resolved, That it is of the highest importance to the success of this great enter- prise that the larger class of steam packets should run entirely through from Liverpool to Boston, and vice versa, stopping sufficient time at Halifax for the reception of fuel and to receive and discharge passengers and freight. That this arrangement alone will inspire confidence in the safe and uninterrupted conveyance of passengers and goods, and secure a liberal and ample patronage of the route.
Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that a suitable pier and dock should be provided for a term of years for the reception of the Liverpool steam packets in this port, where they may receive and discharge their lading free from expense to the owners of the steamers, and that such other facilities be afforded as the impor- tance of the subject may require.
Resolved, That the Hon. Samuel Cunard, of Nova Scotia, the spirited projector and conductor of this enterprise, is entitled to the warmest acknowledgments of the inhabitants of this city and State for the vast benefits which must accrue to them from the measure he has originated, and that he be assured of our sincere and ardent wishes for his success.
Resolved, That F. J. Oliver, R. G. Shaw, William Appleton, George Bond, George Bancroft, Charles Leighton, E. Hasket Derby, James Read, Martin Brimmer, George Darracott and Benjamin T. Reed be a committee to communicate these resolutions to the Hon. Mr. Cunard, and to devise measures to carry the fifth [fourth] resolution into effect.
To explain the allusion in Mr. Cunard's letter and in the second reso- lution, we would remind our readers that at this time the northeastern boundary question was seriously threatening the peace of the two nations concerned. Governor Fairfield, of Maine, had greatly aggra- vated the impending difficulty, by marching State troops into the dis- puted territory; and only by the exercise of much tact on the part of those highest in authority, was actual war averted.
The Boston resolutions, confirmed by many private letters, reached Mr. Cunard as he was getting ready to sail for America in the Great Western. He went with them at once to the Lords of the Admiralty, and offered to increase the size and power of his ships, and to extend the main route to Boston, promising also, half jocosely, to settle the northeastern boundary question, if they would add ten thousand pounds per annum to the subsidy. His proposition was accepted, and a new contract was signed in May. Mr. Cunard then went to Glasgow, where the keels of four steamers had already been laid. These were broken up, and four ships of about twelve hundred tons cach were started in four different shipyards, Mr. Napier's firm agreeing to build the engines. These ships were smaller than the Great Western, and much smaller than the British Queen; they were, of course, of wood, with paddle wheels, and afterward made a reputation for themselves as the Brilan-
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ma, the Acadia, the Caledonia and the Columbia. On the other hand the merchants of Boston were preparing to give substantial encourage- ment to the new line. On the 12th of August, the committee appoint- ed at the meeting held four months before reported as follows: "The East Boston Company are to build and make all the necessary provis- ions with three docks to receive steamships of the largest size, to be leased to Mr. Cunard for twenty years, reserving no rent except the usual charge of wharfage of goods or freight. The wharf now erecting is to be eleven hundred and fifty feet long."
The Unicorn, a steamer of six hundred and forty-nine tons, built in 1836 for the Glasgow and Liverpool trade, arrived in Boston harbor June 2, 1840, as the pioneer of the Cunard line. The wharves were thronged with enthusiastic spectators, who gave her a hearty welcome, and amid much display of bunting and firing of salutes, she procced ed to the newly-constructed Cunard dock. Three days later a dinner was given in Faneuil Hall to her commander, Captain Donglas, and a son of Mr. Cunard who came as a passenger; the mayor, Mr. Jonathan Chapman, presided, and addresses were made by the special guests of the occasion, the British consul, Mr. Grattan, Mr. Robert C. Winthrop, and several others. The excitement was even more intense when the first of the new steamers, the Britannia, Lieutenant Woodruff, R. N .. commander, arrived in port on the 18th of July, after a fine passage from Liverpool, by way of Halifax, of fourteen and a half days. Mr. Cunard, the distinguished projector of the line, came in this ship, and a banquet in his honor was given at East Boston, July 22, at which Mr. Josiah Quiney, jr., presided, and speeches were made by Judge Story. President Quincy of Harvard College, Mr. Webster and Mr. Bancroft. The subsequent success of the line, its influence in the promotion of international traffic, and the impulse given by it to steam navigation on the Atlantic Ocean, have more than justified all that was predicted by those who participated in these congratulatory proceedings.
Nor were the citizens of Boston mistaken in their anticipation of im- mediate advantage to their own port from the successful initiation of this new means of transatlantic communication. They certainly had good reason to felicitate themselves on the circumstance that Boston had been selected by the Cunard Company, and by the government with which it was under contract, in preference to its neighbor cities, as the American terminus of the line. The reasons for this choice were obvious,-nearness to the lower British provinces, and convenience of
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access from them, a shorter distance from Europe, and superiority of harbor and wharf accommodations. The railway system of New Eng- land also, although in its infancy, had already attracted attention in Europe. It may be interesting to remember that the trains starting from Boston then reached their limits respectively at Newburyport, Exeter, Nashua, Springfield, Stonington, and New Bedford. But the establishment of a first-class steamship line from Liverpool hastened the work of railroad construction, and gave a new impulse to every branch of business.
The trips of the line were to be semi-monthly during eight months of the year, and monthly in the winter, but it took a little time to carry out the programme. The Acadia came out as the second ship in Au- gust, the Britannia again in September, the Caledonia and the Acadia in October, the Britannia and the Caledonia in November, and the Acadia in December. The amount of duties paid at the custom-house on these eight arrivals was only $2,928.99. It soon became apparent, however, that all the finer and more valuable fabrics could be advantageously im- ported by steam, although the rate of freight was seven pounds sterling for the ton of forty cubie feet. In 1841 the duties collected on twenty- one arrivals were $73, 809.23; in 1842, on eighteen arrivals, $120,914.64 : in 1843, on twenty arrivals, $640,572.05; in 1844, on twenty arrivals, $916, 198.30; in 1845, on twenty arrivals, $1,022, 992.15.
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