The Packets : 239 



The sailing packet liner continued in operation for over half a cen- 

 tury and for at least thirty years of this period held the center of the 

 stage of ocean travel and transport. It was an operation that set the 

 highest standards of performance for the organizers of the services; 

 for the captains and the crews; and this in turn demanded the utmost 

 of ship designers and the building shipyards. From the beginning 

 captains had an interest in the financial operation of their vessels, 

 and many of them became part owners, either in the vessels they op- 

 erated or in the line as a whole. Eventually some of them became sole 

 owners of vessels which they themselves operated, or participated in 

 the organization of new lines. 



The builders of ships also had occasionally had a participating in- 

 terest in line operations. Mates grew to be captains and captains and 

 mates that grew up in the service of one line later transferred their 

 interest to those of a competing line; for there was a premium set 

 on knowledge and skill. Ships were sold from one line to another 

 and sometimes carried with them the services of the captain. 



To be a captain of a transatlantic packet in the heyday of their 

 operation was to stand at the height of the profession so far as the 

 maritime services were concerned. It also involved holding a position 

 of public prominence, for in those days the eyes of the world were 

 turned on the records of the lines, of the ships and of their captains. 

 In those days, before the use of telegraph and cable service and before 

 the invention of the radio, the captain was solely responsible for the 

 management of his vessel, its passengers, its cargo and its crew. He 

 held and carried with success a responsibility that it is difficult for us 

 to reconstruct. 



There is another fact that must be considered: namely, that almost 

 every event of a captain's professional services in his career was open 

 to public inspection. In a steamer, the whole control of the vessel is 

 exercised from the bridge, and here no one dares intrude except on 

 the invitation of the captain. The motive power of the vessel is hid- 

 den away in the engine rooms; the lines of communication are pro- 

 tected from inspection. All this is totally opposed to the conditions 

 of the operation of a vessel in sail. Here the captain commanded 

 from the quarterdeck, his commands were carried by messenger or 

 by the shouted orders of his officers. All the traveling force of the 

 vessel and the lines of control were on deck and above deck where 

 the passengers and crew could see the effectiveness of each order, 

 and the departure of a vessel was witnessed not only by the passen- 



