240 : The Atlantic 



gers but also by the friends that had come to see them off, and often 

 by a large company that crowded the docks and the shores. 



The smartness with which a crew prepared a vessel for sailing and 

 set sail, the skill, or the lack of it, of the captains and officers in ma- 

 neuvering her out of a dock through a harbor crowded with all man- 

 ner of ships were matters of public knowledge and of public com- 

 ment. It was intelligent comment too, for in those days Americans 

 were natural seamen and built and operated the world's finest and 

 fastest ships. They knew about the records of captains and vessels as 

 much as "fans" know about the standings in the baseball leagues and 

 the batting averages of individual players. Even after the ship had 

 left a harbor and was well at sea, the captain had more than his nor- 

 mal lot of business and of professional duties to attend to, for he 

 lived in daily, almost hourly contact with his passengers, who usually 

 constituted the most important section of the community. Leaders in 

 all professions and in business and social life appeared on the sailing 

 lists. The captain presided at the head of the dinner table and in more 

 ways than one was the life of the party. 



Naturally, under such circumstances, there was an intense process 

 of selection going on. The packet captains that served with honor- 

 able records were men of both professional and cultural distinction. 

 Repeatedly, noted travelers left written comments on the captain's 

 range of education, his interest, and his qualities of personal distinc- 

 tion. 



Included in this group were such men as N. B. Palmer of Stoning- 

 ton, Connecticut, who in his youth had taken a small vessel to the 

 Antarctic and made the first discovery of the section of the Antarctic 

 coast that now bears his name. Palmer served as captain both in the 

 Black Ball and the Dramatic Lines. Later he commanded the clipper 

 Houqua, and when he retired from active command at sea performed 

 distinguished business services ashore. 



C. H. Marshal and his four brothers were successful ship mas- 

 ters. He had his original training at sea in a Nantucket whaler. 

 After serving as a captain in a number of the Black Ball ships he 

 retired from sea to become part owner and principal operator of the 

 Black Ball Line and later organized C. H. Marshal & Company. He 

 built up a large operating company and a fortune and performed 

 many distinguished public services. 



Captain Joseph C. Delano, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, a 

 brother of Warren Delano, the great-grandfather of Franklin D. Roo- 

 sevelt, commanded ships in the Swallowtail Line, Liverpool service. 



