Tales from the Steamship Mexico
A reporter recounts a voyage from Seattle to San Francisco, praising the ship's discipline and the shift toward courteous service at sea.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A voyage from Seattle to San Francisco offers an epitome of humanity. On the steamer Mexico, which left Seattle on the 10th, passengers were mostly good-natured. While some travelers found faults with ship width or engine noise, the consensus is that the Mexico is the queen of steamships. Compared to twenty years ago, when profanity and roughness were common, the conduct of the officers and men today is marked by courtesy and attention. Captain Huntington manages 200 passengers and thousands of dollars in property through fog and darkness, sometimes without sleep. During an alarm of fire, the ship’s discipline was evident; in less than ten seconds, six streams of water were pouring out, proving the ship's readiness with steam pumps, axes, and life rafts.
“What a wonderful change has taken place in the conduct of officers and men in charge of means of travel during the past twenty years.”
Travel writing has evolved from this kind of earnest, protective reportage of industry standards to the modern consumer review culture. However, the anxiety about mechanical failure and the reliance on shipboard discipline remains a constant thread in Pacific Northwest maritime lore.
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