The Allan Line.
The failure of the Liverpool firm to fulfil their contract opened the way for Canadian enterprise, and the man who was destined to see it carried out to a successful issue was already awaiting his opportunity. That man was Hugh Allan (the late Sir Hugh), a man of intense energy and force of character. The Allans came honestly by their liking for the sea and ships. Their father, Alexander, was a ship-owner, and himself the well-known captain of the Favourite, one of the most popular vessels then sailing from the Clyde to the St. Lawrence. The five sons were born at Saltcoats, in sight of the sea. Two of them, James and Bryce, followed the sea for a number of years and reached the top of their profession. Alexander took up the shipping business established by his father in Glasgow, where he was afterwards joined by his eldest brother, James, under the firm name of James and Alexander Allan. Bryce, on retiring from the sea, became head of the shipping house in Liverpool. Hugh, the second son, became a partner in the well-known firm of Miller, Edmonstone & Co., afterwards changed to Edmonstone, Allan & Co., Montreal. His brother Andrew joined the firm some years later, when its name was changed to that of Hugh and Andrew Allan. The three firms, in Glasgow, Liverpool and Montreal, had become the owners and agents of a large fleet of sailing ships; but the time came when it was evident that mails and passengers must be carried to Canada, as elsewhere, by steam power.
CAPTAIN McMASTER.
The opening of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway between Montreal and Portland in 1852 was one of the most important events in the commercial history of Canada. It gave Montreal a winter port; for as yet neither Halifax nor St. John had any railway communication with the western provinces. Given a good winter port, there seemed to be no reason why a line of steamships should not be established to ply between Liverpool and Montreal in summer, with Portland for the winter terminus. The Allans, seeing that the time had come for a new departure, succeeded in forming a joint stock company, under the name of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company. As its name implied, it was virtually a Canadian enterprise. The principal shareholders, besides the Allans, were Messrs. William Dow, John G. Mackenzie and Robert Anderson, of Montreal; George Burns Symes, of Quebec, and John Watkins, of Kingston. A few years later the Allans became sole owners of the concern, which then became known as the Allan Line.
The first two steamers of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company were the Canadian and Indian, built by the famous Dennys, of Dumbarton. They were pretty little iron screw steamers, of about 270 feet in length, 34 feet wide, and of 1,700 tons burthen each. The Canadian made her first voyage to Quebec in September, 1854, but the Crimean war having commenced, steamers of this class were in demand, and these two were taken into the service and profitably employed as government transports as long as the war lasted. In 1874 the Sarmatian and the Manitoban of this line were similarly employed to convey troops to the west coast of Africa, to take part in the Ashantee campaign. On both occasions they did excellent service.
When the Canadian Government next advertised for tenders for carrying the mails, an agreement was made with the Allans by which they were to receive £25,000 a year for a fortnightly service in summer and a monthly one in winter. Two other boats, similar to the Canadian and Indian, were built by the Dennys—the North American and Anglo-Saxon. The new service was commenced in April, 1856, by the SS. North American, which arrived in the port of Montreal on the 9th of May. Two years later it was decided to establish a weekly service, the Government promising an increased subsidy of $208,000 per annum. This implied double the number of ships; accordingly, four others were built, the North Briton, Nova Scotian, Bohemian and Hungarian, all after the same model as the pioneer ships, but 300 feet long and 2,200 tons register. Their speed was from 11 to 13 knots in smooth water, and even in heavy weather they seldom fell short of 8 knots an hour. Their average passages westward from Liverpool to Quebec were 11 days, 5 hours; eastward, 10 days, 10 hours. The quickest passage eastward was made by the Anglo-Saxon, in 9 days, 5 hours, and westward, by the Hungarian, in 9 days, 14 hours. In the same year (1859) the Cunard Line to Boston averaged 12 days, 19 hours going west, and 10 days, 15 hours eastward. The average speed of the Canadian steamers during the entire season of the St. Lawrence navigation in that year was 9½ knots. At this time there were already twelve different lines of steamships plying across the Atlantic, affording almost daily communication between England and America by steam.
In 1859 the company represented that, owing to the depression in trade, they were unable to continue the service, without further assistance. The Canadian Government stood by this Canadian enterprise, and doubled the subsidy in consideration of the increased service, which was admitted on all hands to be a complete success. The new ships were beautiful models and well adapted to the trade; but the company had to learn from bitter experience how hazardous that trade was. To say nothing of minor accidents, up to the year 1885 no less than fourteen of their steamers had come to grief. Since that time, singularly enough, none of this line has been lost, though many belonging to other lines have been wrecked.
The Canadian, Captain Ballantine, on her first trip to Quebec, in June, 1857, through the negligence of her pilot, was stranded on South Rock, off the Pillar Lighthouse, forty-five miles below Quebec. No lives were lost, but the ship defied every effort to float her. The Indian, Captain Smith, bound for Portland, in December, 1859, struck a rock off Marie Joseph Harbour, seventy-five miles east of Halifax, and went to pieces. Every effort was made to save the lives of the 447 persons that sailed in her, but twenty-three perished. The Hungarian, Captain Jones, on the night of February 20th, 1860, during a blinding snow-storm, struck on the South-West Ledge near Cape Sable Island, 130 miles east of Halifax. Every soul on board, to the number of 237, perished with the ship. The cause of this sad disaster is not correctly known. The captain was one of the best seamen in the Allan Line, but it has been stated that the light upon Cape Sable was not exhibited that night, in consequence of the sickness of the lightkeeper, who is said to have confessed this on his death-bed.
The second Canadian, Captain Graham, came in contact with a piece of submerged ice, outside the Straits of Belle Isle, in July, 1861. The ship was proceeding cautiously, but so hard and sharp was the ice, a rent was made in the ship’s side below the water-line, and it was soon seen that she was done for. This is how she went down, as told by Captain Graham: “The wind had increased to a gale. About 9.30 a. m. we came up to heavy field ice closely packed. We had been going half-speed till we saw the ice, when we stopped altogether, then turned her head to the west, steaming slowly through a narrow passage between heavy ice on the starboard side and what appeared to be a light patch of ice on the port side, which scratched along the bow for sixty feet. The concussion was very slight, and I had no apprehension of any damage; went below to see what was wrong, and found the water rushing along the main deck and up the hatchway. The boats were ordered out, and the ship headed for land full speed. She soon began to settle down forward, taking a list to starboard, when the engines were stopped and the boats lowered. Immediately after leaving her, the ship with a plunge dropped five or six feet by the head, and then directly afterwards her stern flew up in the air, and she went down head foremost.” The mail-master, nine of the crew and twenty-six passengers went down with the ship.
The North Briton, Captain Grange, was wrecked in November, 1861, on one of the Mingan Islands, north of Anticosti (the usual track for steamers at that time). There was no loss of life. The Anglo-Saxon, Captain Burgess, in April, 1863, was stranded in Clam Cove, three miles from Cape Race, during a dense fog. A heavy sea rolling in drove her farther on the rocks, from which she eventually slid off and sank in deep water. The captain, some of the officers, and many of the passengers and crew were carried down into the vortex of the ship, and were drowned to the number of 238 souls.
The Norwegian, Captain McMaster, in June, 1863, was totally wrecked on St. Paul’s Island, at the entrance of the Gulf. A dense fog was prevailing. The passengers and crew, numbering about 420, were all saved. The Bohemian, Captain Borland, struck on the Alden Ledges, off Cape Elizabeth, near Portland, in February, 1864, when twenty passengers were drowned. The Dacian was wrecked near Halifax, April 7th, 1872. In the same year the Germany went ashore at the mouth of the Garonne River, near Bordeaux, France, and was totally wrecked, with the loss of thirty lives. The St. George, Captain Jones, was lost on the Blonde Rock, south of Seal Island, N.S. The Jura stranded on Formby Bank, at the entrance to the Mersey, in 1864. The Moravian, Captain Archer, was wrecked on Mud Islands, near Yarmouth, N.S., in December, 1881. The Hanoverian, Captain Thompson, struck a rock at the entrance of Nepassey Bay, Newfoundland, and was totally lost, but all hands were saved.
The Pomeranian, Captain Dalziel, a fine ship of 4,364 tons, in 1893 survived one of the stormiest Atlantic voyages on record. She sailed from Greenock for New York, March 27th. After eight days battling with a furious gale, when about twelve hundred miles west of Ireland, she was well-nigh overwhelmed by a tremendous wave, which made a clean sweep of the deck. The bridge, the chart-house, the saloon, the steam-winch, the ventilators, everything between the foremast and the funnel, were hurled overboard, a mass of wreckage. The captain and a saloon passenger were so severely injured that both died in a few hours. The second and fourth officers, who were on the bridge, were swept into the sea and drowned, as were the rest of the cabin passengers, one intermediate, and four of the crew—twelve persons in all. Three of the lifeboats were carried away and two were smashed, leaving only one available for service. The whole of the nautical instruments, books and charts had gone overboard, the steering gear was badly wrecked, and the only compass left was that in the steering-house aft. The first officer, Mr. McCulloch, on whom the command now devolved, seeing the crippled condition of the ship, turned her head homewards, a thing not easily done in such a sea, and eventually returned to the Clyde in a gale of wind.
“THE PARISIAN,” 1881.
It is doubtful if there is another shipping company in existence that would have withstood the strain put on the Allan line by such a succession of disasters; but so far as outsiders are aware the Allans never lost courage. They were bound to succeed in the long-run, and they did. When ships could not be built quickly enough to take the places of those that had been lost at sea, they bought of others ships ready-made, meanwhile resolving to reinforce their fleet with larger and in every way better boats than heretofore. The Norwegian and Hibernian, of 2,400 tons each, were launched from Denny’s yard in 1861. In 1863 Steeles of Greenock built for them the Peruvian and the Moravian, both very fine ships. The Nestorian and the Austrian, of 2,700 tons each, built by Barclay & Curle, Glasgow, are both good ships now after thirty years’ service. The Sarmatian and Polynesian (now Laurentian), about 4,000 tons each, came out in 1871 and 1872, and proved excellent boats. The Circassian, 3,724 tons, was launched in 1873, and the Sardinian in 1875. The Parisian, the finest of the fleet, was built by Robert Napier & Sons, Glasgow, in 1881, and took her place on the line the following year. She is built of steel, the bottom being constructed of an inner and outer skin five feet apart, the space thus enclosed being available for water ballast and also a protection from the perils of collision. The Allans were the first to apply this kind of build to Atlantic steamers, and were also the first to build such steamers of steel. The general dimensions of the Parisian are: length over all, 440 feet; breadth, 46 feet; moulded depth, 36 feet; with a gross tonnage of 5,365 tons. Her machinery is capable of developing 6,000 indicated horse-power. Although she has neither twin screws nor triple expansion engines, she has done her work remarkably well, maintaining an average speed of about fourteen knots. Her fastest voyage from Moville to Rimouski was made in 1896, viz., 6 days, 13 hours, 10 minutes, corrected time. Her best day’s run on that voyage was 359 knots. Her career has been a remarkable one: in these seventeen years she has not met with an accident, and is consequently a very popular ship. She is fitted for 160 saloon passengers in the most complete and comfortable manner, and there seems to be always room for one more. On a recent occasion the Parisian brought over 255 cabin passengers. She can easily accommodate 120 second-class and 1,000 steerage passengers. She carries a large cargo and is a very fine sea boat.
The fleet of the Allan Line consists at present of thirty-four steamers, aggregating 134,937 tons. In addition to the weekly line between Liverpool and Montreal, regular weekly services are maintained from Montreal, and also from New York, to Glasgow; the London, Quebec and Montreal service is fortnightly in summer; there is also a direct service between Glasgow and Boston fortnightly, and regular communication between Liverpool, Glasgow and Philadelphia, as well as with River Plate and other ports.
Some of the freight and cattle-ships of the Allan Line are large and fine vessels, such as the Buenos Ayrean, 4,005 tons, built at Dumbarton in 1879—one of the first ships ever constructed of steel. The Carthaginian and Siberian are both 4,000-ton ships, specially adapted for the cattle trade. The Mongolian and Numidian, of 4,750 tons each, are model ships in the class to which they belong. A few years ago the Allans acquired the State Line, plying between Glasgow and New York. Two of these, the State of California (5,500 tons) and the State of Nebraska (4,000 tons), are excellent ships with good accommodation for large numbers of passengers. The two oldest ships of the line in commission are the Waldensian (formerly St. Andrew), built in 1861, and the Phœnician (formerly the St. David), built in 1864, both of which are still doing service in the South American trade.
The last of the sailing ships owned by the Allans was wrecked in a dense fog near Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River, Washington, U. S., on the 19th of March, 1896. The Glenmorag was a fine iron clipper ship of 1,756 tons register, built at Glasgow in 1876, and up to the time of her final disaster had been exceptionally fortunate and successful. Captain Currie, who commanded her, was widely known and has a first-rate reputation as a sailor, but in an evil hour of a dark, dirty night, when making for Portland, Oregon, he was startled by the sudden cry from the man on the lookout, “Breakers on the port bow,” and while in the act of wearing the ship around she went broadside on the rocks. Two of the crew were killed and four injured severely while attempting to get ashore.
It has been announced that the Allans have at present under construction on the Clyde four magnificent steel steamships for the Canadian freight and passenger trade. Three of these are vessels of 10,000 tons, and the fourth of 8,800 tons. All of them are to be fitted with triple expansion engines and twin screws. The three larger ones are each over 500 feet in length, with 60 feet breadth of beam, and are designed to develop an average speed of sixteen knots, which means that they are expected to make the voyage from Liverpool to Montreal in about 7¼ days mean time—actually a quicker service for Canada than obtains at present with 20-knot steamers via New York. With ample accommodation for a large number of passengers, these ships will have room for 8,000 to 9,000 tons of freight and the most approved appliances for the rapid handling of cargo.
Sir Hugh Allan of Ravenscrag, to whom Canada is chiefly indebted for the magnificent Allan Line of steamships, was born at Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, September 29th, 1810. He came to Canada in 1826 and entered into business as already stated. His whole life was one of incessant activity. He was founder of the Merchants’ Bank of Canada and its president, and the President of the Montreal Telegraph Co., and many other important commercial institutions. Sir Hugh was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen, in person, in July, 1871, in recognition of his valuable services to the commerce of Canada and the Empire. He died in Edinburgh, suddenly, December 9th, 1882, and was buried in Mount Royal cemetery, Montreal. Sir Hugh was a man, very emphatically, sui generis. Quick to arrive at his conclusions, he was slow to abandon them; where he planted his foot there he meant it to stay. A keen and enterprising man of business, he accumulated a princely fortune. To those who knew him only on the street or in the Board-room he might, perhaps, seem curt and brusque. His conscious power of influencing others made him almost necessarily dogmatic and dictatorial, but in private life he was one of the most amiable, kind-hearted and genial of men. He was a staunch Presbyterian, a liberal supporter of the Auld Kirk of Scotland in Canada, and in his younger days devoted much time in promoting its interests.
Sir Hugh Allan.
The brothers Bryce and James died several years before Sir Hugh. Alexander died in Glasgow in 1892. Mr. Andrew Allan, now the senior partner of the Montreal firm, was the youngest of the five brothers, and is the only survivor of them. Mr. Allan was born at Saltcoats, December 1st, 1822, and came out to Canada in 1839. He married a daughter of the late John Smith, of Montreal (a sister of Lady Hugh Allan). Mrs. Allan died in 1881, leaving a large family. Two of the sons, Messrs. Hugh H. and Andrew H., are associated with their father and with Messrs. Hugh Montagu and Bryce J. Allan, sons of the late Sir Hugh, in managing the extensive business of the Canadian branch of the Allan Line. Mr. Allan has filled many of the posts of honour and responsibility formerly occupied by Sir Hugh, and earned for himself the golden opinions of his fellow citizens.
The first four captains of the Allan Line were Andrew McMaster, of the Anglo-Saxon, Thomas Jones, of the Indian, William Ballantine, of the Canadian, and William Grange, of the North American. Captain McMaster was born at Stranraer, Wigtonshire, in 1808. After serving a five years’ apprenticeship on board the East Indiaman, Duke of Lancaster, at the modest rate of £2 for the first year, and £20 for the full term of his indentures, he got command of the brig Sir Watkin, sailing from Islay with 240 of the clan Campbell as passengers. One-half of these were landed at Sydney, Cape Breton, and the other half at Quebec. The hardships of the emigrants in those days were excessive, as they had to provide their own food and bedding, and were allotted places on the stone ballast to do the best they could for themselves. In 1845 Captain McMaster was placed in command of the clipper barque, Rory O’More, for which Edmonstone & Allan were the agents. Leaving Montreal in the summer of 1846, owing to the lowness of water the yards and topmasts were sent down and floated alongside, while cables, chains and other rigging were put into lighters to enable the vessel to traverse Lake St. Peter, drawing nine feet of water! His next command was the ship Montreal of 464 tons, at that time the largest of the Montreal traders. In 1856 he was placed in command of the first SS. Canadian, and successively of each new ship as she was launched. In 1864 he retired from the sea, and entered the shipwright business in Liverpool. He died in the Isle of Man in 1884.
CAPTAIN JOHN GRAHAM.
Of the subsequent captains of this line I can only mention the names of those with whom I remember having sailed and made their acquaintance. None of them left a more lasting impression on my memory than John Graham, the genial captain of the second Canadian, and of the Sarmatian when he retired from the service and the sea in 1885. It was he who so often and so strenuously discussed the desirability of throwing a dam across the Straits of Belle Isle that he actually came to believe in it himself as a possibility in the near future, by which in his estimation the climate of Canada was to be assimilated to that of the south of France. That was his fad. But take him all in all, he was as fine a man as one could desire to meet. He was a grand sailor. When his examination before the Nautical Board was concluded in re the loss of the Canadian, his certificate was handed back to him with the remark, “Sir, you did your duty like a noble British seaman.” The dangers incident to a seafaring life never disturbed his equanimity, for he had long been ready to “go aloft” at a moment’s notice.
CAPTAIN JAMES WYLIE.
James and Hugh Wylie were both quiet, unassuming men who understood their business thoroughly. The former rose to be the commodore of the fleet. On retiring from the command of the Parisian, the citizens of Montreal honoured him with a banquet and an address, congratulating him on his remarkably successful career. Hugh retired from the command of the Polynesian shortly after a serious accident that befell his ship on the river, through the carelessness of his pilot. James was noted for his caution, of which a somewhat humorous illustration was given one dark night when the Parisian was speeding down the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Some of us were still pacing the deck, though it was near midnight, when suddenly the engine stopped. To the uninitiated there is nothing more alarming than that; but at this hour most of the passengers were fast asleep. There followed a few minutes of profound silence. The sea, until now as black as ink, had all at once become white and glistering. Had we run into a field of ice? To the captain, who was at his post on the bridge, and to the double lookout on the forecastle it must have had that appearance; but it proved to be only schools of herring or mackerel disporting themselves on the surface of the water, causing a brilliant phosphorescent illumination of the sea. It spread over a large surface and had all the appearance of field ice, precisely where such danger is to be apprehended. The ship sailed on: but none of us dared to ask then, nor next morning, why she had stopped.
Frederick Archer, Lieut. R.N.R., successively in command of the St. Andrew, the Manitoban, and the Moravian, was made of sterner stuff than the average sea-captain. It required more than one voyage to become acquainted with him, but once in his good graces the passenger was all right. He was the strictest disciplinarian of the whole staff. Regularly as on a man-of-war, his sailors marched into the saloon on Sunday mornings in their best rigs to attend divine service. In the absence of a clergyman none could use the Book of Prayer more effectively than Capt. Archer. He died at sea in the prime of life.
William H. Smith, Lieut. R.N.R., son of late Commander John S. Smith, R.N.—one of the last surviving officers of the battle of Trafalgar—was born at Prospect House, Broadstairs, Kent, England, in 1838. He served as midshipman on board the Calcutta in the Australian trade: entered the Allan service during the progress of the Crimean war, and was present at several of the engagements between the Russians and the allied forces: went to Odessa with the allied fleets, and was serving on board the Indian when she received sealed orders to proceed to Kinburn and lay buoys for the ironclads which bombarded and destroyed the forts. Captain Smith’s first command in the Allan service was the steamer St. George; subsequently he was master of the Hibernian, Circassian, Peruvian, Sardinian and the Parisian. He succeeded Captain James Wylie as Commodore of the fleet, and held that position for several years, until he resigned to accept the office of Chairman of the Board of Examiners of Masters and Mates, Commissioner for enquiring into wrecks, and one of the nautical advisers of the Government. This office he still holds with headquarters in Halifax, N. S. Capt. Smith was always very popular with the travelling community. On leaving the service he was presented with a valuable set of plate.
CAPTAIN ALEX. AIRD.
Alexander Aird, previous to joining the Allan Line, had been in command of the John Bell and United Kingdom of the Anchor Line. His first command in the Allan Line was the St. George in 1864. Subsequently, he was captain of the St. David, Nova Scotian, Nestorian, Scandinavian, and, finally, of the Sarmatian. Of the last-named ship he was very proud, and it was a feather in his cap that he brought out the Marquis of Lorne and Princess Louise in 1878, receiving from them a handsome recognition of his efforts to secure their comfort. Owing to impaired health he retired from the sea some years previous to his death, which took place in 1892.
CAPTAIN RITCHIE.
Robert Brown, of the Polynesian, “the rolling Polly,” as she used to be called, was the beau ideal of a fine old English gentleman, than whom none could more gracefully discharge the honours of the table. He had many encounters with field ice off the coast of Newfoundland, but by dint of his caution, skill and patience, he invariably came out scatheless, though not unfrequently locked up in the ice for weeks at a time.
William Richardson, of the Nova Scotian and the Sardinian, who died not long ago, was an easy-going, kindly-disposed man, and a general favourite. Neil Maclean, of the third Canadian, was a man of fine presence and good address. Captain Joseph Ritchie who retired from the command of the Parisian in 1895, though not to be called an old man, had spent forty-four years at sea. He was captain of the Peruvian in 1882, when the twenty-five-foot channel through Lake St. Peter was inaugurated; and again in 1888, in the Sardinian, he was the first to test the increased depth to twenty-seven and a half feet. Ritchie’s whole career was a most successful one. On retiring from the service he was presented with a very handsomely engrossed address and a valuable service of silver plate by his Montreal friends.
CAPTAIN JOSEPH E. DUTTON.
Joseph E. Dutton, best known as the captain of the Sardinian, was a remarkable man, and frequent voyages with him led me to know him better than some of the others. “Holy Joe,” as he was familiarly called, was an excellent sailor, but had to contend with a good many difficulties. At one time his ship lost her rudder in mid-ocean; at another time she lost her screw. Once she caught fire in Loch Foyle from an explosion of coal gas, and had to be scuttled. Dutton was a clever, well-read man, and a born preacher. When he had on board some eighteen clergymen going to the meeting of the Presbyterian Council at Belfast, he came into the saloon on a Saturday evening, and coolly announced that if they had no objections he would conduct the Sunday service himself. And preach he did. He had the whole Bible at his finger-ends. I recall at least one voyage when he personally conducted three religious services daily—one at 10 o’clock a. m., for the steerage passengers; one at 4 p. m., in the chart-room, and one at 7 p. m., in the forecastle, for his sailors. As to creed, he had drifted away from his early moorings, and admittedly had difficulty in finding secure anchorage. He had, so to speak, boxed the ecclesiastical compass. He had been a Methodist, a Baptist, a Plymouth Brother, but with none of them did he long remain in fellowship. Finally, he pinned his faith to the tenets of “conditional immortality,” arguing with great ingenuity and earnestness that eternal life is the exclusive portion of the righteous, and annihilation that of the wicked. One of Captain Dutton’s last public appearances in Montreal was on a Sabbath evening, in the Olivet Baptist church, when he baptized seven of his sailors by immersion in the presence of a crowded assemblage. He was a square-built, powerful Christian. The way he collared these men and submerged them was a caution. He gave each of them in turn such a drenching as they will remember for a long time, and all with the greatest reverence; nor did he let them go until he received from each a solemn assurance that he would be a faithful follower of Christ to his life’s end. Not long after this, Captain Dutton had an attack of Bright’s disease, which brought him to an early grave. He was buried in Mount Royal cemetery, where the monument, “erected by a few of his friends,” bears the inscription:
“Commodore Allan Line. Lieut. R. N. Reserve. In memory of Captain Joseph E. Dutton, late of the R. M. SS. Sardinian. Born at Harrington, England, February 8th, 1828. Died at Montreal, July 6th, 1884, aged 56 years.
“‘Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him.’—1 John iii. 2.”
There was a time when profane swearing used to be indulged in freely by sea-captains and their subordinates. Happily the custom is going out of fashion, though now and then a representative from the old school may still be found. Captain Dutton was never addicted to swearing, though his temper was tried often enough. On arriving at Rimouski in 1879, after making the fastest voyage to the St. Lawrence then on record, the Sardinian had to lie at anchor for two mortal hours before he could get his mails landed. One hour it took the tender to get up steam, and another hour to get alongside the ship, owing to a strong easterly breeze, which brought up a lop of a sea. All this lost time Dutton rapidly paced the bridge to and fro with evident impatience. At length, when the tender was made fast, he came down and mingled with the crowd on deck, on the keen lookout for letters and newspapers, when one said to him, jokingly, “Why did you not swear at the captain of that tender?” “Oh,” said he, with a pleasant smile, “he is only a farmer.” The provocation had been great, but the controlling principle was greater and highly creditable to Dutton.
Apropos to the subject of swearing was the story told by a fellow-passenger—a deacon in the late Prof. Swing’s congregation in Chicago. Dr. Swing had withdrawn from the Presbyterian Church, but continued to preach in a public hall or theatre, drawing immense crowds to hear him. Swing was a sensational preacher, who could extort tears or smiles from his hearers at will, and not unfrequently his random shots hit the mark. On one occasion, the deacon informed us, he overheard the remark made by one of Chicago’s fastest young men to a comrade as they were leaving the place of worship after listening to a scathing discourse on the besetting sins of young men, swearing included: “Say, Jim, I’ll be d——d if that is not the kind of preaching that suits me.” This is a hard story, scarcely credible, but it was told in sober earnest and in a tone that indicated that in the speaker’s judgment an arrow had pierced the young man’s heart, and that the shocking expression just quoted was, after all, neither more nor less than his peculiar way of emphasizing the fact that he was stricken.