Special attention has been given by the Company to the transit of cattle to and from the River Plate, and each of the steamers is fitted with permanent fittings for the conveyance of live stock. The headquarters of Messrs. David MacIver and Co.’s line are, and have always been situated in Liverpool, from which port it maintains a regular fortnightly service to and from Buenos Ayres, Montevideo and Rosario, throughout the year.
Chapter XVII.
MACIVER’S LIVERPOOL AND GLASGOW
STEAMERS.
In the autumn of 1826 the New Clyde Shipping Company advertised that their steampacket Enterprise (Captain M’Farlane) would sail weekly between Liverpool and Glasgow. She was a very small steamer, being only 210 tons burthen, and the owners announced that, in consequence of her light draft, she would proceed direct to Glasgow, and not transfer her passengers to river steamers at Greenock, as the larger steamers had to do. The first agents of the company were Messrs. M’Nair and Brebner, 33, Water Street, but in January, 1829, the agency was transferred to Mr. David MacIver, 18, Water Street. A few months later the Glasgow and Liverpool Shipping Company was formed, and in 1831 that company acquired the Mersey and Clyde Steam Navigation Company’s steampackets Henry Bell, James Watt, and Wm. Huskisson, as well as the Enterprise. The New Clyde Shipping Company having ceased operations, Mr. MacIver formed a new steamship line of his own, which he called the City of Glasgow Steampacket Company. The pioneer steamer was named the City of Glasgow and sailed on her first voyage from Liverpool on the 25th April, 1831. Three other steamers were quickly added to the fleet, viz., the Solway, Vulcan, and John Wood, the latter steamer being named after a celebrated shipbuilder at Port Glasgow. In 1835 the City of Glasgow (second) was put on the station, and the sailings were increased to three per week from each port. Mr. Charles MacIver joined his brother this year, and the style of the firm was changed to D. MacIver & Co.
In 1837 the celebrated steamship Commodore was built, followed in 1840 by her equally famous sister ship, Admiral.
All the steamers engaged in the Liverpool and Glasgow trade prior to 1839 were built of wood, but in that year a new steamship company entered into competition with the existing companies, and placed the Royal Sovereign, an iron steamer, on the station., The immediate result was a heavy drop in passenger and freight rates. Steerage passengers were carried for 1s. each, and boxes and bale goods for 1d. per foot measurement. The following year (1840) a mail steamship service between Liverpool, Canada, and U.S.A. was established, the respective agents of the company being D. and C. MacIver, Liverpool; J. and G. Burns, Glasgow; and Samuel Cunard, Halifax. This service, which afterwards acquired a world-wide reputation as the “Cunard line,” was modestly inaugurated by the despatch of the Liverpool and Glasgow steampacket Unicorn (Captain Douglas). This vessel (the real pioneer of the Cunard line) sailed from Liverpool for Halifax and Boston on Saturday morning, 16th May, 1840. After she completed her outward voyage, she continued to ply between Pictou and Quebec in connection between the British and N.A. Royal mail steamers. Although there were three perfectly distinct steamship companies trading between Liverpool and Glasgow, yet so friendly were the respective owners towards each other that in 1846 they issued a joint sailing bill, which included the whole of the sailings for all the companies. This arrangement continued unchanged for seven years (1853), at the end of which period the Princess Royal was advertised separately. At this date the quickest, cheapest (although the fares were double what they now are), and most comfortable mode of travelling between Liverpool and Glasgow was by steamer. The steamers were large, swift, and luxuriously furnished, and so numerous were the passengers that the joint companies maintained a daily service. From the year 1853 the two services, the MacIver and the Burns, were amalgamated, the joint line being represented in Liverpool by Chas. MacIver & Co., and in Glasgow by G. and J. Burns. In 1850 Messrs. Chas. MacIver & Co. instituted the steamship service between Liverpool and Havre, the pioneer steamer being the Commodore, the well-known Liverpool and Glasgow steampacket. About the same date the steamship services to the Mediterranean were begun by Messrs. MacIver, under the style of Messrs. Burns and MacIver. Until the year 1853 no distinctive class of name had been adopted for the coasting steamers of the MacIver line, but in that year the Elk and Stag were built, followed by the Lynx and Stork. These were the last of the paddle-steamers built to run between Liverpool and Glasgow. In 1855 the owners decided to place screw-steamers on this station, and accordingly built the screw-steamers Otter, Beaver, and Zebra. The Zebra was a large and powerful vessel, and was amongst the earliest of the steamers taken up by Government for transport duty during the Crimean war. All the succeeding steamers have been of the same type, and have been named after animals or birds. The joint service remained in force for nearly half a century, until (in 1895) Messrs. G. and J. Burns opened an office in Liverpool, and placed the steamers Mastiff, Pointer and Spaniel on the station. The elder of the two brothers (the founders of the “MacIver” steamship business), Mr. David MacIver, died unmarried in 1845. His brother, the late Mr. Charles MacIver, of Calderstone, then became the head of the firm, which position he held until his death in 1885. The long connection of the “MacIvers” with the Cunard Company was terminated in 1883, and they retired from the management. Messrs. Charles and Henry MacIver (the younger sons of the late Mr. Charles MacIver) retain the old styles of D. and C. MacIver (for their foreign trades) and Chas. MacIver & Co. for the steamers trading between Liverpool and Glasgow.
Chapter XVIII.
SLIGO STEAM NAVIGATION CO., LTD.
During the first half of the last century Messrs. Middleton and Pollexfen, of Sligo, owned a large fleet of sailing vessels. Some of these vessels were barques which traded to foreign ports, but others were swift, staunch schooners which traded regularly between Sligo and Liverpool, and Sligo and Bristol Channel and Glasgow. But the schooners laboured under one serious disadvantage—the uncertainty of the duration of the passage. With favourable weather it might be accomplished in a few days, but with adverse gales or fogs it might occupy as many weeks. It is self-evident that, in competition with steamers, schooners have no chance of success, so in 1856 Messrs. Middleton and Pollexfen decided to employ steam in their Sligo and Liverpool trade, and for this purpose built a small steamer, which they named the Sligo. The following year (1857) they put the Sligo on the Sligo and Glasgow station in opposition to Messrs. Cameron and Co. Five years later (1862) a company was formed with the title of the Sligo Steam Navigation Company, Limited, which took over the steamship business of Messrs. Middleton and Pollexfen, and which has continued to flourish, financially and otherwise. The company in 1865 built a larger steamer than the Sligo, and named her Liverpool. The opposition in the Sligo services began under the regime of Messrs. Middleton and Pollexfen, continued for some years after the formation of the Sligo Steam Navigation Company, but was finally settled amicably. Messrs. Alexander A. Laird and Co. (successors to Messrs. Cameron and Co.) retired from the Sligo and Liverpool trade, and the Sligo Company withdrew from the Glasgow trade, purchasing the Garland, which they renamed the Glasgow. Having disposed of the Sligo, the company purchased a swift Clyde-built cargo and passenger steamer, to which they transferred the name. The Liverpool was sold in 1892 to Preston buyers, but has been for several years, and is now, employed by the Cunard Company to maintain their Liverpool and Havre service. The same year the largest steamer yet built by the company was placed on the Liverpool and Sligo station. The new vessel (the Liverpool) was constructed by Messrs. John Jones and Sons, of Liverpool, and was built to the specifications and under the supervision of Mr. H. H. West, the naval architect for the Sligo Steam Navigation Company. She is a smart-looking boat of the following dimensions:—Length between perpendiculars, 206 feet; breadth, moulded, 29 feet; and depth, 15 feet 3½ inches. Her gross register is 700 tons, and net 332 tons. The carriage of cattle being a very important feature of the trade, careful consideration has been given to the cattle fittings. Being a larger vessel than any of her predecessors, increased accommodation is also provided for saloon and deck passengers, as the trade is increasing in this direction very considerably. The saloon and cabins are fitted up in a substantial and comfortable manner. The engines (triple expansion), also constructed by Messrs. Jones and Sons, are of 1,000 indicated h.p. On her trial trip the Liverpool attained a speed of 13 knots, being a knot in excess of contract speed. The ship is lighted throughout by electricity. The loading berth for the company’s steamers was, originally, in the Trafalgar Dock, but is now on the east side of the Clarence Basin, a berth they have occupied since about 1867. The company despatches the Liverpool or Sligo once a week between the two ports, sailing from Liverpool every Tuesday, and from Sligo every Saturday. In addition to this, its main service, the company has a Government contract, on which the steamer Tartar is employed. This steamer sails twice a week in winter, and three times per week in summer, from Sligo to Belmullet, calling at Rosses Point, Ballycastle, and Belderrig, to land and embark passengers. It is a favourite tourist route in summer, affording a splendid view of the wild coast scenery of the West of Ireland. The distance run is about 70 miles, and the time occupied about six hours. The steamers of the Sligo Steam Navigation Company, sailing between Liverpool and Sligo, are exposed to all the force and fury of the Atlantic gales, as they steam along the north and north-west coasts of Ireland. It is, therefore, an eloquent testimonial to the strength of their construction, as well as to the ability with which they are managed, and navigated, that they sail with unfailing regularity in winter as in summer, and with a most gratifying freedom from accidents.
