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1/1/1818: The Departure of the Courier
from Liverpool, bound for New
York. This was the 1st sailing of the Line of American Packets Between
New York & Liverpool: The Old Line (from the 1840s it was generally
known as the Black Ball Line)
It is the intention of the owners that one of these vessels shall sail
from New-York on the 5th, and one from Liverpool on the 1st of every
month.
These ships have all been built in New-York, of the best materials, and
are coppered and copper fastened. They are known to be remarkably fast
sailers, and their accommodations for passengers are uncommonly extensive
and commodious.
The commanders of them are all men of great experience and activity; and
they will do all in their power to render these Packets eligible
conveyances for passengers. It is also thought, that the regularity of
their times of sailing, and the excellent condition in which they deliver
their cargoes, will make them very desirable opportunities for the
conveyance of goods.
It is intended that this establishment shall commence by the departure of
the James Monroe, from New-York on the 5th, and the Courier from Liverpool
on the 1st, of First Month next; (ie, January 1818) and one of the vessels
will sail at the same periods from each place in every succeding month.
Evening
Post, New York, 1817 October 27
(Transcribed by Lars_Bruzelius@udac.uu.se who has lots of good maritime stuff)
When a big Black Ball liner's a-leaving her dock
The boys and the girls on the pierhead do flock
"Blow The Man Down," DT filename[ BLOWDWN5
Hugill: three weeks to return...fastest ever westward passage...by a
sailing ship...1843 by the Yorkshire...The emblem of the line was a
crimson swallowtail flag with a black ball in the centre...(as steamships
gained the passengers,)..The Black Ball Line was wound up in 1878."
Actually there were three Black Ball lines. It seems James Baines of
Liverpool completed an act of business piracy, and simply assumed the name
& flag of the line for his own, primarily England-Australia, line.
© Abby Sale - all rights reserved
This was followed up with -
From: Stephen Suffet
There is a stamp/philatelic/postal-history connection here. And
how! Aside from carrying passengers and commercial cargo, those fast
packets provided rapid and dependably regular mail service, first
trans-Atlantic and eventually on routes througout the world. This
enabled the introduction of cheaper postage rates, which helped both
businesses and individual persons.
Some early Canadian stamps (1857, 1859) were issued for payment
of the letter rate on the British packets, and are inscribed "Canada
Packet Postage" instead of just "Canada Postage." Furthermore, they
show the denominations in two currencies: 6d Sterling and its Canadian
equivalent, 7-1/2d (1857) or 12-1/2c (1859).
The first ship pictured on a U.S. stamp was an American Black
Ball packet, the S.S. Adriatic. That was on a 12c stamp issued in
1869, the denomination which paid the basic letter rate between the US
and the UK. That rate, 12c eastbound or 6d westbound, went into effect
on January 1, 1868, and represented a 50% rate reduction.
So today may be a "happy?" for folk music, but it is a double
"Happy Anniversary!" (by my own standards) for the stamp collecting
newsgroup.
One last note. Mail posted at sea and deposited at the next port
of call is still called "packet boat mail" to this day. Postage is
paid with the stamps of the country whose flag the ship flies, but is
accepted by any member country of the Universal Postal Union when the
ship arrives in port. The post office in the port of call then cancels
the stamps with a special "PAQUEBOT" postmark, or at least it adds a
"PAQUEBOT" marking alongside the regular postmark. The mail is then
sent on its way as addressed. Paquebot is the French word for packet
boat, French being the official lingua franca of the UPU.
Regards.
Steve
and then by -
One of the Black Ball Lines was founded around 1900 by man named Peabody,
who is claimed to have been a descendant of the family that owned the
original Black Ball Line. It was also sometimes called the Puget Sound
Navigation Company and ran most of the ferries in Puget Sound. They were
purchased by the State of Washington in 1951, and became the Washington
State Ferry system. However one line remains in service, run by Black Ball
Transport Inc. It is the ferry M. V. Coho between Port Angeles, Washington and
Victoria, B.C. There is a web page for this service, which you will find at
http://www.northolympic.com/coho/
I'd like to say I "on the Black Ball Line I wasted me time", but alas I
wasted me time trying to catch that ferry last summer, but in vain.
Joe Felsenstein
© Abby Sale - all rights reserved
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