He also doubts that the men who built their engine thought of thrilling crowds. But he's sure they wanted to build something beautiful and memorable, as did so many of their peers in that era. This pace of steel and brass plays a proud hymn to power of steam propulsion as the Sabino's engine still runs with sweet smoothness. When it was built, naval architects regarded power plants as providing as much entertainment as propulsion. This holds true aboard the Sabino as her engine room is pure theater, with King as master of ceremonies.
Steam demands attention.
At the same time, he's often talking as well. Like any good naval officer and parent, King is capable of paying attention to several different things at one time. His ears listen for the commands that tell him how fast to make Sabino go. Sometimes King relaxes enough to climb up out of the engine room and have a chat close up with a passenger. But his attention is always divided, his ears listening to the conversation and the quiet song of his engine at the same time.