The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-06-29
C.,,,orr,. Passenger Steamships.

10 NaDiofnfa. IoT sehICcly p'A'oh SSA ~ -~-~
who has not some near relative or valued friend who
has mig to that Stale in hopes OF lettering MS
fortune when the United States Mail Steamship
Conn ny fret took the contract for carrying the
,uai's he gold ia California had not been discover
cd, ard lie reliance was mainly on the New Orleans
trade TO support the line and when, upon the d's
coseIy Of the gold, emigration commenced, the
Falcon was the only steamer that could be employ
ed. her trips commenced December ]. 1878 In
ls49 the Ohio was put the route by that COM
pany. ard the Empire City aud Crescent City by j.
Howard s. Sons; in January, 1850, the Georgia be-
gan her trips. and in the sane year Rowland & AS
pinwall started the Cherokee and Philadelphia.
All these steamers are owned by the United
States Mail Steamship Company, who have also in
the ire he FL Dorado and Illinois-making total
Of nine steam employed in the passenger trade
between this port ard Navy Bay, on the lsshmus
The Georgia is 5000 tons burthen; the Ohio, $500
TORS and the Illinois 2.30O-the othersvary between
l.OO0 and z, 600 tons.
The Vanderbilt line IS also in active operation,
making s,mi-monrbly trips to San Francisco by the
Nicaragua routes End it is estimated that more pas
sergers 60 by the way Of the Plains than by the
steamers.
Yet, with oil these facilities, the eagerness for
emigration cannot be satisfied but is still strong
ly manifested a. at the first Of the gold disco
very.
When intelligence first reached here that gold
was to be picked UP OF the surface Of the ground in
California. we we're not surprised TO see an excite
ment that was without parallel in history. Men
had in by. gone times, with merely the chance OF
finding an FL Dorado. abandoned their homes, cross
ed an ocean then to them fill of untried perils, in
ships smaller than modern c0asting vessels;
and those dangers passed. encountered warlike foes
Thousand fold exceeding their own in numbers. as
did the followers of Cortez and Pzarro The failure
of one enterprise however, did not in the least dis
courage from the undertaking of another. Now there
was certainty, instead Of cbance-a country which
was part Of own territory, instead Of being in
the I0s ession Of for the convey
ar &c of passengers, and few weeks, o it might be
months, to reach the destination Every person
desired to reach that land Of wealth in the shortest
possible time. and in advance Of every else The
hour Of opening books engage passages by any Of
the steamers, was awaited by crowd pressing at
the doors of the office The tickets disposed of
| Us rapidly as they could be sold; yet, with all the
pre- ca utions that taken, every voyage some
persons would be found in the vessels who had stow
| ed themselves away, not having been able to pro-
cure tickets, but with money enough to pay then
passage on beard the steamer after she had started
| The first great object to reach California
We bear Of man wheeling his provisions in
wheelbarrow the great desert tract that lies
between our Western limits and California liz
was but type Of the prevailing enterprise reach
there they must, through whatever toll, or prvn-
ton, or suffering it might lead them They met
with discomferts by the way; it was natural they
should fol- the greater part of these voyagsrs were
men who now lett home for the first time, in search
Of adventure, without experience, and destitute of
a knowledge oi the world they had entered N my
Of their companions were men who, instead of goiog
out on any high mission of benevolence, were simply
bent on making money of them the most
reckless and abandoned of mankind, as their sub
changes OF climate, Of different kinds Of food 10
want Of that exercise and country air to which
they were accustomed, thousands have doubtless
sufered from these causes; but we do not hesitate
to say that there never has been a new business
starting at once, as this did, into vastness. and
dealing with human life and happiness, that has
been more satisfactorily, prudently, and literally
conducted The complaints that have reached here
have Leen comparatively few in number the suits
brought for alleged grievances few, when we recol-
lect the vast amount Of emigration. In action
against the United States Mail Steamship Company
the trial of which recently occupied one of our
courts week, and in which $40 900 damages were
claimed the jury gave verdict for only $50; and
that, ii was said, was compromise verdict-the
jury standing for the defendants and Eve for
the plaintiff.
The steamships are elegant and commodious. and
the company will do well adhere to the precau
tion ofnot receiving on board moro than their yes
sells will, with comfort, acconmod ..te. in ab,u,
sixty trips made by these steamer up to March
last, We learn tina. they had carried twenty egnt
thousand five hundred passengers to Chagres anu
Navy Bay, which makes the average ab cut four
hundred and seventy five each trip; and the de-
mand has been 5Ush that the erage viii be very
fair test Of the numbers actually carried on each
voyage.
We feel national p,ide in The enterprise which
has built this fleet of large steamers, and con
trols and manages with such precision their move
mcrs; aud feel cqna qualification ia the
prudence n skill exhibited in the regularity If
their :iioes their freedom from accdt Mt and ae
safety and general comfort of the passengers thai
are iegitmateiy received by them for California.
Musical.
sioNoRA ALBovI-Last evening Madame Alboui gave |