The true northerner., 1873-04-18
THE CUNARDERS.
The Origin of the Company-TheirQ Queer
Old Ways.

Old Ways.
1t is a curious old company, the Gu
nard. 1t existed before the days of
steamships. The owners, as their an
cestors were, are ScOtchmen, and their
old notions have been handed down to
the family. 1t never lost human life,
and but one vessel its ships are never
insured. Old-fashioned is the word.
When thing is established by the Gu
narders, it is there for good and all, al
most. Before adopting a new thing, the
chiefs cogitate, and cogitate, and cogi-
surveyor, their head merchant, their
head builder, their head engineer, and
all the captains III the service, and they
go off and cOgitate about year then,
if the new wrinkle is approved, il is
adopted and put into the regulations.
In the old days, nearly forty years ago,
when this was an ocean line OF sailing
vessels, corpses were not permitted by
the company TO take passage, or go as
freight either-sailor superstition, you
know. Very well to this day they won t
carry corpses. Forty years ago they al
ways had stewed prunes and rice for
dinner on duff" days; well, to this
time, whenever duff day comes around,
you always have your regular stewed
prunes and rice in Cunarder. Ii You
don't get anything else, you can depend
on that-and depend on it with your
money up, too, If you ere that sort of a
person. It takes them ten or fifteen
years to manufacture captain; but
when they have got him manufactured
to suit at last, they have full confidence
in him. The only order they give cap
tain is this, brief and to the point
"Your ship is loaded, take her; speed
is nothing; follow your own road, de-
liver her safe, bring her back safe-safe-
ty is all that is required"
WHO THEY AIss, ETC.
The noted Cunard Company is COM
posed simply of two or three grand-chil-
dren who stepped into the shoes of two
or three children who stepped into the
shoes of couple of old Scotch fathers
for Burns and McIvor were the Cunard
Company when it was born: it was
Burns and Mcivor when the originators
had passed away it is Burns and Nc
Ivor still, in the third generation-never
has been ont of the two families. Burns
was Glasgow merchant, and Mclvor
was an old sea-dog who sailed q ship for
him in early times. That vessels earn
ings were east into n sinking fund with
the money they built another ship, and
then another, and thus the old original
packet line from Glasgow to Halifax was
established. At that time the mails were
slowly and expensively carried in En-
glish Government vessels. Burns and
McIyor aud Judge Halliburton ("Sam
.Slick') fell TO considering a scheme of
getting the job of carrying these mails
in private bottoms. In order to manage
the thing, they needed to be quiet about
it, and also they needed faster vessels.
Halliburton had q relative (who was not
shining success i'll practical life, but
had an inventive head) named Sam Gu
nard he took his old iack-knife and a
shingle, and sat down and whitfield out
this enormous Royal Mail Line of YES
sells that we call the Cunard. A great
navy, it is doing business III every ocean;
owning forty-fve steamships of vast cost
conducting its affairs with the rigid
method and system of a national navy;
promoting by merit, priority in routine,
! and for conspicuous service; using q
company uniform; retiring superannu.
ated and disabled men and officers on
permanent pensions, and numbering its
servants by hundreds and thousands. In
its own private establishment in Liver
pool it keeps 4, 200 men under pay. That
is what Sam Cunard whitfield out. That
is to say, he Whitfield out little model
for fast vessel; it was satisfactory he
was instructed toe go and get the mail
contract, simply under his own name
he did it, and the company became com
monty known as the Cunard Company
then the company tried steam and made
it work they prospered and bought out
Halliburton, and also Cunard's little in
terest; they removed Cunard to En-
gland, and made him their London
agent he grew very rich and unspeak-
ably respectable, and, when he died, he
died not as a poor, dreaming provincial
whittier OF experimental models, but as
the great Sir Samuel Cunard, X. c.. B..
or G.. w. X, or something like that, for
the sovereign had knighted him.