by officers of the Pacific company that no one regretted,
or more heartily condemned, the pohcy of the Atlantic
company than their managers. From the first the
service on the Pacific was in marked contrast to that
upon the Atlantic; but not until the autumn of 1865
were the managers of the Pacific Mail Steamship
Company able to rid themselves of that influence
which rested so long like an incubus on the line. At
this time the control of the entire line passed into
their hands, when the same courtesies and comforts
were extended to travellers on the Atlantic as had
hitherto been customary on the Pacific. The Pacific
company had frequently overcrowded their steamers,
but this sometimes was an act of charity rather than
cruelty ; as, for example, when the California reached
Panama on her first voyage, the cholera was raging
there ; and this, together with the often ill-advised
anxiety to reach the land of gold, had in many in-
stances drawn the last dollar from the pockets of those
congregated on the Isthmus; so that the steamer,
which had accommodations for only 120 passengers,
sailed with four times that number. As high as
$1,200 was paid on this trip for a steerage passage.
Gradually the service became perfected. Larger and yet more magnificent steamers were built from time to time, with promenade decks a sixteenth of a mile in length, and these were well appointed and ably oflScered. The line rose to the head of the world's marine, and became an honor to the American nation. From this time until the completion of the Pacific railway, it carried more passengers, at fairer rates, and, according to distance, varieties of climate, and numbers, with fewer discomforts than did ever another oceanic line. Four, five, and six thousand people passed and repassed monthly on its vessels, and mer- chandise was carried which, at from $45 to $75 a ton, aggregated millions of dollars freight-money. One reason why the passage on the Pacific can be made more pleasant is that the ships are built higher out of
