Pig in a Poke
Page 4
Since it was coal fired the second mate had to make sure there was a continual flow of coal into the firebox and took on more at the end of the trip.
Sammie got into trouble when he wouldn’t obey the Chief and was messing with things he was told not to touch. The Chief finally had to tell Captain Jack who in turn informed Cindy.
When they arrived back home Cindy told me about it and I let Sammie know he couldn’t go into the engine room or the wheel house anymore.
He started to tell me it was their fault and I cut him off and said he wouldn’t be going to see his Grandfather for a month but would stay with me if his mother went.
This really set him off and he started throwing a fit so I advised him it would now be two months and if he didn’t straighten up it would be another month for every time he acted up.
At that he went to find his mother and started to pout. After hearing him out she said, “This is a good lesson in respecting people who are in charge. Two months isn’t that long if you don’t add to it. Now straighten up and go wash your face.”
True to his father’s word Sammie didn’t get to sail or even board the ferries during the stated time. He would go down to the docks and longingly look at the Captains who would wave at him but no words were exchanged.
Sammie’s time out was about as hard on Captain Jack as it was on Sammie.
His grandfather also missed him and told him so when his time out was up.
He asked Sammie if he had learned his lesson and he replied, “I hope so.”
Chapter 14 Matrimony Causes a Split
A new ferry line started up with its headquarters in Sacramento. Their equipment wasn’t the newest so this limited their challenge to the Bartlett line. Still they siphoned off some of the business north of Stockton.
Bartlett was getting a little disturbed about the way things were going until I come up with the idea of having one of our ferries run from San Francisco to Sacramento.
Hauling freight to Sacramento was a little different because there were more passengers and since it was larger than Stockton it was more merchandise oriented than goods for miners and farmers.
After eighteen months the new line folded in part of the competition from the Bartlett line.
We made them an offer for everything and they took it. This called for some reorganizing. We sent the old ferry down to San Francisco to serve the south bay and one of the Sacramento ferries to just provide service between Oakland and San Francisco.
There was a small ferry service running over to Sausalito which we bought in order to cover the entire bay and its environs.
Cindy had another child which was a girl. I let Cindy name her since she was a girl and she named her Misty instead of Julia as we had talked about.
It wasn’t long before Misty took over and ruled the household including Sammie. He was fond of her and spent a lot of time entertaining her.
Then something happened that changed everything.
Bartlett had met and married a woman from the east and she wished to return there. He wanted to sell our ferries and I agreed for it was a full time job with no time off.
There were several big time investors bidding for it so we got more than it was worth.
They had big plans for it including gambling and special entertainment. We split the fortune we had amassed and I was glad to control my own money.
Neither Cindy nor I felt secure in being in business with Bartlett after he remarried for his new wife had wanted to take over and run the business.
It was at this time that Cindy stepped forward and put a stop on that so in order to not have dissension in the family we sold out and split up.
We took a year off and did almost nothing while Bartlett went east.
We then decided to move to the Los Angeles basin and bought a hundred acre ranch. It had plenty of water and was planted with fruit trees. We kept the ranch hands on for we knew nothing about running a ranchorchard.
Sammie and Misty thrived on the ranch and Cindy and I felt more at ease than we ever did.
Eventually Sammie went on into politics and made his own fortune. Misty married into a rich family which she captivated them as she had done us.
Cindy and I have lived these years at ease on the ranch.
Sometimes we make a lot of money and sometimes we try to break even but at all times we are happy grand parents.
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