Old Dartmouth historical sketches - New Bedford Whaling Museum

uilt by Barstow & Holmes in 1820. These stores were keptstocked with provisions brought from New York by packetsloops, of which each shipbuilder had one or two; and with thegoods thus bought at wholesale, the workmen were paid atretail. No shipcarpentcr received wages; he traded at his employer'sstore, and from time to time a reckoning was made andthe amount of his purchases balanced against so many days'work on the ship. One is struck, and amused, by the frequencywith which these two columns precisely balance each other.Only rarely did the shipbuilder owe his men any cash.The building of each ship called for an elaborate contractspecifying each item in great detail. From the nails in thehull to the varnish on the topmast, not a thing was left understood,and any change of these sacred decisions required weightydeliberation. For instance, in the spring of 18^6 Josiah HolmesJr. & Brother were building the Bark Siiiihcmii for J. & W.R. Wing of New Bedford. Everything had, of course, beendefinitely stated, but the builder wanted to move the mizzenmastfurther forward. The following is the reply of the Wingfirm:"Messrs. J. Holmes Jr. & BrotherOn thinking the matter over conserning the mizzenmast,we have concluded and consented to have it moved one footfarther forward and no more — so says Abner, and we agreewith him in the matter."In the voluminous correspondence that the shipbuildingindustry entailed, a foreign note now and then intrudes, as inthis letter from one of Josiah Flolmes Jr.'s Quaker businessassociates:Friend Josiah —New BedfordMar. 20, 18 56I send thee, perhaps at the eleventh hour, my verylow terms for the spar job you mentioned about.It is, the Snug little Sum of five hundred and Seventy-fivedollars, with wood for the caps included.If it "Strikes you favorably" I will buy the mahoganyfrom you, provided you will trust me