On the Pacific 2
The principle working crew of the San Pablo were Chinese from Hong-Kong. Her steerage traffic to the United States also consisted largely of Asians. However the quality of clothing of the sitters in this image (including Asians) seems to indicate they are all first-class passengers, perhaps including missionaries:
Following the practice of the Pacific Mail, the crews in deck, engine-room, and steward's departments were made up of Chinese, shipped at Hong-Kong. Their wages were lower than would have been paid to white crews, and they gave willing and efficient service... The number of first-class passengers carried... was... from thirty to sixty-eight in number. They were principally missionaries, government representatives, naval officers, merchants, and tourists... In the steerage... the number of Asiatics carried to the United States was sometimes over a thousand in a single ship.
( --John Haskell Kemble, "The Big Four at Sea: The History of the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company ", Huntington Library Quarterly Vol. 3, No. 3 (Apr., 1940), pp. 339-357. Online at: http//www.jstor.org/stable/3816050. )
Last updated May 4, 2024