Topic starter
28/06/2008 2:01 am
Greetings From New Orleans ,
Just another shot from the past on board and in the Pilot House of the Str. Mississippi Queen . I would say this shot was taken around 1977 , after the Str. Mississippi Queen came out of the Jeff Boat ship yard , and went through a one year non passenger cruising year and well after Capt. Wagner ( the Big E . ) had left the scene and Capt. Carl Shelton became the Queen's second Roof Captain . From right to left is Capt. Author Mac Arthur ( Pilot ) , Capt. Carl Shelton ( Master ) and your truly ( Green & Wanna Be Pilot ) . As in the previous posting with " River Pilots - Louden & Zimmer " , it was anyones guess just what they were thinking , but I do remember what I and Capt. Shelton & Mac Arthur were thinking , but I don't I believe it would be quite suitable for posting at this time . Hope you enjoy the picture .
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted Davisson
28/06/2008 3:17 am
Thanks, Ted, for this post as well as the other one!
I had known Arthur McArthur from the time I was about 3 years old. He and his family lived up the street from us in Memphis, and his boys were always into something around our house (usually to my mother's consternation!). Too much to go into here, but some things involved trying to dig a hole to China in our back yard, feeding me some holly berries once, and teasing my sister.
Capt. McArthur had retired from the Corps of Engineers, and I knew he had First Class Pilot license on the Lower. I encouraged Capt. Wagner to give him a call and get him to come to work on the DQ. Capts. Tate and Ware knew of Mac also, and they called him in Memphis and got him to come see the boat. Mac went home and packed a bag, and the rest is history! Capt. McArthur ended his career as Relief Master of the DELTA QUEEN afte rworking as pilot primarily on the MQ. Another great old-time riverman who loved his family.
28/06/2008 12:12 pm
When I saw Carl Shelton's picture it reminded me of the greatest missed opportunity of my life.
Captain Shelton dropped by my office looking for a mate on the Mississippi Queen's disastrous first run. We talked it over. I asked, "What does a mate do on there?"
Carl replied, "Oh, he wears a pretty white uniform and keeps the passengers happy."
I asked what the job paid and he told me. At the time I was selling my services as an architect at $60.00 per hour, so I declined to go.
That was a big mistake. If I had gone I would have gathered enough experience to pop off about for years and years! Money ain't everything.