abstract:Mail steamers were steamships which carried the mail across waterways, such as across an ocean or between islands, primarily during the 19th Century and early 20th Century, when the cost of sending a letter was declining to the point an ordinary person could afford the cost of sending a letter across great distances.
Sometimesamail steamer would come in, and CaptainNichols, having scraped acquaintance with the timekeeper, would succeed in getting the pair ofthema job as stevedores.