Capt. McDonald of Moshulu on His 99th Birthday glasses but he doesn't miss anything. On leaving I thanked him for allowing me to visit. He took my hand and with a firm handshake said l was a fine looking woman andl he was glad to see someone still knew how to dress (thank God I'd worn a skirt!).
By Karen H. Love, Curator, Moshulu
"Put this Moshulu against the best and, all things being equal, l can show you the winner, "said Captain McDonald in a letter to the New York Herald Tribune in December 1931. There had been talk of getting a ship under the American flag in the Australian grain trade. The big bark Moshulu, seized by the US Government in World War l, had sailed under McDonald's command then been laid up. Later bought by Gustav Erikson, she did indeed win the last Grain Race in 1939, in the fast time of 91 days. The Moshulu is now restored as a museum ship with a restaurant aboard in Philadelphia; here the curator records a visit to Captain McDonald. Captain P.A. McDonald, last surv1V1ng master of the Moshulu, turned 99 on July 31. In J. Ferrell Colton's Windjammers Significant, there is a passage describing McDonald: "A big man who is every inch the seaman, Captain McDonald is stern of mien, imbued with a deep sense of justice, skilled, as were few men in his profession; he is a rigid disciplinarian with a keen appreciation for those who did their best while possessing an intuitive dislike of inefficiency and sham." Now I was on my way to see this extraordinary captain. He stood erect as I entered his apartment, invited me to sit down and was rather slow to talk. I described the restoration work that is taking place aboard the Moshulu and reassured him on the quality of the work with numerous photographs and articles. I also delivered greetings from one member of his crew who asked to be remembered to him. He immediately answered with the man's nickname and a quick story about him. I noticed all my correspondence in a neat pile next to his chair and was gratified that my letters were in the excellent company of Windjammers Significant. When I finally convinced him that I was the woman who had been writing him for two years, he loosened up. He told me he would be 99 the last day of July, and that he lived alone, adding with a chuckle that Inez, his daughter, came on alternate days to check on him. We then walked along his study area full of momentos-an excellent painting of the William Dollar, photographs of the Moshulu, the Dunsyre, the Buckingham and many of his other commands. When asked about the different ships he had sailed aboard, he spoke well of Flying Cloud, built as the Buckingham.
* * * Captain McDonald's Career Compiled by Andre M. Armbruster, Harbormaster, Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Capt. P.A. McDonald aboard the William Dollar, 1925. Courtesy the author.
He went on to tell me the ship had been christened by Queen Victoria in Liverpool in 1888-"I call you Buckingham, a fit name for a royal ship. May all your voyages be fortunate and prosperous,'' he quoted. He said that all who sailed her felt the beautiful figurehead was Queen Victoria. He had come aboard her in 1918 as chief officer. They had sailed to New Zealand, Australia and the Philippines, where the Captain passed away and McDonald took command. I asked him about the Moshulu. He said he had been rather busy while aboard her, he had other ships to care for at the time. He shared lovely photographs of his wife and Inez aboard the Moshulu, where they had lived . He firmly stated the quarters were very nice but didn't compare with those aboard American ships. I asked him about his favorite command and he replied that the William Dollar was because she was a very big ship (3239 tons) . We then talked generally about crews and life aboard. His alert eyes light up when talking about his ships, and he seemed delighted when I told him I'd have recognized him from his 1935 photograph. He may wear
1880: Born July 31st. Went to sea at age 16. 1896 to 1905: Sailed before the mast first in British & Nova Scotian vessels, then American square-riggers and schooners. 1905: Went as 2nd mate on the ship William H. Macy and later in the Charles E. Moody; then as chief mate in the barque Carondelet. 1906: Mate in the ship Henry Failing. 1907: Mate in the ship William H. Smith. 1908 to 1917: Mate in a number of big schooners and barkentines such as the 5-masted schooner Crescent and the 4-masted barkentine Lahaina. 1917: Mate, then captain of the 4-masted bark Flying Cloud, (later named Muscoota). 1918 to 1921: Commanded the 3-masted schooner Corona, the 4-masted barkentine Jane L. Stanford and the ship Dunsyre. 1922 to 1926: Captain of the 4-masted bark
William Dollar. 1927 to 1935: Captain of Moshulu. After her last US voyage ended in 1928, he remained aboard her with his wife and daughter until she was sold to the Finnish shipowner Gustav Erikson in 1935 . During the years the Moshulu was laid up at Lake Union and Winslow, Washington, Captain McDonald with a small crew, maintained her and other Nelson Company vessels such as the 4-masted bark Monongahela, the 6-masted schooner Fort Laramie, the 5-masted schooner Thistle, the 5-masted barkentine Monitor, the 4-masted bark Daylight, etc. With the sale of the Moshulu the McDonalds moved aboard the Monongahela until she was sold several years later to become a logging barge. 1941: Helped in the conversion of the gam bling barge Tango (Moshulu's sister ship Hans, converted to a barge in 1936) into a 6-masted schooner. She was sold to Portugal in 1943 -the last large cargo-carrying sailing vessel under the US flag. .t
Moshulu, from a portrait in Captain McDonald's home. Courtesy Col. Phillips Melville.