38Talk:

From The Sailor's Magazine and Naval Journal, February, 1845 quoting the Boston Journal, immediately after the maiden voyage of the Charles W. Morgan:

A Good Example.—The whaling ship Charles W. Morgan, owned by Charles W. Morgan of New Bedford, and commanded by Capt. Thomas A. Norton of Edgarlown, recently arrived at that port, with a full cargo of oil, after an absence of between three and four years. We learn, that it is the practice, and an excellent practice it is, for the pilots when they board a ship to take with them the temperance pledge, and thus give every sailor an opportunity to record his determination to become a temperance man, to the confusion of all grog-shop landlords and sharks. The pilot on boarding the Charles W. Morgan produced the tee-total pledge, and it was promptly signed by every person on board, from the Captain to the cabinboy!

We learn further that the strictest discipline and good order prevailed on board the ship during the passage. Captain Norton proved himself truly the sailor's friend, and nineteen or twenty of the seamen, who, when they shipped knew nothing of navigation, came home well instructed in the theory and practice of the art, and able to navigate and sail a vessel to any part of the world. Twenty-three of the crew and officers belonging to the Martha's Vineyard, and of course were true-blue-seamen, and native Americans. This speaks well for the good people of that island —Boston Journal.

I'm sure many of you have seen this item before (there's a brief mention in "The Charles W. Morgan" by John F. Leavitt et al.), but as the Morgan is days away from the grog-shops of Mystic, Connecticut, I thought it might be worth posting. 

Frank Reed
Conanicut Island USA