The Onedin Line (1971) s01e15 Episode Script

- Made poor time, Captain Svenson.
- Mr Onedin.
- She will not sail close.
- Don't tell me how my ship sails.
- There'll be no bonuses! - She's laden to the gunnels.
Slow on the helm.
It is better to arrive safely than not at all, I think.
Captain Svenson, every day costs money.
Here, you! You there! Get these here.
Step lively, there, will you, blast you! Kept a berth for you, Captain Onedin? You sing a different tune to the one you did a couple of years ago.
- Eh? - Then you was chasing me for 15 sovereigns and chucking my casks up the quay.
Times change, Mr Onedin.
Times change.
- Ah! - Were but doing my duty.
The company assets now stand at ã27,484, 10 shillings and, erfourpence.
Well, we've not done too badly, eh? - But how much is cash in hand? - We're cushioned against adversity.
Have you remembered Robert's 15%? - Our shareholders are paid on profits.
- Stop treating him as a poor relation.
He treats everyone like that.
I'll warrant there's little enough money finds its way into your purse, any more than it does into my pocket.
Now, you be quiet, Father.
Robert is a shareholder and is entitled to a return.
- Aye.
ã15 worth of shares.
- When you needed it most.
- Any idea how much that's now worth? - No.
Nor, I imagine, does Robert.
He'll be paid.
But first I must pay off Señor Braganza for my share of the Pampero - ã1,500.
Maybe if I declare a bonus of ã200, that should take care of Robert, eh? - 15%? - We cannot expand without reserves.
Household accounts.
- Pay them, then.
- I cannot.
You must think me a bottomless pit.
Very well, I'll write a draft on my bank.
Damn tradesmen.
They must extend our credit.
They have extended it.
Those shopkeepers once fought for our custom.
Now that we've fallen on lean times, they choose to snap at our heels.
Very well.
As it seems you cannot, I'll deal with them.
I'm a shopkeeper's daughter.
There comes a point when a tradesman must cry halt.
We have reached it.
The steamship men have their own designers.
The sailing ship men laugh at me notions.
- What am I to do? - Make it up with your father.
He'd take you back into his business.
- Spend me life designing masts and spars? - Without employment, we shall starve.
Oh, I cannot, Elizabeth.
I cannot.
It's no more than a little pride on both sides.
Me father stated in public I'd married beneath meself and without his consent.
- The fault is mine, so I will apologise.
- You'll do no such thing.
As you wish, Albert.
- Where are you going? - To see James about a promise.
ã200! It's a fortune, Robert.
And don't imagine that I didn't earn it.
I slaved down at those docks.
Do you know, the indolence of those workers is past belief! What is a dividend? Well, it's my share of one year's profits.
15%.
ã200.
James must be making money hand over fist! And there's plenty more.
Right.
Then we'll bank ã50 immediately in little Samuel's name, then we can pay all our outstanding accounts.
- We can renew all the stock and - And I can have a new suit.
- Oh! - Oh, my love! - You made a promise.
- I did no such thing.
- As God's me witness.
- Look! We were in a tight spot.
It was either a Federal prison or a tale.
- The profits were to be for a steamship.
- To be built by Albert.
That was bait for an ambitious Yankee.
Fortunately for us, he swallowed it.
That ambitious captain walked off with ã15,000 of my money.
If anybody's in a position to help you, it should be him.
He showed enough enthusiasm to build a dozen steamships.
And you cannot summon enough courage to invest in one.
I won't build a ship out of charity.
- Is that your last word? - No.
I do have it mind to get meself another ship and when I do, it'll be a sister to the Pampero.
- Then you're a fool.
- Albert The day that you can show me how one steamship can bring in a better profit than two of sail, I'll give you an order.
Right.
Come, Elizabeth.
- James.
- Bye, Elizabeth.
- Poor Albert.
- Ah, Albert's spoiled with education.
He has to learn to stand on his own feet like I've had to do.
And you're wasting your time.
Mr Baines'll never wear a master's uniform.
I have every confidence in Mr Baines.
Yes! Goody, goody, goody, goody.
Hip-hiphooray! Why, Mr Fogarty.
- Mrs Frazer.
- Aren't we being formal all of a sudden? - I think it better.
- Since you came up in the world.
Albert has proved to be a good husband.
- None better.
- The choice was yours.
- How is Miss Emma Callon these days? - She's well.
Why do you ask? Because it seems to me that you, too, set your sights high.
So you want to return to the firm.
It seemed a lot of bother about nothing.
- You broke your mother's heart.
- Nonsense.
Mama has a heart of flint.
- Speak respectfully of your mother.
- I speak of her much as you treat her.
- That's enough.
I've work to do.
- Of course.
Now we've disposed of family affairs, shall we discuss business? What do you know of business? You ignored sound advice and married that scheming ironmonger's daughter.
A chandler's, actually.
It was your father who dealt in nuts and bolts.
Your grandfather was a manufacturer.
I knew it was some sort of trade.
I didn't spend good money on your education just to trade sarcasms.
No, you invested in it like a prudent man puts capital aside for his old age.
What's wrong with that? You had a better start in life than I had.
A man has a right to expect a son to lend support to him in his old age.
At last, we're beginning to see eye to eye.
I do have a poor head for business but much of that is your fault.
You must shoulder some responsibility.
I'll tell you what's wrong with your business.
You're undercapitalised and you try to cram your crackpot notions down others' throats.
I have made mistakes.
And now you come creeping back to me, cap in hand.
It won't wash, Albert.
- Then I must take me talent elsewhere.
- Talent? What talent? A trifle oversparred, don't you think? There's power there, power to drive her.
That'll be one of Callon's new clippers for the wool trade.
- I expect 80-day passages from her.
- And 40 men to crew her.
I could redesign her to sail with half that.
You're on about your blasted steam engines again! - Am I interrupting? - No, Elizabeth, I was just leaving.
I do apologise for the intrusion but your clerk directed me here.
It was no intrusion.
Our discussion was at an end.
Well, thank you.
You're most considerate, Mr Frazer.
- You'll take a little refreshment? - Well - I insist.
- Then how can I refuse? - You're not at all the ogre I remember.
- Ogre? Me? - I was terrified out of my wits.
- Terrified? - Of me? - My limbs quite turned to water.
Thank you.
Even my brother James stands in awe of you.
- James? - The ship owner.
Of course.
Young Onedin.
I hear he's tweaked a few noses on his march to success.
- Callon will never forgive him.
- James lacks your gallantry.
He's far too outspoken, an unfortunate habit which will surely someday cause us mutual concern.
I think you've quite lost me, madam.
People committed to the shipping interests tend to move in small circles.
Unguarded tongues can create common embarrassment.
- Yes, of course.
- And the fault is wholly mine.
You know, my dear I made an error of judgment.
I've made few mistakes in my life but when I do, I'm the first to own I'm wrong.
You'll start tomorrow, Albert, on the dot of eight.
And forget your crackpot notions about building these iron monstrosities.
Is that understood? Yes, Father.
- Well? - I come bottom.
Oh.
But I passed.
I passed me Masters! Congratulations! - Well, come along, then.
- What? - The Pampero's waited long enough.
- Pampero? Aye.
What did you expect for your first command, a smokepot? Come along, Captain Baines.
But James owes it to Albert.
- James made no such undertakings.
- You were present at the time.
He only promised it to inveigle that captain.
In matters of business, James wouldn't order even a rowboat out of sentiment.
- Then we must persuade him.
- How? At a little dinner party, perhaps.
- Dinner party? - Oh, I think that's a splendid notion.
Well, Robert and I would be delighted to attend.
You could ask Mr and Mrs Frazer and your father, Anne.
Then, after the ladies have left the gentlemen, they can discuss business.
And who knows where that may lead? It won't be easy to persuade James to attend a formal dinner party.
He can hardly avoid an appearance at his own.
Never forget.
A master's first duty is to his owner.
I shall always bear it in mind, sir.
If you get into difficulties, don't send frantic and muddled messages home.
- The ship's singled up fore and aft.
- Thank you.
Allow me to see you ashore, sir.
Well, William.
Good luck.
- Every confidence in you.
- Give my best to Mrs Onedin, sir.
Without her, I'd never have worn this.
Never in doubt, never in doubt.
I've every confidence in you.
Thank you, sir.
Come on, clear the gangway.
Look lively there.
- Mr Tranter.
- Sir? - The ship is yours, Mr Tranter.
- Aye aye, sir.
Cast off, fore and aft! Man the fo'c's'le! Shake a leg, shake a leg! And the poor creature was bound to the mast.
And the monstrous villain was about to set fire to the ship.
Then I suppose the hero arrived in the nick of time, downed the villain and rescued the young lady.
- Well, yes, he did.
- But then what happened? The ship became a rolling inferno and blew up in a monstrous explosion.
Taking the villain to his deserved reward.
All that, on a stage! Twice nightly.
I'd have given the villain a better chance on an iron ship.
Iron ships don't catch fire so easily, but their boilers explode.
A typical sailing ship man's tale.
When did one last blow up? Just a few months ago off Tranmere, with considerable damage.
An incendiarist - she was laden with gunpowder! That's a typical steamship man's tale.
What do you say, Onedin? Oh.
Was she insured? - Everything under command, Mr Tranter? - Drawing nicely, sir.
Smell of ice in the air.
Keep her as she goes.
We'll get Brownsea latitude before a change in the moon.
Aye aye, sir.
Steam packets are today crossing the ocean.
Mainly under sail.
Mainly under sail.
The first sign of bad weather, they hoist their canvas.
Leave 'em to the navy.
They can back their follies with taxpayers' money.
Her Majesty's navy does not indulge in folly, sir.
But the Admiralty has a somewhat longer purse than most of us.
A navy that has the wit and imagination to build a ship such as the ironclad Warrior needs little reprimand from a wooden shipbuilder.
She was a converted full-rig ship, out of date before she was built, like all the rest of them.
You are too blind and you too obstinate to recognise a fact when it's thrust before you.
Without subsidy, steamships cannot pay their way.
- They would if they built them my way.
- Oh? What is your way? There is your sailing ship.
Stick an engine in it, everyone imagines you have a steamship.
You haven't.
- You have a steam-driven sailing ship.
- So? You build a ship around the engine.
- Now, you take out these masts - Hold on! If it's just a hull you want, I can oblige you.
Mr Baines's hobby.
He left it behind.
We build a steam-driven floating warehouse.
Go on.
Captain Baines, on the poop of his sailing ship, cannot see ahead but on this ship, just for'ard of the funnel, we build a walk.
By bridging the midship sections like this, the officer on duty can see all around the whole horizon.
That should go to bringing your insurance down.
How much tonnage is taken up by engine and coal? - About a thousand.
- She'll never show a profit.
That sailing ship can carry 1,500 tons of cargo against your 500.
No, the upper limits of sail have been reached.
Those of a power-driven ship are not yet in sight.
I've designed this ship to carry 2,500 tons.
2,500 tons?! She'll go straight down to the bottom! What do you do when the engine blows up? The same as you do when a sailing ship's dismasted.
Bigger ships'll need bigger engines, therefore more coal A more powerful engine need not be larger.
Mr Elder's compound engine consumes less fuel.
- At what speed? - Around 12 knots.
Any of Callon's rigs would show her a clean pair of heels.
You sailed to Quebec recently.
How long did it take? 38 days out, 14 days back.
52 days.
You made a good passage.
This ship will take 14 days there and 14 days back.
- 28 days, eh? - As regular as clockwork.
- You're forgetting fuel costs.
- The wind costs no man a penny.
Except in time.
I estimate coal costs of ã1,000.
- That's a nice round hole in your profits.
- What profits? But you would save on your insurance.
You say there's no upward limit to size.
It's limited only by the strength of iron and the power of the steam.
- But how much will it cost? - Well, say, ã40,000.
- ã40,000?! - I could build you four clippers for that.
But two of these, Mr Frazer, can carry the same cargo in half the time.
You're not persuaded? Show me the way to continue in profits and you'll find me easy to persuade.
When could we start building? - You really mean it? - Hold on.
Where'll you find the money? By forming a public company.
Well, Father? This needs a deal of thinking.
My yards are not equipped to build such a vessel.
You say the limitations are in the strength of the iron and the power of the steam.
So you could build me a ship that'll carry 4,000 tons to Quebec and back in24 days? Can you do that? - Yes, but not for ã40,000.
- How much, then? Well, say60,000? - Then we're in business.
- Not yet.
- I'll go elsewhere.
- This is a heavy investment for Frazer's.
Enlarged yards, new slipway, machine shops.
I think my son deserves a higher return than a design fee.
If you're determined on this course and you go public, I'll not stand in Albert's way but Frazer's must have 20% holding.
10%.
And to Albert, not to Frazer's.
15.
And to Albert.
Then if you go down, you'll take only one Frazer with you.
Right, I'll float ã100,000 worth of shares - 15% to Albert - but that ship must be mine.
All right.
Shall we join the ladies? .
.
talked to Robert and said, "Ah, Papa, there's a pup stuck.
" I'm sorry, my dears.
We got talking business.
You know the way it is.
- I think dinner's gone well, don't you? - Oh, very well, yes.
It just cost me ã100,000.
Put your backs into it, lads.
I want this deck as white as your father's face when your mother told him the news.
- Mr Tranter.
- Sir? I like a clean ship, Mr Tranter, a clean ship and a tidy ship.
Aye aye, sir.
You need strength, tonnage and speed.
For strength, we're building a composite.
Teak planking over iron frames.
For tonnage, 36-foot beam, 20-foot draft.
For speed, 17,000 square yards of canvas.
There's power there, Tom.
And it'll cost me a king's ransom, I've no doubt.
It'll cost you.
It'll still fall a deal short of Onedin's mark.
Oh? And what is Onedin's mark? Albert quoted him 60,000.
He never blinked.
ã60,000?! What are you building, a fleet of whalers? I've got a steamship on me books, Tom.
A steamship.
You're the man who always swore he'd have no truck with these "smokepots".
Onedin's money is as good as yours and there's more of it.
Oh, is there? But he'll ruck you.
Mark my words.
If anyone gets his fingers burned, it'll be Albert.
If the lad takes a tumble with Onedin, - it'll be as a good a blooding as he'll get.
- Albert? Steam'll be his side of the business, not mine.
- I'm too old a dog to learn new tricks.
- Well, don't be left holding the baby.
Onedin'll never raise that money, never in this world.
He's forming a public company, to the tune of ã100,000.
Why have you settled on this particular sum? Well, 60,000 for building and 40,000 for operating costs.
Your costs, if I may say so, appear to be abnormally high compared to your original investment.
If the ship's a success, I want capital for the second.
And you don't want to water your stock by a second issue of shares.
Very wise.
Very wise.
- I want total control of the company.
- Advice.
Now, your first step will be to issue a prospectus.
A prospectus is an inducement to take shares.
It has been held - New Brunswick Railway Company v.
Muggeridge, 1860 - that those who issue a prospectus must state everything with strict accuracy.
For example, if the company's object is to build such and such a type of ship, and for other such purposes as are laid down in its Memorandum of Association, those purposes are to be stated clearly and must not be departed from.
In short, the company's finances must not be used for any other purpose than that which has been declared.
Now, is that clearly understood? Plain as a pikestaff, I borrow money to build a steamship.
How do I keep control of the company? Only one effective method - by holding a majority of the shares.
That would come to more than ã50,000! It's just not possible! It is entirely possible.
As shareholders are notoriously divisive, an absolute majority isn't essential.
- Aye, but wiser.
- Certainly, if you can afford the luxury.
- Well, we can't, so there's an end to it.
- No, wait, Robert.
Come on.
This ã100,000 for which you ask may not be required immediately.
You can call upon all shareholders to pay only half of the nominal amount.
The company would in that case have ã50,000 in capital - and a further ã50,000 on call.
- On call? You call upon each shareholder to buy one-pound shares for 10 shillings each and they undertake to pay the balance on demand, when called upon.
So if I and my associates, let's say, hold ã20,000 worth of shares The company would effectively be yours.
Ever stopped off in Rio, Mr Tranter? Aye, sir.
I've wasted a lot of my strength and money along that waterfront.
Hops and whores.
The curse o' seafaring men.
The wind's shifting, Mr Tranter.
We must be losing the trades.
I'll be a sight merrier once we've rounded the Horn.
Miss Callon.
- You look exceedingly well.
- Thank you, Mr Fogarty.
My uncle kindly invited me to luncheon.
I trust my presence will not incommode you.
She invited herself.
Emma's got a mind of her own.
This damned Onedin is getting too big for his boots.
He's far-sighted, I grant you, sir.
He'll come a tumble and bring that Albert down with him.
Mr Frazer had sufficient backbone to defy his parents and marry beneath him.
- Quite a pretty thing, I recall.
- I saw an enterprise doomed to failure.
You judge too harshly, Uncle.
I applaud their courage.
I'm speaking of this prospectus.
Kindly hold your tongue while Mr Fogarty and I talk business.
Young Albert calls this proposed vessel of his a "floating warehouse".
"Frazer's Folly", I call it.
Can you imagine? A ship without masts or spars or sails.
It's nothing but a hulk, a perambulating hulk.
- Without provisions for sail at all? - No.
Albert Frazer must be confident he's found a reliable engine.
There's no such thing.
If there was, I'd have heard about it.
No, Onedin's overstepped himself.
These specifications are impossible.
Think on it.
Here's a ship carrying a cargo of 4,000 tons at a speed of 14 knots for a range of 6,000 miles.
It'll never come off the slipway.
Mark my words.
Yeah, well, if it does, the days of sail are over.
- You're not serious? - You think on it, Mr Callon.
Steam took its first step 20 years ago.
It'll soon take another.
- You're afraid of these steam cranks? - I am.
If Frazer and Onedin have the answer, there'll not be a trade route left for sail.
- There are heavy investments in sail.
- Australia by steam? Pie in the sky.
It'll never happen in our lifetime.
When one leads, others follow.
- I see only one answer, sir.
- Mm-hm? Yes? Take control of the Onedin Line.
Masts? But I thought she'd not require sails.
It's too late to lose your nerve now.
The masts are supports.
To each mast I'll fit a pair of cranes - derricks.
Derricks can be hoisted or lowered by means of a wire rope attached to a steam winch.
We then utilise the steam winch for raising or lowering cargo.
There's a saving in labour, eh, Robert? Ah, well.
But I just can't visualise a ship without sails.
There appears to be very little ship for a great deal of money.
- It's too late to change your mind.
- Robert has a point.
- Exactly how is our money being spent? - I can't give you a detailed breakdown but I've asked engineers for tenders to build an engine to my specifications at a total cost of between ã15-ã20,000.
For one engine? That includes boilers, steam winches, propeller shafts, pipes.
I've asked for a 2,500-horsepower engine.
Say no more.
I know exactly where our money's going.
Up the chimney and come out in smoke.
My father will not live forever.
I trust your father will have many years to come, Miss Callon.
Daniel, my name is Emma! One must be practical about these matters.
My father has made certain I do not go to any man without due provision.
I'm no fortune hunter.
Dear Daniel, how could anyone impute to you an ignoble motive? I assure you I But there are times when I find your moral rectitude constraining.
The register closed at ã100,000.
- Do we have him? - He's mortgaged himself to the hilt.
We'll own him - lock, stock and barrel.
An albatross.
I haven't seen one for years.
It's a bad-luck bird, following us like a curse.
Superstition.
It's seamanship that counts.
We're not making good time.
I'll try the staysails next.
- In this weather? - Like a real tea clipper.
Give the order.
Hoist the staysails, main and topgallant! Staysails, main and topgallant.
She looks unstable to me.
- She'll be pooped in the first heavy sea.
- If she ever puts to sea.
I bought two shares.
Guess I wasted me money.
If I may have your attention, please, gentlemen.
As this is our first annual general meeting, permit me to introduce meself and my colleagues.
I'm James Onedin, shareholder.
This is Mr Robert Onedin, shareholder.
This is our designer, Mr Albert Frazer, shareholder.
And this This is a model of Mr Frazer's brainchild.
No doubt, in due course, you'll wish to question Mr Frazer in some detail as to how he's been spending our money! You each have an agenda paper in front of you, I take it.
The first item is election of chairman and officers.
If I could have your nominations, please.
- I nominate James Onedin.
- I second.
I nominate Mr Thomas Callon.
I second that nomination.
I must rule you out of order.
Mr Callon is not a shareholder of this company.
You're wrong, Onedin.
I am.
In fact, I'm the principal shareholder.
Just look up the name Wellesley and oblige me.
- Aye, 2,500 shares.
- Oh, well, let's cut this nonsense short.
I hold share warrants to the name of Fosse, Hardcastle, Turnstall and Funne.
Just check 'em in your register, will you, Mr Robert? - He's right, James.
He can outvote us.
- Don't lose your head.
You seem to have the advantage of us, Mr Callon.
It would therefore seem that you shareholders here hold the balance.
Why not put it to the test, Onedin? I think you'll find they'llvote my way.
As you might have gathered, Mr Callon and myself are at loggerheads.
Mr Callon has entered this company through the back door, buying shares through nominees.
Just ask yourselves why, gentlemen.
I can tell you why.
If Onedin had seen my name on that register, he'd have had a shoal of nominees of his own and you would all be in his pocket.
Then ask yourselves why Mr Callon's so eager to seize control of this company? I just want to see it conducted on sound financial principles.
That's a very charitable thought, particularly from a man so committed to sail as Mr Callon! We have put every penny that we possess into this project, in earnest of our faith.
You must've had faith, too, otherwise you wouldn't have put in a penny.
But so far, everything's been on paper.
But now, we've all had an opportunity to see for ourselves a model of this "eighth wonder of the world".
- Well, look at it.
I ask you, gentlemen.
Did you ever see such a monstrosity in all your lives? I'm sure Mr Frazer will be only too willing to answer any questions that you may wish to put to him.
Why has no provision been made for the carrying of sails in the event of an engine breakdown? I'm confident that this engine will not break down.
- Oh.
- Such arrogance! There's no such thing as a trouble-free engine and never will be.
Seven-odd men out.
All we need is to win over four of them.
Any difficulty could be rectified by trained engineers.
In heavy weather, she'd broach and turn turtle.
You've been at sea long enough to know the solution.
Put out a sea anchor.
To hold a ship of that size, built of iron, with 4,000 tons of cargo? - You'd never make a draw big enough.
- I would and so would you.
How much power will your engine develop, Mr Frazer? 3,000 horsepower.
- 3,000 horsepower's unheard of! - It would shake the ship to pieces.
- Rubbish! - Are you an engineer, Mr? - Brandon.
I am.
Engineers are notoriously blunt but that's the best question we've heard yet, so continue.
I'm sure Mr Frazer would welcome the opportunity of further explanation.
Is it not a fact that Mr Brunel only required 1,500 horsepower to propel the Great Britain, at a speed of 12 knots? - Times change.
That was 20 years ago.
- But she's still sailing.
Which speaks well of her original design.
But she had sails - six masts with sails.
Brunel apparently did not have as much faith in his engine as you.
And with good reason.
In Brunel's day, engines were forged of iron.
Mine will be made of steel.
It's cheaper.
There's greater tensile strength and more reliability.
Brunel's boiler pressures were 15 pounds per square inch.
Mine will be 60! - 60! - There's another hazard.
If it doesn't shake itself to pieces, it'll blow up.
I think I'm going to ask for my money back.
I'll take your shares tomorrow, Callon.
Aye, but not today.
You've run out of capital.
Give me until tomorrow and I'll find it.
No doubt, because by tomorrow, when news of this eyesore leaks out, these shares won't be worth the paper they're printed on! - We can't wind up before we start! - We can't throw good money after bad.
For a man who claims to have the interests of the investors at heart, that's a pessimistic view.
Or are you scared of competition? - Now, listen - All right, Mr Callon.
I notice that this "ship" is to be steered by that midship structure.
- The bridge? - Aye.
Assuming this "bridge" is not washed overboard in the first heavy sea, how do you propose to connect the steering wheel to the rudder? With iron rods and chains running along the afterdeck.
Isn't it an axiom that the strength of a chain lies in its weakest link? Just how many weak links will connect rudder to steering wheel, Mr Frazer? Even if your engine is half as sound as you claim, what happens when a weak link snaps? - It is replaced.
- Oh! Replaced? Have you ever served aboard a ship? No.
And I doubt you've designed an engine.
Then let's ask Mr Onedin his opinion, for he is of the same qualifications.
Is it not a fact, Mr Onedin, that a ship without a rudder is at the mercy of the sea?! - Quite true! And I was on such a ship once - one of yours, Mr Callon.
How much coal will be needed to drive this 3,000-horsepower machinery, sir? In a 60-pound boiler, two pounds per horsepower per hour.
No matter what happens, you stay on the board.
Callon daren't throw you off without showing his hand.
- If we lose, I resign.
- We've gotta see this ship through! - You're the only one who can do it.
- You really do believe in it? I do, especially now that Callon's shown his claws.
He believes in it, man, and the thought frightens him.
But what if the voting goes against you? Fight him.
It's either him or me.
One must break the other.
Mr Frazer, correct me if I'm wrong, but I calculate that your figure of two pounds per horsepower per hour would give a coal consumption of two and a half tons per hour.
That is so.
Two and a half tons per hour? You'll agree, Mr Frazer, that the wind is a free commodity? But a variable one.
It could prove an expensive economy in the long run.
- But you have no intention of using it? - None whatsoever.
Not even when that wind can blow a ship along at 18 or 20 knots, - you'll still obstinately refuse to use it? - Yes, sir.
- And keep these engines turning over? - Exactly.
At a cost, gentlemen, over and above all the other costs, at a cost of not less than ã50 a day of our money.
She'll go up in smoke, up that tin chimney stack there.
I say it's not to be borne.
Then what alternative do you suggest, Mr Callon?! All right, then, demand your money back! Every penny, every pound lies untouched in that bank there! Come on, then, ask for it back! What are you trying to do? You'll ruin us.
I'm gambling on their greed and fear, lad.
- We start up again tomorrow.
- How? With our nominees.
Gentlemen! Gentlemen, gentlemen, please! Please, I beg you.
Don't play into his hands.
It only needs two minority shareholders to withdraw their investment and Onedin holds this company in his fist.
Aye.
I'm not against innovation, gentlemen, but I've been in business too long and too successfully to be hoodwinked by such a catchpenny scheme as this.
Well, I have faith in this ship but with reasonable modifications.
Never.
I'm a reasonable man, sir.
I say that this ship, with masts and sails and an engine of somewhat less power, could be a worthwhile proposition.
Now, I'm sure the name of Mr Alfred Holt is well known to all of you.
- Mr Alfred Holt? - He is a prudent man and a brilliant engineer.
No, sir.
Mr Holt is about to build an iron ship for the Far East trade.
This ship will be the finest and most powerful steamship ever built.
But it will have three masts and a full set of sails.
Gentlemen, I've already nominated Mr Callon for chairman.
And I've seconded the motion.
- All in favour? - Aye! Carried, I think, Mr Onedin.
- Now, Callon - Hm? I'm still a shareholder.
Not for long, Onedin.
Not for long.
Callon's first objective might be to call in the balance.
A further 20,000? We'll have a breathing space - a month or two.
He can't act too quickly.
Callon might be chairman and majority shareholder but he doesn't own the company.
He can't play ducks and drakes with the company's finances, not while I'm looking over his shoulder.
- That's a lesson I'm gonna teach him.
- And we still have our sailing ships.
Land on the starboard bow! There she is - Tierra del Fuego.
And a right storm with it! If we hold on much longer, we'll be on a lee shore.
- Fine, Mr Tranter.
Reef the topsails.
- Aye aye, Cap'n.
Reef the topsails! Hold her steady! Look at those jibs tearing their guts out! She'll hold.
Get those in, you idle scum! We've holes forward, in three places! - Get the carpenter.
- No, it's too bad for that, sir.
Give the order, Mr Tranter.
Abandon ship.
Aba-a-andon shi-i-ip! Damn him! Damn him to hell! His first command! At least he's among those saved, homeward bound! It's a total loss.
Nothing saved.
Nothing.
Nothing? But she was insured.
Not for doubling round the Horn.
It seems even the elements are against me.
There'll be other ships, other cargos.
Come, now.
Where's the man I married? The man with ambition enough for an army of Napoleons? - Brought you nothing but misfortune.
- And I married you for security? Well, don't you regret our marriage now? I may have married you for security but I found something more important.
You've not lost everything.
You still have the Charlotte Rhodes.
Well Seems I still have you, Anne.
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