Liner To Himself.

Thames Star, Volume LXV, Issue 19373, 2 April 1935, Page 4

Liner To Himself.

BOY’S ATLANTIC VOYAGE. THE ONLY PASSENGER. The curious experience of crossing the Atlantic from Belfast to New York as the sole passenger in the 7590 tons liner American Importer, of the United States Lines, recently gave 12-year-old Brian Armour a place on the front pages of the New York newspapers. The liner has accommodation for 100 passengers, but Brian had it all to himself. Three people who boarded the ship at Liverpool went ashore at Belfast, fearing they would feel lonely during the eight days’ voyage. But the boy traveller was not bored. Captain John Anderson decided to take advantage of the unusual situation to paint the interior of his ship, and moved Brian from his small cabin to a stateroom under the bridge. There the boy enjoyed the undivided attention of five cabin stewards, six deck stewards and six dining saloon stewards, with a choice of a place at any one of 14 tables when he took his meals. In accordance with maritime custom, the captain invited him, as the principal passenger, to dine at his table on the last night of the voyage, and solemnly placed a paper cap on his head. The ship’s doctor joined him in endless games of draughts, while everyone else on board, from the wireless operator to the chief engineer, cheerfully explained all the mysteries of a modern steamship. Brian has been living for four years with an uncle at Lurgan, near Belfast, and was returning to his parents in New York.