Governor [Foster] Furcolo signed the new Steamship Authority bill shortly before 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Under the terms of the new law, the present Authority will be replaced Jan. 1, 1961, by a new Authority of three members, one of Dukes County - who have already persuaded Robert M. Love to accept the appointment - one named by the selectmen of Nantucket, and one by the selectmen of Falmouth. New Bedford will be responsible for 40 per cent of the deficit for 1960, but after the end of this year will have no responsibility, no representation, and no guarantee of service.

An opinion entirely favorable to the Islands has been given to Governor Furcolo by Attorney General Edward J. McCormack Jr., relative to the Steamship Authority bill. The measure was returned to the Senate once again on Tuesday and is now back on the governor’s desk for another grace period of five days within which he may sign or veto it. But this is only one of a number of bills which have been shuttled in this manner between the Senate and Governor Furcolo.

These troubled times are not the only occasion on which inhabitants of Martha's Vineyard have had difficulty obtaining passage by boat to the mainland. Ask the oldest inhabitant as to boat service, and the chances are that he will refer to the good old days when no difficulties presented themselves and life was sweet and peaceful.

Dealing with the more than 150 years-history of steamboat transportation between the Island and mainland, Mr. Love styled his talk, The Evolution of Operation, Wood Boilers to Gas Turbines. He also brought out the little-known fact that far from being a new idea, the inclusion of Hyannis in the Island boat system was carried out over a long period of years and with a high degree of success.

Steamer history is Vineyard history, even now, for the arrival of the air age has not diminished the necessity of boat service.

It is likely that regular boat service between Martha’s Vineyard and the mainland was being operated by the year 1800. This does not mean daily service, however, for in the old times the packets and even the steamboats that followed them, would run on certain days of the week. Sailings were arranged according to the time of year and the needs of traffic.

The new ferryboat Nantucket, hailing (God save the mark!) from New Bedford, stopped briefly at Vineyard Haven on Tuesday – about an hour and a half – to give the people who are paying half the bill an opportunity to see the new boat. Some of them did, but the view was hardly satisfactory, the time being limited and the boat swarming with children taking advantage of the spring vacation from school.

The new Vineyard ferry Islander arrived at Vineyard Haven yesterday afternoon, greeted with whistles from the Martha’s Vineyard, which lay at the dock, the whistles of the fleet of Taylor’s lighters, and blasts from assembled cars. All down-Island towns had displayed their flags throughout the day, and the visiting hours, together with music by the Vineyard Haven Band, followed during the early evening when more than 3,400 people inspected the boat.

It happened yesterday. One minute before 11 a.m., the Island boat line was administered by the officers and directors of the Massachusetts Steamship Lines Inc., as constituted for some time past; one minute after 11, the management was in the hands of new officers and directors, the responsibility of the New Bedford, Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamboat Authority.