Thanks Tony, Jim and Gene.  Very good suggestions and just what I was
looking for.  The .netrc was what I was trying to remember, and will
probably use initially.  Ultimately, the rsync looks very promising and
will look into the ncftp options.

Also FYI.  I stopped into Barnes and Noble this weekend and picked up the
O'Reilly Unix CD Bookshelf (non-current) for $19.95.
The only difference between it and the current ($69) is the Learning vi has
gone from 5th ed. to 6th.  The rest is the same.  I thought it was a good
deal.

Thanks again.  Now back to trying to get this done today.