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1902 | tion and the high freight and ensuing profit. The prevailing boats were small, but there were twenty-three coast-wise lines out of New York, exclusive of a large number of services by smaller, not of the deep- water type. The small steamers from Philadelphia, for example, going by way of the canals averaged four or five in number each day. Of the deep-sea boats, 117 cleared coastwise dur- ing March. In a word, this was the closing decade wher it was profitabletorunsmall steamers and to compete with the railroads for pas- senger and mail traffic A comparison with 1882 shows that at that time there were fourteen lines only, and 109 clearances, but in 1872 the railroad connections were not particularly good, and railroad time was not particularly fast. The ports were the cen- ters of industry, and fine ships were driven to their best perform- ance with large passenger and mail traffic, besides remunerative freight. The accompanying table shows the lines of the period. A casual survey of the figures shows that the paddle and screw steamers were equally common, with a prevailing tonnage of 1,500 or less, and 10 cr 12 knots as the maximum speed. The majority of the hulls were built of wood at shipyards scattered throughout the New England states, as well as at New York, Philadelphia and Wilmington. The screw steamers were equipped almost universally with a single, direct-acting engine, and, as a rule with one boiler. It was a period of competition rather than of consolidation, and a period when the traffic was profitable in spite of wasteful engines and small hulls. 1882 The next decade shows radical changes in type, management, and the general nature of the service, and of competition. 'The year 1882 and the general period of the nearly eighties followed times when there had been great railroad expansion and consid- erable business depression. 'The whole conditions of the service had changed since the decade previous. 'The mails were now carried by land; freights were low, and the coasting steamers carried passengers who traveled by sea rather on account of special reasons, such as lower rate of passage, etc., than because it was the quickest and most feasible MARINE REVIEW AND Quaker City, 1854. Off-Shore Service. MARINE RECORD. 19 1,143 Tons. nage or statistics throughout the different periods considered. Lloyd's Register has been followed as far back as practicable, but fifteen years ago it was the exception rather than the rule to find the rating of an American coasting vessel in Lloyd's. Hence before that, the American Record, corresponding in general to Lloyd's, was followed, but the American Record was founded in 1868, and for the years before that the only available figures were those deposited with the United States commissioner of navigation as each ship was built. 'These were kindly furnished by the present commissioner, and are undoubtedly very accurate, but it is obvious that there are likely to be slight differences in methods of measuring gross tonnage. 'The figures may safely. be considered close, however, and are certainly as close as can be obtained. The table which follows shows the approximate location of the trade in 1882. As will be seen from the table, the best boat running coast- wise in 1882 was the Chalmette, of the Morgan line. 'The Chal- mette, an iron screw steamer of 3,205 tons, was built bv the Cramps in 1879. She is 321 ft. long, and fully as large as the majority of the best boats which were running a decade later. 1892. The next decade, illustrated by March, 1892, shows increased size, the practical disappearar.ce of wooden hulls, prevalence of compound engines, and a gradual working in of steel. 'The Roach yard at Chester, now the Delaware River Ship & Engine Building : 2 March, 1882. Total Number of method of transportation. x o make traffic Stianiera cleaned gross. Geparieres pay under these conditions, it became neces- from New York Type Gross atone : som i sary to reduce ton-mile cost by increasing NEW TORK & PORT Wap cow es cleared. New York. carrying capacity and by getting the maxi- Maine 8. S. Co. hin gt ; Franconia Wicd, Ber 675 ' 7,640 9 mum efficiency out of the coal burned. NEW YORK AND BOSTON: Hence the prevailing coastwise type was Dopeee Woods 8¢w, 01,088 : Dr oe : : Metropolitan Line . (eee) Glanens ...) < Wood, sew. 1,849 | pengn ean the boat of increased size, with an iron Gen. Whitney . . Wood, sew. 1,849 hull, propeller and compound engines. NEW YORK AND BALTIMORE: : , ' ' a Wm. Kennedy . . Wood, sew. 975 Roach, the Cramps, and Harlan & Hollings- ee Mines ee | Meciclion RWOGt: aete: aus cee. worth built practically every steamer on the . ss Blackstone . . . .~Wood, sew. 1,147 : coast at this time, in consequence of which ay a AND GEORGETOWN the general types were very. similar. e i ; H. C. Knight . . . Wood, sew. 421 1730 4 The following table of the number of ceca! ae ; John Gibson Wood, sew. 444 : ships and number of lines which cleared NEW YORK AND NORFOLK: Richmond. Week eae ee them, in each decade period, shows quite | { Manhattan'... . Iron, sew. 1,525 clearly the change in the early eighties, by Old Dominion |. . . : 1 Byeak uate - . + Iron, sew. 1,045 40,728 26 the fact that the gross tonnage cleared during L in Tale ren 7 Gon | the month was nearly 40,000 e more NEW YORK & WILMINGTON,N.C.: than in March, 1872, in spite of the fact that Benefactor . . . . Iron, sew. 844) : : : : 6,376 7 eight fewer ships cleared, and the figures CMe 2. pee } Ce RO 5 showing the number of lines in operation NEW YORK AND CHARLESTON: ' | . i he fact that it was no longer City of Atlanta . Wood, sew. 1,621 pone ode We : i 4 8 { City of Columbia. Wood, sew. 1878 | profitable to maintain more or less haphaz- Oulnterd's Tine . J Santo Domingo . . Wood, sew. 1612 | 20,290 12 ard services without due regard for all pos- | 1 Morro Castle . . . Wood, sew. 1,714 | i i te Delaware; #4 Wood, sew. 1,646 sible ie oe a as ce e a serene NEW YORK AND SAVANNAH: L J tion. | the results or this decade in the City of Macon . . Iron, sew. 2,093 4 coasting traffic seem almost to have antici- City of Columbus..Iron, sew. 1,992 | ated the present demand for greater car- Ocean 8. B...00. 5 i. ae Coc + + 4 Olty Of Augosta. inn, Bowe | 2870 10, 0ne 9 P : . : City of Savannah..Iron, sew. 2,029 | goes and fewer carriers in the transatlantic Gute Oley. Oren seu 1 € oat service, bad NEW YORK AND NEW ORLEANS: J Me Z ' Louisiana . . Iron, sew. 2,849 Coastwisé Steamship Traffic Out of New Cromwell Line Cae | Hudson . . . Iron, sew. 1,564 7,541 4 York ? New Orleans . . . Iron, sew. 1,564 : Total \ Algiers . . Iron, sew. 2,294 gross tons Morgen, Line Tso? 4 Chalmette . Iron, sew. 3,205 ( 10.383 A Tv 7 ' i No. of No. of cleared from NEW YORK AND GALVESTON: ( New York Iron, sew. 2,590 J t Month of March: clearances. lines. New York. 2 ae 2 see a pe oa IBRD. ce. oa sn 1 es wees Mallory Line . ro ee Rin Grins : : ivan ce 2 Kee S ee: 30 8 29,565 olbeag ee eae 10,999 4 oe a oe NEW YORK AND PORT ROYAL ( TOON - - < + OW Tee a Me es 7 20.747 FERNANDINA: ; : A er ve . eee f Enis es Sige Iron, sew 1,605 ; A § 5-7, . . ' . , ' bored Se ae i ae Mallory: Line * 4 State of Texas....Iron, sew. 1,736 ©, 70: +6 Ce ; Carondelet . . . . Wood, sew. | 1,508 j Tt is perhaps well to remark in con- NEW YORK AND JACKAONVILLE: iy onis Buck .. © Wood. sew. 417 ay nection with the figures shown that there is Warren Ray pe gan bee Se ay oe i no known way of obtaining absolute ton- Van Beynt, ee © @