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320 tory of American navigation the direct sea route to Siberia. The dispatch of these boats by. way of the Kara sea, an arm of the Arctic ocean, which lies to the north of Siberia, has been authorized by the Kolchak government. If the attempt 1s successful it will establish a steamship terminal which has ready and quick access to the interior of Siberia. _A joint service of the Ellerman, Bucknell and the Ellerman-Wilson lines from New York to the Levant | will be inaugurated this month with the steamship Axeppo. Piraeus and other Near Eastern ports will be used. Norton, Lilly & Co. and Sanderson & Son will act as joint agents for the line, which will be called the American-Mediterranean-Levant line. It is the intention of the operators to maintain a monthly service with more frequent sailings if the tonnage offered warrants. : : he ees The Swedish-American line begins its new freight service from Phila- Foreign delphia to Sweden and Finland this L month. The line will have fortnight- nee ly sailings between Philadelphia, Got- Are Active enburg, Sweden, and Helsingfors, Finland. The Norway, Mexico & Gulf line has also re-established its weekly sailings from Philadelphia to Stavenger and Christiania. The new French-Canadian steamship service be- tween Montreal and France has been inaugurated. The operating company is known as La Compagnie Canadienne 'Transatlantique. The line is the out- growth of an agreement between Cie Generale Trans- atlantique, of Paris, and the Canada Steamship Lines, tao! The Cunard line has established its freight service between Bristol and Philadelphia. The KEEMUN was the first ship dispatched. A monthly service will be maintained. The Cunard line has acquired four more freighters. Three are 9600 tons deadweight each and will be named the VarpuLiA, VaAscoNnia and ViroitiA. The fourth vessel, the VERBANIA, is 8500 tons deadweight capacity. They will all be used in the transatlantic trade. _ English lines, according to authentic reports, do not contemplate building new leviathans. The White Star line had under construction the Homeric when the war broke out, but apart from this single excep- tion the building of great liners is not in contempla- tion by any British company. An unprecedented demand exists for vessels to carry cargo from' north Bottoms ee ports to Great Britain and . Europe. Space is being sought par- eee ene ticularly for lumber, railroad ties and Demand | barley. An enormous trade would now be moving were the tonnage available. Spot vessels are being eagerly snapped up at high freights and many others could be fixed. As high as $55 per 1000 feet is being paid for ties to United Kingdom and _ there are many cargoes of this material and lumber yet to move. lumber exporters are anticipating an im- mense export business to Europe and England and are entertaining a strong hope that ships . will be attracted to this route. The British government has made heavy purchases of railroad ties in British 'Columbia, but itis im- possible to allocate sufficient vessels to move this busi- ness. The score of vessels building at British Colum- _bian yards for the French government will have cargo THE MARINE REVIEW _-by lack of space. July, 1919 - furnished by the British government and it is assumed that they will be used for carrying the ties and other railroad material in question. A disposition has developed on the part of United States officials to permit the assignment of new wooden steamers to the European route. Heretofore, these vessels were reserved for government business and several cargoes of ties for Atlantic ports have already been dispatched on this fleet. However, it is now announced that much of the material bought for the United States roads will be moved overland by rail, thus releasing the wooden steamers for other _ routes. Considerable barley is offering for export from San Francisco and from Prefers $38 to $40 per ton is being paid for G space to the United Kingdom and aoe at to Scandinavian «countries. General Freight | cargo is also being offered in quan- tities for shipment to Europe but this business is being handicapped The regular steamship lines are still giving preference to government freight and are unable as yet to obtain a sufficient number of vessels to handle what is offering. There is every indica- tion of a very brisk trade with European and British potts as soon as vessels are available. The same is true of the prospects for the coast-to-coast business but the large companies cannot offer regular sail- ings yet. The transpacific situation shows little change. There was a disposition to cut rates from the $12 basis recently established. However, the companies in the Pacific conference recently agreed to maintain this level and as a rule this is being done, although it is reported that a quantity of steel was booked at as low as $8. Practically no freight is moving from the Orient to this coast at present and the exports are being confined largely to steel, cotton and lumber. Several cargoes of railroad material have been dis- patched to Vladivostok but there is no indication that the Siberian business will continue permanently in volume. Movement of lumber and cereal from Boston, the former to Argentina, France and Belgium and the latter to England and, in fact, to most of west- ern Europe, is becoming heavier with ampler supply of tonnage. Freight rates are at the crest in case of lum- ber, charters from Boston to Buenos Aires and Montevideo standing at the high-water mark of $50 per thousand feet. This rate is being taken advantage of by sailing vessels, the ships and barks with | capacity of from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 feet, averaging the passage of 6000 miles in about 75 days while the schooners require a trifle longer time, as a rule. Shortly before the war the freight on lum- ber was $8.25 per thousand and owners considered the figure fairly remunerative. The freight on lum- ber to France and Belgium, mostly Canadian white pine, 1s proportionately as high as that collected for South American ports and steamers are taking more lumber as part cargo than heretofore. Cereal, prin- cipally wheat, is going overseas in volume with Rus- Sia getting an occasional consignment. The bulk, however, is destined to Belgium, France and Ger- many and the rate is in the vicinity of $1 per hun- dred pounds. Exports from Boston to Cuba fill two steamers weekly with potatoes, paper, machinery, etc. Charter Rates Still High