The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

- wharf. 80 THE MARINE REVIEW with the warehouse’ and cold storage plant, when com- pleted, will allow the use of elec- tric equipment for handling freight between ship and rail. The first floor of the wharf has been in use since early in 1914, dur- ing the construction of the warehouse and viaducts. Two or three large vessels with coal from the Atlantic coast have thus far discharged at this bast year the Bell street wharf, in conjunction with the What- com avenue warehouse, another unit of the port commissioners’ scheme, handled 825,000 cases of salmon. Seat- tle is the center for a very important canned salmon business and during the latter part of the year considerable demand exists for fish storage space. The warehouse will be opérated di- rectly by the commissioners, ware- house receipts being given on goods wharf Elliott Bay (2 7 ee Flevatar Shp Transit? Shed TCH O ye nnn ‘S = a te Third Floor Truck Stond Down to Second Floa-of Transit Shed Upper Feadwas Frailroad ness of providing such facilities. Cor- respondence with fruit associations in eastern Washington indicated that 50,- 000 cars of fruit will be available for shipment during the season of 1916. It is estimated that fully half of this crop must move by water through Seattle. The port commissioners an- ticipate that their cold storage space will be in demand within a short time for apples, meats, poultry, vegetables and other perishables awaiting water shipment to the Atlantic seaboard, Australia or Europe. In _ providing this facility, it was borne in mind that the primary necessity was ade- quate cold storage space at a minimum charge and so situated that the perish- able cargo can be placed aboard ships without delay. Before the open- ing of the Panama canal, Australia was a heavy purchaser of Washing- ton apples. Since the completion of Elevator Slip Elevator Sli 2)| Second Floo Truck Stand Motor Boat [ \Gesin FIG. 2—OFFICE FLOOR PLAN OF PORT OF SEATTLE’S BELL STREET TERMINAL stored, and all required services be- ing furnished at cost plus 10 per cent, including loading and unloading of cars, conditioning and accounting for goods, etc. Both wharf and ware- house are equipped with sprinklers and other fire protection facilities, thus obtaining for the contents the lowest insurance rates. The three floors de- voted to ordinary storage comprise 41,478.8 square feet, capable of stor- ing 243,829 cases of salmon. The wharf has a total floor area of 52,080 square feet, sufficient to store 273,444 cases of salmon. Seattle is the shipping point for most of the many thousand boxes of apples raised in the eastern portion of Wash- ington and adjacent states. The port com- missioners concluding that more cold Storage space was necessary to care for this freight awaiting shipment by water, determined to enter the busi- the canal, new markets for Washing- ton’s perishable products have been opened. With large steamers of con- siderable cold storage space available, the commissioners expect a continu- ous demand for refrigerated space. The cold storage plant at the Bell street terminal is so arranged that the facilities may be increased if occasion demands. The five floors are insulated and served with refrigerat- ing pipes, providing a storage area of 19,919 square feet, sufficient for 92,637 boxes of apples. In addition to its cold storage ca- pacity, its recreation features and of- fice space, the wharf can berth all classes of vessels from a rowboat to a large ocean liner. It. has space for berthing three 400-foot ships at the same time, while its quay front will accommodate the largest ships afloat. On the north side is an open wharf February, 1916 breakwater, protecting a basin con- taining floats to be used as landings for motor boats and pleasure craft. It is here that the commissioners ex- pect the small craft from neighboring farm and ranch districts to discharge cargoes of fruits, vegetables and poul- try. Their primary object is to make this improvement the watergate to the retail district, so that farm produce may either be placed in cold storage or delivered at the markets without delay. Among the wharf’s features is an assembly hall with a seating capacity of 250, suitable for public use. An- other is the Kinnear steel rolling doors. These are constructed with roller bearings, so that they can be easily operated at any time by hand. In case of fire they will close automat- ically when the temperature reaches 150 degrees Fahr. Italy Will Use German Steamers Thirty-six German steamers, of an ag- gregate gross tonnage of 153,866 tons, which had been detained in Italian ports from the beginning of the war, have been seized by the Italian government and will be used in various services for that government, according to advices received by mail. This step was taken in the last week of November, it is stated, despite the fact.that no declaration of a state of war existing between Germany and Italy has been issued. The action of the Italian government in commandeering the services of . the 36 German steamers held at Italian ports, it is believed, was taken in an effort to remedy the acute shortage of tonnage for important services of the Italian gov- ernment, shipping men in New York pointing out that most of the boats which will thus be made available are large capacity freighters. Coal-carrying tonnage with which to bring large supplies of coal to Italian ports for the use of the Italian navy and railways, has been reported as very scarce in recent months. It is therefore regarded as likely that the Italian gov- ernment will use some of the com- mandeered German steamers for such service. German owners of the interned steam- ers commandeered at the Italian ports, it is believed, will be compensated for the use of their vessels at the close of the war, by the Italian government. This action would be similar to that which the British government officially an- nounced it would take in the case of interned enemy vessels at British ports which might be utilized for any service. The point was made at the time of the British declaration in this connection