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

Le iH] ti WH N ANALYSIS of the steamers A sunk since Feb. 1, when the ruthless submarine campaign was inaugurated, shows’ that less than 10 per cent of the boats making 15 knots and over an hour, have been destroyed when attacked. Of the slower boats, especially those of seven, eight and nine knots, the percentage has been as high as 90. He points out that the boats of the White Star Line, which make 16 knots or better, have been practically immune from submarine at- tacks. The same is true of the vessels of the Cunard, the American and other big steamship companies. The ApRIATIC, a 24,000-ton steamer, with a speed of 16 knots; the 23,000-ton Batric, the 18,000-ton Lapianp, the 21,000-ton Cr- pric and (Cettic, all capable of making 16 knots, have been making their regu- lar trips through the war zone without injury. The same applies for the steam- ers St. Louis, New York, PHILADEL- PHIA, ST. PauL, KRooNLAND, FINLAND, CARMANIA, CARPATHIA and ANDANIA. Once in a while one of these fast boats has struck a mine, but that is liable to happen to any vessel. The giant 35,000- ton JusTIcIA, now in transatlantic ser- vice, making 18 knots, and more under pressure, has had no trouble with .the submarines. All of the above named vessels have speed, which is essential to the successful passage of the U-boat zone. They can zigzag, they can run when attacked, and, being heavily armed, can fight. The LusITANIA, a very fast boat, was torpedoed, but was unarmed. On the other hand, slower boats, though armed, have been sunk each week. In many instances the sub- marine overhauls these vessels by being able to go faster aboye water than its victims. eee Two hundred tons of steel plates were recently discovered stowed away beneath a mass of cargo in the bottom of the hold of the former German steamer ©. J. D. Auters at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco. While the plates are such as might easily have been used for the construction of a submarine, it is believed they were intended for com- mercial purposes, as the cargo contained no angle irons or other metal work which would be necessary for submarine construction. The O. J. D. AHLERS was NA Interesting Sidelights on the World War Gathered During the Past Month and Condensed for the Busy Reader in Sydney at the time war was de- clared between Great Britain and Ger- many and during the night she ran from the harbor and made for Hilo, Hawaii, where she was interned. x £m The shipyards of the British Isles turned out about 580,000 tons of ship- ping in 1916. Premier Lloyd George’s recent statement that these yards would build about “four times as many ships as last year,” indicates an output of 2,- 300,000 tons in 1917. °-“Six times as many in 1918,” as Lloyd George pre- dicted, would mean an output next year of 3,480,000 tons. The best pre-war record was 2,050,000 tons. * * * During the last fiscal year, American ships carried 14.6 per cent of the ocean-borne exports of the United States, as measured by value, against 12.9 per cent in 1915-16, and only 8.1 per cent in 1913-14, the year immedi- ately preceding the war. Of the total net tonnage cleared from American ports in foreign trade during the 12 months ended last June, 36.7 per cent was of American registry. This com- pares with 34.1 per cent in 1915-16, with 28.6 per cent in 1914-15, and with but 25.5 per cent in the years 1913-14. Losses Sustained by British Shipping Ships 1600 tons Under 1600 tons Week ended Total 5 9 1 3 0 5 7 5 53 4 3 3 2 2 3 5 3 364 - were cs = : KAN Goods exported in American — ships in the last fiscal year reached a total value of $795,000,000, compared with $490,566,000 in 1916 and $166,055,000 in 1914. These figures show a gain of 62 per cent in the 1917 total over 1916 and of 378 per cent over 1914. Over the same period the value of exports carried in foreign bottoms increased from $1,861,735,000 to $4,640,378,000, or something less than 140 per cent. The following table shows the proportion of the total ocean-borne export trade carried in vessels of various nations during the last fiscal year with com- parative figures for 1913-14: 1913-14, 1916-17, Nationality per cent per cent Me Cate ts Snr tea Sule 14.6 AMStMAn cre or rte oy Ras IBY oli civ eh g WOR a Pe bt cay Rae A 0.6 Et Biting een ye te 57.8 52.6 DUteht .i Ph ee ee 4.1 Zao Mrenohy ose cients ee 3.1 5.0 Geeman i cso ene Rae: 13.3 0.01 Talia cscs ces Sada we re 1.9 ee Japanese crete or a Nien 1.2 4.4 Norwegian: soe orc ee. 3a2 6.8 The total net tonnage cleared in 1916-17 is-reported by the department of commerce as 52,070,070, compared with 52,423,008 in the preceding year, and 53,783,409 tons in 1913-14. The greatest decline was in the trade with Europe, where clearances last year 18,890,778 net tons, against 19,926,665 tons in 1915-16 and 20,046,191 tons in 1913-14, and possibly due to the submarine campaign. The following table shows. the record of tonnage cleared over a period of years, and brings out clearly the gain by American ships: American Foreign Total 1913-14..... 13,740,628 39,442,781 53,783,409 1914-15..... 13,418,282 33,466,806 46,885,088 1915-16..... 17,902,068 34,520,940 52,423,008 TOT6-T 7a 19,145,754 32,924,316 52,070,070 * * * The shipping board has been working on a plan to divert foodstuffs for ex- port to southern ports, reserving for northern ports the problem of forward- ing munitions and other war exports. Foodstuffs would be diverted to south Atlantic and gulf ports, such as '‘Char- leston, Savannah, New Orleans. Port Arthur and Galveston. B. L. Winchell, traffic manager of the Union Pacific railroad, has been mentioned for the post of director general of traffic to work out the plan.