Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Marine Review (Cleveland, OH), July 1922, p. 281

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July, 1922 successfully applied in the past to manu- facturing, mining and farming in Am- erica. The pending shipping measure offers substantial aid to every branch of our merchant marine. It proposes that 50 per cent of the immigration into this country be reserved to American ships. This of itself will be a most powerful help to the regular mail, passenger and cargo lines of transatlantic steamers. An- other feature of the bill is the deduction from income taxes of shippers of 5 per cent of the freight money on goods ex- potted or imported in American vessels. Though this will not directly benefit the shipowners, it will offer a strong induce- ment to shippers inward and outward to prefer the American flag and will thus assist to give American ships the full cargoes so necessary to profitable opera- tion. Exemption of net earnings of Am- erican ships in the foreign trade from federal taxation, if the amount of the exemption is pledged to the building or purchase of new ships, will encourage shipbuilding and increase the active mer- chant marine. The construction loan fund ot $125,000,000, while costing the govern- ment nothing in the long run will pro- mote the building of new tonnage of superior character. Important is the provision in the new bili that will make if possible to secure more liberal allowance for depreciation Dock Breaks | ei the smashing force of an eddy in the Mississippi river re- ; cently, the main dry dock of the Jahncke Dry Dock & Ship Repair Co. at New Orleans, 550 feet long and 110 feet wide and of 10,000 tons capacity, broke loose from its moorings with the steamer NyanzA of the Pacific-Carib- bean-Gulf service in dock. It drifted in the swift current for approximately two miles down the river after the NYANZzA was slipped out and was over taken by tugs and moored again at the Chalmette slips without doing any damage what- ever to shipping or docks. Eleven tugs went to the rescue of the dock during its trip. Dock Master Connelly called to Cap- tain Martin of the NYANzaA to reverse his engines and the ship dragged the dock out into the river, avoiding a col- with vessels along the wharves. the middle of the stream was reached, the Nyanza’s_ lashings were slipped and she slid out, leaving the dock to its own career. The Nyanza had just entered the dock to be raised and repaired when the four 234-inch anchor chains that held the dock to the Jahncke wharf gave way simultaneously. The only theory that ac- lision When MARINE REVIEW for shipping, thus placing us more nearly on an equality in capital costs with our competitors. President Harding's policy of prompt diversion of the army and navy transport services to the merchant marine is made possible in the new legis- lation. An extension of the coastwise law to the Philippines is certain to have the same beneficial effect on shipping and trade as the extension of the coast- wise law to Porto Rico and Hawaii. What shipowners and operators are probably thinking most of, because they can measure its advantage in dollars and cents is the direct aid of the new bill in the form of compensation or en- couragement to both cargo ships and mail ships. This is the feature of the new proposal that is most actively dis- cussed. It is the part of the bill that must mect the sharpest opposition. But let nobody imagine that this direct com- pensation was put into the bill to be pulled out again. Without the direct aid oi the proposed compensations or sidies,- the great effort of the nation to sclve its shipping problem cannot | and will not succeed. The indirect aids are themselves inadequate. If the nation is going to help its shipping it must help it effectively and not place it half way on att equality with its overseas antagonists. Nothing less than complete action will suffice. We recognize frankly that, though we sub-. 281 need all this entire measure of govern- ment help and can do nothing of our- selves without it, nevertheless we cannot jean on government aid alone. Given all these improved conditions, the problem of the American merchant marine must after all, be actually worked out by American shipowners, operators and builders through their own exertions. We must win our own success, achieve our own destiny. We must be quick to distinguish and adopt the newest and best ideas of ship design and construc- tion. We must operate our ships with the utmost possible enterprise and econ- omy. Uncle Sam is giving us no gift, no bonus, in this shipping legislation. All he does is to try to assure for us a fair, even chance in competition. A fair chance is something which we have not had for 60 or 70 years. If this bill passes, we will have it, and then it will be up to us to make such use of it as was made by the shipowners, operators and builders of the brilliant half century before the Civil war. They were given a chance. They took it, and they made such glorious use of it that the maritime world has not yet forgotten the years when American ships embodied the high- est efficiency and success the world has ever seen. What we will have to do new is to prove ourselves as good men as our predecessor's. Laas with Vessel Aboued counts. for the breakaway is that the ordinary stress caused by the current was suddenly increased by a powerful eddy striking both the dock and the ship at an angle that gave it the maximum force. The dock swung out into the river with Frank Connelly, the dock master, and 25 men aboard, in addition to those on the NYANZA. The dock passed within 10 feet of the CAMAGUEY and barely grazed the Dutr- ctIno at the American Sugar Refining Co.’s wharf. By this time the alarm had been spread all over the harbor and every available tug went after the dock. The ApitER and the W. H. WiutiaMs, the two that first arrived, got lines on the dock and checked its speed. They got it under control and when nine other tugs arrived, there was no trouble in towing the dock to a mooring place at the Chalmette slips. It was later re- turned to the Jahncke wharf and put back into service. ELEVEN TUGS WERE USED TO RE-CAPTURE THE RUN-AWAY DRYDOCK

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