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

MERCHANTS & MINERS YRANSPORTATION C° STEAMER ape ee J eh oe SS Wooden side wheel steamer built in Baltimore, 1854—This steamer and a similar vessel, the JosEPH WHITNEY built in New York, 1854, were the earliest vessels of the Line Seventy-five Years of Service Merchants & Miners Line Founded 75 Years Ago Increases Cargo and Passenger Capacity—Three By AH. HE Atlantic seaboard of the United States, very naturally, with a large portion of the enormous commerce of the country seeking its ports as an outlet, offers an alluring vista to the ships of all nations. In con- sidering the vast traffic in and out of these ports in the foreign trade, of which American ships carry less than one-third, we are forced to admit our present maritime inferiority. There is how- ever an ever increasing interchange of traffic by water between the populous cities of the Atlantic coast. Each one of these cities is the natural distributing center for the industrial agricultural and mineral products of a large. and rich area extend- ing far inland. No section of the country has better transportation facilities. Foreign vessels are exclud- ed from coastwise traffic. Vessels engaged in _ this trade must be American built and owned. As a result of this law and the growing de- mands of commerce a very Commodove’ cantata. joinea. COMBiderable . fleet, approxi- li in 1881, aptai ee me of the’ Fameax mately one-half of all the ac- W. J. BOND al traffic and the West coast Modern Vessels Added in 1926 Jansson tive American seagoing tonnage is now engaged in this trade. Competition is active but it is on a basis of equality in building cost and operating expense for all. Consequently steamship lines in this trade when properly managed are able to show a reasonable profit. It is obvious therefore that this section of our merchant marine will forever prevent the total extinction of American ships from the ocean. As the country continues to develop in popula- tion and wealth this fleet will grow in number, and the size of ships will increase, until it will constitute by itself a large merchant marine. Intercoast- to Honolulu trade already re- quires first class ocean liners and two such vessels are now being built. The coastwise merchant marine is also an asset of great value in na- tional defense. It has been heavily drawn upon both in ships and personnel in the wars of the nation. Two very important J. H. RUDOLPH Senior chief engineer, be- incidental gan service, 18938, now chief on the CHATHAM 12