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ty a MARINE REVIEW. {january 10, SHIP BUILDING ON THE ATLANTIC COAST. The year just closed has produced some remarkable vessels on the Atlantic coast. The Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura, built by the Cramps for Spreckles’ interests of San Francisco, are the largest vessels ever con- structed on the Atlantic coast with the exception of the American liners. The American and Hawaiian, built at Roach’s, are larger than the Mexico and Havana, built by the Cramps during 1899. Of the seventeen sea-going steamships of 67,625 tons gross, built on the Atlantic coast, twelve of 47,930 tons gross were constructed on the Delaware river. The only square-rigged vessels built on this coast dur- ing the year were the steel ship Astral and the steel bark Kaimani, con- structed at Bath, /Me., by the late Arthur Sewall, but another steel square- rigged ship is being built there for the Standard Oil ‘Co. Of the thirty- nine merchant schooners built on the Atlantic coast during the year, thirty-four were built in the state of Maine, one at Newburyport, Mass., one at East Boston, Mass., one at Milford, Del., one at Bethel, Del., and one at Pocomoke City, Md. Two of the schooners were six-masters—the only vessels of their kind in the world—the largest the Eleanor A. Percy, being able to carry 5,500 tons of coal, and the other, the George W. Wells, being able to carry nearly 5,000 tons. Six, of them were five- masters; eighteen of them were four-masters and twelve of them three- masters, and only one of them—the C. B. \Clark—was a two-master. The feature of the year was the building of one steel coal barge, the first of its kind to be built on the Atlantic coast for the exclusive carriage of. coal. She is called the Powel, and was built at Port Richmond, N. Y., for the Sterling Coal ‘Co. of Philadelphia. Six other steel barges were also built at Wilmington, Del., for the carrying of lime from Rockland, ‘Me., to Atlantic ports and to return from coal ports with coal. The following is the list of new seagoing vessels built on the Atlantic coast since Jan. 1, 1900. Tow boats, steam yachts, river and canal craft are not included. STEAMSHIPS, Name Where built. Gross tons. Brmemma, Wiiladel pleas 65 cs Pia vase es nid wo Vee ee dite es 6,253 Suerte handles cc vised Sie esis awe. os vinleo ain « ele 6,253 Wetrtumabhiitadelplitas: sah iss lh lc bc dess MEE EA EA 6,253 iNiorno; Castle Philadel phiai 0.6. Sesion. code eeied das 6,004 Piawanan, Gheatet ii. ol eee has mG ius tis wel SS 5,097 RTO CSR 8. eG io idesiccs PeidieeWnis kee a eejet 5,591 Protems | Newport: Newse os os: 6 ci i i lek eine ae 4,836 Comuis.. Newport Ne@wse civ is. <i. Se ca ce eo isaac see’ 4,828 Phetades): Spariows. POint) 000.6 i i eve See ee o's 3,753 Ekyades, Spannows Pewt: 5 iic sci eee io Rack Eo vee 3,753 Peer ai MY TINO i ee ss Ss eke even eee ge heed 3,903 Meritt. VV fre es es eee bo ote s Les be de ces 2,827 Jamies S. Whitney, Witniittcton.......0....0..5 000. 00 eke 2,707 AiOmiac ONathOWS. COMM. o.s oe oe ks occ baw een oe 2,525 Petia Piatd. Ve IN COLE os osc sh co hace es ee book oda 1,103 Mer satin ee, WUT LON 5 eo soc fcc cc eee ete leh 1,101 Paper utters... Wait een boric Pc ts be 738 ‘ SHIPS AND BARKS — Pastel, atl oii ess ayia: fie b:sl ty Dats om pNGUA YAN dese «608 3,292 Ne a8 tig Wek oc sia oe cs 0) Galb oe vob ieee one wack 1,560 a SCHOONERS—SIX-MASTERS. MON ONC yt NG a las a is pic to ce he + Gade Sore oct node 3,401 Re CSA ICN oe so oes ppc ce es eshbisess 2;970 ; SCHOONERS—FIVE-MASTERS. Witton te): (Canvebiat Bathe. cs ia déesincs 808 NG aa. 2,663 Belew: We Martin: Bath oof ase veces, ise een 2,265 Dandie Pminer: Waldoboro. 2. ei. i Sk 2,258 Pouee B Clary. bathers. 4s. as Pe 2,231 Mary. we eomerwen: Batic i se a S54 soils ca chines eels Aa. 2,153 Meat Pees “OUSMtOn Bath. oo. ies oo os kev ee cs che cee ls 2,129 SCHOONERS—FOUR-MASTERS, Pn ee a a oe cv bis pie oon wc cas « occas 1,904 OR eM ce SEs vga saad en oek k, 1,745 pee, artes Ty AMMGEN ok inn <5 oe oot ere icc ence: - 1,782 ea, WAU, LAGINASEON. 6s ss see cic boos occ ccs cs oo 1,564 Thomas S. Dennison, Thomaston..... tik os cir eh ae sade rants < 1,491 ee 6 IAS -NAEGtia di. sock. cc cie cc cu can. 1,447 Meta |. iOtesDULy. Vy ETONS.. . nc. ce coh cece occ. cece. 1,446 ee ek as 1,351 ee eee ee a 1,241 ie Py ee ee ek ieee ke 1,191 Me et TROVSSION oon ose cc cece es lesan 1,107 Oe OAM es ee ee oe ee 1,101 Edith Hf. Symington, Newburyport...................... 962 Beet Peake, Bath... ....... cee ee eS 910 rman i ee oes ed oe Sei ce, 874 PeeWee, PMCMINCION 4. oie. i oe od ad ee oe hk kdaas 801 Thallium, Verona ........ ENN Fy oe oh OS eae cs 729 Kseorme May, Milford, Deb oo... io. ee cokeciecucciae en. 654 SCHOONERS—THREE-MASTERS. ey Sisters a so evivens oi 798 a oe ee he 619 Pirtire, Fo Peston: Mader £608 i A ee 613 BME OCR ee i ek ea oh eo 600 Ninetta Mi. Porcella, (Millbridge ........6.0. 0005 ccc00u0., 591 re oe eee ee 586 Onn Wi Wana; -WPhippsbare: i i ee bc econ ck 556 Freury Weiler, Phippebvee oie i ieee dbs cece eceeck 400 Mary EH. Lermond, Thotastom..,..:......00.0.000ccc 5, 314 Sanandreas, Poacomoke, Md............. Pv as Pa tied . 226 Edwin i& Maud, Bethel, Dek ................ Phi wa eae * 208 War Perkins, ‘Millbtidge:) oi... sco. ek cca bees = HIB Also twenty-four small schooners between 100 and 150 ton twenty-three of which are for the fishing trade, and one pilot beak ace By two-masted schooner, the J. B. ‘Clark, of 194 gross tons, ‘built at, rewer. : BARGES. a Indiana, Bath 0. occu si cacev scenes wea ped esaa fetes es 626 Phavand;. Bath icin. casi cs ss ie sa nes wee es oe ee 1,617 Georgia Bath cic ries ie cs CaN ee hae ae fe rae mee 1,609 Sowa, Baths ooo ivccsuneck vis once peas CEN seals men ne eee 1,606 Powel, Port Richmond, N. Yui... 05s ccciee eect ieee ees 1,204 R. & R. Lime Co. No. 1, Wilmington, Del.............+.- 1,120 R. & R. Lime Co, No. 2, Wilmington, Del...........- Piece clguall R. & R. Lime Co. No. 3, Wilmington, Del...........+.-+ 1,120 R. & R. Lime Co. No. 4, Wilmington, Del........--..++-- 1,120 R. & R. Lime Co. No. 5, Wilmington, Del.............4-. 1,120 R. & R. Lime Co. No. 6, Wilmington, Del...........++++- 1,120 Theodora Palmer, Noank, Conn..........seceeeceserees 1,042 Shawmont: Noank, Goin. 5 cis vince fe ate wie ole sie ore See die 954 C.-R: wR: of Naik: Noank;: Gontis wade. wep <i even 953 Benavides Bath <3. s ciedcins ilies GEN SAS Heb eae ee 924 Black, Diamond; Bath wy iss ks ok esas fede sine es sek 923 Bees Rather a5ecn. oe pad aie ee apc e ee 919 Grace; Bathe es. sta ee ieee ier ee 877 Ena is Bathe tig cua ign e stone een luis Ae pipiens etal aap 865 Ele. Gander, Bath xi Siar id eed Co ones erase 847 Virginia; M. Palmer, Noank, Comm... . cise 0% eet jee oinih iain 840 Hanipshire, Bathe. ose. anne: it i.e Gopieds se oel eases 830 Renrus, INoanks “Gon: scisciedecisk:. moje eietie-cnpis sista er eeree 53] Eckley; Perth Amboy: NN. Js ss cons ciao p's sa eben 495 Nonho nied brathy mis cate.) Seana cera oa eas eee eer eae 489 SharomeviBath <4 aiiae Ae eae oan St eaias sis sen, ee Waeeiee 482 AMERICA—THE FUTURE WORKSHOP OF THE WORLD. : Charles H. Cramp in the New York World The first half of the nineteenth century witnessed a development of ship building in the United States which, by the year 1850, had distanced all competitors. American superiority was universally acknowledged in the art of naval architecture, in the skill of workmanship and in the excellence of materials. During that period the United States was dis- tinctly a maritime nation and her flag was, next to that of Great Britain, the best known in every quarter of the globe where navigable water touches the land. That period, however, was the last days of the era of wood and canvas—an era coeval with the human race itselfi—and the latter half of the nineteenth century witnessed the tremendous transition to steel and steam. Various causes, too vast and intricate for even mention in a paper like this, operated to put the United States almost out of the lists in this transition. The enterprise and energy of the nation were expended on its railways, and up to almost the end of the second halt of the nineteenth century the sea was practically abandoned by the Ameri- can people. This was inevitable, because the extent of land to be settled was so vast and the time in which it must be done so short that there could be no surplus of enterprise and energy for any other pursuit while the process was going on. But, although ship building as an industry stagnated almost to inanition, the art itself was still treasured in the few brains that survived the old regime. So things stood until near the last decade of the nineteenth century, when the American people, by one of those national impulses that can neither be foreseen nor measured, resolved to resume their long-neglected rank as a sea power. Thus stimulated, the ship building industry in the United States not only revived, but gathered strength with a rapidity that astonished the world. When one reflects that the building of our new navy did not earnestly begin until about 1885, and that it did not attain full headway until about 1890, the results visible in 1901 become amazing. From absolutely nothing, in 1889, when the first of the new ships were commissioned, our-navy has in ten years grown to be the third in the world in point of effective magnitude; and it is debatable whether, if tried by the test of ultima ratio, it would not actually prove to be the second. With exceptions not important enough to note, the great volume of con- struction involved in our new navy has been done by contract. This work and this alone has resuscitated the ship building industry in America to the point at which we now see it. The work that has been done for commercial account during the period of naval reconstruction has been of no benefit to ship building; if it has had any effect at all it is in the reverse direction. The foregoing describes in the broadest general terms the status of the ship building industry in this country at the beginning of the twentieth century. Its future is by no means an easy prophecy. As previously pointed out, the advance that has been made in the last decade or so has been due entirely to the patronage of the government in the construction of naval ships by contract; but naval work alone will not sustain the ship building industry of any country. There must be a limit to the production of fleets. The naval ship building program with which the new century opens in this country is the largest ever offered by any government, not excepting Great Britain, at any one time, to be built by contract alone. And yet this enormous volume of work will be out of hand within less than four years. It is not probable that this country will ever again launch so large a naval program at one time; a state of progress must soon be reached when the navy will be relatively complete and when, therefore, the only naval work of any consequence remaining in sight will be whatever new construction may from time to time be necessary to replace the strength of earlier built vessels that may become © obsolete, together with the ordinary wear and tear of service. Manifestly then the ship building industry of the twentieth century must depend for good or ill upon the state of our merchant marine. _It is a common remark among people of superficial views that the United States must develop a great merchant marine in the immediate future for the simple reason that there is no other outlet for the national capital and enterprise. This belongs to the class of fallacies which always result from surface reasoning. Capital, no matter what may be its volume of unemployed surplus, will not seek unprofitable outlets. As the condi- tions stand, it is not profitable to operate steamships under the American flag in competition with European or Japanese ships. Our seamen de- mand higher wages and better fare than their European or Japanese competitors. There is also a difference in first cost against us, but it is a minor factor in comparison with the others. Unless these differences can be equalled the operation of American steamships must remain un- profitable in foreign trade. So long as. such conditions exist there will bese an extensive demand for new merchant work in American ship yards. |