, 1875-06-12
THE SuIPRUILDING INTERRT.
Bu,.ine.s ". Gambling

San Francisco-has stood on the
verge of a financial crash, brought
about by stock gambling. In the
shrinkage of values" as it is
called, nearly seven millions Of
dollars, contributed mostly by the
laboring classes, were swallowed
up by few cormorants who prey
upon California street and devour
the unwary. Nor is the havoc
confined merely to small operators
but some of the heaviest capital.
lists Of that city are reported to be
bent if not entirely broken by the
contraction.
While this is going on, behold
the harbors of Portland and San
Francisco swarming with foreign
vessels, waiting to carry off the
grain crop of Oregon and Califor'
MIA. See the vast forests of our
Territory and Oregon awaiting
the blow of the woodman's ak, to
be fashioned into ships for ocean
transportation. Note the fact that
but two vessels adapted to grain
carriage into European marts, have
been built on this coast-the Wild
wood at Port Madison and the
Western Shore at Coos Bay-and
then ask yourselves the question,
how long will men neglect business
for gambling, in the hope of sud-
denly acquiring richesH
OF course, San Francisco fur
nished much of the capital for both
of these splendid vessels, as she
must for nearly all the great in
dustrial enterprises Of the coast.
The first of these was the pride of
the Territory, and cost about
100000, though she is the smaller
Of the two, she broke the ice,
but it was reserved for the Oregon
ship to finally solve the problem
as to whether the Pacific coast me-
chanics could furnish vessels es-
pecially adaptable to the grain.
carrying trade. The Wildwood'l
voyage of 46 days from Burrard
Inlet to Melbourne, proves her Z
capital saiIer and shows the skill
of Puget Sound workmen. In
outward appearance she is decid'
edly the handsomer vessel of the
two, but the plain-looking spine
box" as the Western Shore wa
derisively called, is the largest
carrier. She was built at Nortl
Bend, Oregon, in 1874, and regis
ters 1,290 tons, but carried to Liv
erpool her cargo Of 1910 tons o
wheat in the capital time of 104
days; beating the time of both tb'
crack ships Three Brothers anC
British King, the latter of which
came in IS days behind the spine
box" Good as this passage is
undoubtedly, yet it viii not do t.
predict from this that she can out
sail the wildwood. The latte
has yet to be tried on a trans-At
lantic voyage before any just est
mate Of her merits can be formed
We cannot blind our eyes t
the opportunity that offers for Sar
Francisco capitalists to restore th'
lost prestige of American com
merce upon the high seas, and a
the same time reap an adequat'
reward for their enterprise. On'
tenth Of the money that is nov
squandered in stock gambling il
that city, every year, would b
be sufficient to build a feet o
grain vessels suitable for the Eu
ropean trade, thus encouraging
home industry and settling up tn,
North Pacific coast as wen a
keeping the earnings Of the carry
ing trade at home for investment
Atpresent, the emoluments Of tina
trade go to swell the pockets o
foreign capitalists and never re
turn to US again. As the cheap
ness Of our home-built vessels il
beyond cavil, the safety of invest
ing money in ships, rather than il
stocks, appeals strongly to the rea'
son of men who aim to get rich by
legitimate means. Freights to th,
United Kingdom viii be sixteer
dollars per ton before anOthei
year has elapsed, and that vii
yield a return Of FIVE per cent pc
month on a vessel of the Wild
woods size.