The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1880-09-09
Ship.Building ON the CLYDE.

Sailing down the placid. but moi
over savory waters Of the Clyde yes
terday, from Glasgow to Greenock,
nv ears, saws q correspondent of the
| Cleveland Herald, were salutcd by the
din of innumerable hammers, and my
eyes by the sight of a largo number OF
vessels on the stocks in all stages of
| construction. From Glasgow gen.
| tlcman CLEANED some particulars of
the Clyde p-buildiny, which will
doubtless be of interest to your read
ers.
The river, which for twenty miles
below this city is mainly artificial, is
divided into two districts as regards
the yards; the first district comprises
Glasgow, Govan, Bartick, Renfrew,
and Dumbarton; the second, OF lower
district, embraces the towns of Green
ock and Port Glasgow. In all there
are thirty-six firms engaged at present
in building, the largest of which, and,
indeed. the heaviest private ship
building firm in the world, is that Of
John Elder II Co., Govan. During
last year, which was comparatively =
quiet one, this firm alone built fleet
of vessels capable of transporting IT,
600 tons of cargo at once. This year
their business has more than twice
exceeded that of 1879, and they expect
to aggregate 10000. To accomplish
this they employ nearly 1000 men.
Their principal work at present is .
remarkable yacht for the Emperor of
Russia, vessel which resembles q
cross between q monitor and . light
ship, modelled, perhaps, after garden
turnip, but intended to he the most
complete vessel afiOat. It is certainly
unique as far as it is done.
There are other firms which employ
between 5000 aud 4, 900 men. Messrs.
J. & &. Thompson have built over 80
600 tons shipping for the Cunard line
alone. In all, the number of men who
get their living by this industry is cs-
timated ut between 10000 and so ,OOG
A comparison between this port and
its closest competitors may not be de-
void OF interest. The five leading
English ship p-building ports, namely,
the rivers Tyne, Wear, Tees, Hartle-
pools, and Whitby, sent out new work
last year amounting to 800, ,945. tons,
while the Clyde builders sent out l7O
vessels with gross tonnage OF 49,
43S.
Without seeing the huge bulk of
these leviathans, it is difficult to conf
prehend the Significance OF such fig
ures as these, but the reflection that
it takes very large lake vessel to car
~ 800 tons will assist the fancy in
the attempt to compass the facts. /
have stated the amounts in capacity
rather than registered tonnage, because
as is we'll known, the latter is cOnVen-
tional and apt to mislead.
6oco~vyoC 81
Steel is rapidly replacing iron as ship
building material. Last year no less
than $4,000 tons of steel ships were
built on the Clyde, one of which was
q 4,OOO-ton steamer for the Allan line.
At present Mcssrs. Robert Napier Il
Sons are building still larger one for
the same line, and more than four
times additional tonnage, it being con-
structed Of the same metal. or course
its advantages in the way of combined
lightness and speed are obvious, but
the objection has been raised that steel
would bc more subject to corrOsion in
salt water than iron. Time, which
alone can test the matter, has thus far
brought in verdict in favor OF steel.
A ship built eleven years ago for the
Clyde traffic shows no signs of corrO-
sion, and ship built in 1859 for the
Pacific Steam Navigation company
was examined in 1874 and found to be
in good state of preservation. Thus
there is reason to believe that steel
ships may even outlast those built Of
iron.
No wooden ships are now built In
this country, and many of the old ones
are out of commission. In the harbOr
OF Plymouth lie many inglorious
bulks which bear proud names in Eng
lish hiatOrv