, 1884-07-27
MONEY o ON SHIPS.
A shipwreck the Most Profitable
Thing for IN Owner.
ship Merchants Old sign--Ker, -ene
IA CHIEF East India Cargo
The Figures OF PROFIT
and Loss.


INew York SUM
A distinguishing characteristic of South
street Is the appearance OF the signs over the
offices OF the ship brokers and merchants. Now
York signs are IN themselves a curious study,
nnnging as they do from an expensive pano-
rama in a Broadway window TOT three fora
quarter hash placard in a cheap restaurant,
each conveying the impress OF artistic promise
"a the persons for whom it Is intended. The
sign OF the ship merchant is neither artistic
nor expensive. It Is simply old, so very old,
in some cases, that the paint has been worn
of by the wind and storm, leaving only a
faint outline OF the letters in black or gold
on a coffee brown background, which
might once have been either white
Or black, for all II passing inspec-
uon will tell. The old signs which once read
-Howland & Aspinwall, " and "Grinnell, Min
turn & Coz have been wholly oblteiated-
Like wine, or like u choice meerschaum pipe,
The old signs gain value with increased age.
To rsmove one OF them would give pain TO
scores of gray-haired shipmasters, who first
saw them as cabin boys, fresh from some
coast or inland village.
In these shipping offices the visitor will
usually find in the room marked private" u
genial cid gentleman who can name the
products Of every country on the globe, can
tell the cost, the demand for, and the value
OF each, and the number of ships engaged in
the traffic. With this information, the WISH
tor is pretty sure 10 be told of the profits once
made by s~hipowners, and that never since
ships began to sail the sea have profits been
50 small as now.
Ships must pay some profit to shipowners,
or else the shipyards would be idle, suggested
N young man to one of the pleasant old
brokers
Some ships pay, of course, but at best the
profit is not large"
'lyha freight will u good East India ship
receive nowf'
The chief East India cargo is kerosene oil
in ten gallon cases, which weigh eighty-four
pounds each. A large ship will carry say
"a, 1000 cases. The largest cargo on record
was carried by the iron ship Lord Wolseley.
She took l01, 900 cases out. The great
majority of ships carry about half as much
as that. We sent out a bark with 10000
cases not long ago. She got 261f cents, or
$40, coo gross. Ii she Is lucky she will get
jute or sugar back at say 81. She will bring
800 tons or 10000 gross, and She will earn
1t in u year. --4
"A ship like that costs $4,000 and S2l 900
IL a small gross income. Out of this sum of
s21 600 she has sundry expenses which will
estonish you, perhaps. For a crew
she carries Il captain, two mates, a
cook, and fourteen men. The captain
gets $50 u month, and 8 per cent.
of the gross freight money, or Sl,4l5 for the
year. The first mate will get 5000, the sec
ond mate, $40; the cook, $3.50, and the four
teen men will get IS $50; or a total of s6,2I5
for wages. To feed them will cost so a day,
or s3,2S5 for the year. 1t pays to feed them
well, but 1t could be done for less, of course.
Then out of the freight money comes ~
cents a case for slowing the oil, and IS cents
a ton for discharging the return cargo-a
total of l,225. The brokerage on the cargo
out Is 8 per cent, and back 7 per cent, or
81, 285. Port charges at Shanghai are 3 cents
Il case, or 81, 200. Pilot fees will amount to
500. Then we have insurance at 5 per cent,
&C., 500; annual deterioration, s per cent. g.
500; tonnage tax at 80 cents a ton, $500; and
interest on Investment at 4 per cent 81, 200"
"Is hist allf'
"There are IA few small Incidentals. Oh, l
forgot the ship chambers bill. 1t was
$1,000. That's all that's worth counting
The young mar had jotted down the sums.
They aggregated for the year s23, 1850.
That's just about it, said the broker, with
a faint smile. You cannot make a more ia
vorable showing, because you have estimate
the Insurance. at a low rate, and the return
cargo Is always "a matter of some doubt. Be
sides, a year is a good round trip. You see,
the. owner is s., 500 or 81, 900 out of pocket"
.I"Why does he build new ships, them
H@Give it up"
d all these ships sail ut a lossf'
THAT one was only OF 1000 tons register.
Take a ship registering 1900 tons, and she
win carry. $4,000 cases of oil out, and will
bring back 5000 tons of cargo. Her freight
win amount to about 100000, while her ex.
penses over those of the bark Of 1000 tons
will be about SIS 900, leaving II clear profit
OF $4,000 on an Investment of $4,000, pro
viding TINT she has ordinary good luck. The
best luck that could happen to the owners OF
the bark would be a wreck when she was
fully insured"