Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-02-01

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Ths Glasgow eesreQondsuf OF 6rnd-
street writes that Journal January lss -
follows:
The year 1873 has been one Of great
activity In al the ssntsrs Of shipoolid-
ing IN Crest Britain. Coileee5vely the
builders hsve suSpasssd all thssr pgevl-
Dos efforts. great ~ some OF these nave
been, and produced An Amount Of work
of unprecedented magnitude. The ON
eial statistics viii not b iaDaed for some
time TO come; but from the local infor-
nation available it 10 possible 70 form
. pretty accurate idea Of the output Tor
the year. From she various local re-
turns issued by the builders it appeAn
that IN u pofts Of the United Kingdom
there vsre launched during the year BY
LA firms 666 vessels Of an aggregate
Tonnage Of l,26yS22 t0os- This u an
increase of about 5000 tons over the
preceding year. On the Clyde the IN
crease exceeded 1900 tons, On tbs Tyne
is amounted 70 sou tons, and generally
Gil tine other ports show . small increase.
A usual, the greatest tonnage vas built
on the Clyde. the output from that rivcr
smouueinR to the marvellous total OF
Ill, 66l tons; the Tyne cOmes next with
2l6.573 tons, and the Wear next with
2l2,3l3 tons. In NO other case did tbs
tonnage reach $1,000. 1t ID. however,
worthy Of remark that in Belfast the
output aggregated Il. 900 tons, being an
increase over the preceding year, and
about three times more than the ton
mage built in 1881. Though the total
tonnage turned out at Belfast II small
compared with the great oenters Ut the
trade in Scotland and England, il ID evil
dent that ship building 10 taking root
there. Roughly stated ths Clyde built
400 and the Wear 1855 tons. The tend
ency everywhere 10 towards large YES
sells, and though the Clyde average 10
lessened by the number OF yachts In
Guided in it, returns, yet its builders
liners, some of which were far in excess
Of tonnage of anything built in tho
other districts. One Clyde firm built .
vessel Of 1875 tons and one OF $40 tons;
another Arm constructed ono Of GEO
tons, and Q third built one Of SOL tons,
while vessels Of 4O0o tons we're moro nu-
merous than usual. The uss Of steel in
the construction Of ships has become
more general, especially ON the Clyde.
In the northeastern district Of ENGLAND,
which comprises the Tyne, the Wear
and the Tees, abeat tvsoty vessels
wore built of steel. but On ne Clyde
nearly . third Of the yeGsols veto con
struosea of that material. SO far a. the
Clyde ID concerned, Every year furnishes
evidence of the RrewinG favor Of stsel
a. a ship building material. In the 068
vessels built last year II il probable that
about sc, OoO, 600 have been invested.
and the outlay Of such An enormous
sum wOnld seem TO indicate that the
shipping trade was in q prosperous con-
ditiOn and that there existed q great
continuous demand for nov vessels.
Unfortunately such In not the case, and
the new year opens with somewhat
gloomy prospects both for ship oWnera
and ship builders. Indeed, the build
ing Of nsw vessels appsarA to have been
Overdone; business ras boen pushed too
fast. During 1852 the freight trade VA
prosperous, and The reports Of the
freight agents left NO doubt that the
wear vas . fairly profitable one. Ger
toinly no new trades we're opened mp,
but the general trade Of the world in
creased, and there was profitable en-
plOymsnt for the immenee mercantile
marine them aAoat. Prospects also
were fairly good. Accordingly an i'm
mense quantity Of new shipping wa
looked for by ship builders toward the
close Of 1882, and il was the contracts
secured q that time which caused the
large output during the past year.
for there has been q remarkable
cessation Of new orders during 1888
The belief that shipping would continue
romun0rative has not been realized. The
general trade Of the country has moi
been unusually robust, and the freight
markets have accordingly been In fat
state. No doubt new vessels are reQuir.
Cd to provide for inevitable loss, fol
every winter gale makes work for the
shipbuilder, but even allowing for that,
il 10 gate evident that bodybuilding ID
the meantime, at least. has been oveIdone
FreiRhts continue low, and accord
ing 70 all accounts, shipping ventures
are not attended with the same success
- formerly. yet il In fast that during
the past four yean over 100000 toni
have been added - tho mercantile
marine. At present there h a total want
of announcement to embark in ship
ping enterprise, aud the building
yards are beginning to experience a
decided reaction. In all the centers,
but especially on the Clyde, orders are
scarce, and the vessels in course of CON-
struction are fewer than at the begin
ming Of 1881. During the month Of De-
cember 5000 Clyde Operatives wsrs
thrown out Of employ msnt on account
of the diminished quantity Of work on
hand, and reductions Of wages come
into operation during the course Of the
present month. The builders in Other
districts have minated their intention
Of following the example Of their rivals
ON the Clyde, and on all hands the
employers are endeavoring 10 reduce
the cost of construction With the view
Of inducing shipowners to order new
vessels. whether or mot . reductioa
In the price of labor, which in thl
casa Of the ironWorkers has reached
unusually high limits, will produce Z
bsne6oial effoot remains to b seen.
Al present., however, ship bulldog hAa
received decided check, and It il TO b
feared that il will remain in lang1id
state until decided impetus 10 given "a
the carrying trade Of the world.