Bismarck weekly tribune., 1884-09-19
MONEY LOST ON SHIPS.
a shipwreck the Most Profitabla
Thing for an Owner.
ship Merchants, Old signs-Kerosene
the Chief East India Cargo
The Figures OF Proht
and Loss. =

= AAS - 80 g. = =
I and Loss.
New York Sun ...
A distinguishing characteristic Of South
street is the appearance Of the signs over the
Offices Of the ship brokers and merchants. New
York signs are in themselves curious study,
ranging as they do from an expensive pano-
rama in Broadway window to three-for
quarter hash placard in cheap restaurant,
each conveying the impress of artistic promise
to 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 passing inspec-
ton will tell. The old signs which once read
"Howland & Aspinwall,' y and "Grinnell, Min
turn & Co." have been wholly obliterated.
Like wine or like a choice meerschaum pipe,
the old signs gain value with increased age
To remove 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 5...-
In these shipping offices the visitor will
usually find in the room marked "private"
genial old 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 visi-
tor is pretty sure to be told of the profits once
made by shipowners, and that never since
ships began to sail the sea have profits been
30 small as now.
"Ships must pay some profit to shipowners,
or else the shipyards would be idle, suggested
a young man to one Of the pleasant old
brokers. -s4. u@.'
"some ships pay, of course, but at best the
profit is not large" ,..
"What freight will good East India ship
receive nowa" ,.... '..
"The chief East India cargo is kerosene oil
in ten gallon cases, which weigh eighty-four
pounds each. A large ship will carry say
5000 cases. The largest cargo on record
was carried by the iron ship Lord Wolseley.
She took 1O1, 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 26x cents, or
$4,000 gross. If she is lucky she will get
jute or sugar back at say 81. She will bring
1850 tons OF SO, 500 gross, and she will earn
it in year.
"A ship like that costs $50, 600, and $21 600
is small gross income Out of this sum Of
$21,0 900 she has sundry expenses which will
astonish you, perhaps. For crew
she carries a captain, two mates, q
cook, and fourteen men. The captain
gets $50 a month, and per cent.
of the gross freight money, or 81 ,4l5 for the
year. The first mate will get $500, the Sec
ond mate, s42O; the cook, $3.50, and the four
teen men will get q, 800; or total of $6,275
for wages. To feed them will cost So day,
or s. ,2s5 for the year. 1t pays to feed them
well, but it could be done for less, Of course.
Then out of the freight money comes IL
cents case for slowing the oil, and IS cents
a ton for discharging the return cargo-a
total of 81 ,225. The brokerage on the cargo
out is per cent, and back per cent, or
e1,265. Port charges at Shanghai are 3 cents
a case, or 81, ,2OO Pilot fees will amount to
$500. Then we have insurance at S per cent,
$2,5OO; annual deterioration, 5 per cent. $2,
500; tonnage tax at 80 cents q ton, $500; and
interest on investment at per cent, s., 1000"
us that ala"
"There are a few small incidentals. Oh,
forgot the ship chambers bill. It was
$4,000. That's all that's worth counting"
The young man had jotted down the sums.
They aggregated for the year $23, $50.
"That's just about it, said the broker, with
faint smile. "You cannot make a more ia
vorable showing, because you have estimated
the insurance at low rate, and the return
cargo is always matter of some doubt. Be-
sides, year is good round trip. You see,
the owner is s., 500 or g., 900 out of pocket"
"Why does he build new ships, then?'
"Give it up"
"Do all these ships sail at a loss?"
"That one was only of 1000 tons register.
Take ship registering 1900 tons, and she
will carry 5000 cases of oil out, and will
bring back 5000 tons Of cargo. Her freight
will amount to about $4,000, while her ex-
penses over those of the bark of 1000 tons
will be about $15, 900, leaving a clear profit
of $4,000 on an investment of $4,000, pro-
viding that 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"
The Archbishop of Canterbury.
r't London letter.
81