The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-11
ON A NEW YORK WHARF.
Some Interesting Things Noticed
There

There.
NEW YORK, March l0.-The other day
watched the bustling scene on big New
York wharf. 1t was on the East river
front, near ancient Rutgers slip, in region
OF high yellow dry docks ON which ships are
caulked and repaired, of ship chambers
shops. ordorous of tar and oakum, of sail
lofts where ships are fitted with canvas that
Will whiten distant seas, a region of great
warehouses, redolent of Oriental merchan-
disc. of cheap sailor restaurants, and loung-
ing 'longshoremen in blue-checked Jump
ers" and weatherworn caps, putting black
ened pipes and telling endless stories with
strong Celtic accent Not far off the great
Brooklyn bridge lifts its proud towers
and imperial span mute hosonna to hui
man genius. Here are ships from every
cline. The one | noticed was the British
steamship Albany which stretched along
the wharf some 800 feet. A swarthy Chi
naman, in IA greasy cap and jacket, was
scraping the side of the steamer, and put
ting on red lead preparatory to painting it
black. He jabbars his native jargon to
another MOngolian similarly employed,
while still another countryman of Confu-
Gus is shoyeling snow into the river from
the forward deck. Near by are some
OF the steamers officers in blue caps
and gold cord, stolidly watching the Scad
dInavian crew, humble descendants, per-
haps, of ancient Morse rulers of the sea,
moving here and there along the pitchy
deck in phlegmatic obedience to briefly
spoken orders A wreath of brownish
smoke is curling upward from huge black
funnel. A putting and snorting steam
winch is busily at work raising, with ropes
and pulleys, big chests of tea from the
gloomy hold of the vessel, and as fast as
they come up these matted packages of
loo l.N 4
China to aggravate American nervous
ness, are piled on the wharf or loaded upon
trucks, which every few minutes go
rumbling out into noisy South street. This ]
steamer has brought 100000 pounds of
tea, or more than 30, 900 chests. The largest
cargo of tea that ever came to New York
arrived last summer by a new English
steamer after a race of 12,000 miles, and
beating another tea steamer five days. A
close race for such a distance. She brought
no less than $4,000 chests, or about 1000, 900
pounds.
Forty years ago the trade with China
was carried on by some of the finest sailing
ships that ever ploughed the seas. The
stately clippers and packet ships were
manned by American seamen and were the
pride of the nation. The first John Jacob
Aston owned the famous Beaver, which
traded to Canton. He began this business
under peculiar circumstances. 1t was at
about the opening Of the present CEN
fury that a London official of the East
India Trading Company gave him pass
which would admit his ships to the ieal
ousy-guarded trade of Canton, in which
the East India Company had long held the
monopoly. AT that time he was too poor
to own ship, and had never thought of
owning one. On his return to New York
he took the Canton pass to one of the lead
ing merchants of the day and offered to
allow him the use of it for a consideration
of half the profits of the voyage. The
merchant treated his proposition with con-
tempt, but graciously acquiesced after
thinking the matter over for a few weeks,
and in due time the poor young German
received his share of the profits in $4,000
Spanish milled dollars, which were deliver
ed to him in barrels. A few years later he
sent out the famous Beaver For many
years she brought rich cargoes from the
once great port of Far Cathay," ana helped
to lay the foundation of the fortune which
enabled Mr.. Aston to accede to his wifes
terms for selecting furs for him at $500 an
hour.
The part that that the tea ships played in
the revolutionary history of the country is
of course too familiar to require mention
The China clippers and packets long ago
disappeared for most part. and steamers of
foreign flags do most of the trading About
oOOOO,OOO pounds or tea are imported into
this country annually, and New York has
three-fourthS of the trade
Most of the tea cargoes received here are
sold at auction in lower Wall street, by a
tall, slightly built young man who, few
years ago, was an inexperienced youth
fresh from college, and who now has an in
come of from $25, 900 to $4,000 a year,
mainly from auction sales of tea, of which
he has sold more than half million pounds
in. 1oxr - Dfal
gomery, a protege of A. A. Low, the
Brooklyn millionaire, and a son-iu-aw of
Mr. George S. Coe, President of the Ameri-
can Exchange Bank. About forty tea
steamers arrive every year, coming from
China and Japan by the Suez canal in from
forty-five to sixty days, whereas, ''in the
good old times" the sailing vessels going
around the Cape of Good Hope required
from three to four months to make the
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