New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-18
RROOKLYN'S EMPTY PIERS.
Tossed WAREHOUSES; TELL OF THE
CITY'S DECLINING SHIPPING.


nrscuARGE THEIR CARGoES SCARCELY ANY
pI-s1NEsS Is BEING DONE TODAY
CAUSES OF THE CHANGE.
u,hatever the cause Of 1t may be ascribed TO. the
r.sent state OF the shipping trade Of Brooklyn is
~, one 10 be proud Of 1t is pity that this city Is
mi a mort Of entry; II is, it forms. Ike Jersey
CITY and Hoboken. integra. portion of the Port
=. xew-York This fact always initiates against
s-u,ng good statistical idea Of the actual trade
ao,e along waterfront, as there are no separate
esures kept at the Custom House. The only way TO
climate The condition of trade Is by actual inspec-
,,on Of the shipping and warehouses. These latter
90 immense structures that line the waterfront
from the Empire stores. north of Fulton Ferry 10
yoords stores at the Erie Basin gap \ Tribune
o,orter walked the entire distance yesterday, ana
,he aspect was not an encouraging one
4, the Empire stores there the Norton Line
steamer E,ona dischargng hides from Brazil; a
rsu Armstrong steamer. Tjomo. with sugar ana
,he Norwegian steamer Drot. The warehouse dooES
-. mostly closed q sure sign OF little business.
,or,in's stores south of Fulton Ferry. have
,ononoly of the coffee trade. and have held II
.rains. all rivals for years past THIS winter ,no
standard OIL Company which owns the great I'd"
,onal Storage warehouses on Black lo'h MAJ
h,g hid for the coffee trade. Its loss to Brooklyn
I'D no incalculable The influence OF western
.,ers and iobbers was brought TO bear. but 80 lar
.h scheme has not succeeded. At Black ION ''e
ears can run alongside the ship. and the Ns"'e'ee
ard much Of the handling could be dispensed WIN
The Committee of the Coffee Exchange \is''.'
,o,h warehouses and so far can be learned 'he
,ogrant Brazilian berry will not leave TINS GU! io'
,hs nresent at least At Pier No. yesterday the
Knott Line steamer Asiatic Prince was uiSV""'s
ing q full cargo of coffee At Pier NO = Lai''po'
Hollis steamer Oilers was discharSihe Coi'eo' "'N
at Pier No. !, the new steamer MareTehse' Iio'"
the Amazon was d.scharg,ng rubber At wat
ste steel clipper. Hutton
Hail and the bark Evesham Castle. are being I'M
loaded OF their Calcutta cargoes OF yu'e' Ju'e o''
indigo Clutch and saltpetre. Harbeck's stores are
empty Roberts's pier, alongside. was also empty
MEDITERRANEAN PIERS BuSA
Next comes the Mediterranean piers. leased by
sterling American firm Phelps Bros. the loreien
fruit importers whose busy season is just opening
Their steamer Pocahontas is loading grain ana cot
60, q, the Union elevator for Naples ana other
Mediterranean ports and the firm has chartered the
steamer MassapeQua for similar caiSo ~ '"'
places The chartered steamer scotsman mas us
charged 1892 boxes of lemons and oranges "h'cn
wee sold yesterday 2e5 Of essences OF THESE
fruits % casks OF argo. and % pipes OF bitter
oranges in brine. which are more familariy known
as cron: the importation OF the latter III 'h's ioi
IS an experiment. The Pedro. another chartereu
steamer arrived yesterday from Naples, Girgehu'
Mcssina and Palermo. with S7.41 boxes OF lemons
and oranges, 1900 tons OF sulphur. lc9 CASKS ana
2s7 bags of argo 40 of essences, II barreis
OF purce stone. AZ pipes of citron in prime i'iis
steamer was forced to put into Bermuda Tor coal
The Westgate is on her way here from the same
ports and is due tomorrow; the Loeb Etire also a
chartered steamer like the last named. is due the
Tergestre is due on March %. the firms own steamer
Pocasset on March 90, the Picqua. April ana the
Humber the same date.
The Red d Line at Pierrepont's stores is empty
and even the piers of the great English wilson Line
at Prentices stores are almost idle only the steam
1cEN
At Woodruff's the solitary vessel, 'he
ROYAL Dutch West India mail steamer Prins when
H. from Antwerp. Curacao, La Gudyfa anu nay H.
was working. 4 bark emphasized the loneliness q
Dow's great stores and elevators. Al Bed'u am
ST stores the French Fabre Line steamer Faul"
was finishing taking in her cargo; she will carry
10 Marseilles GOO barrels OF OIL quantity OF ma
chinery a little grain and enough OF foods'uii' 10
load her the scuppers
Ro5!nson's stores. the only ones outside inc ware
house Trust north OF Gowanus. keep fairy busy.
At the Union stores the only signs of life were on
the Anchor Liner Alsatia and lonely looking Dark
The great Atlantic Basin contains forty acres Of
water and over three miles OF Waterfront. II =
surrounded by massive warehouses ana graz. am e'y
va,ors and possesses three OF the nnes' prl9 e ~
the port The South Central pier has room 'ot
Nurse enough capacity for the inward and out
ward cargocs Of that number OF ships lrs i
iTg sa and Bowrinr ana Arch6als sylvia \,
the West Genital pier only one bark discharsing n
ana a three-nastel schooner were 10 b. seen At
the East Central pier the steamer BencToy ana
one other vessel At the North Central pier no veess
was moored and at the north pier on.y one sihaiI
bark was tied up. This q poor showing Tor
waterfront worth several millions Of dollars. Ten
years ago this basin used to be SO iui o, yesstIs
that frequently berths for them could not be OBJ
taned for days 4 stretch. The stores ana PITS
In the Red Hook section are even shorter or puHi-
than those mentioned
THE GRAIN BUSINESS AT A sTANDsTILI@
The grain business Is at complete standstM
owing TO the fact that the railroads are giving
cheaper transportation to other ports Boston. Bal
timore. Phila phia Newport News and New
Orleans Nothing tells forcbly the absence
OF business than the closed warehouse doors
When these are open. work Is going on: their be-
ing doing. and this latter condition prevails gem
orally except at Martins and the Mediterranean
IL NAV be that the trade Is going 70 other ports
and that II Is more generally distributed. Aowev-
er that is Brooklyn is the loser. The crowds
and In the Atlantic Basin are 10 longer TO be
seen The stores along the waterfront are suffer
ing severely and even many OF the liquor stores
that were dependent the 'lonRshOre and steam
shin trade have been forced TO go oct OF bus
ness There are three idle stores Furman-st.
or one block between JoralemOn and State SITS
Four years it was said that free trade
would restore the shipping and produce an thrush
OF imports that had no parallel IN the history
OF the port. The most ignorant 'longshoreman
knows how II Is now, and IL Will be a long while
before A free trade orator catch vote along
the waterfront OF Brooklyn
-<-