The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-12-29
CoAsTWlsE SAILING SCHooNERS.
The white winged Craft Likely to be En-
tirely Superseded by Barges in the Ceast-
ing Trade.
(From the New York Sun. }

People living in the States of New
York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Massachusetts and Maine are the
principal owners of the large three and
four.masted schooners engaged i'll the
Atlantic ooastwise carrying trade. For
more than a decade these vessels paid
such dividends that managing owners
and captains found little difficulty in
raising money to put into the construc-
ton of new schooners. The property was
considered to be of risky character,
but so long as the vessels paid for them
selves in five years. as very many of
them did, there was not much trouble
in finding owners for them. Now, how
ever, their usefulness is threatened from
the Gulf to the British Provinces by the
aggressive policy of the owners Of the
new class of large ocean going barges
and tug-hoats. 1t seems likely that this
policy will drivs the canvas-winged
schooners out of business.
. A bout three years ago eoastwise freight
rates began to fall off SO rapidly that the
building of schooners in this and the
u e. ring States was stopped. Even in
the shipbuilding State Of Maine only
one or two sch0oners have been built this
year, while the construction of sea going
barges and tugboats has gone steadily
gu. Freight rates have finally reached
such figures that this year many OF the
New Haven and New London feet of
schooners, and they are types of those
along the entire coast, have not paid a
cent of dividend. An illustration Of the
tremendous cut in freights is given by
the case Of the 200o-ton four masted
sch }oner Bayard Barnes, of this port.
Last year she brought coal here from
Newport News under charter for rs cents
ton. This season, her charter having
expired, she has brought coal here over
the same loute for SO cents q ton, and an
attempt has been made to cut the price
from Norfolk to 45 cents ton.
Tho barges arc now invading the
Southern lumber trade, after having es-
tablished themselves in the coal-carry ing
trade. The large ocean-going barge For
est Belle recently made voyage from
Fernandina to Boston in tow Of the ocean
tug George W. Pride Of Philadelphia,
with cargo OF ] 400, 900 feet of lum ber
On previous trip she carried 81, 900 gel
low pine railroad ties from Brunswick
to New York. That ia said to have been
the first time that Iumber was ever
brought by a barge from the South.
The cargoes in both cases were unusually
large ones. The Forest Belle is owned by
Capt. Ii. W. Besse, of New Bedford,
who has such faith in big barges and
tugboats that he has put another new
barge, the Ocean Belle, into the trade
She has Just been launched and will CIR
~ 5000 tons of coal Oh IS 1-2 feet of water
She has been chartered to load coal at
Baltimore for Galveston, and for num-
Der of trips will carry coal from Pensa-
cola to Galveston. The tug George ".
Pride will tow hor to the Gulf and re-
main as her consort all winter.
An attempt is being made to Introduce
barges into the Savannah lumber trade
in particular. Concerning this the Sa-
vannah News says:
s'Ihe scheme OF using barges in the
Transportation of lumber WIS the discov-
cry of New Bedford capitalists. It is
believed that 1.-THE time is not far distant
when harges the coastwise trade will
drive out the hundreds of sohUoners en-
gagged in this particular business. Not
only mas Un6 COal Graue Deen EulHoa 1Of
the schooners by the barges, hut the
bnrges have got control of the coastwise
oil trade, and are now competitors for
the lum her trade.
In carrying out the Savannah under
taking q tug will await the loading of
one barge, and as soon us it is raady will
tow it N orth. By the time another is
loaded the tue will return and be in
readiness for another cargo. Southern
lumber dealers say that a barge will
carry more than twice as much lumbel
as an ordinary schooner, and that barges
can be run much cheaper than schooners
and consequently can offer lower rates
for freight. On the other hand, the
schooner is better fitted than the barge to
encounter storms and the perils of the
sea. But such perfection has been
reached in the building of tugs, barges,
towing apparatus and steel towing haw
sers, that it is probable the Southern tow