Evening journal., 1896-09-02
TUG OWNERS COMBINE
Philadelphia Owners Of Tug
boats Will Form a Pool.
wILMINaTON BOATs NOE IN IT.


THE MOVE is FOUND NECESSARY
BECAUSE OF THE INCREASED
NUMBER OF BOATS, SMALL
BUSINESS AND CONSEQUENT
RATE-CUTTING.
IL was announced yesterday on the
floor of the Maritime Exchange in
Philadelphia, that all large owners Of
tow-boats In Philadelphia and vi
cinity had pooled their interests for
the purpose of controlling towage
rates and shutting off competition by
the owners of individual tugs. The
scheme has been quietly talked of for
some time, but 1t was only yesterday
that It was openly broached. il the
scheme materializes the towaee busi-
ness on the bay and river will in fu-
ture be conducted on the most ap-
proved business principles and the
new corporation will be I'm a position
. to not only put an end to rate-cutting.
but Will be enabled to fix maritime
towage rates for all classes of vessels
at their own figures
So active have been those Interested
/ that already they have a complete set
of towage rules and rates formulated
and printed In a neat book. A promi-
| nent promoter OF the new plan, who
owns more than half a dozen first
| class tow boats says Of it:
We have been compelled TO adopt
this course from sheer necessity
forced upon us by constantly lessen
Ing number of sail vessels reducing
the amount of business offered until.
to avert financial ruin, the owners of
only one or two tug boats began to
seriously cut rates TO enable them to
get enough towing to do TO keep their
boats from actually running them in
debt instead OF earning dividends"
II seems that the Whining
ton tug-Doat owners have not
yet been invited to enter into
the scheme There are few tow-boats
employed in general towing In VIII
mington. The most important of them
are the Laura b., Amanda
Powell and Fred Jansen, own
ed by the Wilmington and
Northern railroad. They do all kinds
OF towing on the Christiana and Della
| ware river.
superintendent McCausland this
! morning said to an Evening Journal
reporter that he knew nothing of the
pool or tug-boat trust, and he did not
think any Wilmington tug-bOat own
ers were In It. His company, he said
certainly was not. The tugs of the
Bush and Sons Company and the
| Charles Warner Company do little OF
| general towing.
From information gathered along
the river Il was learned that the own,
ing and operating OF tug-boats is now
an Improbable Investment and tho
temptation to cut rates has beer
steadily growing. One reason for thi.
is the displacement Of sailing by steam
5 / vessels. Then there are too many
boats for the amount of business. an(
| cutting rates became inevitable.
To make matters worse such large
I corporations as the Pennsylvania
! Reading and Baltimore and Ohio rail
roads began to build and operate theii
own tugs. This was quickly followed
by other corporations, like the Stand
ard Oil Company, the international
Navigation Company the Allan anC
/ Clyde Lines and American Dredginl
| Company building their own tug
boats A tug-boat for the STANDARD
Oil Company is now being built by th'
Harlan and Hollingsworth Company
and the same company will shortly
begin the construction of a powerful
sea-going tug for the Philadelphia ans
Reading railroad.
The towing business has been grow
7 ing less and less, while competition
has been getting keener and keener
until, to save themselves the larg,
owners were compelled to pool thei
, interests. In former years It was Gus
tomary only to tow a vessel as "a
down as Cross Ledge OF Fourteen
Foot Bank, but now all vessels de
mand and are towed clear of the Della
ware Capes. During those times a tul
would seldom have to go below Reed
Island or Ship John Light to pick III
, an inward tow, but now the large tu
boats go outside the Delaware Cape
to hunt up inward bound craft. an
often go as far as Barnegat and cruis
for days as far as sixty miles out q
T. sea before securing an inward-boun
j. / vessel.
;. 1t costs from 1000 to $1,000 pc
G month to operate a tug and to spen
t sevral days and often a week hunt
e ing a tow does not make the tug-boa
e business a paying one.