The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-12-19
Coast Grade.
By GEORGE c. PERKINS. Upited States seDotor.

IT HE earliest mode of travel to the
Golden Gate was that known
as coasting, for in no other
way could California then be reached.
San Francisco's first settlers came
hither by water, and although the
pony express and overland stage
which followed later were succeed
ed by railroad facilities for pas
senger and freight transportation,
the coast trade of California has al
ways been of vast Importance to the
people and the State, and will continue
to occupy a position of steadily increas-
ing value in the world of commerce as
time goes on.
During the twenty-five years in
which 1 have been engaged in the
steamship business l have watched
with interest the wonderful develop
ment of coast trade along the Pacific's
shores. Its growth has been as rapid
as that of the great commonwealth to
which it is allied, for where once an
occasional ship dotted the horizon on
its way to and from San Francisco,
many hundreds are now not only en-
ployed in constant traflic between this
point and the other great shipping CEN
tiers of the world. but are navigating
the coast line from Alaska to Lower
California HarbOrs have been i'm
proved, lighthouses established and
buoys placed, and the march of prog
ress has this year resulted in a much
needed addition to our harbor equip
ment-that of a lighthouse ship to be
placed, with engine and lights, in Gold
en- Gate on the bar where now there is
only buoy. This ship will be a bea-
con whose light can be seen far out
upon the ocean, a welcome guide to
mariners. The Government at the last
Congress, appropriated three million
dollars for harbor Improvements.
In the coasting trade a formidable
rival has arisen in the shape of steam
schooners which have auxiliary steam
power as we'll as sail. These are trans
porting lumber and other coast pro-
ducts cheaper than the railroads can
afford to do it, and lumber men and
farmers are benefited accordingly. On
the north and south farmers are placed
within comparatively easy access Of
San Francisco, the great distributing
depot of the coast. Grain is brought
from as far north as Willamette Val
ley, Or, at nominal cost. In short, the
output of native products has nothing
now to check it.
Competition has tended to solve the
problem which once confronted the
farmers, namely, how to place their
wares upon the market at profit to
themselves. The coast trade of Cali
fOrnia and the Pacific slope was never
in better commercial condition than
to-day. Yet this may be merely the be
ginning of a vast amount of commerce
to come.
In reply to the question as to what
is needed to develop it, 1 should say
increased business. A healthy and
growing activity in business will build
up coast trade. Demand for lumber.
cultivation of the land, opening of
mines, building of canneries and fac
tories, everything in fact that gives
impetus to trade in our State infuses
new life into the coasting trade.
Take, for instance, our great fishing
industries. We have salmon canneries
from Humboldt County to Alaska. The
salmon industry to-day of the Pacific
Coast approXimates fifteen millions an
nually. Each cannery established has
a direct effect upon shipping interests.
The demand for boxes for transporta-
ton purposes enlivens the lumber
trade and in turn increases that of the
coast, since they must be conveyed
thence to their destination. On Coos
Bay and along the coast of Oregon en-
plOyment is given to hundreds by the
shipping of coal. Therefore the coal
mines must be operated, the coal re-
sources of the West developed, that
they may have their share in the devel-
opment of coast trade. Hundreds of
vessels are now employed in the trans
pOrtation of lumber from the rich for
ests of the West-yellow pine, white
pine, sugar pine, cedar and redwood.
They carry tons upon tons of railroad
ties, shingles, clapboards, bridge ma
terials and other lumber products. Ac-
tivity in building means stimulus to
coast trade, whether it be the building
of houses, or ships destined to swell
the ocean traffic.
The operation of quarries in Cali
fornia, Oregon and Washington has an
important bearing on the subject. We
have onyx, marble, granite and sand
stone, waiting to be taken from the
earth and made ready for shipment
To further develop coast trade we