The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1899-10-06
BENEFIT DERIVED FROM
PHILIPPINE WAR
Saved San Francisco From Serious CONNER
Cial Disaster Which Was Sure to Fol-
low the KlOndke Boom.

eNcept eatahles. Everything that YOU
Put In your mouth whether by eating.
drinking or smoking, must come from
the subsistence department; everything
that you use In any other way from
the Quar,ermaster
Let us take the transport service
first, as being Tar the most important
The big white painted steamers have
been coming in and going on, of the
Golden Gate. Tor so many months that
the public has grown quite accustomed
to this constant movement NJ troops,
and fail to realize its magnitude. The
Grant, the sherman. the sheridan and
a do1en other huge vessels seal ST.
lently up to the Folsom street dock
dIseharge their living cargoes, take on
boand another consignment " food FOR
powder and are on again Tor the seat
of war. almost before anyone realizes
wha; is happening, The Folsom street
wharf. now dedicated entirely 10 the
government service, has become a per-
feet hive u industry In the early days
Of the war the transports were scat
tered here. there and everywhere along
the water front. The separation ot the
ships led 10 confusion and delay and
involved much extra expense.
The chaotic state Of affairs could not
last long. As soon as 1t was seen that
the war in the Philippines was iG -ly to
become "a permanent institution, a con-
slant drain upon the resources Of this
country. the government took steps TO
secure a fixed home FOR its transports.
The Folsom street dock. probably one
Of the best on the fron;, was handed
over to the Quartermaster. and under
the management Of Captain Barneson.
the chief Of the dock. thoroughly
efficient staff has been organized. No
matter how great a rush th,re may be.
affairs at The dock move with the or
derby regularity Of military service.
The department does all its own steve
doring. and employs on occasions hun
dreds Of longshoremen. For the use
of this wharf alone the harbor COM
missloners receive S1s7 a month. In
to this the government pays
dues on all transports at any
Of the docks. Thus the Sherman. when
In port pays the state OF California
about si7 a day. the Grant SIS. the Sher-
Idan SIS and so on for smaller VESSELS.
The pilDts. too. have benefited immens-
Iy by the transport service. As they
are paid by fees, according to the tom
mage Of the vessels they guide in and /.
out OF port. their earnings have been
largely increased by the advent Of /,
.hese big government vessels.
But perhaps the best idea OF the ex-
ent Of the operations now being car
led on may be gathered from sim
Die list II the transports which have
eft this harbor for Manila. Since
Hay, last year, no less than 81 vessels
lave sailed, carrying altogether the
population Of decent sized city--mors
Ran fifty thousand officers and men.
n addition there are the troops which
lave returned; but as their arrival
las been 80 recent will not concern
nyseif with them.
This makes a total. up to the last
late. Of IS ships and 523OS officers and
men. IN addition 10 this some eighteen
transports are scheduled to sal during
Re present month. and many Of them
will probably have got away by the
ime this article appears in print. It
$ no wonder that the expenses Of the
are heavy. Colonel Long
me that the government spent
m the transport service, on this coast
llone. from the commencement OF the
var up to June 30, the end OF the
iscal year, more than S1200O,OOO The
um does not include the purchase price
laid for ships bought outright by the
lation. This means an average outlay
# S1CAO,aOO a month, a sum which at
present is considerably exceeded.
If we turn to the subsistence depart
nent we find things being done on an
equally huge scale. The cost Of feed
ng soldiers comes to about So a month,
20 that the monthly expenditure on
1000 men camped aE the Preside would
'un to nearly $4,000 Then there are
he transports to be provisioned for the
7oyage to Manila. At least a months
supply would be needed for this trip
Ind so for $4,000 men we get an outlay
II 100000 for sea stores alone. After
he men land at Manila they must still
be fed and the bulk Of their rations
ire shipped from here. To meet this
enormous demand the subsistence de-
)artment has dispatched, during the
Jas; year no less than 10000 .OOO pounds
II freight
It is no wonder that the provision
ren are jubilant. that the wholesale
iealePs on Market and Battery and
;anscme Jingle the dollars in their
pockets and watch contentsdly while
licle Sam pours blood and treasure
nto foreign land. Every class Of
producers has benefited, the farmers
lave sold their crops Of onions, and
'eans, and dried fruits; hay, oats, for
age Of all kinds has been in constant
lemand, the cracker factories have
1eeii working day and night to meet the
need for hardtack, while the cannerles