Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-07-19

L
States Has Again Reached Five
Million.
| The bureau of navigation at Wash
ington says that during the fiscal year
| ended June 80, 1900, the total tonnage
of shipping officially numbered amount
| ed to All, 034 gross tons. Full returns
from Honolulu will not be received for
a few days, but about $4,000 tons of
1 Hawaiian vessels were entitled to
/ American documents under the act of
congress creating the territory OF Ha-
| wall. Porto Rican vessels were also
/ by act of congress entitled TO American
| documents, but they aggregate less
1 than 1000 tons. Complete figures will
| probably show that the actual eddi-
| lions to the American merchant feet
| during the year have surpassed the
| ABB, SAG gross tons documented during
| the fiscal year 1874, when the law re-
| quired all canalboats in domestic trade
| to be documented. In that event the
| additions to our merchant feet during
| the fiscal year will have been greater
| than during any year since 1856.
The vessels built in the United States
| and officially numbered during the
year aggregate 3S1, 1868 gross tons. This
record was surpassed in 1874, when
432, 725 gross tons were built in the
United States and documented. OF the
new vessels built during the year 4S3,
| of 213,052 gross tons, are steam yes
sells; $50, Of 81, 625 gross tons, are sail
vessels, including barges with sail pow
er, and 76,1S tons are barges and a
few canalboats for Canadian trade
without power of self propulsion. The
large proportion of steam vessels, 90
per cent of the total, makes this years
addition to the feet in value and in
carrying power superior to the addi-
tons in 1874 or any other year in our
history.
The most important additions of the
year have been the large steel vessels
built for the trade of the great lakes.
They include the James ]. Hill, of
6,O25 tons, the largest merchant vessel
built in the United States during 1900;
nine other lake steamships and two
steel schooner barges, each of over
5000 gross tons, and five lake steam
ships of over 1000 gross tons. On the
seaboard the largest vessel built is the
steamship California, 5,ST9 gross tons,
launched at San Francisco, which will
lar steam communication between Ha-
wall and the Atlantic ports of the
United States. No other vessel of 5000
gross tons or oyer seaboard has ever
been numbered during the year, but
six steamships Of over 1000 tons each
for the Atlantic coasting trade have
been built.
The only vessel built during the year
exclusively for foreign trade has been
the steamship Maracaibo, of LII
gross tons, for the Red d line in the
Venezuelan mail trade. The sister
steamships, San Juan and Ponce, of
1903 gross tons, and the Porto Rico,
1,25I gross tons, giving the island the
best means of steam communication
with the United States it ever had,
are the first maritime results of the
annexation of Porto Rico. The steel
ship Edward Sewall, 1906 gross tons,
and the steel bark Kaiulani, $40 gross
tons, for the Hawaiian trade, are the
square rugged vessels built, but IL
schooners, each of over 1000 gross
tons, were constructed for the Atlantic
coast trade. Additions from sources
other than construction during the
year have been repaired wrecks, 9,S43 |
tons; Hawaiian vessels numbered at
San Francisco since June IA, 1851 |
tons; vessels sold to citizens by the |
government, 1926 tons; admitted by |
special acts of congress, 5,764 tons;
American vessels returned from for |
eign flags, 3,GO7 tons.
Full returns Will probably show that |
the total documented tonnage of the /
United States on June 30 1900 for the /
first time since 1865, has again reached |
{, 200 900 gross tons. The tonnage |
registered for foreign trade, however
will probably be slightly below S4S,-
600 gross tons, the figures for June 80,
1899. The increase of the Alaskan
trade, carried on mainly by registered
vessels, has checked somewhat during
the year the steady decline in Ameri-
can tonnage registered for foreign
trade.
OF the LOSS steam and sailing YES
sells of 305,677 gross tons built and
numbered during the year, 80 of
1S5, 434 tons were steel, 957 of |
1913 tons were wood and three
Of SSS tons iron. The proportion
Of steel construction is thus much
the greatest in our history. This
result is attributable also to the great
lakes construction, where of a total OF
%. T76 gross tons, 95,015 tons, % yes
sells were steel steam vessels. The
numbered construction on the Atlantic
comprised rs vessels of 160,-
SO tons, of which 1884 tons were
wood. Numbered construction on the
Pacific coast comprised 1886 gross
tons. and on the Mississippi, Ohio and
western rivers 131 vessels of 1889 |
ions.
For purposes of comparison, vessels
Under construction in Great Britain on |
March 81, the latest figures available,
we're 554 of 1920, 422 gross tons. of
which us were ocean steel steamships