Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1900-07-25
OUR MERCHANT MARINE.


The Additions During the Year May
Exceed 437 SAG Tons.
The bureau of navigation says that dur
Ing the fiscal year ended Jrfe 80, 1900, the
total tonnage of shipping officially num-
bered amounted to AT .084 gross tons. Full
returns from Honolulu have not been re-
ceived, but about IS 900 tons OF Hawaiian
vessels were entitled to American docu-
ments under the act OF Congress creating
| the territory Of Hawaii. Porto Rican ves-
sells were also, by act OF Congress, entitled
| to American documents, but they aggre-
gate less than 1 900 tons.
Complete figures probably will show
that the actual additions to the American
| merchant fleet during the year have sur
passed the 437 $40 gross tons documented
| during the fiscal year 1874, when the law
| required all canal boats in domestic trade
to be documented. In that event the ad
| ditions to our merchant feet during the
| fiscals year will have been greater than
during any year since 1855. The figures
will be slightly reduced by the fact that
the issues OF the official numbers and OF
| marine documents are not simultaneous.
| The vessels built in the United States
and officially numbered during the year
| aggregate 3S1 1858 gross tons. This record
was surpassed in 1874, when 432, TBS gross
tons were built in the United States and
documented. OF the new vessels built
during the year, 4s3, Of 213,O52 gross tons,
are steam vessels; 575, Of 90 ,623 gross tons,
| are sail vessels, including barges with sail
power; and 1915 tons are barges and
| few canal boats for Canadian trade with
out power Of self propulsion. The large
proportion OF steam vessels, Sc per cent. OF
the total, makes this years addition to
the feet, in value and in carrying power,
superior to the additions in 1874 or Of 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 in
clude the "James J. Hip, OF SOS gross
tons, the largest merchant vessel built in
the United States during 1900, nine other
lake steamships and two steel schooner
barges, each Of over 5 600 gross tons, and
five lake steamships OF over 1000 gross
tons. On the seaboard the largest vessel
built Is the steamship California;, $50
gross tons, launched at San Francisco,
which will be the pioneer vessel in OPEN
ing regular steam communication between
Hawaii and the Atlantic ports OF the
United States. No other vessel OF 5000
gross tons or over seaboard has been
numbered during the year, but stea :nships
OF over 900 tons each for the Atlantic
eoastng trade have been built.
The only vessel built during the year
exclusively for foreign trade has been the
steamship "Maraeaibon OF III gross tons,
for the Red d line in the Venezuelan mail
trade. The sister steamships, "San Juan"
and Ponce, OF SOB gross tons, and the
"Porto Rico" PSI gross tons. giving the
island the best means OF steam commune
cation with the United States it ever had,
are the first maritime results of the annex
atiol of Porto Rico. The steel ship ed
ward Sewail', 3,3oo gross tons, and the
steel ba "kaiulani'', $40 gross tons, for
the Hawaiian trade, are the square rugged
vessels built, but eleven schoouers, each OF
over 1000 gross tons, were constructed for
the Atlantic coast trade.
Additions from sources other than con-
struction during the year have been re-
paired wrecks, 9,si3 tons; Hawaiian vessels
mum bered at San Francisco since June II,
| 1851 tons; vessels sold to citizens by the
| government, 1926 tons; admitted by
special acts OF Congress, 5,76i tons; Amer
lean vessels returned from foreign flags,
| 3,6o7 tons
Full returns will probably show that the
total documented tonnage of the United
States on June 80, 1900, for the first time
/ since 1865, has again reached 900, 600 gross
tons. The tonnage registered for foreign
f trade, however, wiil probably be slightly
( below $500 gross tons, the figures for
June 80, 1899 The increase OF the Alaskan
trade, carried on mainly by registered ves-
sells, has checked somewhat during the
year the steady decline in American tom
mage registered for foreign trade.
| OF the ,05S steam and sailing vessels of
305,677 gross tons built and numbered
during the year, ninety eight, of 1855, 434
tons, were steel, 957, Of 119 355 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, whereof total of
99,776 gross tons, 95,O15 tons, twenty-five
vessels, were steel steam vessels. The num-
bered construction on the Atlantic sea-
board comprised 715 vessels OF 100, SIG tons,
of which 1884 tons were wood. Num-
bered construction on the Pacific coast
comprised 81 1856 gross tons, and on the
Mississippi, Ohio and Western rivers 131
vessels, of 1889 tons.
For purposes of comparison, vessels
under construction in Great Britain on
March 81, the latest figures available, were
55i of 1880, 100 gross tons, of which lis
were ocean steel steamships of 1900 gross
tons or over, one being OF over 10000 tons
grnss. During the three mnnths ended