The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-29
RENAISSANCE OF TIE SAILOR

San Francisco Argonaut
For many years the demands OF traffic
and the conditions OF commerce have
tended to crowd the sailing vessel from
the sea. The "old salt" of song and story
has in large measure become a memory.
The smoke OF the tramp steamer has
shown wherever the bellying canvas OF
the clipper had been wont to dot the ex-
panse OF ocean. The change was deemed
an Improvement, and nobody questioned
its permanency. and yet once more the
sails appear and now il is the time OF
the steamer 20 be forced from the high
ways OF international barter. According
to the signs, its day is done. Sails are
to carry abroad the products OF the
United States and to bring the returns.
The reason is simple 1t is merely that
coal is SO high that the expense OF get
ting it is too great to be borne. 1t is
the lack of this fuel that will cause The
tramp steamer TO vanish from the Orien-
tai carrying trade. The towering maStS
OF the, Square-rigger will be seen instead.
Once more a sailor Will have to be
sailor, and neither a machlntst nor
handler of freight. The movement is al
ready under way, and. as an mixing OF
1t. the Standard Oil company has procur-
ed a considerable fleet of the reviving
type. An American clipper that two years
ago sold for $4,000 would now readily
command three times the price. There
may be-, In Instances, a change to oil
burners, but the rule seems to be a COM
plete change, and the abolition of steam.
Formerly steamer leaving an Eastern
port for the Orient could coal at Alglers,
Port Said, Colombo and other stations,
but this opportunity no longer exists,
thanks largely to the necessity for keep
ing stock on hand for WarShips, and an
increase in cost, Now, a steamer start
ing from New York or Philadelphia for
China must sacrifice often as much as
1900 tons carrying capacity in order to
have on board a sufficient store Of fuel
Against such handicap, even the advan-
tage of speed is not an offset. Thus the
sailing vessel, long virtually discarded, is
not only a possibility but a necessity.
Arthur SeWall, of Maine, has built some
clippers such as will be representative
Of the new school. They have enormous
capacity, and, being of steel, are stanch
and TRIM a vast Improvement over the
class that failed to withstand the COM
petition Of steam According to mari
time authorities, hundreds of these will
be built within the next dozen years and
will constitute the only methods by
which trade with the Orient can be con-
Quoted. This Is of especial interest to
California, through which for q long Pc
Rod of years the bulk Of such traffic must
ma It's way. In the near future, IN and
out of the Golden Gate will pass great
white winged fleets, for what Is true Of
the coal supply at the East is also true,
or soon must be, Of the coal supply here.
In this connection 1t is interesting to
consider that the United States is now
the worlds greatest producer of COAL
having last year, for the first time, pass
ed Great Britain; but, stupendous as the
beds are, the time must come when they
will be exhausted. Then the old problem
of substitute will present itself in a
more acute form than ever. Perhaps the
use of oil may in part solve it, but to the
amount of this commodity also there may
be an attainable limit, and circumstances
might arise not to be adjusted so easily
as is being done in the present instance.
Ships can go without coal, and find this
course In some respects an advantage,
but If the use of coal were to be inter-
dicted in other lines Of industry the eff
feet would be most calamitous.