The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-04-20
HERE TO DIVERT TRANSPORTS
SEATTLE TRYING TO GET DEPOT
FROM FRISCO.
China Mutual Steam Navigation Com
pany Offers All Warehouse Facilities
At Seattle War Department.

Unless the people of San Francisco
are more enterprlsing or rather more
energetic than they have been in re-
cent years, 1t is said, they will lose
the extensive shipping done by the War
Department to the Philippines. Seat
tie the young rival of the California
metropolis, is pursuing steady and
consistent policy trying to divert this
business from San Francisco and if
some action is not taken to hold the
business in San Francisco the War De-
partment may decide to transfer the
depot to the northern city.
If this is done it will be aloha to
the transports stopping at this port for
they Will then take the Great Circle
route which is by far the shorter route
to The Philippines. In addition to the
regular business interests of Seattle
which are working to effect the removal
of the depot of the War Department
from San Francisco, the powerful rail-
road interests of the Great Northern
are enlisted and recently one of the
strongest and richest steamship organ
izations in the world decided in favor
of Seattle
A recent dispatch from Seattle states
that Frank Waterhouse, the general
agent on the Pacific Coast of the China
Mutual Steam Navigation Company,
accompanied by Captain George
Sutherland had left Seattle for Lon
don for the purpose of laying plans
and specifications for the construction
lof docks and wharves for a Seattle
terminus of the trans-Pacitic route be-
fore the directors of the China COM
pany. Regarding the purposes of the
company the dispatch contiuues
THE mission of Capt Sutherland and
Mr.. Waterhouse in London is of the
greatest importance to Seattle. Aside
from the question of the location and
construction of the docks and ware
houses. Mr.. Waterhouse is to take up
with the quartermaster general at
Washington the question of handling
the government shipments from this
port to the Philippines. He will ac-
quaint the quartermaster general with
the plans of his company and will
make him an offer of all the storage
and dock room required by the war de-
partment on Puget Sound Discussing
this matter yesterday Mr.. Waterhouse
said that the China Mutual Company's
wharves and warehouses here would be
large enough to accommodate all the
business the war department would
have to offer without in the least in
terfering with the companys private
business. He said that such terms
would be made to the war department
as would no doubt be satisfactory to
the quartermaster general.
THE docks will have a capacity of
| 26, 600 tons and will cost, exclusive of
the land, about 100000. Mr. Water
house carries with him options on sew
eral pieces of water front property To-
Gated in this city, and also options on
dock sites in other cities on the
! Sound.
Another question that will be taxi
en- up With the London office of the
company will be as to the type of ves-
sci required for the Seattle-London
! line. The largest vessels of great
freight carrying capacity, are the
cheapest and most profitable to oper-
ate. While in London Capt. Suther
land and Mr.. Waterhouse together Will
arrange for the establishment of agen-
cies of the company in China, Japan
and the Philippines, and for the es-
tablishment of coast lines In the Orient
which will act as feeders for the Seat
tle-London line.
"A schedule will be so arranged that
the coast line steamers plying between
Manila. Yokohama and VladiVostok
will deliver their cargoes to the main
line ships at Nagasak. A branch line
will also be run to Port Arthur"
Inasmuch as the transport docks now
used by the War Department at san
Francisco are merely leased from the
state of California, this offer on the
part of the China company will no
doubt receive more than passing con-
sideration.
Honolulu is also concerned in the
Location of the transport depot. Should
the depot be removed to Seattle 1t
would mean that no more transports
would stop at this port, en- route to the
Philippines. The result would be loss
of some revenue as well as a curtail-
ment of the mail service from the
Coast.