The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-16

\ not necessarily mean that the tramp
boats have been superseded. In numer-
/ Gus cases what is nominalIy a new line
/ Is IN reality combination Of the owners
. Of a certain number OF tramps who have
/ put their boats together under one man
I agement and given them N. advantage Of
sailing on regular schedule. Some OF
the ships now plying between this port
. and Australia were originally built for the
Australian meat trade and intended to
land al the English ports So the distiuc-
ton between tramp and liner is not
always a hard and fast one.
IL must not De supposed from the facts
just cited that Their. is no longer place
in the woriu's commerce for the little
cargo boats ready TO be chartered any
where At any time. and carrying any com
I modities- In point Of fact there are now
many more trap steamers in commission
than there ever were before. New and
large ones are being built in good mum
| beers. The problem is for these boats.
crowded of, as they are. from traffic
/ between the most important routes, to
hnd new routes and new trades. For the
new boats, of course, there is no appre-
I hensiOu. Ii trade were not waiting for
them they would not have been built
But the older and smaller tramps are
having harder and hJrder time To gain
a living, and men in he shipping bust
ness predict that more of them will be
withdrawn this year than in any year for
a long time As one steamship agent ex-
pressed il:
BY rights, a tramp steamer ten years
old is now good only for the SCRAP heap.
The South African and Philippine wars.
however, withdrew great many ships
from the regular lines. and for the time
being there was trade enough for every
ship in condition to make trip. Many
old boats that had not made a voyage for
years were able to ind business OF
course, II can be readily understood that
every WaTsnip IN foreign waters and every
regiment on foreign soil means employ
mtut Tor many vessels in transporting
coal, fodder, and supplies of every sort.
Add this 10 the normal total Of trade,
and IL means good times for ship owners.
When the freight rates were high. many
agents chartered boats on two OF three
year contracts, and stil have them on
their hands. Before very long. however.
lot OF these boats viii be- put out OF
business, the oldest first. until there are
no more than can get cargoes.
What becomes OF the tramp steamers
that have been compelled 70 leave the
main travelled routes. is a pertinent Qucs-
ton. but n can hardly be answered IN
snip is sometimes eventful For instance,
one vessel that was making trips up 10
five years ago between New York and
Liverpool is Just At present on the way
Irom Rangcun 10 Japan, having within
the past few months discharged Cdrgoes
at HougkOng, Malta, and Port Said.
Another steamer got an order to carry
steel rails 10 NladlEOStCCk, Siberia After
taking an the rails that happened 70 be
ready, she took On 80 tons or ammuni-
ll'n Tor the army at Manila. and then.
HreH mo l..
loaded nlled up with cotton fer Japan.
SE" expected 10 bring back hemp for
Manila, but hemp not being Obtainable
she came home from Africa with man
There are plenty Of ports visited only
by T-lmrS in the Pacific and Indian
Oceans and on the South American coast.
w men the destination Of a parcel OF ship
mrut reads. via Singapore. or some sim
liar designation, II often means that Il Is
70 be transshipDed 70 tramp steamer
which happens 70 be plying between Sing
apOre. or whatever the port NAV b. and
the port Of destination. which is probably
TOO small 70 be supplied with a regular
me or It's own Drafts and the width
or dock gates are the governing factors
when the modern freighters Of big ca
pacity and small coal consumption are
concerned Tn the leading Mediterranean
poLtS- LOT instance, the lOlJ or 21pD-tOn
freight boats were displaced by the 500
Ut f-'-g tonners, and these 10 the last few
years by those Of 5000 10 700 tons The
ports such as Genoa. MarSeIIes. AIgierg.
Naples, AucOna. COustautin0ule. Port
said, Barcelona, and Gibraltar, but there
are still ports OF lesser depth. as SMYRNA
Firaeus, Sal0HiCa. Venice. Civita VeCchfa
CAeA- and B4lhoa,-l-h-r- the smaller
shpS. De they tramps OF liners. have 10
get the trade. because no others can get
in 9->
II rs 10 great part By the tramp steam
tr, crowded out Of some profitable route
that new trades ard new routes are origi-
mated and developed. Promoters viii not
build boats Of their own for an uutri.d
ana uncertain venture but VIII charter
tramus as old, probably. and as cheap
ones as they can get. For instance when .
lHr JNloudike was opened up there was a
demand for boats 20 take Droep+etarz
there Almost anything with American
registry would %. ANY sort OF a tub
could fairly coiI money that first wear
nut new ships. built since for the cuprfgI /
purpose, nave now changed the situation
completely An example Of "a new line of |
Q I&de recently developed by the tramp Is
On" carrying OF nickel ore from New Gale
COMA Half "a dozen tramp steamers are
IN ihlS 1uSlut SIS. carrying UP TO 1000 tons
IN cargo The West Indian fruit trade
IS another the nitrate trade Is rh-rd l
The large type %: the British trar-pe !
ild their hes field IN the Orient while
me small sailing tramps have 10 them
serves the Sclth Sea trade I'm the S0urb
sea Islands. u here coal is not 90 be had.