The Republican journal., 1901-11-07


under the circumstances could hardl,
have been conducive to serenity of tenn
per. At Boston the inspectors are sale
to be equally as annoying; while a
New York the incoming tourist is sub
jected to an insolence which is almost
! unbearable. In that city recently LADY
whose clothes had been pitched out OF
the wharf by an inspector, asked dis
tractedly who she could get to put then
=, back in the trunk. go AN hire some
one" said the inspector: cor put then
back yourself you're as big as long
shoreman." Stories such as these caused
some of the Vancouver's passengers tt
lose sight of the fact that Great Britain
is a free trade country, and that spirits
and tobacco and foreign reprints of Eng
llsh copyrighted books are the only ar
ticleS that concern the customs officers
The latter, if found, are confscated and
destroyed, while of cigars or tobacco
you are allowed to bring in hall pound
and of spirits one pint. Having nothing
contraband in our possession the dread
ed inspection proved merely perfume
tory and we were speedily made free of
King Edwards realm. Nor was the
examination at Portland on our return
at all annoying. The officials no doubt
saw at glance that the party was not
one that would be smuggling costly
laces, diamonds OF seal skin garments;
and the few little souvenirs of travel
could hardly have come under the pro-
visions of our protective tariff.
According to the figures printed in
the London Economist, taken from
Lloyds Register of Shipping, there
were on Sept. 30, 1901, al vessels being
constructed in the United Kingdom,
with total gross tonnage of 1,414, 120.
At the same time last year there were
452 vessels on the stocks Of a gross ton
mage of 1,204, 0os. OF the ships building
on Sept. 30, 40 were steam vessels and
only thirty-seven sailing vessels. Of
the steamships, 437 were being built of
steel and only three, of total gross ton
mage OF 200, of wood or composite con-
struction The sailing vessels were di-
vlded as follows: Eighteen of steel with
total gross tonnage of 1888, and
nineteen of wood or composite with
tonnage of 1857. These figures were
exclusive of warships or vessels built
for the navy. OF the vessels, 352 were
for owners in the United Kingdom and
125 for foreign owners or built for sale.
Compared by tonnage, 1,131, 1874 were
for owners in the United Kingdom,
with 2s2, 1886 tons building for owners
abroad OF for sale. The largest orders
from foreigners were Austria Hungary,
51,095 tons; Holland, $1,000 tons; Ger
many, 1885 tons, and the British col
onies, 1920 tons; these countries &C
counting for one-half the total tonnage
built for owners abroad or for sale.
Glasgow heads the list as the port
building the largest tonnage, followed
by Newcastle, Belfast, Sunderland and
Greenock.
That the United Kingdom still has an
enormous lead in shipbuilding over the
rest of the, world is shown by Lloyd's
returns from other countries. The
United States is second in the list, but
the figures show only sixty-four vessels
of 232,526 tons. Germany is third with
fifty-seven ships Of 1851 tons, France
fourth with fifty-two vessels of 142, 915
tons, and no other country has under
construction ships aggregating 100000
tons. The figures for Italy are thirty
one vessels of 81, 997 tons; Holland, 49,
sos tons; Norway, 22,29O tons, and Den
mark, 1928 tons. The supremacy of
the United Kingdom in shipbuilding is
plainly shown by the fact that she is
now building more than twice as much
shipping, both in number and tonnage,
as the United States, Germany, France
and Italy put together.
The Liverpool docks are world-famed.
There are no wharves or piers. Steam
and sailing craft alike go into docks to
discharge and load cargo. The trans
atlantic steamers land their passengers
on the landing stage and then 60 into a
dock to discharge cargo and load again,
and On the day of sailing they come to
the landing stage to receive their pas
sengers. This landing stage is an i'm
mense floating dock, supported on iron
tanks and having freight sheds, offices
and waiting rooms on it, and is connect
ed with the shore by bridges. 1t is hard
to realize that it is floating structure,
as there is no perceptible motion when
heavily laden teams drive upon it-yet
it rises and falls with the tide. An ele-
waited railway runs along LiverpooPs
water front, and from the cars you can
look down into the docks and see all of
them with little or no exertion. Start
ing from the landing stage we rode down
river to the end of the line. All the big
steamship lines were represented in the