Evening star., 1902-08-09
A GREAT TRADE ROUTE.
Manchester Ship Canal and
]. P. Morgan.
WILL He OWN IT?
A LOOK AT THE DOCK FILLED
WITH YANKEE GOODS.
A Trip Along the Waterway, Which is
Possible Outlet for Ameri-
can Capital.
Copyright. 1902. by Frank C. Carpenter)
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.


MANCHESTER, England.
I have come here to give you the latest
and newest information about the Manches-
ter ship canal. 1t is rumored that Plerpont
Morgan and his associates have bought a
controlling interest in it. and that they will
shortly put on new line of steamers to
trade between Manchester and the United
States There is no doubt but that Nor
gan's London bank owns a large amount of
the shares. 1t took them when the canal
was begun and has held them ever since.
l. these rumors are correct the canal will
soon be the chief route for the entrance Of
our goods into this busiest part OF the
united kingdom. and Manchester will be-
come a headquarters of the American in
vasiOn. Indeed. the city already receives
steamers from New York Philadelphia
Baltimore. Galveston and New Orleans
Hundreds of thousands of cotton bales from
our southern states are here brought via
the canal. to be transferred to the mills: an
enormous grain elevator has sprung up
for the storage Of American wheat. and I
find that the warehouses along the Man
chester docks are already filed with all
sorts of American goods
The Seaport of England's Heart.
But first let me tell you something about
this great port. which the English have
created in the very heart Of their country.
Manchester is far back from the sea. 1t is
one OF the busiest cities of the world and
the country surrounding it is a vast beehive
of work. In passing over the railroads TO
and from il in every direction YOU ride
through groves of smOkestacks and it is
impossible to get away from the dense
smoke which pours forth from the fouu-
dries factories and mills which dot the
landscape.
IrcIudine; its sister city cf Stafford. the
place has now about 500 030 population and
the Tnanuf curing towns nearby are SO
close together that two million people live
within CartIng disJIrCe of the Manchester
docks. This means that goods brought
here on the canal can be carried by horses
10 the homes and factories of these two
million people
Nearby are other Industrial centers which
make all sorts of products for home trade
and export. Sheffield. with its cutlery, gun
works and furnaces for making iron and
steel. is but an hour away by train. and the
wooden center of Leeds is almost as near.
Altogether Manchester forms the nearest
port for q population cf about eight mil
lions and IFS people estimate that they can
land Ordinary goods by means of their
canal at saving of 81 per ton on the in
land transport over the same goods landed
at Liverpool. The canal people have pre-
pared estimates Of the actual cost of dis
tributing goods throughout this part of
England. and II will pay American shippers
10 investigate the advantages of serding
their exports by the canal almost direct ts
the factories
Manchester's Mighty Waterway
I have spent some days in going over the
canal and in looking through the vast
warehouses and buildings which have
grown up about it. 1t is one of the wonders
Of modern engineering, and as a longtime
investment IL will DrObably he a SiIcceSs
although the present generation and per