New-York tribune., 1902-12-17
THE HUMBER PORTS.
Great Grimsby and Kingston-upor-
Hul-MumicipaL Progress.
Hull. December /.

IL ~. 1yrr7Fer It Is not picturesque seaboard.
sor there are neither high cliffs nor ledges Of
ocl behind the dreary wastes: and there are no
t,-5s except seagulls winging their flight tow
- +be broad estuary which is the southern
t,,ndarv of the East Riding Of Yorkshire The
oa itself is fecked with sails by day. and 1t
.,orl,1as with lights by night for the mouth of
.,a Humber is the converginS point for fshlng
- +-adinc fleets from the North Atlantic the
,,ol+ic and the Mediterranean Great Grimsby
:. On the Lincolnshire side. ambitious in title
"a ,oval in origin, for the last son of Danish
I.in- was rescued and protected by Gryrne. a
ssbarmau and when his rights were restored
.f.e- marriage with a princess town was
t,,u+ where once had been a single hut, and IL
ros named IN honor Of the deliverer. over
.,erhted by name and traditions. the ancient
-o-+ shrank and fell into decay until 1t was
T,++lA Crinsby. a poor and wretched nshlng
b.ven with beautiful parish church as the
o-1r memorial of such greatness as it once had
&c fortunes languished until the coast railway
,os LAID. and an immense dock was constructed
i.b q brick tower as high Boston Stump;
,s IN the course OF fifty years il has become
= vide struggling settlement with popula-
-,on Of over sixty thousand. and with an out
living watering place A great fleet or nshlng
-,acls is constantly moving across the face
of the tayvny waters. and. with the enlargement
% +ba docks. Great Grimsby is beginning TO
rival Hull in commercial enterprise and its pre-
+antious name Is losing its latent irony
On the opposite side OF the Humber is the
,.-qer mort. with an equally ambitious name.
1y,reston-upor-Hull. Its first great impulse
,oroe from the Greenland whale fisheries three
oantur;es ago. and when these began to IAN
ruish it was fishing town with thirty thousand
inhabitants The first steamboat built in Eng
land was launched the Humber. and tnat
rss a good omen of coming prosperity In the
course of eighty years Hull has become one Of
she three principal English ports. with an I'M
-,enee commerce as well as a great share in
-he deep sea fisheries. The old town on the
sIuggish Hull has expanded into a populous COM
,o,,nirz Of over two hundred and forty thousand
,nhati+auts with an area of 900 acres. Pros
rerous as is the fishing trade. with a fleet OF
five hundred craft it is insignificant in COM
parison with the general shipping. for the YORK
shire port is the natural centre OF commerce
with Germany Holland. Norway, Sweden ana
Russia and there are regular services under
steam and sail with France, Portugal, the
Mediterranean ports and the Black sea, ana
also with America. Eleven large docks have
been constructed and three craving docks have
been added. until there is now an improved
Hater acreage Of two hundred with extensive
plans for future enlargement; and with seawalls
and shipyards immense warehouses for the
storage Of grain and oil. and enormous stock
Yards for cattle there ample facilities Tor
the promotion Of commerce and the deep sea
fisheries The manufactures of Lancashire ana
Yorkshire find here their natural outlet for Ger
many and Baltic ports; Russian grain is stored
on the Humber; the cattle pens are filled from
the Continent and from America; materials for
the oil trade are warehoused from Egypt and
Mediterranean ports and the timber yards are
stocked from Norway and Sweden The ex-
pansion OF commerce has been accompanied by
g. remarkable development Of manufacturing
industries dependent upon II; and the old fish
ing town has become working hive with
great variety Of prosperous trades and occu-
patons.
The growth Of the city has been so recent and
so rapid that there no signs Of decadence
or impoverishment- Of industries. In this re-
spect ii differs from ports like Bristol, which
have suffered from the decline OF West Indian
commerce and the destructive force Of German
competition. Fifty years ago great fortunes
were made in that trade. and English merchants
owned immense plantations in Jamaica and
other sugar islands; and there were many sub
sidiary Industries in the West Of England and
in Scotland. Twenty years ago there were in
the United Kingdom more than forty large
sugar reineries There are only twelve re
fneries in operation in Greenock, Liverpool
Bristol and London. The other works are either
closed or have been abandoned permanently
One Of these Scotch reineries involved at the
outset an expenditure of about Sl,pcO,ooo. 1t
was closed when the full force Of German COM
petition was felt and the plant was sold TO
syndicate for 100000 broken up and finally
disposed Of for old iron and second hand ma
terial The sugar refining industry on the low
er Ciyde and in Liverpool, Bristol and London
-ta fr2n a
ton Of crude sugar from the West Indies and
other centres of the cane industry; and there
were many subsidiary trades dependent upon
them. Shipping is no longer in the docks
with cargoes designed for the refineries and
the production Of refined sugar in the Uhlteo
Kingdom has shrurken as the prosperity or the
British West Indies has declined. The Industry
has been we'll nigh destroyed by the abnormal
development OF the Continental sugar Industries
under government bounties and export carteIs'
Germany France and Belgium have sent their
refined sugar into open market and the
British West Indies have shipped their raw
sugars to the United States, where countervan-
ing duties were levied against bounty-fed
sugars Cobdenites have contended that Ger
many taxing itself in order TO cheaper
Englands sugar supply and to develop the
Scotch marmalade and jam trade. and that no
defensive measures must be adopted against
Continental bounties; and meanwhile the re-
lining industry has been ruined and the British
West Indies have gone from bad to worse
Hull has been spared experiences Of this kind
As a port it has profited by the enlargement OF
German trade with the United Kingdom. and
as a manufacturing centre it has adapted 1t
self to the conditions of free exchange and TO
the Importation of material for many in
dustries. With its timber supplies from Nor
way and Sreden 1t has established not only