The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-04-07
ERA OF THE
GREAT SHIP
With His Great
Carriers Hill
Wins.
May Divert Trade From
the Suez Canal
Route.
Future OF the Railway Business
OF the North and Elements
OF Competition.
(concluded.)

I
The limits imposed on cheap freigh
traffic from Europe to Asia are: q
The tolls through the Suez Canal; e
the size of ships that can pass the Sue:
Canal: 30 the cost of coal along tn,
route; CD the distance.
Tolls may be established. but this il
not likely; it will take years to deeper
the canal even if this project should
be advocated: the cost of coal along
the route, as well as the distance, will
always be drawback The only limit
to the size of ships that can be put on
the Atlantic is the depths of the har-
bors on both sides. This limit does not
exist in the Pacific, where Puget Sound
has four hundred to five hundred feet
of water within a cables length of the
shore. There is abundant and cheap
coal in Great Britain, on the Atlantic
seaboard, on Puget Sound, and all
along the. line of the northern roads,
and there are unlimited numbers of
empty freight cars west-bound.
GREAT SHIPS BUILT.
BY building the largest ships in the
world, even though they run under the
more expensive American register. by
filling the west-bound cars at a rate
little more than the cost of handling,
Mr.. Hill knows that he can turn the
export trade with Western Asia from
its observation-disclosures way past
India to the direct Pacific sea route
past Alaska. Before these new ships
We're ordered, experts were sent to Scot
land, Ireland and Germany, to absorb
all that could be learned about modern
mammoth ship building; and to escape
from all hampering traditions of the
past, an entirely new company, the
Eastern Shipbuilding Company, was
formed to construct them and took the
contract even before the site was pur-
chased on which the new yards were
to be established.
These steamers are $50 feet long, Is
feet wide. and on draught of S6.5 feet |
will have displacement of $4,000 tons.
The navigating deck is 80 feet above the |
keel. Each steamer can carry 1900 |
troops and the cargo capacity exceeds |
arge enough to adnit complete loco
motive. With a horse power of 1000,
L speed of fourteen knots will be main |
aimed. To accommodate these steam
RS enormous docks and warehouses are |
,eing constructed at Seattle, both /
vharves and warehouses of gigantic
size already existing at Tacoma. Cot
ON baled by the Lowry compress
Weighs forty-five pounds to fifty pounds
% the cubic foot, and 400 to 500 large
freight cars loaded with these bales
viii furnish cargo for only one such
steamer. The total cotton exported in
800 was 1,5OOO 900 tons, much of it to
Europe for direct or manufactured ex-
bort to the millions of Asia. These
nave now made a notable beginning in
he manufacture of their own cotton
cloths. and increasing quantities of
American cotton will be sent direct to
hem.
Before these ships are launched, in
with the Boston Steamship
'ompany-which operates the Shawmut
md fremont, twin-screw steamers of
900 tons and fifteen knot speed. and
-lso the three smaller steamers, Hya-
les. Pleides and Lyra-the Northern
ailroads have quoted a rate of IS a
on for the transport of government
applies from Chicago to the Philip
line Islands. of which the railroad
hare is 1915 per ton Return rates
ave been quoted on wool from Aus
ralia and New Zealand which make
probable that the imports from
British Australasia to Boston. New
-ork and Philadelphia will come by the
'aciic overland route instead of
trough Suez.
RIVALRY IN SIGHT.
In the year that has just closed all
he customs districts of the United
tates showed a decline of exports OF
rain products except the Pacific Coast
orts. the shipments from Puget Sound +
As per cent.
From an American point of view
mere is one shadow in this bright light
future American supremacy on the
acific. and that is the rivalry of the
anadian roads to the north. One of