The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1904-01-30
Shipping win Continue Dull Un-
til Beginning Of New
Wheat Year.
why SHIPPING IS so QUIET
Grain Crop il Short and Huge
Quantity Has Been Sent
Quite Recently to
San Francisco.

One OF the best posted wheat ship
pers of Portland. who was in the city
a few days ago, expressed the opinion
while here that there would be little
improvement in shipping conditions
until August 1. the beginning OF the
new grain year. He added that con-
ditions likely to exist after August
were problematical. and that shipping
business would depend entirely upon
crop conditions.
The past six months have been very
quiet in shipping circles. Few vessels
have come to the Columbia for car
goes, or. for that matter. to any of the
coast ports. The decrease in engaged
tonnage is due entirely to the short
wheat crop in the northwest, to the
fact that much of the wheat has been
converted into -four and shipped out
either by rail or on the large trans
Pacific liners, and to the further fact
that no inconsiderable portion of the
northwestern wheat output has gone to
San Francisco. where the disengaged
tonnage recently exceeded 100000, and
where there has been little improve
ment during the past 80 days, al
though an occasional vessel Is char
tered or sent to some other coast port.
While figures are not available. it Isl
estimated that between 10000 and 5O.-
zoe tons of wheat and barley have been
sent from Portland to San Francisco
since September /. Several coasters
have been almost regularly engaged In
carrying grain south, with the result
that there has been little to ship from
the northwest. While it is possible
this estimate is high. the fact remains
that the grain sent below would have
required the presence here Of no small
feet of foreign carriers.
The Oregonian is out with an OPP
timistic statement to the effect that
is vessels are en- route here with $4,000
tons of cargo. However, the Portland
paper is stretching matters for the
purpose of making showing. The is
vessels have been engaged to bring
cargoes here, but it will be long time
before they show up off the Heads. In
deed, many of them will not be here
before the fall, and there is nothing
in the present outlook that could be
construed as hopeful. The informa-
ton contained in the Oregonian's ar
ticle is, however, interesting, and is
herewith reproduced:
''The list of cargo ships bound for |
this port is constantly growing. Six
teen vessels are now on the board en-
route to Portland with general freight
from European exporting ceDters and
their cargoes aggregate nearly $4,000
tons. The latest addition to the feet
is the British ship Hampton, 1879 tons,
Captain Macdonald, which will load at
Antwerp for this city in the Grace line
Of ships, represented here by Taylor,
Young & Co. In addition to the Hamp-
ton seven other vessels are loading, or
have loaded, at Antwerp for this port,
and some of those now on the way are
about due here. The other vessels in
the Antwerp fleet are the Thistlebank,
Armen, Beacon Rock, Clan Mackenzie,
Emile, Invermay and Laennec.
"Three cargo vessels are coming
here from Hamburg, the Carnarvon
Bay, Holt Hill and Marechal de
Noaiiles, The Francesca Giuseppe and
the Nomia are en- route from New
castle, England; the La Bruyere and
Rajore from Shields, and Ell FFieda
from Rotterdam. OF the above list the
Francesca Giuseppe, Thistlebank and
La Bruyere will stop first at Port Los