Hilo tribune., 1906-06-19
PORTLAND THE NORTHERN PORT
For the steamer Line According 20
Captain William MatS,n.

MatSOn, Oh tue. MatSOn NaVlgatlOf
Company, was in that city aud haC
d stated that the northern port for the
Matson steamers would be
Portland. The Oregonian says:-
Portland is to have a steamship
line to Honolulu and it will be put
into operation next month. This
announcement was made yesterday
by Captain William Matson, oil
San Francisco, president of the
Matson Navigation Company.
Within four weeks the steamer
Hilonian which has a capacity OF
45oo tons of freight, will leave
Portland for Hawaii and will make
monthly trips thereafter. If the
volume Of business justi6es, and
Captain Matsou is inclined to be-
lieve it will, the steamer Enterprise,
which now plies between San Fran
cisco and Honolulu, will also be
put on the line.
Yesterday morning at the Office
of w. A. Mears, secretary of the
transportation committee of the
Chamber of, Commerce, Captain
Matson met about 20 representative
business men of Portland, to whom
he stated that the company OF
which he is the head would esta-
blish a line between this city and
Honolulu with the understanding
that it is to be permanent. He also
said that while the line would
start with but II steamer another
would probably be added within a
short time. Later Captain Matson
made the same statement to an
Oregonian representative.
"The steamer Hilonian was re-
Gently purchased by the Matson
Navigation Company al an Atlantic
coast port, and started on its initial
trip on the Pacific when it left
Seattle for Honolulu Tuesday. It
will not return to Seattle, but will
come to Portland.
Mr.. Mears was largely instrument
tai in securing for Portland the line.
Last week he was in San Francisco
and called upon Captain Matson
for the express purpose of interest
ing him in such an enterprise. He
explained in detail the advantage
OF a line running from Portland
instead of the Sound, as Captain
Matson had first contemplated,
Captain Matson then stated that he
had long been considering the ad-
visibility Of establishing a line
from this port and that he would
visit Portland this week and make
known his plans.
LARGE INTERESTS IN HAWAII.
Captain Matsop is representative
OF and is heavily interested in the
Honolulu Plantation Company,
which will do much of Its trading
in Portland as soon as the new
line is established. II is under.
stood that the steamship company
and its affiliated concerns in the
Hawaiian Islands will purchase
large consignments of goods.
Thus the burden of furnishing
all the cargo for vessels of the line
will not devolve upon the merchants
of Portland. 'n-
we come to Portland with the
intention of making the line per-
manent, but of course it is not a
certainty that we will do So" said
Captain Matson at the Hotel Port
land yesterday afternoon. I'VE
believe that the Portland mer-
chants can work up enough bust
ness to justly one and probably
two steamers. and besides we
ourselves will purchase many
goods in Portland for our planta-
tons.
CAN BUY cAEAPER.
"Our company has for some
time considered the propo-
sition of starting a line from
some port on the North Pacific
Coast. You can sell goods cheaper
in Portland than in Seattle and
that is n of the reasons why we
decided to come here. Much of
the stuff that is shipped from