The San Francisco call., 1908-11-12

ago. suggested to Schwab that he pur-
chase the Hunters point prop
erty. Schwab ordered an investl-
cation Of the property and was
convinced by the report made that
it would be to the great advantage
Of his concern 10 acquire ii. he
thereupon came 10 San Francisco to
complete the deal
LARGEST DOCK ON COAST
The company built its first drydock
in 1859 II has since grown 10 be the
largest concern Of its kind on the coast
il occupies a site of 10 acres at Hunters
point and owns valuable land In the
neighborhoOd. The main part of its
plant consists Of three floating dry
docks AT the foot of Sixteenth street
and two craving or stationary dry
docks at Hunters point. the smaller of
which was completed in 1858. The
other was begun in 1901 and placed in
operation in 1903. The smaller one is
490 feet long and has a depth of "a
feet. Its present value is estimated at
$500 600
The larger drydock is considered the
finest IN the world. Ii was built by
Howard c. Holmes. a well known engi-
neer, and although it surpasses the best
.drydocks TO be found at foreign ports,
Il was constructed at cost of only
s47s.000 II is $50 feet long, with a
depth OF 80 feet
The new drydock viii be Lo50 feet in
length. with a depth of 81 feet 1t viii
cost $1,000, 600 and will make San Fran
cisco the best equipped port in both
hemispheres for repairing vessels.
The pumping plant has a capacity Of
10000 gallons a minute In addition.
the Hunters point plant is equipped
with the most modern machinery. When
the feet was on the Pacific coast IL
point with an expedition that aston
ished the government The completed
plant viii be able to accommodate five
battleships at one time.
PRAISES BIG PLANT
The plant at Hunters point is one of
the best 10 be found anywhere" said
Engineer Holmes yesterday. The con-
ditions there are ideal The drydoeks
are built on. a rock foundation and the
channel there is deep at all times.
Dredging is unnecessary. When the
company desires to clean it out, all
that is necessary is TO send a tug in
and work the propeller and the current
cleans the approach
For the present the Union iron works
VIII remain where il is, but as soon as
practicable the plant viii be trans
ferred 10 Hunters point. The site Of
the iron works will then be placed on
Lile mar ktL- II was SAID yesterday Ludl
fl was to be acquired by one of the
transcontinentaI railroads, and the
Western Pacific was mentioned in this
connection
Schwab was highly elated over the
cOnsummatiOn Of the deal He insisted
that his interviewer guess the object
OF his business. and one conjecture
falling. he laughingly demanded that
another hazard be made
1t is the most irnDOrtant industrial
step taken in san Francisco in A long.
long time" he suggested. seriously,
and the twinkle in his dark eyes rip
Piled to smile on his lips.
Il have bought the controlling inter
est in the san Francisco drydock COM
pany-that is, the Bethlehem steel
company has bought it. The negotia-
tions for the sale have been conducted
for more than a year We viii enter
into immediate control and will oper-
ate the docks in conjunction with the
Union iron works.
WILL IMUROVE PLANT
we intend 10 improve the plant in
such d manner that ii will provide ia
cilities for docking and repairing ships
uneQualed by any shipping yard in the
Pacific and probably unsurpassed by
any system of docks in the world. We
VIII erect large repair shops at Hun
LIS Itb-AAN anu lllE 1nlDA lLOn NOIhS
viii be able to overhaul the ships un-
der the personal supervision of Su-
perintendent McGregor.
'-There has been a feeling in the
minds Of insurance companies, espe-
cially LOyd's, that San Francisco is an
expensive port to dock in. With the
joining Of the san Francisco dock com
pany's interests with those OF the
Union iron works this feature will be
entirely obliterated and there viii not
be iuse the future more attractive
shipping yard, both from the efficiency
of the workmen and from a standpoint
Of economy, any place in the world
than right here in san Francisco.
We believe that san Francisco is go
ing TO be one OF the largest shipping
ports Of the world. The docks at Hun
ters point were the only available
docks on the coast. They are capable
Of taking care Of the biggest ships
adoat in the Pacific. and il is our in
fention TO so improve rne facilities that
there viii not be a ship aioat in any
part Of the world we will not be able
10 handle.
The Union works will be improved
naturally with the increased business
we hope to obtain. ] think that the
combination effected makes of Hunters
point and the Union iron works one of
the most important concerns in the
United States"
Schwab declined TO say whether the
combined works would be in line 10
bid for the construction of Uncle
Sans warships.
DOCKING AND REPAIRING
',rhe deal consummated today con-
Germs more the docking and repairing
OF ships than the construction of them"
he continued. Hitherto a ship com
pany had to deal with two concerns
and the cost was therefore greater In
stead Of sending his men into any 9TH
er mans yards, as has been done up
10 this time, superintendent McGregOr
viii handle the entire situation.
i cannot say what the financial ar
rangements of the trade were. We
greed that the minority stock holders
would be treated the same as the
larger stock holders. Mr.. McGregor
came to New York a month ago and
told me that the negotiations were rap
idly approaching point where my
personal action would be necessary. We
finished the business in two days"
william Babcock. president of the
San Francisco drydock company. de-
clined to make a statement as to the
basis on which the transaction was con-
hrf Col =