Evening star., 1909-08-20
AHEAD OF AMERICANS
British ShipbuiIders Beat Us,
Naval Officer Says.
MORE AND, BIGGER YARDS
Unparalleled Prosperity Described
at Belfast and Glasgow.
RESULT OF WISE LEGISLATION
Supremacy on the Sea Due in Large
Part to Superior Management
of Vessels Once Launched.
RESULT OF WISE LEGISLATION

Interesting information concerning the
shipbuilders of England. their views on
American shipbnilding. the effects OF the
tariff and the general condition OF ship
ping is contained In a letter just received
by Washinstonian from a retired officer
of the United States Navy, resident Of
this city. The naval officer writes as fol-
lows:
They dhe British shipbuilders) think
the Americans who have purchased steam
yachts abroad had good reasons: that
they got better boats and for less money:
that their experience is so much greater
than that of the Americans. They regard
the recent tariff law rs anything but just.
as it requires the American owner to pay
81 per cent on the value of the vessel, or
else be charged tonnage tax of 80 shii-
iings per ton per annum ii the boat visits
American waters. They say it. May be
doubted whether this effort to keep busi-
ness at home will prove successful. as
those Americans to whom money is no
object win insist having the best.
whatever IL costs.
Il visited the great shipyard of Harlan
& Wolff. at Belfast, the largest shipbuld-
ing plant in the world. The plant covers
ninety-eight acres of ground and 1900
men are employed in its operation. They
had half a dozen vessels on the ways. in
cluding two ships for the White Star line.
the largest ever built. These vessels are
to be $50 feet long on the load water line.
80 feet wide and to displace A. 600 tons
each. They are to have triple screws, the
center engine being turbine and the
wing engines reciprocating. The turbine
engine Is to receive the exhaust from the
other engines. 1t is expected that the
vessels will make twenty-one knots an
hour. These ships will be long enough to
cover four seas and should not pitch at
all in any weather less than a gale. A
voyage IN one of these ships will be six or
seven days of comfort instead OF five days
OF discomfort In one OF the fastest ships.
Besides that they will carry coal for the
round voyage, and will burn much less
fuel than the very fast ships, which
means less cost of management as well
as giving more cargo space.
A Wonderful Lifting Crane.
''The most interesting thing in the yard
of Harlan & Wolff is crane which Will
ift 100 tons from the wharf and place
It into ships hold at one operation. They
mt and assemble an engine in the shop,
skid 1t to the wharf and with one opera
tion hoist it and lower it to it's founda-
ton on its keelsons. This yard is SO far
ahead OF anything OF the kind in the
init United states that II is futile for us to
There is some fretting. il not chagrin.
in Belfast that they had to go to Ger
many to set the 12O-ton crane.
Il was greatly interested In the method
of launching SO long a ship. When Scott
Russell built the Great Eastern 600
fest Iong) he launched her sideways. fear
ing she would break or swamp IL launch
ed endways: but Harlan & Woln are preA
pairing to launch these s5O-foot ships end
ways, just as we do our 4O0-foOt ships
stern foremost.
They are using all cylindrical (Scotch)
boilers for their mercantile ships.
There were twenty-four Yarrow 0ubu-
los I,xfeA c< I~<fv~ IA
another firm. for torpedo boats. This. they
said. was all the work they had in hand
for the British government.
"A visit to the shipyards at Glasgow
was equally encouraging for the British
shipyardi and just as discouraging for
American yards. There was a hull in
frame on every set of blocks, and the
wharves were lined with new ships re-
celving machinery.
1T Is said that there is a smaller num-
ber of ships being constructed than there
was year ago. but owing to the larger
size of many of these ships the aggregate
tonnage is greater. The Lloyds' regis
ter shows this years aggregate tonnage
to be Al, $4,000. against 4O.922,OO. for last
year. About one-twelfth of this is done
In the colonies :.
Far Ahead in Tonnage.
1T is claimed that the shipping of
Great Britain is four and a half times
greater IudH lHdt OI 0elHtdIly nat dS
the figures from the United States include
the boats on the Great Lakes, no COM
parison as to ocean-going tonnage can
be made, but that our tonnage must be
multiplied by three and a half to equal
that of Great Britain. Norways fleet Is
one-tenth that OF the British. Italy, ia
pan, Russia and Holland follow, but are
small in comparison.
''Nor is the superiority OF shipbuild-
ing the only thing which marks the pros
ri tv nd iy,7a a Of these wise and
thrifty people, but the management of
their ships and the encouragement TO
manufacturers. The large transatlantic
ships are commanded by officers of the
British navy, those who are on the re-
serve list. In event of war any or all of
these ships may be pressed into the serv-
ice of the army or navy. Though part
ownership of some of these lines is vested
in citizens of the United States, it must
not be forgotten that the vessels are reg
'stered in England commanded by Brit
ish naval officers and available for BrHisii
war service only. A short time ago
gentleman of words and influence said il
made no difference to the Americans
where the ships were built, that so long
as we were owners we got the profits. A
potent hondholder in the west has said:
Tt makes no difference under what flag
our grain is shipped to Europe. SO long
as we get the gold for the grain But
it does make a difference.
1T is the balance of trade i'm favor
of Great Britain which makes her gold
coins worth 10 per cent more than ours,
grain for grain of gold. A British SOW
ereign contains only as many grains of
gold as is contained in $4.44, but we are
Obliged to pay ST. 500 for 1t, and In the
broken shops in Wall street we pay $4q2.
IL we enjoyed as much carrying trade
as do the British, this difference of 10
per cent against us would not exist, and
the rich Americans who buy yachts
abroad or whose families come to Lon
don for every season, would be able to
recover the advantage of that 10 per
cent.
"In very few years the population
of the United States will consume all,
or even more wheat than the states pro-
duee, and we will be obliged to import
wheat. What then?
Losing Our Skilled Labor.
'.The closing of our shipyards has
driven skilled labor out Every nation
has been strong, great, powerful. rich.
just in proportion to Its producing class
es; and with the diminution of that proc
ducing class comes the wane of the na-
ton. Bancroft has said that the destruc-
tion OF nation comes with the eiinlina-
ton of Its middle class. While the ship
yard mechanics are being forced out, an
equal number of unskilled laborers are
being imported to dig the grades for rail-
roads, and these railroads are largely
owned in Europe More than half OF the
great PENNSYLVANIA railroad is owned In