The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1910-09-14

! ." shlppins and I'm the vraa.
volume Of business which nass.s
throush this gateway of the sor,s
west that II lie entirely without aaa-
q'ate facilities for for repairipp ana
dFy docking even the small vessals In
me "ulf trade. Especially is this i'm
preston manifest in the case of
strangers who visit Galveston
Interviewed upon the dry aocp o.,
Sh'nsari question, several visiting
Shippers who were familiar If not in
terested in dry dock improvements
nave said that the possession of these
facilities are not only absolutely
/ necessary. but they greatly enhance
"'e Vaiae or port, for under pres
eht circumstances all damaged and
disabled vessels that might be rem
dered unseaworthy at Galvesto,
J nave been taken either to New Or
leans or New York for permanent
repairs. 1t is also common 10 be,
maritime men say that they had seen
| everything in Galveston necessary ia
port of its size save dry dock ond
c shipyard.
Generally speaking the port Of
Galveston is better situated and
equipped for caring for steamers in
the Gulf trade than any other port on
the Gulf, but when it comes to car
ing for ships that can not Droceea
/ with safety to other ports. cargoes
must be discharged and cripple
tonnage moves from Galveston I'M
der Slow steam or in tow to other
/ ports where facilities for repairing
/ may be had
Referring to this matter. T. J
Anderson, who is an authority on
things pertaining to adequate port
equipment, and who is one of the
| representatives of the underwrit-
/ ers at this port, said: while Cal
weston stands in the front rank of the
! ports of the United States and is the
! leading port on the Gulf in the mat
/ ter of volume and value of its for
/ eign business, besides having an i'm
| mense and valuable coastwise bust
ness, the port ranks so low in the
matter of equipment for rerairine
/ injured vessels that the underwrit-
ers are constantly inquirlng of me
as to what is being done and what is
/ going to be done in the near future
| to remedy the matter. Not only from
| an insurance standpoint should the
/ port of Galveston have dry dock or
/ floating dock facilities, but from IA
| business standpoint According to
! the statistics for one year there en-
/ tered this port 312 vessels in the
| coastwisc trade, aggregating 1867
/ 3SI tCl7. end of property value of
many Tillions of dollars. Many of
| these vessels are in the Cuban and
! Mexican trade the year round, and
! others during the summer months,
/ and every one has had to go to New
| Orleans or Mobile for hauling out
for cleaning or repair work. With the
proper equipment at this port the
work would have been done here,
and in addition there are many 9TH
.er vessels that would have been sent
to this port for docking purposes.
According to Lloyd's register
the port of New Orleans has six
I docks. The government dock will
| list 5000 tons, and besides this
dock there is one which will list
$1,000 tons, another 1900 tons and
another 1000 tons, two of the SIX
docks being used mainly for tAe
purpose, of repairing river boats and
other small craft.
Pensacola has three docks, lifting
| 1000 tons, 900 tons and 300 tons,
respectively, while Mobile has one
lifting $500 tons, another 5000
tons and another 1000 tons
besides three marine railways for
smaller vessels All of these docks
are kept busy the greater part or
the year, and oftentimes vessels are
kept waiting several days to be lifted.
Galveston has one marine rallW9E
capable of lifting ! 900 tons, very
good railway for its size, but totally
inadequate for a port Of this size
and importance.
IF the port of Galveston IS go
ing to continue to enjoy the distlnc-
ton of being one of the great ports
of the world, some one will have 10
get busy and provide the eaMpm@ik
necessary to repair injured vessels
1t is of the utmost Importance To
the port that either dry dock OF
a capacity to lift the average Vessei
in this trade be provided, ana Inc
quicker it is done the quicker the I'M
derwriters will put the stamp OF