The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-01-18
ANOTHER SAN FRAN
CISco-AUSTRALIAN LINE

Seattle Daily Times, January 4: Els
tablshment of an entirely new line
of steamships, the first ever to oper-
ate from Seattle and San Francisco to
Australia direct, this afternoon was
effected when the Waterhouse Com
pany completed arrangements for put
ting a line of four first-class freight
steamships on the Antipodean route
to take the place of the Andrew Weir
line, which has been withdrawn from
j the Australian trade in favor of the
Union Steamship Company of New
Zealand.
The announcement of the establish
ment of the new line, with headquar-
ters in Seattle, and the withdrawal of
the Weir steamships from the lucra-
tive Southern trade came as surprise
to local shipping men, who had come
to look upon the operation Of the big
British firm as a permanent factor to
be reckoned with.
viii Head Direct for Sydney.
The Weir line with it's five vessels
for years has operated from Puget
Sound to Australia by way of San
Francisco, Page Page, Papeete, Suya,
Auckland and Newcastle, the Weir in
terests being managed from Seattle by
Frank Waterhouse & Co. The liners
used to call at Samoa, carrying Ger
man mails.
The steamships of the new Water
house line will not call at any of the
South Sea Island ports, but after
steaming South from Seattle will
make a bee line for Sydney from San
Francisco. The Union line, under the
new arrangement, will now have no
competition to the Cook, Friendly and
Samoan Islands, Guam or Tahiti. but
the new Warehouse line will be a
sharper competitor for the Australian
business than was the old Weir line,
It is understood in shipping circles
here that the withdrawal of the Weir
line from service between the Pacific
Coast and Australia was brought about
by an agreement drawn up by Sir JG3.
Mills, president of the Union Steam
ship Company of New Zealand, which,
in effect, provided that the field should
be left clear for his company to fight
the Oceanic Steamship Company for
the San Francisco-Australia trade In
any case it is certain that Andrew
Weir has agreed keep his vessels
out of San Francisco.
/ The trade built up between Puget
Sound and Australia by the Water.
house company he's become so lucra
tive that it is impossible for the with
drawal of the Weir line to be allowed
to effect the service. The Water
house people will run line of chart
cred vessels, already having secured
the steamships Belle Of Scotland, Hen
rik Ibsen, Strathendrick and Strathit
lie as the nucleus of their fleet.
Service Will Occupy Thirty Days.
The service between this port anC
Sydney, Australia, will occupy only
thirty days instead of approximately
forty-tive days, as formerly. With the
headquarters of the line este blished il
Seattle, the vessels also will load par
of their cargoes at Tacoma.
The line to Australia will be the
third big trade route established from
Seattle by Frank Warehouse. 1t wai
Warehouse who persuaded the Chin'
Mutual Steamship Company to eXtenC
its Liverpool-Hongkong service t.
Seattle. Later he established the frs
regular line between the Hawaiian Is
lands and Puget Sound. Now he ha
arranged for the first direct line from
this Coast to the Antipodes
100 -----