East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1914-12-22

Ing a total value OF a billion dollars
are lying idle In American ports today
ar a result Of the European war. The
loss sustained each day by the varl-
GUS steamship companies through the
idleness OF their costly vessels is al
mostly incalculable.
The Atlantic coast ports OF the
United States in nearly every in
stance contain one or more ships
either interned or laid up through
lack OF trans Atlantic travel Boston
and New York are harboring the
greatest number.
When the war first broke out
many big German liners were forced
TO put back into American ports 10
avond raiding by British cruisers
Others were ordered 10 disband crews
and lay up in our ports until the end
of hostllities
The two great German lines. the
North German Lloyd and the Ham.
burg American own forty-three yes
sells now enforcedly idle in American
ports. The White Star line was forced
through lack OF business to discontin-
ue the saillngs OF the Cedric. the Gel
/ tic and the Symeric. The White Star
Dominion Line discontinued the sail
ings Of the Laurentic. Canada and
Teutonic.
The big piers In Brooklyn present
some dlsconsolate scenes OF suspend
ed activity. At one pier are tied three
big ocean greyhounds, their sides dir
l ty from lack OF paint and with winch.
es and brass work rusted from disuse
/ They are the Kaiser Wilhelm II, the
| Grosser Kurfurst and the Frederick
Der Crosse. A small crew Of men
are kept aboard to guard the big lin
! ers and a wisp OF smoke coming from
one OF the stacks on each vessel tells
| that fires are being kept 20 prevent
freezing.
At another Brooklyn dock stands
the mighty Vaterland OF the Ham.
burg American line At the time OF
launching, the vaterland was herald
/ ed as the last word in ocean liners
/ Her coat was estimated at over So
100000. Her tonnage is greater than
that OF any liner afloat Today she
Is worse than useless 10 the Ham,
burg American line because every
Gay OF idleness is piling up huge costs
on idle investments
In one Of the long warehouses az
the Bush Terminal docks In Brooklyn
nearly one hundred sailors. members
of the German vessels interned there
are being housed. The Hamburg Am
crican line and the North German
Lloyd has fitted up the warehouse
with hunks and small stoves and all
day men sit idle waiting for n chance
to either work around the docks or
smuggle themselves out OF the coun'
4 try. They all want to fight for the
! Fatherland but the laws of neutrality
/ prohibit them leaving the United
States unless they are American citi-
zens To get around this law, thriv-
ing trade has sprung up among nat
uralized foreigners who sell their nat
uralization papers for amounts up 10
500. with these papers. the Ger
mans pass the port authorities and
reach the Fatherland as American
citizens.
The fleet Of the North German
Lloyd line, the proudest Trans-Atlan-
tic fleet in history. has been decimat'
ed by the war. Tied up at doks in
the port OF New York are six OF the
lines biggest vessels They are the
Kaiser wilhelm II. the George Wash.
ington. the Grosser Kurfurst. Frieder-
ich Der Crosse, Barbarossa and Prin-
cess Irene. Many OF the North Ger
man Lloyd and Hamburg American
vessels have also been taken over by
the German government and are con-
verted into scouts and cruisers,
At Boston lies the Kronprinzessin
Cecilie, whose palatial equipment is
known to thousands OF Americans.
Alongside her is the Wittekind, the
willehad and the Kohl, vessels OF les
ser size.
The idleness OF the big liners has
increased the business OF the smaller
reutral lines tremendously. The
freight departments of the Uranium
line. the Russian Norwegian and the
French line are working night ana
day handling their increased busiess.
England having control of the seas
her big transatlantic lines are still
doing business but travel and trade
have diminished TO such an extent
that all are suffering The Cunard
line is operating all of their war ves'
sells either in commercial business or
for the government of Great Britain.
The White Star line is also operating
all OF its steamers.