The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-20

| tory arrangements for charters with | American shipowne1s. The vessels are | to be built in En nsiand His charter con- | tracts arc with another nation across 1 the sea. The incident illustrated how l far behind some of the nations the United States Is with respect to steam ship transportation.
 When the late William R. Grace was contemplFtin the enlargement of his fleet of South American steamers he found 1t impracticable to purchase the vessels he needed in the United States or to sell vessels under the American flag. He spoke of this frequently with regret He could not have maintained his South American service which op erated between the west coast of South America and the United States by the Strait of Magellan. if he had been com pelled to huy the ships in this coun- try or to sail them under the Amer ican flag. Shortly before MT Grace's death the Panama canal project which entailed the construction of the canal by the United States government was looked upon as something certain to be accomplished within few years. MT. Grace was convinced that the opening of an artificial deep-draft waterway. connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific at the Panama isthmus would stimulate commerce between the United States and the west coast of
  would be almost every day one or more steamers passing through the canal headed either for the west coast of South America or foi the Atlantic sea ports. He predicted that the opening of the canal would entail great increase in the number of the steamships of his fleet, perhaps doubling it. For these vessels would for the most part abandon the Magellan's strait route, navigating the canal instead What Mir. Grace predicted is to be realized soon after the canal is open to navigation. Those who have suc- ceeded him in the direction of the inter- national mercantile house which he es- tablshed are persuaded that they will be compelled considerably to increase their fleet in order to take care Of the busi- ness going to and coming from South America. What Will the Guggenheims Doy
 The Guggenheims, who have received from Chile concession even larger than the one which Mir. Schwab obtained. all ready have their copper mining plant in Chile well on toward completion. This enterprise represents a capitalization of a little over $100.00000O. These copper mines are not so fortunately situated, so far as transportation is concerned as are the iron mines which MT. Schwab and his aE- sociates are soon to exploit: The copper mines are far distant from tho coast that it is necessary to construct a rail- road from the mines to the Chilan ports.
 Whether the Guggenheims will transport their copper ores from Chile to the large smelting works in the United States by chartered steamships as MT. Schwab has done or whether they will operate lines of their own seems to be a matter of some doubt. They must, however, have practically decided upon transportation methods. excepting to utilize the Panama canal for that purpose. For they are able to estimate within reasonable accuracy exactly what the cost per pound of pro- ducing the copper in marketable condition will be. This cost includes the expenses of mining, of transportation from the sea port to the United States by steamer Their estimate is that the cost of min ing, transportation and smelting, great that will be- will nevertheless be small enough, in view of the richness of the copper ores, to warrant them in predict ing that the total cost price will be smaller than that entailed by the market ahle production of any copper obtained from American mines, probably consider ably less than the first cost of producing marketable copper obtained from the mines of Alaska.