Evening star., 1915-01-24

of eastward to the Atlantic Seaboard. The
men of the Gulf expect to live long enough
to see their ports become almost as much of
shipping center as the East now is.
The Southern ports have also been sud-
denly brought to a realization of one tre-
mendous advantage which the canal has
given them in the crisis that has befallen the
cotton market on account of the European
war On October % the steamship Penrith
Castle passed through the canal from Gal
weston, bound for Yokohoma with cargo
of six thousand five hundred bales of cotton,
| the first vessel in this traffic to use the new
waterway. Eight days later the steamship
City of Naples, with eight thousand bales of
cotton on board, passed through the canal
headed for the same port. The indications
are that this transportation of cotton from
the congested markets of the Gulf ports will
continue until something like three hundred
and fifty thousand bales have been exported.
The effect of the canal upon Pacific ports
can be wildly shown by reference to the adj
| vertisements of new steamship lines in the
Daily Commercial News of San Francisco.
On the day this is being written the follow
ing steamship advertisements appeared,
with "via Panama Canal prominently fea-
| tured:
Atlantic Pacific Steamship Co.,-three
York to California and Puget Sound.
Sudden & Christensen Line,-four steamers
from New York. Mobile, and New Orleans to
San Francisco and Puget Sound.
Boston-Pacific Line,-three steamers from
Boston to California and Puget Sound.
American-H awaiian Steamship Co.,-four
steamers between San Francisco and New York.
two serving Philadelphia, and two going on also
to Boston.
johnson Line,-one motor vessel between
Harrison Direct Line,-two steamers from
British ports to California and Puget Sound.
East Asiatic Co..-three steamers from Scan
dinavian ports to California and Puget Sound.
Pacific Mail Steamship Co.,-four steamers
from San Francisco to Balboa, Canal Zone.
connecting with South American lines. such as
the Peruvian Steamship Co., which has a weekly
service between Balboa and Mollendo.
Swayne & Hoyt, Inc.,-one steamer from San
Francisco to New York.
Considering the port of San Francisco
alone, the Chamber of Commerce reports
that cargo to the value of $5,096, ,O64 passed
from that city through the Panama Canal
during the month of October. During the
same month last year only 81 ,9S7 ,496 crossed
the isthmus, via the Tehuantepec and Pana-
ma Railway routes. The shipments of Cal
salmon quadrupled; raisins and prunes
doubled; canned fruits doubled. And dur
ing the first two and half months of canal
operation, ending November l, the quantity
of grain from the North Pacific Coast for
Europe carried through the canal amounted
to 5,l79,934 bushels.
That is not a bad showing when it is re-
membered that the canal has been open only
short time and remembering also that the
European end of the Pacific Coast service
ION which many high hopes have been built)
is hopelessly suspended until the great war
draws to a close. What is true OF San Fran
cisco is true ALSO in large measure, of Seattle
and other Puget Sound ports; and true per-
haps, of San Pedro and San Diego, though
data are not available.
incidentally, the shortened route to Eu-
rope has enabled San Francisco to send two
large steamers loaded for the distressed vic
Tins of Europes great war,-one shipload of
foodstuffs for the starving Belgians and one
load of Christmas presents for the children
of all the fighting lands.
NOV that we have dug the Ditch, it is as
~ truly impossible to head off the con-
sequences as it would be to try to replace
the sawdust and shavings in hole made
with an auger.
AS piece of engineering it may not be
more wonderful than the Pyramids of
Egypt; but it is vastly more consequential.
The engineering triumphs will gradually be