The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-28

n and uncommonly able man,
who has known the sea ever
since he was IL years old.
The Golden Eagle. a Kennebunkport
freirhtcr. arrived at Havre, France.
in the summer of 1853 with a cargo of
cotton from New orleans. A sailor
nov. wages s. a month. was a member
Of The crew.
"Twtlvc full rugged ships. flying the
Star. and Stripes, were tied to the
docks at the time George Clement
Perkins. the former sailor boy, said.
ue OUT the deep sea long ago., how
ever. and is now. after having been
Governor Of his State, a Senator in
Congress from California, on whose
shores he landed at the age of II; an
able seaman before the mast. carrying
ell h.s property in a kit on his back.
Tie ships" he went on to relate
in Washington the other day. were
loaded with the products of this
try ana goods from other corners of
the earth. only two British vessels
were there. Every evening the mill
tirv bands On the men-of-war at an
chor played The Star Spangled Ban
1870
ner.
That was the golden age of the
American merchant marine. Steamers
Of the Collins Line. outsailing the
British Cunarders across the Atlantic.
were freighted with the most valuable
merchandise and carried the best pay
ing passengers.
British naval officers actually came
TO this country to learn why Ameri-
can ships surpassed their own in
speed. power and efficiency. Young
men were proud to be sailors in those
days. Fortunes were made by ship
builders and ship owners along o,a.
northeastern Atlantic coast.
Il followed the sea. first as a cabin
boy and then as a man before the
mast. going on voyages out Of New
Orleans and Mobile to Great Britain.
Norway. Sweden and France. Two Of
the ships in which l served brought
cargoes Of ron rails TO the United
States. one cargo was loaded in
Sweden and the other in Wales.
In 1s52| IA a cabin boy then
25j sailing ships and barks. intended
for the foreign trade. were built in
the United States. Three hundred
and eighty-one were built in 1855.
Steam ines afterward ran to the West
Indies and northward in the Pacific
from the Isthmus of Panama.
There was a day when merchant
men from Boston and other New
England ports took American mer-
ch.ndise to China and returned with
tea and silk. Men grew rich in that
very profitable business. The Sover-
eign of the Seas. an American vessel.
maie the voyage. under sail, from
Honolulu to New York, 1870 miles,
in e.ghty-two days.
"Our own vessels in 1856. the year
| left the sea. carried 10 per cent. IF
the products and merchandise We sold
TO and bought from other countries.
The transportation Of our foreign com
mcyce then was in our own hands.
Thirty years later, in 1856. We carried
hut - per cent. of our exports and i'm
ports. Putting the figures in another
way. American vessels transported
Jess than 5000, 600, 900 worth of the
things we bought and sold, while for
ogu ships. mostly British. transported
freight, originating in and coming to
this country, valued at more than a
h.Ilon dollars.
While our deep sea vessels have
all but vanished. our coastwise vessels
have greatly increased in number,
value and efficiency. and all the while
they have had to compete for business
with the greatest and the best railroad
system IN existence. Land freights go
stra sht across the continent from
Boston and New York to San Francis