Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-11-10
Careless American Exporters
Lose South American Trade
BY Bayse N. westcott.

~ we
Inc present European war and the
opening of the Panama canal have
caused many American manufacturers to
seek an export market for their goods.
Especially they have looked to South
America. believing that European compe-
Vtlon would now be less. and also that
the banking and shipping facilities are
gong to be better than ever before. Com
pared with England and Germany. Ameri-
ca is young and ignorant in the science
OF securing and holding foreign customers
knowledge to be acquired only by slow
anu expensive eXperience-and of this,
winch is really the science of foreign
trade, much can be written and fail ade-
quately 10 cover 1t: but one of the funda-
mental details upon which a foreign COM
merce is built can be outlined in a short
article.
Most European manufacturers know
how to pack their products for export,
whereas the average American does not:
ana he knows little of the transshipments
OF MS boxes and crates after they are for
warded from his local freight station.
There is a great deal of ignorance as to
the actual means by which freight is
taken from the railway cars at seaboard
and transferred to the holds of outgoing
steamers, but there is a still greater lack
of knowledge OF how goods are discharged
IRON the vessels In the foreign ports, and
1t is IN this discharge that much rough
handling takes place, and to meet this
strong packing is required. OF course
discharge conditions vary in the different
foreign countries of the world: in some
ports excellent docks. cargo cranes, and
warehouses are provided. whereas in 9TH
er coasts there will be very few facilities
and the cargo will have to go over the
ships side into a lighter by the vessels
own tackle. These last conditions are
those which are very severe, and IL a ship
pers goods are packed we'll enough to
meet them he can feel reasonably sure
that his shipments will arrive In good
condition. no matter to what part Of the
world they may go. The west coast Of
South America, especially Peru and Chile,
affords q good example of severe dis
charge conditions.
The coast of Peru is a barren shore Of
rugged. brownish yellow cliffs, with a
lower fringe of white breakers from the
Pacific and a background of the Andes,
miles away. The northern part of the
Chilean coast is similar. except thai the
cliffs are much higher-1.5O to 1900 feet
and more reddish brown i'm color, but with
the sam ~barrenness and lack Of vegeta-
ton. or harbOrs there are none until one
reaches CoQuimbo, where the coast begins
to have indentations with some grass and
trees, while south of Valparaiso there are
good harbors. But. on the whole. the
west coast. is open and unprotected, and
most of the ports are not ports at all,
but open roadsteads that receive the full
strength of the waves of the Pacific.
There are several regular lines of steam
ers that ply up and down the coast from
Panama south, carrying a miscellaneous
collection OF passengers. including German
and English commercial travellers, a few
Americans of the same classification SELL
Ing for the most part shoes or drugs. men
going from the state to the mines in Peru,
Bolivia, or Chile. young fellows coming
out from England to work in the English
commercial houses scattered up and down
the coast. and many Peruvians or Chile.
ans who are making short trips along the
coast from one port to the next. OF freight
the steamers discharge a great variety:
medicines from ST. Louis. cotton goods
from Manchester, electrical machinery
from Schenectady, oil, lard, rails-in fact.
practically all articles used I'm modern life.
as Peru. Bolivia. and Chile manufacture
very little. They take on board sugar in
Peru, and sometimes hides; in Chile per-
haps nitrate of soda or minerals. The
hip average one or sometimes two ports
in each day. and between times leisurely
steam along the coast. a few miles off
shore, through calm and peaceful seas.
In port there is never any time wasted
because of the many ports of call, and the
cargo Is handled with as much rapidity
as possible. Consequently, as soon as a
steamer is seen approaching one of the
coast towns, the agent on shore sends out
the cargo lanchas, which, together with
a fleet of native boatmen or fleteros, await
the sound of the Gathering of the number
less fathoms of rusty links of chain as
the ship comes to anchor a quarter to half
a mile off shore. After the ship has been
received" by the captain Of the port. the
fleteros swarm on board in search of pas
sengers to be rowed ashore, and the
lanchas are fastened alongside with two