New Britain herald., 1915-09-01
ID SEND MORE FOOD
 SHIPS TO BELGIUM
Vast Volume of U. s. Relief Work Shown by Commissions Report


 for relief ir Belgium, II Broadway, during the summer months may be gained from figures presented by the last report Of the commission, dated August IT. This report shows that, including the grain and foodstuffs sent from United States ports alone, the shipments lave reached a total of 45S,e1s tors, or 1,026,403,s4o pousds. These figures it should be remem- bered, do not include the cargoes sent from Canadian and other foreign ports, which would brng the aggre- gate up to, if it did not exceed, D. 000,000,000 pounds. and the approxi- mate total cost is nearly SS0,000,O00.
 Scvcnty-seven Shiploads
 From United States ports thus far seventy-seven shiploads of food and clothing have been sent to Belgium Ky the commission. During the win ter and spring the requirements of Belgium tc feed it's population of 100000 tn a per capita ration of ten ounces a day-which is about one third Of soldiers ration-neces- sitated the sending of a shipload of food every forty-eight hours. With the approach of the summer months the necessities of the Belgians were les sened as the German military author ities conceded to them their grain crops, and this supply greatly aided the commission in it's work of provid- ing the kingdom with food, ,inasmuch as it had no other sources of food supply from beyond it's border.
 Chartcring New Ships.
 But an carly resumption of activi- ties is foresha dowed in the chartering of large number of new ships. In addition to the newly chartered ships which will sail under the flag of the commissions and which aev already been reported-the Zuiderdijk, Elf land and the Overdale-the coInmis- sion has chartered six more, all ves- sels of the larger type of freighters, with average cargo capacities of from eight to nine thousand tons each. The new ships are the Andreas, a Greek skip, the Mohacsfield, a Brit ish; the Cribs, Greek; the Ootdijk, a Dutch; the Otto Sverdrup, Norwegian and the Mount by, British.
 Of these newly chartered ships, but two have been previously in the conl- missions service, the Elfand and the Overdale, and for the first time since it's organization the commission has chartered ships flying the Greek, Nor wegian and Dutch flags. The Zui- derdijk, of the Holland American line was the first large vessel of the same line. The Otto Sverdrup is the first Norwegian ship to be chartered.
 Left Greece Aug. 5.
 The Andreas, nearly 5000 ton car- go capacity, left Piraeus, Greece, Au- gust 5, and at fair rate of speed of twelve knots an hour should be able tc make the voyage of 4,700 miles by August 23, to Delaware Breakwater. From there she will be sent to New York and will take on general car" go. The Crios left Penarth August and is due at Delaware Breakwater 21, but the loading port has not yet been decided on. The Oost- dijk will sail from Rotterdam for Key West August 2S and will receive load- ing orders there. She will go to some Gulf port, where she is due about September IA. The Otto Sverdrup will sail from Chrisitania, Norway, for Montreal, and is due about the middle of September.
 Nearly Record Breaker.
 The voyage of the Andreas, 4,700 miles, is with but few exceptions the longest ever made by one of the cOm- missions ships in ballast Last fall q vessel was chartered from Hong Kong and sailed from there to Seattle, where she took her cargo for Bel gium. But few ships have sailed from Mediterranean ports. Of the ships now loading in this country, the FL fand reached Galveston recently. where she is scheduled to take on a wheat cargo. The Mohacsfield Is now at Montreal and will also load with wheat, and the Overdale is en route from Rotterdam for New York and is due at this port August 27.
 There are now twelve ships flying the flag of the commission, and their total tonnage is 79,450 tons. Two charters have been renewed, and these bring the cargo capacity to 91,- 500 tons for fourteen ships Tn the greatest stress for food in Belgium the commission had at one time fifty two ship under it's flag, and present
 
 more, will be needed during the com ing fall and winter.
 Awaiting U. s. Cargoes.
 Of the new ships now awaiting car goes in United States ports, the Zuiderdijkc completed it's loading at Weehawken, N. J., August IS, and sailed for Rotterdam. The Mohacs- field is at Montreal awaiting cargo of 5000 tons of wheat. The Elfand sailed August IT from Key West for Galveston, and will at once take on a wheat cargo at that port
 With the new ships under charter 1t is apparent that the commission