The Monmouth inquirer., 1917-04-26

ment nearly two-thirds of century
ago, and has spent about $225,000000
on the vast works which make Liver
pool, despite many natural disadvan-
tages, one of the four or five leading
shipping centers of the world.
To begin WITH tides are high and
violent at practically every important
British port, except Southampton. Be-
tween high and low tide in the Mer-
sey river at Liverpool is a normal va
riation of about eighteen feet, while
the highest tide increases this variey
ton to thirty-four feet. The mouth Of
the Mersey is obstructed by a great
sandbar, on which dredges are con-
stantly at work to keep the channel
open. Despite these difficulties, Liver
pool has. been erected into the second
shipping center of the kingdom, sur
passed only by London in it's annual
tonnage.
A Cooperative Concern.
Up and down the Mersey on both
sides extend eight miles of tremendous
sea walls Originally these We're built
OF massive granite blocks brought
from Scotland but In the modern era
of cement construction REINFORCED con-
crete has been chiefly employed. The
sea wall is at frequent intervals
pierced by inlets for dockage of yes
sells; and mile after mile Of elevators
and warehouses line the docks.
The Mersey Docks and Harbor cor
Germ composed of the leaders in Liver
pool shipping affairs. There are SO
members of the board of directors who
have complete control of the harbor
except in the restricted areas that are
claimed by the admiralty for naval
purposes. The city of Liverpool has
no more municipal authority in the
dock region than the government at
Washington has over the municipal
concerns of Cornwall. There is, how
ever, one exception at this point: the
dock and harbor area is policed by the
officers of the city of Liverpool.
The Mersey corporation raises its
money precisely as any other CONNER
cial company would do. Its revenue
is produced from tonnage and dockage
and warehouse charges, and is ample
to provide for all harbor works.
We were taken on tug up and
down the river, with permission to
land and inspect the warehouses and
elevators. The harbor master assured
US that it was poor time to see Liv-
erpool shipping because there were
fewer vessels in port than usual. To
us, however, it looked as If about all
the boats in the world were trying to
get in or out of the Mersey, or were
in the docks receiving and discharg-
ing cargo. In these war times, when
every hours detention of a CONNER
cial vessel is highly undesirable, the
process Of loading and unloading goes
on day and night in successive shifts.
Instead of having been driven from
the seas by submarine menace British
shipping is more concerned than ever
it was before to make its stay In port
just as brief as may be.
Submarine Treated as Joke.
We saw vessels from literally every
quarter of the globe coming and going,
bringing and taking every conceivable
sort of cargo. We were assured that
Liverpool had not known one case of
officer or sailor refusing to ship be-
cause of submarine or other danger.
With the sailors, indeed, the subma-
rine is humorously treated as joke.
If it gets your ship, why, you row
around in the boats until you are
picked up and carried ashore, where
you promptly stand up for another
voyage in the next boat.
The sailors, of course, are intensely
bitter against the submarines. The
perlls of the sea are ample without be-
ing accentuated by such treacherous
foe. Until this war broke down all
the rules Of civilized conduct the
world had gone on for centuries stead
lily developing means for increasing
safety of life and property on the
wide waters. Now there is no law of
the sea save the law of German MUIR
der and piracy; but the sailors of Eng
land go right on heaving their anchors
and sailing to all the ports of the
world. It has become a matter Of
honor with them.
Personally was even more inter-
ested in what I saw at Manchester
than in the sights of Liverpool. Man
chester is more like an American COM
mercial city than any other 1 have
seen in Europe. There we were guests
of the Manchester Ship Canal COM
'pany, which has made an inland city
into one of the great ports Of the en-
,pire. once heard a peeyish citizen
of New Orleans say in an outburst Of
contempt that 'if Atlanta could suck
as hard as it could blow, it would suck
up the Atlantic ocean and become a
seaport" That is precisely what Man
chester did, and the description would
lack something If it omitted mention
Of the fact that Manchester is still
blowing about what it did.