The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1918-02-07

from great demand for ocean tonnage,
and Che extraordinary profits that have
been made in our carrying trade by
sea, have been shown by research to
be q recurrence of similar conditions
that have prevailed three times before
In the history of the American mer-
CHANT marine.
Whenever there has been any extraor-
DIARY condition to change political
or economic balances in this or other
great countries, prosperity for shipping
hts followed, say experts Of the Unit
ed States shipping board.
In proof of this they point to the
great expansion Of our foreign trade
following both the Revolutionary war
and the War of 1872, by which the
Merchants of New York and New Eng
land were enriched, and also the for
tunes made by American ship owners
following the Mexican war, with Its
resulting great rush of pioneers to
the new gold state of California.
None of the stories of fabulous earn
ings of vessels in the merchant marine
In the first three years of the present
war-befOre the shipping board began
regulating freight charges at sea-Are
more interesting than those Of the
wealth won by ships owned in old
Salem, Mass, IN the period in which
their owners were developing Ameri-
can trade with distant parts of the
earth, following both peace treaties
with England.
In 1893 the ship Mt. Vernon of
Salem made a profit of 100000, four
times her original cost, on single
round trip to China, going out with
sugar, and returning via the Mediter-
ranean, where she took on silks and
wines for the American market.
The owner Of the Mt. Vernon, Elias
Haskell Derby, died while she was on
this voyage and left an estate valued
ut $10O0,OO0, the largest American
fortune to that time.
Salem captains were ever on the
alert for new ventures in those days
Of rich profits. When in 1895 Capt.
Jonathan Carnes Of Salem heard by
way of gossip when ashore at BARGE
Iona, Spain, that pepper grew wild on
the coasts of Sumatra, he noted the
information carefully. On his arrival
home he impaired 1t to Jonathan Peele,
Salem merchant, who forthwith fit
ted out the schooner Rajah, and dis
patched her to Sumatra.
The Rajah brought back the first full
cargo of pepper to be landed in Amer
ica, and her owner reaped the tidy
profit from its sale Of 700 per cent on
his investment.
Certain ships, known for their lucky
voyages, made fortunes for their own
ers. One famous In the annals of that
period was the ship George-knOwn as
the "Salem frigate"-which made regu
lar voyages to the East Indies for q
years, accomplishing 81 voyages in all
and earned fortune for George Pea
body, afterward famous as million
aire philanthrOpist.
The value of her cargOes may be
Judged in that in her % years of active
existence there was paid on them al
the Salem customhOuse, in import
duties, not less than 100000.
The George was tiny ship, as yes
sells go nowadays, being only ia feet
long, yet she proved a shining example
in other ways Of the glOries of the
early American merchant marine. She
had the reputation of carrying the
most intelligent crews to be found any
where-except possibly on certain 9th
er American ships-and was famed fol
the number of men who graduated
from her fOrecastle to the quarter
deck.
When she sailed on her first voyage
to India, in 1915, hardly man in hel
crew was twenty-One years old, yet
each was an experienced seaman, and
nearly every one was navigator.
OF the sailors who served on her in
her long and prosperous career, 45 be
came captains, 20 chief mates, and si1
pSNOuu Ahs .
who served on her as a boy, passed
through every grade-Of ordinary ant
able seaman, third, second and chlei
mate-and ultimately became her cap
tain.
The case of the George has beer
cited as an example of the beneficial
effect of continued prosperity on ma
tion's merchant marine.
Not less than 1000 men signed arti
cles in the counting room of JOSEPH
Peabody to man his fleet, the variou:
craft which made 3S voyages TO Cal
cutta, II to Canton, 80 to Sumatra. Al
to st. Petersburg and 80 to other Eu
ropean ports.
In the later period Of the so-callet
clipper ship era of the merchant ma
rine, great profits were made by Amer
lean ships at time when the vessels
of other nations were grubbing fol
charters. This was due to the superior
speed of the American vessels.
The Rainbow, the first distinctly
clipper ship built anywhere, cleared