The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-12-18
A CITY WITH A VISION

N> WHICH bdlllmoIo Ahao6 oa GU ing, recall the famous days of the American clipper ships. beautiful speedy crafts, low i'm the water. car rying a prodigious amount of sail, explained by a race of dashing skip pers, around whose memory there to whom the world was not too large, nor any port too distant, to carry | American commerce and prestige.
 The absence of vacations ana ex- pens;ve cargo congestion, the low cost | of, and facilities for, handling, among other advantages, have made such an appeal to ship operators and the large producers of the Middle Western states that the exports and imports through Baltimore within the last twelve months have increased enor- mousiy over those of pre-war years.
 The result has been that Balti- more has been seeking trade expan- sion and in this connection has come to realize the potentialihes of trade with the Far East and the advantage of the shortened route furnished by the Panama Canal.
 The first move was made by the Green Star Steamship Corporation, which had sufficient vision several months, ago to begin a regular ser vice to China, Japan and other East
 m points It was frankly an ex- pertinent and the men back of 1t only planned for an occasional boat, but the success was so great from the first, and the freight offerings so many, that already three boats are on regular schedule and every reason | to expect further expansion.
 The commodities carried are aston
 ishingly varied-large quantities of
 steel wire, rods sheets. bars and tin and steel plate from the Middle West;
 manufa ctured cotton gooos and super | phosphate from Baltimore and sur
 rounding territory. the latter, in fact
 leading the list with the remarkable
 total of more than 25,00o tons to
 China and Japan during a recent two
 months.
 This was the pioneer effort, but an- |
 and unique one is that of the Pacific
 Mail Steamship Company which is | starting "round-the-world service g
 This unusual service will be perform
 ed by an American shop. and the trip
 will begin and end at Baltimore. Ac-
 coruing to the plan of the project the
 boats will leave Baltimore, touch at
 san Pedro by way of the Panama Canal, go up the coast to San Fran
 cisco. discharging and rece1v1ng car
 go en route; from there across the Pacific to Yokahoma, Kobe and
 Shanghai; thence to Manila, Saigon Singapore. Calcutta, Colombo. Bonn bay and Alexandria: thereafter to the
 Mediterranean, touching Marseilles to Spanish ports, making Barcelona 9 last, and then across the Atlantic , back to Baltimore
 n Six months is the length of time es , umated to be needed to make this tri, of some 26.00o miles, It is said tha f already large return eargoes are 1, :, sight
 This is not all. Still another shin h ping enterprise is being blame, 2 rom Baltimore. Articles have bee, s filed for the creation of a s2,ooo.o s corporation which expects to begI v operations with from four to six ves
 sels ranging from 7Oou to eooo +o, e each which will be put on a Baitinor " to San Francisco service. later talk 70 ing on trans-Pacinc business to tn
 Far East,
 n These first attempts having dem Ia onstratcd the possibilities in the trad II with the East, Baltimore is no. gt II ing to be caught without means f.
 taking care of it, She is ieokin 1t ahead and has laid out a s5o,o0o, ,e port development plan which include ,e extensive pier and warehouse coI Is struction. the installation of rnodeI n handling facilities, the systemiaation r. all receiving and delivery service, ar ,e the correlation of the entire harb, ,s and its facilities into a shape tn ,- will make possible unlimited expa, ,,t sson and economic functionfng. ii While it may not be possible f
 any American cities to engage Iii trade with the Far Hast, or to hand n such q volume of business, as Bali D. moro will undoubtedly do, it is nepe ,gy theless true that scarcely any Ame a- scan ports have been developed f " along up-to-date iinesi probably no' s.r to the practical limit Every Anne I'd can town built a waterfront e
 x m terprise and ask itself if imitation eF to q certain point would not be ben re ficial.