Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-07-18
HANDS ACROSS THE SEA
They Reach Out to HE Us q WaIlop.
Jabs at Our Merchant Marine.
Some 6rItishers Hate to See
us Forge Ahead
By GEORGE N0X Mccain

/ 1InECIOh GEO1GE r. SfhOOLE, Ol
y the Department of wharves, Docks and
Ferries, is one of the most ardent advocates
of maintaining an American merchant
marine.
He sends me two very interesting extracts
from the Liverpool Journal Of Commerce
that reflect our British cousins opinion OF
our commerce fleets.
1t is doubtful whether these Journalistic
Jibes were inspired by the fact that the
United States has more ships on the seven
seas today than ever before in her history,
or whether 1t is gcnteel antagonism to our
proposed ship subsidy.
Some excerpts from the Journals articles
are worth reading. They throw light upon
the attitude the British shipping world as
sumes toward American commerce carriers.
Under the editorial title Ambassadors
- and British Ships" appears the follow
ing: s.ro,,, ,,.,,,.,,.,,, ,r,,..s s,,,,. ,,,,.
Gems who had just completed a voyage
across the Atlantic in the Lone Star State
on her maiden run addressed patriotic
message to President Harding In which they
earnestly protest against the sailing OF the
United States Ambassadors to Berlin and
Brussels on a foreign vessel.
When the Government Is spending huge
sums in the laudable effort to build up the
United States merchant marine, all Gov
ernment officials should set the example Of
travelling under the United States flag.
They refer. of course, to the passage
which these two gentlemen made to their
posts in the White Star Olympic.
Now there is no objection to these patri-
otto gentlemen describing the Lone Star
state as q superb American steamship il
they desire to do so, but it would be better
II they maintained a sense of just proportion
and described her as what she is, one Of the
finest intermediate liners ahoat.
"QUT to get down to brass tacks, to com.
- pare a vessel Of 14,1S7 tons with
sea speed Of seventeen and half knots with
ship Of 46,430 tons capable of maintaining
twenty-three knots betrays lack of the
most elementary arithmetic.
when the Stars and Stripes floats over
ships the size Of the Olympic it will be time
enough TO send cables Of that description.
AZ the moment 1t is sufficient to note that
me carriage Of United States citizens along
the worlds principal trade route was not
considered of sufficient importance to keep
the George Washington on the Atlantic
terry when profitable charter was offered
her TO 60 yachting in the Mediterranean"
QATI1ER more interesting is the other
~ article from the Liverpool newspaper.
IL describes an unfortunate episode Of
nearly three quarters of a century ago and
which. doubtless, If our English friends had
their wish. would be repeated in the break
Ing down of our new merchant marine
through the failure of the Ship Subsidy Bill.
Ihls lucubration, slightly abridged, fol-
lows:
I'm 1850 the Congress and pcople Of the
United States were passing through the
same anxiety to improve the United States
mercantile marine as they are today, and
the most noticeable result was the founding
OF the Collins Line to run from New York
to Liverpool with heavy subsidy.
had al,
years with well-known sailing packets,
which had been very satisfactory, but big
wooden paddle steamers were n rather diff.
ferent proposition. and even II subsidy of
more than four thousand pounds per voyage
was not sufficient to put the balance on the
right side.
May 10. 1850, was tho date Of the first
arrival under this flag. when the Atlantic
arrived at ;erpool and attracted Il tre-
mcndous amount of attention.
The Merscy had been we'll primed up
with interest in these vessels long before
they arrived. for there was no room for
them in any of the docks of the port. and
one had to be specially constructed for their
accommodation.
''Ihe papers of the time were full of de-
scrptions of the Atlantic and the Cunarler,
Asia. that appeared at the same time but II
is sufficient to note the details of her voyage,
as they were only the beginning of the long
series OF items of minor ill-luck which
finally wrecked the company.
UNIO SOONER had the Atlantic left New
~ York than she had considerable trouble
with drift ice, which damaged the floats of
her paddles.
'In mid Atlantic one of her condcnsers
gave out altogether, and after n very un-
comfortable two days lying hove to attemDt.
ing to put things right, she proceeded on her
voyage on the other and accordingly made
very poor speed, indeed
However, she arrived in Liverpool even.
tually. ana tor some time afterward she and
her consort carried large number of pas
scngers eastbound although they were not
nearly SO popular going home to America.
The line did not last for very long and
was only another example of the truth that
United states costs are sufficient to kill
United states enterprise, no matter how
promising the subsidy
DRlTlSlI ship masters had good cause to
- remember the famous old Collins Line
The Collins paddle steamers instantly
threw down the gauntlet to the hitherto in
vincible Britishers despite the misfortune to
the Atlantic, as ! discover from some old
records in my possession.
In 1851 the Collins steamship Arctic nc
founded the world by padding across thc
Atlantic nt the then tremendous speed of
twelve knots an hour.
She cut down the New York Queenstown
English record 10 trife below ten days
In 1862 she again distanccd all competitors
by making the voyage in nine duys and
thirteen hours.
THIS was too much for the Cunard Com.
L pany.
They put atloat as competitors the Asia
and Africa, neither of which equaled in
speed or comfort the famous Collins racers.
the Arctic, Baltic. Pacific and Atlantic.
But trail of disasters followed the wake
of these fine ships
The swift Arctic was run down by the
French steamer Nesta of Cape Race SEN
tember 21 1854
The Pacific left Liverpool on June %
1906, and was never heard of afterward,
The AdriatIc, the largest and swiftcst Sbi,
In the world Of her time, was built and nut
in service but the train Of bad luck was loo
,ILu l,LlliIau iI.n -. ~,