Evening star., 1924-03-08
SHIP COMPETITION
WORRIES SRA|LROADS
ShipbuiIding Growing-New
River and Ocean Lines.
Rush of Repair Work.
BY j.. c. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, March S.-The rail-
roads are fully aware of the oppo-
sition which is threatening them from
the water-borne freight lines now in
course of expansion. One glance at
the shipyards of the country would
Suffice to show them what they have
to face. One-third of the tonnage
now under construction in American
yards is comprised of river vessels,
and there is every indication that the
inland seaport area will stretch
shortly from Quebec to Galveston.
The list of shipbuilding concerns
now is headed, so far as new tonnage
Is concerned. by, the American Bridge
Company plant at Pittsburgh. This
plant entered the year with approXi-
mately 22.OOO tons more on it's books
than the nearest ocean vessel builder.
The steel barges built last year equal
IN capacity a thousand freight cars.
development of streams for power
and transportation purposes is being
pushed almost as fast as vessel con-
struction.
Worst Depression Over.
The ocean ship yards, however,
feel that the period of extreme de-
preston in their industry has passed.
In support of this position, the ex-
ecutives of large yards in the Phila-
delphia district point to the rapid de-
probation of the Shipping Board
coastwise and intercoastal trade and
the possibility that the Shipping
} Board will convert some fifty vessels
into motor ships.
The shipping outlook for 1924 is
more promising than for some time"
said j. Harry Null. president of the
William Cramp and Sons Ship and En-
gine Building Company. IF condi-
tlonS in Europe are brought to a
solution, there is no doubt but that
the ship builders should benefit from
the demand for cargo carriers"
Foreign Water-born commerce of the
United States in the last year to-
tailed approximately 93,000,000 tons.
Repair Work Heavy.
Moreover. the old ships are grad
ually wearing out, according to Eu-
gene G. Grace, president of the
Bethlehem Ship Building Corporation
This is indicated by the steady in
crease in the Bethlehem repair busi-
ness" he added. THE ships repaired
by Bethlehem plants last year were
registered at tonnage of 9.74S,S72.
or an equivalent of 50 per cent of
the total merchant marine tonnage of
the United States. From money
viewpoint this would be equal to the
complete construction of thirty 5000
ton steel cargo vessels"
The vessels fitted with Deisel en-
gineS at the Cramp and Bethlehem
plants have shown such economy of
, operation that way toward cheaper
transportation seems to have been
opened Ship builders say that If
America is to compete with foreign
shipping it will be necessary to tax e
advantage of improvements which
give low fuel costs.
More Lines Proposed.
Already it is understood by shipping
men on the Pacific coast that the
Japanese shipping companies, backed
by the imperial government, are
planning to install Deisel engines in
80 per cant of the big Japanese liners
and merchantmen.
The Japanese recently have de-
termlned to inaugurate a "round-the-
world service to compete with the
Dollar line and it's British rivals. In
addition there has been recently
conSolidat ton of interests of the Jap
anese TX" lines, which comprises the
Kokusai Kizen Kaisha, the kawasa-
kai KiSen kaisha and the kawasakai
Dockyard Company, Ltd, and the
Roosevelt line for a round-the- world
service. which will he inaugurated by
the sailing from this port of the
steamer Silver Ash on March Is.