New Britain herald., 1929-01-18
HARbOR AT LONDON
 DEVELOPS YEARLY
More Important in World Eco.
 nomi3 Than City Itself

travellers and ls known, from DOCKS and storiea. throughout the world. London the port is comparatively little known, yet in world economies it is even more important than Lon don the city. A bulletin from the Washington, D. c. headquarters of the National Geographic society deals with the ship. that crowd the Thames from the Seven seas the varied piles of products from all corners of the world that are set down on London auays and docks, and with the facilities for handling this mighty business of providing necessities and luxuries for great block of the worlds consumers.
 Port Developed With Ships
 "The port of London has developed as her ships have developed, says the bulletin. Tn her e0oo years of history she has known the long rakish Viking boats. the little wind driven ships of the continent, smacks, frigates,. clippers: and since the advent of steam and the gas en- Elne, great 1letidh'tdI S'ts 'oohN' Of the sea of evcr-increasing size.
 ..The smaller ships of the past centuries found it possible to anchor in the Thames or 10 tie up to her wharves and quays. But as ships be- came larger and more numerous the great tidal range of the river was fouad to be more and more troupe some. It was then that London began the construction of the great closed dock system which gives her 'he most extensive area. of artificial shlp basins in the world.
 "A quay or wharf is merely a wall or platform along the shore of river or inlet. A true dock is con str,1rted by digging into the bank 10 construct a. basin into which the harhcr water flows. A lock and water gates usually connect the basin with the outer vtaer. When ships are floated into the dock at high tide. the gates can he closed. shutting in enough water to float the ships even when the water has dropped fsr be- low the necessary level outside, In some modern docks the water level can be maintained or even ralsen aho,e the hieh tide level by EiEan- tic pumping plants,
 First Dock in Days of Perys
 .Jondon's system of docks. now so extensive and elaborate. grew by very slow degrees. The first llttle vet dock, dug at Rlsckwall about 1865, was used merely to outfit ships Samuel Ferys mentions it in h's diary. Next about 1Tho. came a larger dock used merely as protect cd anchorage for ships that were to be long in port. This basin came to be freouerted by whaling ships1n the Greenland trade and was long known as the Greenland dock. The whalers soon realized that unloadinG and the taking on of supplies could better be arcomplished in the dock than ln the river. Rubber factories. storage facilities, and all the ill-smeillng accessories of whaling grew up around the basin. which thus was first to take on what are the ele- mentary docking activities of today
 These beginnings of the dock systen,s were constructed within a few miles of London Bridge. From them the .ystetm has developed. principally down the river into deep CT and deeper water The .West and East India docks were built about 1900. They now embrace 1:7 acres of water basins. millions of square feet of warehouse space and more than i've miles of quays' The so-called London docks the nearest basins to the bridge. arc relatively small, covering & acres of water and eS acres Of lana The Surrey commercial docks. built around the original Greenland dock consist of 1i7 acres of water. cSo acres of land. and i've miles oi quays.
 Royal Docks Heart of System
 "The Royal docks. six or eight miles below London Bridge. are the heart of Londcns dock system and the most extensive inclosed dock. in the world. They consist of the Royal Victoria dock built in 1855; the Royal Albert dock. com pleted in 1880: and the King George V dock opened in 1921. Together they embrace PAS acres of water and extend along the river for three miles More than half million tons of shipping has been berthed in these connected docks at one time.
 Twenty six miles below London Bridge is the most remote of Lon don's shipping basins. the T,lbury docks. These were opened iu 1Sss to accommodate the largest o' the vessels entering the port and those of the deepest draft. Its new entrance lock is approximately ot the dimensions of the great locks or the Panama Canal. with a depth Of 45 feet 6 inches below high water It is in the Tilbury docks that the greatest of the transocean passenger steamships berth-ships of close to .".ooo tons. Liners that are very little smaller. however. also use the King George V dock. which has some of the most modern dock equipment to be found on the river
 London is not dependent alone on inclosed docks. Along the 6s miles of river which supply the city with potential port facilities arc many miles of open wharves and ouays. To these comes constant procession of barSes. coasting boats and even sizablc steamers
 Docks Under Public Ownership
 For the past 19 years the great dock system of London has been nnder public ownership. managed by the Port Of London Authority. | corporate body whose members are in part appointed by the Admiralty