Evening Star Newspaper, July 20, 1930, Page 106

HIGH LIGHTS OF HISTORY ¥ -c DECADE FOLLOWING THE CLOSE OF THE A CVILWAR WAS MARKED BY THE — ~ /| SHARP DECLINEOF THE UNITED STATES \\ T MERCHANT MARINE = —_— S e R — % B8 HREE (GENERATIONS BNE REASON FOR THIS DECLINE WAS THE GREAT NUMBER OF MERCHANT- MEN SUNK BY CONFEDERATE ; RAIDERS DURING THE WAR . 1914, ONE-HALF OF THE WORLD'S COMMERCE WAS CARRIED BY "TRAMP STEAMERS, -SO-CALLED BECAUSE e | THEY HAD NO « .~ SCHEDULE,BUT F=_ PICKED UP CARGOES WHEREVER THEY couLD FIND THEM, —¢ EXPANSION OF THE REGULAR G== 2 STEAMSHIP LINES, OUT OF EVERY HUNDRE MERCHANTMEN ONLY ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE ARE TRAMPS. 1§ -E WORLD WAR LED TO THE 7/ REMARKABLY RAPID> RECOVERY OF THE AMERICAN i MERCHANT MARINE. —* /| % STATES TO TURN OUT THE MIGHTY ARMADA THAT WAS TO CARRY MUNITIONS,FOOD AND TROOPS TO EUROPE., =, 3 e — == — P st The American Merchant Marine §IFTER THE WAR AMERICANS TURNED FROM THE SEA , AND IN~ VESTED THEIR CAPITAL IN GREAT INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS, RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH SYSTEMS AND AlLL SORTS OF INTERNAL B~ g OWN SHIPS,WAS NOW BORNE BY FOREIGN VESSELS. 2 —TEAM HAS TRIUMPHED OVER SAIL, BUT —__ THE SAILING VESSEL HAS BY NO MEANS LL BUT A VERY FEW OF THE OLD 'SQUARE-RIGGER! HAVE DISAPPEARED BUT GREAT SCHOONERS,CARRY- ING SUCH CARGOES AS LUMBER,COALL AND STONE, PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART IN OUR COASTWISE COMMERCE. IROM 1916 UNTIL 1921 AMERICA PRODUCED SHIPS AT A FURIOUS PACE . IN THE PERIOD 1910-1920 WE BUILT MORE THAN A 3,000 VESSELS. - GROSS TONNAGE REACHED ITS RIGHEST POINT, 17,026,002 TONS. AT THE SAME T\WME GREAT BRITAIN'S TOTALLED 19,571,554 TONS, ——° HILE AMERICA'S SHIPPING DECLINEDS GREAT BRITAIN WAS BUILDING A MERCHANT MARINE THAT BY 1912 WAS MORE THAN TWICE AS LARGE THAT OF HER OLD COMPETITOR. — o wesacsssossass AT SRITAIN STATES, PP Dl iy .N 1870 THE GROSS TONNAGE OF THE AMERICAN MERCHANY FLEET WAS 4,246,507 TONS, WHILE GREAT BRITAINS WAS 5,617,693. — IN 1912 AMERICA'S GROSS TONNAGE HAD ONLY INCREASED 10 7,714,183 WHILE GREAT BRITAINS HAD JUMPED TO 18,213,620." - . 'HE oLD -TIME “SALT" THAT USED TO CLIMB ALOET '\ 1S NOW MORE A MECHANIC, .N THE BlIG SCHOONERS THE SAILS ARE MHOISTED> BY DONKEY ENGINES. THE CREW OF THE MODERN STEAM - SHIP IS MADE UP OF TRAINED SPECIALISTS, — ENGINEERS FIREMEN, ELECTRICIANS MACHINISTS ,ETC. —— * [ <= 1921 THE GROSS TONNAGE OF THE UNITED STATES MERCHANT MARINE- HAS AGAIN DECLINED, STATISTIC 14,371,114 (Copyright. 1930, by J. Carroll Mansfield) UR MERCHANT FLEET CONSISTS OF 4,383 SHIPS OF ALL TYPES (3,341 STEAMSHIPS, 294 MOTOR SHIPS AND 748 SAILING VESSELS). GREAT BRITAIN STILL LEADS THE WORLD, WiTH 20,166,331 TONS, THE UNITED STATES RANKS SECOND, FOLLOWED IN ORDER BY JAPAN (4,186,652.) GERMANY AND> FRANCE. —— —