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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1914)
PORT OF PORTLAND'S WORK BETWEEN CITY AND SEA EXPEDITED 'XXWCBffiL 4.r t" Br M. lall.,1. (itrrrai Manaicer, Port of fortlttnd UMnmuuoa. THE Pert of Portland was created in lSai by legislative act for the purpose of dredging and main taining a. channel for deep water ves sels between Portland ani the sea. In 1903,. the Commission was given authority to build and operate a dry dock. This is a wooden dock composed of five pontoons and will lift a vessel BOO feet long, and has a capacity of 10,000 tons. The dock cost approxi mately 400,000. The drydock rates are cheaper than at any other point on the Pacific Coast. There is a well equipped machine shop on the drydock, where sh4p owners and charterers having to make repairs can take advantage of the facilities offered. The dock is com pletely equipped wtth electric power, the pontoons being raised and lowered by electricity; also having wires con venient so they may be plugged into the switchboard on ships on the dock and light the vessel the same as if their own electric light plants were in operation. A towage and pilotage service is also maintained. ' This service was taken over from private Interests in 1909. The equipment is composed of three sea-going tugs maintained a.t the mouth of the Columbia Kiver, and one auxiliary pilot schooner and one sternwheel river towboat. One or more of the sea-going tugs is constantly cruising off the river In the vicinity of th light ship, so that all vessels com ing to the Columbia River, may be able to pick up a pilot or a tug, as is re quired. From the day of its incorporation, February. 1891, to December 31, 1812, nearly 4.500,000 was expended in operation of the Port's business. This amount includes cost of dike construe- -t: . :i't. -ia?.- "vj . fc-.'..r: :i it S 5- 3SSE liaise -.-r-....... ... ( .. . . ."i! ' -Jl . ." j. ......w. -s " " ii'.''A..i-a f C ' - t r I f t I r t f I r ? r 7 ?e?s-s- TT 3 tion, cost of dredges, tenders, etc., tow-1 the channel between Eureka and tbel dikes at various places in the Willam age and pilotage equipment, drydock,) sea. I ttte and Columbia Rivers. The records and the cost of operating same. I The United States engineers - have ' show that only one of these dikes has At the time the. Port was created,! made surveys and estimates or a 30- j been of - any material benefit to tl.e there was only 17 feet at low water at, foot channel between Portland and the phannel; the others being practically the shallowest places In the channel, i sea. ana it is contemplated that dur- J useless. so that it was impossible to bring ves-J ing 1914, the Pork's dredges, in connec-1 The 30-foot project laid out by the tion with the new dredges now being; united states engineers, contemplate completed for the United States Engin- j numerous dikes at various points along eering Department, will secure a depth j the river, where shoals exist, and of 29 feet, and the following year 20 j where it is contemplated dikes will be feet. The extra two feet to be gained i of benefit to the channel. During the in depth will mean an additional j last year a number of vessels departed dredging area of probably twice the! from Portland with "a. draft of J7 feet, mileage dredged last year, rt will also! and it is hoped that inside of the next mean much more difficult work for the two years any yessel in the Pacific dredges, as experience has shown that! Coast trade may safely navigate be- as depth is gained, more snags, as well ' tween Portland and the sea. as heavy gravel and clay, are encoun tered in various places in the channel In 1S92 and 1893. the Port expended nearly 400,000 for the construction, of sels drawing over 17 feet to Portland, and ship owners were compelled to lighter part cargo between Portland and the lower river. Since 1891, three hydraulic dredges have been built; one with a 20-inch, the other two with a 30 inch discharge; the last of the two 30 inch dredges having been built in Sep tember, 1912. With this equipment the Port has dredged a channel 300 feet wide and 2S feet deep between Port land and Eureka, a point about 65 miles down the Columbia; a total dredged mileage of 14.11 miles; the United States engineers maintaining The United States engineers have completed the south jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River and have the north Jetty well under way. A com plete plant has been assembled at tort Canby, on the Washington side, and 11 is understood that about 1000 feet of trestle has already been built. The engineer's office estimates the jetty will take about two years to complete, but if the work can be continued with out interruption, inside of the first year a noticeable effect will be shown on the bar. When the north jetty is completed it will contract the mouth of the river from about four miles the. present width, to two miles. In this connection, this commission recently voted to offer to the United States Government 475,000, the same was accepted, to enable the work on the 'north jetty at the mouth of the river to be carried on on a continuing contract basis. This amount, with 25, 000, donated by the Port of Astoria, it is contemplated, will carry the work on between the time the present appro priation is exhausted and the appro priation to be made by the next Con gress is available. This step was taken dredge, making it the largest seagoing suction dredge in the United States. The question of another large seagoing dredge for bar service to work in con- on account of all Interests feeling that the most important work to be done at the present time is the deepening of the water on the Columbia River bar. As the time draws near for the open ing of the Panama Canal larger vessels are being sent to the Pacific Coast and there is every reason to believe thai when the canal is thrown open to the shipping of the world still larger ves sels will be sent here, and if these ves sels come to Portland drawing from 2i to 32 feet it is imperative that the bar be deepened and this without de lay. Hence, every effort is being made by the people of this district, not only the Port of Portland but the Chamber of Commerce and all other public bodies, to have deep water on the bar. It is understood that the United States engineers' department here has been given authority to ask for bids for two extra pumps for the dredge Chinook. These, we understand, wilt be 24 inencs in diameter and will prac tically double the capacity of this junction with the Chinook has been agi tated and our representativesjn Wash ington have been requested to take up with the Secretary of War very strongly the matter of building such a dredge, and it is felt this will come in due time. Altogether the outlook for deep water on the bar and a channel between Portland and the sea so that all vessels may come here is very brignt, and it is only a question of a very short time before Portland will be a port second to none on the Pacific Coast. This commission is composed of seven members who serve without pay. Two years ago the office of general manager was created, the commissioners feeling that there should be one head who would be in touch with all the activi ties as Is essential in any business organization: DANISH COMPANY IS BUILDING SIX VESSELS FOR PACIFIC COAST ROUTE Motor-Ships Will Carry Cargo to Copenriagen Immigrants May Be Attracted to Oregon if Opportunities in "This State Are Presented to Scandinavian Farmers. - By E. D. WIuhIow, United Mates Consul general, Copennagen, Denmark. DENMARK welcomes the opening of the Panama Canal. Hope and enthusiasm are felt in the future of trade and commerce as Influenced by the canal. Though essentially an agricultural land, the kingdom of Den mark has been making great progress of recent years in manufac- turing. Territorial ly the dominion of Denmark extends over possessions in the West Indies and over that vast, imperfectly known region, Greenland. The interest in , U 1 i .. 1 t ..j nits Luai 4 ucie ..-fk evidenced by the 3 preparations being Winaiow. made. A large ship owning, company. is also a trading company, is E. U. of the farm, and the 'government finances him on the remaining nine tenths at a low interest rate and witu long-time payments. Emigration is not discouraged by the government when there is likelihood that the emigrant will better his con dition. But he is advised to take the precaution before leaving of corre sponding with the Danish diplomatic or consular office in the contemplated country to assure himself that he is not making a mistake. There are more Danes at present in the United States than in any other foreign land. They are successful at home; they have proved successful with us. Advertising foreign inducements to settlers is not prohibited in Denmark and in most of the railway stations may be seen announcements of the Canadian Pacific Railway stating that persons desiring to go to foreign lands for land, for a home or for employment would do well to investigate what there is of fered in the territory served by its lines. If the Pacific Coast wants the good clasS of immigrants to be found here, it should make known what it has to offer, clearly and without exaggera tion. The Danish people have by na ture a love for adventure and travel, and will not hesitate to go to other lands, not because of conditions at home, but because they have in their tilood the desire for change and excite ment. Times are good here and there is work for all. In fact, there are not enough laborers to cultivate the fields during the growing and harvesting sea son, and some 14,000 Poles and Galacians come over to Denmark every Spring to assist during the busy season. Whether or not the emigration to the Pacific Coast will be large on the open ing of the Panama Canal will depend upon what you have to offer. People here are prosperous; they can get far his aa explained above, but competition is keen and one must work hard. If the Pacific Coast can offer better conditions, it may expect many immigrants. And to secure these skilled farmers would be a fortunate thin'g for the West. . IPOS 28.075 0.4T 1U08... .. 31.074 0.50 10T 31.09B 0.51 ;;08 1H.6S3 0.83 l&t 24,921 0.S9 lMlO.. 23,51 O.aO 1611 2S.6UO 0.35 ltfl2 18.645 0.28 Emigration of forts. To all Yeai. countries. 193 9S. 288 ' 18S4.. 52.760 1&!5 95,074 lb 86,803 lfct7 04,410 Jhtig 83,805 lts!9 130.640 l&OO 180,12 1S0I J6,63 1112 , 521,432 103 298.227 1904 219,09 U0 2S4.TST llXXJ 825,990 J907 Sii.BlS llOS. . 3109. . . 1910. .. 1111.. . 112... llMi.499 230.037 264.018 18:t.233 290.38tt 26.005 28.20 80.431 17.951 19,030 22,7'3 18,900 13,708 via German To United 93,438 49,321 ; 87,918 4.149 65,098 74,079 105.151 13.124 147,078 194,206 235,118 186,454 249,808 B03.CS0 340.871 86.314 21 5.025 233,058 152,202 242,541 which building six 10,000-ton motorships (Die sel motors) to engage In the com merce between the Pacific Coast and Denmark. This company (the East Asiatic Company) is already engaged in the trade between the Far East and Copenhagen. This city has a free port, i. e., a free zone in which goods can be laid down without the payment of duty, and permitting of transshipment to final destination with dispatch and at freight rates highly favorable to its commerce. This free harbor is the only one in Scandinavia, and makes Copen hagen the London of Northern Europe the clearing-house of Scandinavia and the Russian Baltic provinces. Denmark is about one-third the else of Wisconsin, and its products support not only its own population of 2,750, 000, but are sufficient for the exporta tion of large quantities of dairy prod ucts and other provisions. Even Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands call on this kingdom for butter and eggs. The Danes have exemplified the philosophy that all wealth comes from the earth. Every one seeks to be a farmer. The Danish people love the soil. Even the artisan will utilize hi spare time to cultivate a little plot 10 feet square. Every one knows some thing about agriculture, which is an in teresting topic with all classes. The government encourages farming in many ways, and any man with a capital of 270 or more can become a landowner. The government lends prospective farmers nine-tenths of the necessary capital that is, any Dane of good character is required to pay down only one-tenth of the purchase price GERMAN STEAMSHIP LINES WAIT FOR DEFINITE DATA Interest Is as Keen as in United States, but Information as to Cost of Operation Lacking. By Robert P. Skinner, United States Consul General, Hambur. IT IS much too early to determine the probable effect of the Panama Canal upon the tide of emigra tion now pouring into the United States. I doubt very much whether any of the European steamship com panies have made any definite plans or that they will come to any con clusion on the subject until the canal is actually open and 'the cost of run ning steamships to the Pacific Coast thoroughly tested. I do not mean, even to suggest, that the European steamship interests are indifferent to the canal, as that certainly is not the case. Interest in its effect upon com mercial currents is scarcely less keen In this country than in our own and if there are no plan of a definite na ture now ready for announcement It is merely because there are as yet no available data to enable the compa nies to come to any conclusion. It is probably the case that if the navigation companies undertake to transport emigrants directly from European ports to the Pacific Coast the number of Germans that would avail themselves of this privilege would be comparatively small. Dur ing the last 20 years the total num ber of Germans emigrating to vari ous, parts of the world has diminished steadily from 1.73 per cent of the population in 1893 to 0.28 per cent of the population in 1912. The Ger man transportation lines are carrying as emigrants Russians and Austro Hungarians almost exclusively. I subjoin the most recent statistics available: Emigration of German Subjects. Year 1!I3. . . . 1MH.... IbWa tS)6.. .. 1S97 lb9S . lS.t'9 1!XM 1001.... 100 Total movmnnt Per Ct Number. .. 87,077 40.964 K7.498 3324 24.631 22.SU1 24.323 22,309 -22,073 32,0!S 36.310 004 Ill 2l'.bii of Pop. 1.7 3 0.80 0.72 0.64 0.46 0.41 0.44 . 0.40 0.39 0.58 0.03 0.47 To United States 78.249 35.902 82.50S 29,007 20,o4 3S.6G3 19.8V5 19.703 19,912 29.211 83.640 26,086 Iiverpool Expects Changes ta be Gradual Easiness Covaraslty Is Not Ready to Make Definite Arrangements for Canal Traffic. SHIPPING BETWEEN PACIFIC COAST AND JAPAN TO BE ON NEW BASIS Canal Expected to Cause Cut in Railroad Freight Eates With Consequent Gain in Business for Transportation From Portland and Other Cities. By William Force Btcsd, United States Vice Consul in Charge, Uverpool. FROM inquiries made among the leading business men of the com munity, it appears that no definite plans have been formulated pending an announcement of the Panama Canal rates. A member of one of the most important firms, doing a large trade as importers and exporters in practically all tines, who has recently returned from a trip to the Pacific Coast, made a statement to this effect, which may be taken as typical of the attitude of the business community generally. "We are not able to make any defi nite arrangements at present. What we want to know, is what will the canal rates be? What will the steamship companies charge? What will the transcontinental railways do in the way of meeting competition of steam ships? Until those points are settled it Is Impossible for us to make a clear statement. "At present we are only able to say in a general way that while we have no doubt of the ultimate expansion that will be brought about by the canal, we do not expect any radical developments at once. We expect the growth in trade to be moderate at first, and perhaps disappointing to the over-optimistic but it will be all the more healthy if It follows a normal course. Perhaps the articles that will be chiefly affected at the start are lumber and fresh and canned fruits." By Thomas Sammons, Cnited States Consnl General, Yokohama PROM a world-wide standpoint, the Pacific Coast is brought much nearer to the Atlantic seaboard and Europe by the Panama Canal, and naturally will benefit thereby. At the same time, with the railroads altering their schedule of rates from i?xterior, as well as Eastern points in the United States to the Coast cities, for the pur pose of meeting canal competition, trade on the Pacific seaboard is bound to increase. All in all, the canal will increase transpor tation facilities and thereby increase business and de velop new trade op portinii ion In the Far East it is considered too early to predict the result of the open ing of the Panama Canal, so far as trade routes are concerned. Japanese business men are watching the situa tion carefully, and one of them re marked to me recently that with a number of the through railway lines adopting new freight rate schedules to th Pacific Coast, snipping generally Thomas Sanunons. ROUTES SHORTENED BY PAN AMA CANAL. The Panama Canal will revolu tionize the trade routes of the world. The following . table shows the distance in miles be tween various porta by water be fore and after the completion of ' the canal: Old. New. Colon to Panama 10.719 41 New York to Portland. .14.053 5.958 New York to Hawaii. .. 12,800 7.O00 Near York to Manila. . .17,200 124)00 New York to Hongkong (water only, no trans fer) 11,4S Liverpool to Portland. .14,884 8,091 Liverpool to Hongkong via Panama 18,907 Liverpool to Hongkong via Suez 12,810 Distances from the canal to various parts of the world, in sea miles, are: New Tork, "1872; Liverpool, 5353; Pernambuco, 8354; New Orleans. 1395; San Francisco, 4019; Portland, 4672; Hawaii, 4485; Hongkong. 9980; Australia, 8018; Cape Horn, 3943; South Africa, 7803. would be stimulated between Japan and the Pacific seaboard. Japan now has four steamship lines operating to the Pacific Coast, and those concerned are naturally solicitous about securing more cargo both ways. They look to the railways to respond to transporta tion exigencies by rearranging their schedules of freight rates and thereby increasing trade possibilities. Aa I have indicated, it is apparently anticipated that increased transporta tion facilities will increase commerce, generally, with, the United States. At present Japan exports more freely to the United States than to any other geographical division 'of the world. America buys much more from Japan than all Europe combined, and yet Eu rope Bells more to Japan than we do. Still, our participation is steadily in creasing much more rapidly than any other part of the world. About one third of all Japan's exports go to the United States; in return Japan makes upwards of one-fifth of her foreign purchases in the United States. While quantities of this exchange of products will soon pass through the Panama Canal, it is believed that in creased transportation facilities with the interior of the United States will more than offset, so far as Japan is concerned, the anticipated diversion of freight traffic to the canal. In the meantime, the Pacific Coast of the United States may well seek fur ther trade possibilities in Japan and the Far East generally. Wheat, flour and lumber now come from the North Pacific Coast to Japan, but a careful study of the requirements of this part of the world will prepare the way for further diversified trade opportunities. CANAL TO HAVE NO DIRECT EFFECT ON SWISS TRADE Outlook, However, is for Increased Commerce, Not Only With Pacific Coast, but Also With Orient. By David F. Wllber. United States Consal General, Zurich, Switzerland. WHILE the commercial interests of Switzerland doubtless expect, to gether with those of the other Western European countries, to be benefited in a general way in their commerce with the Pacific Coast coun tries, not only of the two Americas, but also of ..Asia and the Orient, still there is as yet no especial activity oh -servable, having in view the increasel commerce in those countries. One reason is doubtless to be found in the fact that Switzerland has no merchant marine, and any increased trade, due to the opening of the Pana ma Canal, will necessarily have to be carried in German, French, British, Bel gian and Dutch bottoms, and will there fore also be to a large extent through the medium of the large export firms of these countries. As a possible second reason It might be stated that the Swiss industrial and commercial interests are at present pri marily and- principally interested in their own Swiss National Exhibition to be held in Berne during the corning year. With, regard to any possible increased emigration to the Pacific Coast, or to the United States in general, I have to state that there is also as yet no un usual tendency or activity observable in this connection. The Swiss peoplo do not Beem to be Inclined to emigrate to the United States any more than l past years, and the only activity in this connection observable in this office is the increased number of inquiries from parties interested in inducing emigra tion to the United States. It may be of interest in this connec tion to state that the Western Euro pean governments in general maintain a very strict control over the emig-a-tion of their subjects. While the Swiss Federal Government accepts emigration as a .fact and maintains a federal bureau to glv0 information to prospective emi grants, still the establishment of a pri vate agency to promote emigration Is only permitted by special license of the Swiss Federal Council, and the agent is required to furnish bond and In other ways is submitted to official regulations and control. The Swiss Federal Bureau, which is the Eidgenoes sische Auswanderungsamt in Berne, would probably, however, be very glad to receive any circulars or publications that would be of value to them in ad vising prospective emigrants..