from the agricultural and mineral countries for the manufactured goods of the great manufacturing countries of the world, in addition to the exchange of special manufactured goods between industrial countries. The raw products make up the bulk of the "tramp cargoes, and the manufactured goods, with small parcels of raw products, are the mainstay of the regular liners.

CHAPTER III

PORTS

NATURAL Features-Development and Expansion-Depth of WaterSeasonal Ports-Canals-Suez Canal-Panama Canal-Grain Ports -Coal Ports-Sugar Ports.

In a work of this kind it is not expected that this large subject can be discussed in a detailed or comprehensive manner. Excellent books of reference and compilations already exist, such as the Supplement of Lloyd's Register, where such essentials as the Dry Docks, Floating Docks, Pontoons, Patent Slipways, etc., also particulars of Wet Docks, Tidal Harbours, Quays, etc., of the Ports of the World are enumerated; and especially that standard work, in three volumes, of the Dues and Charges on Shipping throughout the World, published by George Philip & Son, Ltd., London.

Natural Features.

Ports are the gateways of sea traffic, and it is mainly through them that the commerce of the world has passed throughout all history between countries possessing a seaboard. Rivers are the natural waterways, and, moreover, the great mass of the population are concentrated in the river valleys. These two factors, a natural highroad to the sea and population, called into existence industrial cities and towns, and a port at or near the mouth of a river, such as London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Hâvre, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Calcutta, Rangoon, Shanghai, Buenos Ayres, New Orleans, New York, etc., to name a few typical examples of the most important. But other natural features of a coast line provide great ports, such as well sheltered and deep bays and indents, of which typical examples are Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, etc.

In long stretches of coast line none of these natural features may occur, as in the West Coast of South America, where, from the Straits of Magellan to Callao, all the ports, such as Valparaiso, Iquique, etc., are what are called open roadsteads, where ships load and discharge at anchor.

2-(1803)

Development and Expansion.

It will be seen that the ports of the world vary greatly in a variety of ways, as in the approaches to the port, depth of water, docking and berthing accommodation, the appliances and facilities for the loading and discharging of cargoes. Growing population, increasing commerce, and the rapid growth in size of ships, are factors which continually react on the port, and practically all ports are accordingly in a condition of steady development and expansion to meet the growing demands of business. Depths are increased by dredging, new and large docks are added, and, especially, the machinery for the quick and efficient handling of cargoes is improved and perfected. It might be said that the aim of progressive port authorities is the discharging and loading of vessels as quickly and cheaply as possible. Immense sums of money are required for the upkeep and development of ports, to meet which the only source of revenue available is the charging of dues on the ships and cargoes using the ports.

Depth of Water.

Perhaps the most important feature of a port is the depth of water available, as this more than any other factor determines the size of vessels which can use the port. Between such ports as Liverpool and New York, which can easily accommodate in this respect the largest vessels built, and the ports which can only be used by small coasting vessels, the range is great. The disabilities of a port in depth of water, owing to the presence of such a physical feature as a river bar, are in some instances overcome by the employment of lighters. For example, in the up river ports of the River Plate, such as Rosario, a vessel is loaded to the maximum draught of water with which she can pass over Martin Garcia bar, and, if still short of her cargo capacity, lighters cross the bar and complete the vessel's loading to her marks. But dredging of bars and channels is a never-ceasing operation, and ports with such physical disabilities are steadily increasing, by this means, their capacity to accommodate and handle vessels of larger size. As a rule, the larger the amount of cargo carried in a single bottom, the cheaper the cost of transport. This has made for development in

two different directions; the shipbuilder on the one hand constructing vessels of large carrying capacity on the shallowest draught possible, and the Port Authorities increasing the depth of water in their ports or approaches thereto, to accommodate the increasing size.

No two ports are alike; all have an individuality, the concomitant of the physical features of the area on which the port is established. Some are more naturally favoured in this respect than others. Those which were least so, and which now accommodate the largest steamers, have only been enabled to do so by the expenditure of a large amount of money and effort, generally extending over a long period of years. Glasgow is an outstanding example of a first-class port having been practically created in such a fashion. Situated on the banks of the Clyde, 20 miles from the sea, which less than a century ago was a shallow river easily fordable, and with its lower reaches full of mud and sandbanks, the port is now one of the most important in the United Kingdom, and the Clyde has been widened and dredged to a depth up and down which the largest ocean carriers pass daily. But where conditions are favourable, inland towns without natural access to the sea, as afforded by a river, can be transformed into ports, such as Manchester, the great inland port in Lancashire, which, by means of the Ship Canal, which enters the lower estuary of the Mersey at Eastham, now ranks third among the ports of the United Kingdom.

Seasonal Ports.

Owing to the rigour of the northern winter over the large Continental areas, whole groups of ports are closed for several months of the year. The St. Lawrence ports, Montreal, Quebec, etc., on the American side of the Atlantic, the Baltic, Black Sea, and White Sea ports in Europe, are closed by ice for periods of varying lengths each winter, and although a port may be kept open by vessels specially constructed for the purpose, called ice-breakers, still, only a limited amount of traffic can be handled in this way.

The lack of open ports all the year round is a serious disability, and consideration of the immense traffic, whose natural outlet is the St. Lawrence, will make this clear. It must also be borne in mind

that this, great as it is, is comparatively speaking in its infancy, and as Canada fills up with population, will develop enormously in the near future. The great rivers and lakes of Canada, inter-connected by canals, form a wonderful and unrivalled system of inland navigation. Starting from Montreal, which is about 1,000 miles. from the entrance to the St. Lawrence, it is possible for vessels drawing not more than 14 ft. to proceed to the head of Lake Superior and receive cargo direct at Fort Arthur and Fort William. Vessels can also reach the United States' ports Dulluth, Chicago, and Milwaukie. These canals will be deepened and widened to take larger and larger vessels, to meet the ever-growing demands of commerce. Annually about 36,000 vessels of 28,000,000 tons pass through the Canadian canals, carrying roughly, 300,000 passengers and 40,000,000 tons of freight, chiefly iron ore, grain, timber, and coal.

Since the St. Lawrence was dredged, great ocean liners steam right up to their berths in the docks at Montreal. The earliest arrivals from the sea are about the 20th April, and the latest departures about the middle of December. Thus, for about four months of the year the port is closed to ocean traffic. The work of twelve months has to be done in eight, and the Port Authorities have to provide the necessary facilities to meet this contingency. There are 92 berths for ocean-going vessels of 550 to 200 ft. in length; vessels of 1,000 ft. in length and 100 ft. beam can be berthed; in a few years the harbour will practically have a minimum of 35 ft. depth; huge stores and warehouses are available; grain elevators capable of receiving and delivering 1,000,000 bushels a day are provided, and delivery of grain can be made quickly to 10 vessels at once, without interfering with others discharging or loading.

The same general observations regarding port development apply to Quebec. The great bulk of the immense export trade of Canada in grain, flour, live stock, timber, etc., etc., must find its way to the St. Lawrence ports, and the limited period of the year available for the handling of this compels a port development in proportion to the time lost by the closing of the ports by ice.

On the European side, Archangel, the principal port of the White Sea, is open from the end of May to the end of October,