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38 Seattle is the home port of 'the largest fleet of small, fast passenger and package freight steamers on the north Pacific coast. These boats ply different routes on Puget Sound, con- necting the various surrounding points with the metropolis and each one calls at Seattle from one to five times 3 oS 0 PAsSENcER ° aeieee ° ° Sse ° ° ° BS | daily. Heretofore these steamers have used the several piers along the water front extending from Spring street to Jackson street, a distance of nine city blocks. This separation of the purely local Puget Sound freight and passenger traffic among so many docks has proved a source of con- siderable inconvenience; some _ local freight has had to be transferred from pier to pier, while passengers and their baggage going from one point on the Sound to another via Seattle have often met with the same annoy- ance. The situation was analogous to that which would ensue were the lo- cal trains entering the city to be di- vided among seven or eight depots instead of using one union station. Furthermore the grcewth of the ocean, Alaska and heavy freight traffic of the city has made it necessary to turn over several down-town piers almost exclusively to seagoing freight and passenger vessels. These conditions have made necessacy a union wharf at which as much as possible of the local Puget Sound business could be concentrated and kept together. The new Colman dock at the foot of Co- _lumbia street, now practically com- pleted, fulfills this need admirably. The new dock not only provides a pier for the local steamers to land at but also contains offices used by a large number of the steamboat, ma- rine and stevedoring interests of the city. Co'umbia street pierces the center THE MarRINE REVIEW BY H. COLE ESTEP. of the business section of Seattle, crossing each of the main thorough- fares in turn, and the Colman dock, located at its lower end, has for many years played an important and interesting part in the marine devel-. opment of the city. first built in 1882. The dock was At that time it Fic. 1--GENERAL PLAN OF COLMAN DOCK. was a light, wooden structure, only 40 by 60 ft: in size and rented for $25 per month. About 1886 the dock was rebuilt and _ slightly enlarged. Again in 1890, when Seattle had at- tained a population of 45,000, the wharf was enlarged to its - present width and extended to a length of 192 ft. Construction work on the new dock, which is over 700 ft. long, was commenced May 30, 1908. Since that time but three working days have been lost on account of rain, a good criterion of the constancy of Puget Sound weather. New Colman Dock at Seattle. The new dock is 705 ft. in length from the west line of Railroad avenue to the outer end of the pier and 110 ft. in width over all. The eaves are 24 ft. and the peak of the roof is 52 ft. from the dock floor. The entire structure is of wood, slow burning mill construction being used through- orrie. Re aS re AR BTe8ET out. The outer end. of the dock is beveled somewhat more than is nec- essary to make it correspond with the harbor line in order that approaching steamers may land more easily. This outer triangular end is two stories high, there being a large waiting room, surmounted with a dome on the second floor. At the extreme end of the dock is a, clock tower 16. ft. square and 72 ft. high. Thirteen ft. from the main floor is the mezzanine floor, or balcony, extending the fult length of the north side of the dock. This floor, which is 27 ft. wide, is FIG. 2--SECTION OF THE MAIN WAITING ROOM, COLMAN DOCK. saat des oth pais i