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December, 1914 advantages Baltimore has due to her geographical position. From Baltimore to Atlanta, Ga., Ist class; Baltimore, 98 cents; Boston, $1.05; New York, $1.05; Philadelphia, $1.05. From Baltimore to Columbus, Ga.: Baltimore, 98 cénts; Boston, $1.05; New York, $1.05; Philadelphia, $1.05. From Baltimore to Pensacola, Fla.: Baltimore, 67 cents; Boston, 75 cents; New York, 75 cents; Philadelphia, 69 cenis, and so on for most of the southern cities. Now for a few figures. On the all-rail, Baltimore to the middle west. Chicago, Ill.: Baltimore, 67 cents; Boston and New York, 75 cents; Phil- adelphia, 69 cents. Cleveland, O.: Baltimore,' 45 cents; Boston and New York, 53 cents; Phil- adelphia, 47 cents. Louisville, Ky.: Baltimore, 67. cents; Boston and New York, 75 cents; Phil- adelphia, 69 cents, and so it goes on for nearly all the middle western cities. Passing now to South America, you will find that Baltimore via the Pan- ama canal is 470 miles closer to Val- pariso than is San Francisco, and is also 1,369. miles closer to the Panama canal than is' San Hrancisco, I only make these few comparisons in answer to the question, "Why spend this money on harbor improvements?" Don't you think it is only natural to suppose that these great advantages ' of location are going to influence the commerce of this port? We have 120 miles of waterfront on the Patapsco river and tributaries adjacent to the channel approaches, all of which is open to development by industries needing bold water in front, high and healthy surroundings with excellent railroad connections and trolley service close by. Almost within the restricted city limits there is 371%4 miles of the most desirable waterfront. Of this 31 miles are in actual use, 5 miles being owned by the city, 10.5 miles by the railroads and the balance (22 miles) by private parties or corporations. There are 13 piers owned by the city, 50 owned by the railroads and 149 owned by private parties or cor- porations. The city's piers range in length from 200 to 1,450 feet, with a total area of 1,241,140 square feet, or 045 miles. Each of the three trunk lines en- tering the city have spacious modern and well equipped water terminals. The Locust Point terminal of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is the largest on the Atlantic coast, 3,000,- 000 tons of freight are imported and exported annually and thousands of THE MARINE REVIEW immigrants are landed each year. There are 11 piers covering a water- front of a mile, including large freight and coal piers and grain elevators of 2,900,000 bushels capacity. The ag- gregate floor space is about 800,000 square feet. In the freight yard of the Locust Point terminal there is nearly 80 miles of 'track. The terminals of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Canton lie just opposite those of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road, the piers, warehouses and eleva- tors are of the usual high class. In addition to the Canton elevator of 500,000 bushels capacity, they have another one in Lower Canton of 1,- 000,000 bushels capacity, connected by means of elevators and conveyors to concrete: storage "bins of . 1,000,000 bushels capacity. The Western Maryland Railway has every. facility for prompt handling of shipments at Port Covington termin- al, with modern devices for coal ship- ments; large tracts of land have re- cently been bought and extensive im- provements are contemplated. The co-operation between the West- ern Maryland and New York Central Lines, through the extension from Cumberland to Connellsville and con- necting with the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie, greatly benefits Baltimore since new tonnage is handled between Bal-. timore and.the west under attractive - conditions. In addition to the terminals men- tioned, we have those of the Canton Co. and the McLean Contracting Co., owners of large tracts of waterfront partly improved, with excellent rail- road facilities. Among the many attractive features to shippers of Baltimore Harbor are the following: No port dues. Cheap _ pilocage, ranging from $3.50 per foot for ves- sels drawing 12 foot or less to $5.00 per foot for vessels drawing over 15 feet. Low towage rates. The receipt of cargoes from ships and deliveries to them from main line terminals, avoiding lighterage and bandling although we have an exten- sive lighterage and tug service to reach ships in mid-stream and_ fac- tories on the waterfront. Rate adjustments that properly rec- ognize our less distance between the Great Lakes and the seaboard than any other port. Lower rates to and from the middle west. Lower rates to and from the cities of the south than ports north of us. Existence of waterfront storage warehouses where imported raw ma- terials and manufactured producfs may be stored and certificates furnished 457 that can be used as collateral at banks. Municipal docks available for all classes of water traffic. No city exceeds Baltimore in its advantageous location for the manu- facture and distribution of articles made from iron or steel, brass. or copper, wood, paper, clay--since raw materials can be assembled by rail or water and distributed by preferential rates to all this country and on favor- able ocean rates to foreign countries. The approximate value of the com- merce of this port for 1913 from the report 'ot Col. Lansing: Hi, Beach United States engineer in charge of Baltimore district, totals $440,000,000. The coastwise commerce being valued at $274,000,000. The tonnage: of the port for 1913 is estimated at 15,000,000 tons. The manufacturing and industrial interests, which are so important to a city, have shown a wonderful increase in recent years, until today the prod- ucts .of these factories amount fo $355,000,000 a year, which is 58 per cent of the value of the whole wheat crop on over 50,000,000 acres of land. Passing Crude Oil Some shipping companies are under the impression that, in order to pass a vessel loaded with crude oil, or similar products, through the Panama canal, it is necessary to first obtain permission, by cable, in. advance. The Canal Record announces that this is not the case. In general, there is no objection to such vessels using the canal, unless some un- usual condition of vessel or cargo ob- tains, which might endanger the canal, or interfere with its navigation, and permission for their passage will be granted on arrival at the Isthmus. Sec- tion 4 of the Executive Order, providing "Rules and regulations for the opera- tion and navigation of the Panama canal and approaches thereto, including all waters under its jurisdiction,' was in- troduced so that the canal authorities might have discretionary power in in- dividual cases in passing judgment on the condition of the vessel, and the nature and _ location of its cargo, where such cargo con- sists of explosives or highly inflammable materials, etc. There has been no case to date where vessels carrying oil car- goes have been refused the transit, nor is there a likelihood of such refusal, if the ordinary precautions have been ob- served. The United States Navy department has placed orders for six engines for submarines with the Busch-Diesel En- gine Co., St. Louis, involving about $250,000.