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rr Ey g Modern Piers at San Francisco Have Spur Tracks and Rolling Doors port. for an era of greater pros- perity. The stimulus of war work, the throb of industry along the Pacific coast has awakened the city once more to its opportunities, and in addition to their. patrioic endeavors, the business men of the Golden Gate have found time to attack local problems with their accustomed energy, determined to keep 'the business of the port far in the fore- front. ae A special committee representing the Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco has just completed a thorough study of the port's problems, wih a view to im- proving its facilities and methods of handling ships and cargoes. There was a great deal to commend and a great deal to criticize. Altogether, this com- prehensive survey of the situation is ' expected to result advantageously to the city. Misuse of docks for storage, of storage facilities wharf space, insufficiency of cargo- handling apparatus, and the railroad terminal system are among the fea- tures analyzed and criticized by the committee. Practically recommendations will be followed, judging from the attitude of city and state officials, and steps have been 'taken to put some of them into effect. S* FRANCISCO is preparing her Jack The harbor commission has begun the reconstruction of pier I at a ost of $250,000. Two committees € shippers, warehousemen, importers, xporters and draymen have been San Francisco Preparing for an Prosperity--Business Men's Recommendations Followed and bulkhead - all Qt its: oving Gol len Gate Port -- Era of Still Greater named by the state board of harbor commissioners to make more specific recommendations as to port charges and to devise more suitable methods for the handling of cargoes. There is plenty of wharf space on the San Francisco waterfront but use of the wharves for storage is said to cause constant congestion. Such use of the wharves, the chamber of commerce committee finds, is due in part to a lack of warehouses and the dividing of the state-owned Belt Line railroad system into sections, resulting in unreasonable charges not only against freight but in discrimi- nation against industrial plants along the line. : Old Customs Still in Force Vessels coming into' San Francisco have certain charges assessed against them which add 'about 50 cents a ton more to the vessel's cost: than if they went to other Pacific coast ports where the charges are put on the freight. in addition, the absorption of loading and unloading charges by the railways at San Francisco is said to be only about 50 per cent of that absorbed by the . rail carriers at the ports of Washing- ton and Oregon, due to the customs of port of the Golden Gate city. . These customs came .into existence in the time of. the clipper .ships.:.They are actually "unwritten law," for it is doubt- ful if one could have obtained a printed copy since the big fire. Now the cus- toms are to be considered and revised. 370 By Cruse Carrie Radical differences exist in the man- agement of the port of San Francisco, with its state-owned wharves, and the ports of Washington and Oregon, with wharf ownership in public, private and railroad. 'hands. |. (The: port: of | San Francisco performs no function except supplying wharves, for which a dock- age, rental, toll and wharfage charge is made. At. the northern ports the stevedoring on the docks, handling, trucking, sorting, piling and checking are performed by the dock management and a charge made therefor. San Francisco has but one set of charges for all classes of freight, whereas in the northern ports charges are based on the following freight classification: Export and import, local rail ship- ments; export and import, .local de- livery; domestic and British Columbia freight. There have been cases in San Fran- cisco where vessels have discharged and left port and 'still had to pay a rental on. freight: left on. the: wharf over the movement of which the vessels' owners had no control, until the freight was finally taken away by the con- signees. This was due to the system at this port under which a ship pays charges that in northern Pacific ports are placed upon the cargo. In addi- tion to the regular stevedoring work on the vessels, independent stevedoring companies perform services on the San Francisco wharves which ordinarily are carried as a handling and_ loading charge at the northern ports and col-