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456 similar to the conditions before the war. But port conditions are no longer stable. They are constantly changing, developing, extending and improving. Therefore the question of freight di- version is one that presents a new point of view each day. It requires constant attention to keep up with the develop- ments brought about by the war. Many of these port changes are but temporary in their character and may disappear when the war is over. More are of a permanent nature and after the war the trend of commerce through the At- lantic ports will be vastly different from what it was before the war. That this is certain to be' the case requires the mention of but a_ few of the port changes which are new under way. Navy's Plans Are Revised Navy plans have been revised as to the construction of docks at Norfolk and Philadelphia. According to the latest information but one is to be built at Philadelphia and two at Nor- folk. One of these is now under con- struction and it is believed by naval authorities that it will be ready for use this fall. The length of these docks will be such that any ship which can pass through the Panama canal, where the locks have a limiting length of 1000 feet, can enter either of the two docks which are to built at Norfolk. Reports are also current in well in- formed circles that the navy will in- crease its facilities at Baltimore. The plan outlined is to build a warehouse and depot on a lot 20,000 feet square and to utilize other portions of the pier at the foot of Hughes street. Should the government desire this site the Baltimore authorities are declared to be willing to grant a lease. Several hundred thousand dollars will also be spent on improving the waterfront at Boston and New York. These are simply incidental expenditures by the navy. The appropriation for the dry dock at Philadelphia is $2,000,000, with $400,000 additional for other expendi- tures at that port. An appropriation of $3,450,000 in all has been made for the navy yard at Norfolk, of | which $2,000,000 is to complete the dry dock under construction, and $500,000 is for waterfront improvements. A drydock for Charleston, S. C., to be limited in cost to $4,000,000 has been provided for, congress making the first appropriation of $1,150,000. New Orleans will have a $30,000 floating crane owned by the navy. These appropriations are all in addition to the several millions which are to be spent on the naval operating _base at Hampton Roads. To accommodate the improvements at Charleston it will be necessary to THE MARINE REVIEW dredge a channel 1000 feet wide from the navy yard to the sea, which will take in a very large part of the Cooper river, and will be 40 feet at low water. This will make Charleston one of the few very deep ports of the world. While these facilities are constructed primarily for the navy their potential value to commercial vessels must not be under rated. The vast fleet of merchant ships owned and operated by the Emergency Fleet corporation are really government-owned and their safe keeping and rapid handling is of con- siderable value to the government. The enlarged and improved facilities of our navy yards are intended to accommo- date the enlarged navy of the United States. To that extent the facilities will prevent the naval vessels encroach- ing upon the docking facilities of our merchant vessels. And on the other hand in the case of emergency it is not unreasonable to expect that one branch of the governmental service would not hesitate to assist another especially in times of peace. The enlarged facilities at the ports constructed for naval use must prove of great. advantage to the United States. If the naval facilities may be expected to be a commercial advantage after the war, it might with even more reason be expected that the facilities built under the auspices of the army will be of use. Naturally, the greater part of the construction work done by the army has been in France, al- though the port development work, especially in connection with ware- houses at the ports has been consid- erable on this side of the waters. The quartermaster of the army took over the Bush terminal in New York and is proceeding to make extensive additions to it. Other warehouse facili- ties at the port of New York are also being constructed by the quartermaster. General Goethals, as the officer in charge of army storage and transporta- tion, has obtained $100,000,000 from congress, with a contract authorization for $50,000,000 more. Now it is planned by the army quartermaster to extend this work still further and congress will provide him with funds to carry out the additional establishment of both interior and_ port warehousing facilities. Great Docks Built in France The port development accomplished by the army engineers in France is said to be a wonderful achievement. France, early in the war, very naturally took over such of her own ports as were most readily available for war imports. The English then took over all of the channel ports. When the United States came into the war three years later, all of the available French ports were be- October, 1918 ing, utilized to their maximum capacity for war purposes. To interfere with those ports and turn any portion of them over to the Americans would very naturally have interfered with the progress of the war. As a conse- quence the United States has gone into new areas, built four ports in France, dredged the approaches, built piers and constructed miles of warehouses. Ac- cording to those who have been privi- leged to view the work done, it has been declared a wonderful accomplish- ment on the part of our army engineers, What has been done in a temporary way on the other side to meet an emergency is being done systematically and scientifically on this side. The de- velopments are along the Atlantic coast because it is this coast which is nearest to the war. The port developments here are for permanence and _ there- fore for the future. New York, natur- ally, has been the pivotal point. So _vast have been the port undertakings at that locality that a port commission was appointed, with representation from the army, the navy and the shipping board. This supplemented the work of the famous by-state port committee, and other organizations interested in the development of the harbor of New York, Enemies Lose Their Piers At the instance of the executive, con- gress amended the trading-with-the- enemy act, so as to give authority to the President to assume possession of the German piers and other dock facili- ties owned by enemies in New York. With one stroke of the pen the United States government came into possession of dock facilities which are of greatest value at the present moment. The gov- ernment is making improvements to these and they will constitute the per- manent investment of Americans in the future of the American merchant marine. : Early in the development of the port of New York, the railroad administra- tion began to fear that an over-develop- ment of that port would cause freight congestion there. Temporarily the army's plans to build large warehouses there were held up. After a careful survey of the situation the develop- ments were allowed to proceed. It was discovered that by using the newly completed New York state barge canal and other inland waterways in con- junction with the railroads, freight congestion would disappear. But while the vast additions are being made to the port of New York, not all the in- creases incident to the war are to be placed there. Boston will be utilized as well. Baltimore is being developed, and Norfolk, Va., is destined to become increasingly important. Charleston, S. esis Nea iano Sin a