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44 | ; THE MARINE REVIEW made that it was sparks from these loco- motives, which caused the. fire at the Cuyamel Fruit Co's. wharf in November. 'oe . * The wharf of the Cuyamel Fruit Co., at Desire street and the river, New Orleans, was destroyed by fire of un- known origin in November, with loss variously estimated from $200,000 to $300,000. . ay Southern Pacific liner Momus was damaged $5000 by fire starting in a heated coal bunker as the steamer lay at her wharf at St. Ann street, New Or- leans, late in November. The crew put ~§S AN echo of the late freight con- A gestion at Puget sound ports, the United States Steel Products Co. is defendant in a suit brought by John Barton Payne, director general of railroads, asking for the recovery of $25,299 in demurrage charges. It is claimed that between February, 1918 and September, 1919, cars of steel pro- ducts shipped over the Northern Pa- cific railroad and intended for the Orient were' held at Seattle and Ta- coma because ocean vessels were not on hand to receive the consignments. Consequently, it is claimed, it was ne- -eessary to store this cargo and the demurrage charges accumulated. * Ux In contrast ito the carriage of vege- table oils in cases during the last sev- eral years, practically all of this cargo now arriving at Seattle from the Orient is coming in bulk. Vhe various liners on the transpacific route 'have provided tanks for oii and it is now being handled much more expeditious- ly and economically. One liner re- cently discharged 1200 tons of cocoa- nut oil in bulk at Taeoma, Wash. ae ee" Portland, Oreg., announces it now has 23 steamship lines carrying Oregon cargo to all parts of ithe gworld. Of these, three are operating to the Ori- ent, four to Europe, eight to the At- lantic coast, two to the west coast of South America, one to Australia and five are coastwise lines. oe Reports from the Orient state the small "feeder" steamiers being operated between India and Hongkong in con- junction with the -transpacific liners, are enjoying increasing business. For months these vessels operated with practically empty holds. Ca ea In addition to organizing a marine exchange, Vancouver, B. C., shipping men now are advocating a free port for the British Columbia gateway. It is argued Vancouver lies in a strategic position to develop a great foreign commerce and it is helieved a free port would 'add greatly to its ocean trade. ko The steamer City or Topeka, which gained fame during the heyday of the Alaska rush, has been sold by the out the fire with the ship's pumps _be- fore the city fire-fighters could get into action. ek The Newburgh Shipyards, Inc., New- burgh, N. Y., launched the 2000-ton steamer CuHoLuteca, for the Cuyamel Fruit Co., of New Orleans, Nov. 30. This is one of five sister steamers be- ing constructed in eastern yards for use by the Cuyamel company between New Orleans and Central American ports. : ek Ok Contracts amounting to $175,000 have been let by the New Orleans dock to the Inter- The Pacific Steamship Co. Island Navigation Co. Honolulu. TI vessel will be used in the Hawaiian is- For several years between Portland land trade routes. she has operated and San Francisco. * * * The Canadian Pacific railroad has awarded a contract for installing ma- chinery for eight coal-bunkering plants in British Columbia province to the British Columbia Equipment Co., Van- couver. The cost will be about $100,- 000. The first of the C. P. R. steam- ers to be converted ers, because of the. scarcity of fuel oil, is the Princess ADELAIDE. Altera- tions are being made at Yarrows, itd. Victoris, B.C eo Ke Conflict between governmental de- partments resulted in a detachment of marines forcibly _ taking the fishing steamer GerorcE L. HArvey from the custody of the United States marshal at Seattle. The vessel was formerly a submarine chaser and was sold to private operators. When a libel was filed, the marshal seized the vessel. In the meantime the navy discovered the purchasers were delinquent in their pay- ments and the Harvty was taken to the navy yard by the marines. The navy since has receded and the controversy will take its due course in the courts. * * ok After obtaining permission to in- crease their rates, the towing coni- panies on Puget sound have volun- tarily withdrawn the new tariff and announce the old rates will prevail. This rcession in prices is due chiefly to a drop in the cost of coal and cord- age. x we Ok The British steamship WarHora has sailed from British Columbia with about 7560 tons of coal for New Zea- land. This is said to be the first car- go of the kind ever shipped from the north Pacific to the antipodes. It is the more unusual, when the proximity of the Anstralian coal fields is con- sidered. The Warnora came around from Norfolk in ballast. The bankentine Russet, Havisive, a converted Ferris-type wooden hull, has just completed an exceptionally smart voyuge from Puget sound to South into coal burn- January, 1921 board for construction of the first unit of a large coffee terminal-wharf and warehouse at the Poydras street land- ing. On the same day, the dock board closed an agreement with New Orleans banks whereby $1,000,000 will be avail- able for improvements to the wharves at Pauline, Desire, Clouet, Fourth and Press streets, according to announce- ment by W. O. Hudson, president of the board. Banks are supplying the money pending sale of bonds authorized by a new. constitutional amendment adopted at the general election Nov. 2. The New Orleans Green Coffee asso- ciation advanced the funds building of the coffee terminal. Africa. The'wind jammer made therun in 101 days, which is fast time. The av- erage is about 120 days. The Havisipe carried a full cargo of lumber. Pk ok + Initiating service to north Pacific ports, the Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Steam- ship Co. has sent the steamers 'West AprauM and CaAPre Henry to the Colum- -- bia iiver. These vessels brought part cargoes of steel for the Standifer yards, where tankers are under construction. x * * The last shipment of Panama rail- road equipment for use on the Alaska railroad has arrived at Seattle from Bal- boa, canal zone. The equipment con- sists of six flat-car bodies, 55 trucks and other rolling stock. It was brought up on the steamer WALLINGFORD to be for- warded to Seward, Alaska. * 3K * Efforts of officers to find the British fishing vessel RocHEPoINT have been un- successful and it is believed the craft has escaped to northern waters. The ROCHEPOLNT was at a Seattle shipyard under livel. During the night the watch- man was overcome and the vessel sailed away. x eee At a recent conferencein Tacoma, H. F. Alexander, president of the Pacific Steamship Co. announced that, upon the completion of Tacoma's new ocean ter- minals, the Admiral line will divide its fleet of vessels operating in the Oriental trade between Seattle and Tacoma. The latter purt heretofore has not had. direct sailings; but with the completion of mod- ern terminals Tacoma will have facili- ties equal' to any port 'on the north Pacific. x * x Puget sound is greatly interested in the vroposal to lay another cable across the Pacific. United States Senator Wesley L. Jones has given assurance of his sup- port of the plan to use the northern route. Recently, he stated that, if pri- vate companies do not undertake this work, he will endeavor to have the gov- ernmeut lay the much needed cable. * ok ok After two months work on Grays Harbor bar, the government dredge P. S. Micuie has deepened the channel from 26 to 31 feet at high water. At low water the present depth is 22 feet. for the.