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Develops Ships to Serve Tropics Southern Builders Perfect Carriers Particularly Adapted for Carrying Passengers and Perishable Fruit in Hot Climate * between Gulf of Mexico ports and those of tropical Latin- America--though it should be remem- bered there is a vast area of Latin- America not tropical--has created a de- mand for a type of freight-carrying ves- sels entirely different in equipment from those in use anywhere and much further developed than the ships in service be- tween the ports of Europe and the tropical countries of the Old World. Commerce between the Gulf ports, such as Tampa, Pensacola, Mobile, New Orleans and Galveston is, at the be- ginning of 1921, nearly three times the volume, and approximately four times the value of the same traffic four years ago. [his is die, in part, to the fact that the maritime and shipping inter ests of these American ports began, about three years ago, to realize their real field of expansion in foreign com- merce lay to the southward, rather than to the east or west. But in larger ® ONSTANTLY increasing traffic part it is due to the fact the ship-own- ing and ship-operating companies en- gaged in this trade have developed a type of vessel, especially built and equipped for this service, which handles it better than the ordinary type of freight or passenger carrier could. So considerable has been the vantage gained by these improved ships for tropical trade that British, French, Japanese and, more recently, German shipbuilders and operators have sent representatives to the Gulf coast of the United States to study the equipment of these ships with the idea of applying it to their own vessels, already in the trade and found inadequate to com- petition with the American boats, or now being constructed for such service. The experiment of putting American built ships of other types--notably the 3500-ton wooden hulls built by and for the United States shipping board during the war--into this tropical service with- out equipping them after the manner found most suitable and most success- ful by the lines already operating on the Gulf of Mexico, has not proved prac- ticable in any of the several incidents of the kind which have céme under the writer's notice. » Best Which Can Be Devised Realizing this condition existed and that the tropics slowly were develop- ing in the United States a type of ves- sel of their own kind, designed to do -sumers in the United. States. a special kind of work, and doing it well, I sought out Crawford H. Ellis, vice president of the United Fruit Co., with headquarters in New Orleans, and put the question up to him. Here is his answer: "Commerce between the ports of the - United States--especially the Gulf ports --and those of the Spanish-speaking republics to the south has developed a type of ship which seems to be about the best which can be devised for this trade. It is markedly different from the freight vessels of any other part of the world. With the. exception of lumber, which is handled largely in special lum- ber carrying steamers and in big schoon- ers, the products of the Latin-American countries for which there is demand in the United States are highly perish- able. That is to say, they are mainly fruits. The output of hides, cereals, ores and other products from _ the countries actually within the tropics, is negligible. Must Be Peculiarly Equipped "The vessel, therefore, which traffics with these tropic. ports must be equipped to carry that most perishable of cargoes--the soft fruits of the trop- ics--in such a manner that fruit and flavor will be preserved to the con- Abundant aeration, separation in compartments, and, frequently, refrigeration must be provided. Added to this, such vessels must have the highest possible speed consistent with cargo-carrying and. with safety, so that the fruit products of the tropics may be laid down at the tables of the American people in the shortest possible time. "All these things can be done with ease--provided only one-way cargoes are to be considered. But here enters an- other factor--all return cargoes from the American ports are of general merchandise. They range from the proverbial 'thrashing machine to a needle.' They do not reqtire refrigera- tion; they do not need compartments, nor do they demand greater speed than in ordinary waters. What they do need is cargo space, room, large holds where large quantities can be carried, so as to make the voyages profitable both ways. "Thus the ship for gulf trade must be one which is provided with all equip- ment for the storage, preservation and rapid transportation of perishable fruits one way, yet with plenty of space for 278 general cargo on the return trip south- ward. Add to this the fact that all these ships must be equipped also to carry passengers, and to carry them in first-class accommodations, and you will get a picture of the composite passenger- freight-refrigeration-speed ship, which has been developed by trade with the ports of the gulf of Mexico and south- ward as far as the tropics extend. Applies to All Ships "This applies not only to the ships of the United Fruit Co. but to those which are in successful operation by every ship-owning company handling cargoes both ways between the ports of the United States and those of Mexico or of any of the Central American repub- lics. The lumber ships, carrying gener- al merchandise southward and mahogany, rosewood and other valuable woods back to American ports, are, of course, not subjected to the demands of refrig- eration, passenger-carrying accommoda-. tions or speed. They may be ordinary freighters, equipped with machinery for handling the logs brought out, but usual- ly they are built with longer hatches. power plants set further back, so as to give greater and unobstructed room ; the hold, and with other advantages for the handling of huge timbers, which do not interfere with the handling of general cargoes on the return. "A ship operating on the Gulf of Mexico continuously in general cargo- carrying capacity, always bears one ear- mark which will distinguish her from the freighter from other waters, and that is the number of ventilators which rise from her decks. If she catty passengers, also, she will show a high superstructure, to make the most of every breath of air for the benefit of her passengers. The problem of carry- ing general cargo back has been solved by the long, and wide, hatches leading into the compartmented hold, built with the primary design of caring for perish- able cargoes, but available, under the lat- est arrangement, for the handling of merchandise of all kinds, in packages and probably providing better and safer transportation than the ordinary, ope? hold would furnish." In addition to Mr. Ellis' explanation of the demands of tropical traffic and the ship developed for them, this com merce has brought also into beim loading and unloading machinery of af advanced type, in an effort to cut down