History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889, Part 35

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe, 1832-1918; Victor, Frances Fuller, 1826-1902
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: San Francisco : History Co.
Number of Pages: 880


USA > Idaho > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 35
USA > Montana > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 35
USA > Washington > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 35


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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326


PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.


scientious desire to lay strong and broad and deep


delegate to the convention of 1888, and chairman of the committee on per- manent organization.


Alfred A. Plummer was born in Port Townsend, Sept. 7, 1856, being the son of A. A. Plummer, the pioneer settler of that place. He was county commissioner for four years, and was business manager of the Port Townsend foundry and machine company when elected to the legislature.


Isaac N. Power was born in Olympia, March 16, 1852, and removed to Whidbey island when one year old, residing there until 1876, when he en- tered the medical department of the Willamette university at Salem, Or., from which he graduated in 1877. He became associated with Dr Minor of Port Townsend in the marine hospital, but removed in 1878 to La Conner, and later to Neah bay. After five years of practice he took a course of lec- tures in the Pacific medical college of San Francisco, and in 1883 located in Ellensburg.


Bruce F. Purdy was born in Salem, Or., in 1854, and removed to Wash. in 1875, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. His parents were from Ohio.


Marcy H. Randall was born at Ames, Montgomery co., N. Y., in 1842, migrated to Wis, with his father in 1849, was educated at Carroll college, Waukesha, and was for some years domiciled with his elder brother, Alex. W. Randall, who was governor of Wis., and P. M. general under President Lincoln. In 1861 enlisted in Chicago in the 12th Ill. infantry, was commis- sioned as captain in co. A, U. S. colored troops, resigned in 1865 on account of ill health, and removed to Montana, where he followed mining and stock- raising until 1886, when he came to Wash., locating on a stock farm near Kettle Falls.


Alexander Robertson was born in Hamilton, Canada, in 1844, and came to Wash. in 1879, settling near Stanwood, and engaging in farming and stock- raising. He served through the war of the rebellion in the union army, hav- ing his eyes seriously injured in the service.


Francis J. Rotch was born in Albany, N. Y., Feb. 15, 1863, was educated at the Johns Hopkins university, Baltimore, and at the Dresden polytech- nic school in Europe. On returning home he went into the lumber trade in Wis., and removed in 1888 to Wash., where he was secretary of the Seattle lumber manufacturing company on the Portland branch of the N. P. R. R.


W. C. Rutter was born in Westmoreland co., Penu., in 1854, was brought np on a farm, received a liberal education, being specially devoted to min- eralogy and mining science. He came to Wash. in 1887.


John P. Sharp was born in Harrison co., Ohio, in 1842, removed with his parents to Mo. in 1848, and to Or. in 1852, settling in Lane co. Afterwards spent some years in eastern Or. and Idaho, and married Miss Rowland of Yamhill co., Or., in 1865, removing to and settling on a farm in Yakima co., Wash. He was elected county commissioner in 1876, and again appointed to the office to fill a vacancy, and was a school director and road supervisor.


Amos F. Shaw was born in Franklin, N. H., in 1839, and lived on a farm until 1859, when he went to the then unorganized territory of Dakota, and was elected a member of the provisional legislature that met at Sioux Falls in the winter of 1859-60. Enlisted in the union army in 1862, and served three and a half years; was sheriff of Clay co., Da, from 1866 to 1869, was secretary of the territorial council in 1869, member of the house of represen- tatives in 1871 and 1875, and of the council in 1881. He came to Vancouver in the autumn of that year, bought and cleared land, and planted a prune orchard. Returning to Dakota in 1884, was appointed warden of the peni- tentiary, and served two years. Returned to Wash. in 1887, and formed a company to raise and pack prunes.


W. A. Shinn came to Wash. from the eastern states in 1884, was a drug- gist, and about 35 years of age.


P. K. Spencer was born in Warren co., Ind., in 1849, received a high


327


BIOGRAPHICAL.


the foundations of a commonwealth destined to un- imagined greatness.


school education, and graduated in 1873 from the Indianapolis business col- lege. He went to Kansas the same year, engaging in mercantile pursuits, and from there came to Wash. in 1880, being employed as a clerk in a store for four years. He was appointed auditor for Lincoln co., and elected for two succeeding terms. Was elected joint representative for Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties in 1888.


George H. Stevenson was born in Iron co., Mo., in 1857. He came to Wash. in 1882, settling at the Cascades. He was elected county auditor in 1882 and 1884; joint representative from Skamania, Clarke, and Cowlitz counties in 1886; was appointed inspector of customs to succeed A. L. Sharp- stein, but declined to qualify, fearing to jeopardize his seat in the legisla- ture. He was in the fishery business.


Zebulon E. Straight was born in Wayne co., N. Y., in 1840, removed to Wis. in 1846, to Iowa in 1860, and to Minn. in 1861, where he learned the trade of watchmaker and jeweller. In 1870 he came to Wash., establishing him- self in Walla Walla City. He was three times elected to the city conncil, and was a member of almost every political convention held in his town in 18 years, including the state convention of 1889.


J. E. Tucker of San Juan co. was born in Ohio, about 1839, and came to Wash. in 1881, settling on a farm at Friday Harbor. He was a lawyer by profession, and served during the war in the 50th and 69th Ohio regts. He was probate judge of San Juan co.


John C. Turner was born in Cal. in 1853, had an academic education, and the trade of a cabinet-maker. He went to Or. in 1877, residing for three years in Portland and The Dalles, removing to Colfax in 1880. In 1883 he became deputy auditor and recorder, and in 1885 was appointed to fill the place of auditor made vacant by the death of his principal, being elected to the office in 1887. He married a daughter of John Boswell of Colfax. He resided at the time of his election on a 1,000 acre farm, 4 miles S. E. from Colfax.


A. H. Weatherford was born in Putnam co., Mo., in 1853, went to Or. in 1864, and came to Wash. in 1871, residing in Columbia co. until 1880, when he went to Wasco co., Or., where he held the office of commissioner. In 1886 he returned to Wash., and was elected representative from Columbia co. in 1888.


WASHINGTON RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.


The manufactured products exported are: first, lumber, the chief article of commerce; lime, a valuable product on account of its almost entire absence over a great extent of Oregon and California; barrels, staves, wooden pipe, the proper trees for which manufactures abound in the small valleys about the Sound; canned fish, and coal-if that may be named with manu- factures. The other products exported are wheat and other grains, flour, wool, bides, live-stock, potatoes, and hops.


Puget Sound, from its position, extent, depth of water, and its contiguity to the materials required, should be oneof the greatest ship-building stations in the world. In addition to the bodies of iron and coal lying adjacent to navigable water, the immense forests that skirt its shore line for more than 1,100 miles furnish abundance of excellent timber for constructing every part of sea- going vessels, from the tough knees of the tide-land spruce to the strong durable planks of red fir, abies douglasii, and the tall tapering masts of yellow fir, abies grandis. Oak, arbutus, myrtle, and maple furnish the fine-grained woods required for finishing the interior of vessels.


The great merit of the firs is their size and durability, with their habit of growing close together like canes in a brake, and to an immense height with- out knots or branches. It is not uncommon to find a tree having a diameter of four feet at a distance of ten feet from the ground, which has attained an alti- tude of 300 feet; nor is it unusual to find spar timbers 150 feet long with a diameter of eighteen inches, perfectly straight and sound. The mills on Puget Sound find no difficulty in furnishing squared timbers of these dimensions, and often cut plank from 60 to 90 feet in length. The fir has not the cor- rosive acid qualities of the oaks, and therefore iron bolts are not subject to corrosion, but are held so tenaciously by the strong and pitehy fibre of the wood that they will break sooner than be drawn out.


Numerous tests have been made by the French of the strength of fir spars, as compared with those of Riga, which showed that while the bending and breaking resistance of the two were about the same, the American wood pos- sessed a notable advantage in density, having a flexible and tenacious fibre that might be bent and twisted several times in contrary directions without breaking. Nor has the fir been found lacking in durability. It has been the only wood in use for repairing sea-going vessels on the north-west coast, as well as for building numerous river boats and sea-going vessels, which remain sound after many years of service. White cedar, another valuable timber for ship-building, is found in certain localities about the Sound and on the Colum- bia River.


Want of familiarity with the materials to be found on the Pacific coast made ship-builders cautious, and it was only gradually that they gained con- fidence. The first vessel built on Puget Sound was the schooner H. C. Page, at Whatcom, by Peabody & Roder, in 1853. Her first business was a charter offered by the H. B. Co. to carry sheep to San Juan Island in 1854. Roder's Bellingham Bay, MS., 29-30. The same year Bolton & Wilson built the clipper sloop Rob Roy five miles below Steilacoom. Olympia Columbian, Oct. 15, 1853. H. D. Morgan established a ship-yard at Olympia in 1854, and launched the Emily Parker, a schooner of 40 tons, built to run between ports on the Sound. She was chartered by J. G. Parker. Parker's Puget Sound, MS., 4. The schooner Elsie, 20 tons burden, built at Shoalwater Bay ( 828 )


329


SHIP-BUILDING.


in 1854 by Capt. Hillyer, Swan's N. W. Coast, 282-3, completes the list of vessels that were put up in Washington waters for these two years. About April 1855 the little steamer Water Lily, owned by William Webster, and built at some port on the Sound, commenced running between Olympia and


VANCOUVER ID-


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River


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VICTORIA


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STRAT OF


CENTERVILLE


COUPVILLE


Stilaguamisk River


MUKILTEO


ISNOHOMISH


Rail Road


QUALCO . 0


Wagon Road.


Snohomish R.


SEATTLE


FALL CY.


White


UNION CY.


NEW TACOMA


OAKLAND


STELACOOM


OLYMPIA


TUMWATERZ


Chehalis


River


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TENINO


PUGET SOUND.


Port Townsend with passengers and freight. Olympia Pioneer and Dem., April 7, 1855. The first steamer of a good size built on the Sound was the Julia Barclay, known commonly as the Julia, at Port Gamble. She was


PORT TOWNSEND


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330


RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.


a stern-wheel boat built for the Fraser River trade, and owned by George Barclay of S. F., but subsequently sold to the O. S. N. Co. Victoria Gazette, Sept. 18, 1858; Ebey's Journal, MS., vi. 171. The first ocean steamer con- structed of native woods in the waters of the Sound was the George S. Wright, launched May 12, 1860, at Port Ludlow. She was originally planned by William Hammond, Jr, and partially built by him. It was the intention to have named her the A. V. Brown, after the postmaster-general. But her frame being sold to John T. Wright, Jr, who enlarged it, she was called first after him, and then George S. Wright, after another member of the family. It was as the George S. Wright that the vessel was known on the coast. Port Townsend Register, May 16, 1860; Portland Times, April 30, 1860. She ran from Portland to Victoria for some years, and then from Portland to Sitka. She was wrecked in Jan. 1873, returning from Sitka, it was supposed, in the vicinity of Cape Caution, at the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound. Every soul on board perished, either by drowning or at the hands of the Indians, and no reliable account of the disaster was ever received. Among the lost were Maj. Walker and wife, and Lieut Dodge of the army. Port Toumsend Argus, March 18, 1873. There is no complete list of the vessels built previous to 1868. In the report of the surveyor-general for that year it is stated that 29 vessels had been completed and launched, some of them reaching 600 tons. Zabriskie's Land Laws, 1076; and in Browne's Resources (1869), 574, I find it stated that probably about 50 sea-going vessels had been built, up to that time, on the Sound south of Port Townsend. The returns made in the Re- ports of Commerce and Navigation are imperfect. Between 1858 and 1866 there are no returns, a deficiency only partly accounted for by the destruction of the custom-house papers at Port Angeles in 1863. The J. B. Libbey, a 70- ton steamer, was launched from the mill premises of Grennan & Cranney, Utsalady, in December 1862, built by Hammond, Calhoun & Alexander. Wash. Scraps, 98. In 1865 or 1866 a small steamer was built at Port Madi- son for the Coal Creek Mining Company, to be used in towing coal barges on Lake Washington. Seattle Dispatch, Dec. 2, 1876. A steamer for the Sacra- mento River was built at Port Ludlow in 1866; and another three miles below Olympia, by Ethridge, the same year. Olympia Pac. Tribune, Feb. 10, 1866. In 1867 the Chehalis, for the Chehalis River, was built at Tumwater, men- tioned elsewhere. The following year a steam yacht, the Success, was built at Snohomish by Thomas Coupe, and launched in May, at which time another was in process of construction-probably the Favorite. S. F. Call, May 10, 1868. In 1869 was built the popular passenger steamer Alida, at Seattle, 114 tons burden. Port Townsend Argus, Jan. 23, 1875.


Ship-yards are numerous; ship-builders William Hammond and E. S. Cheasty at Port Ludlow; Grennan & Cranney at Utsalady, and later at Snohomish; Meigs & Co. at Port Madison, under the superintendence of A. J. Westervelt-the lumbering and ship-building company incorporated in 1877, Port Madison and S. F., capital $1,000,000. Meiga had a ship-yard in 1869 or before, as above. Olympia Wash. Standard, Dec. 1, 1867; Walla Walla Union, Aug. 14, 1869. H. Williamson at Steilacoom; Hammond, Calhoun & Alexander at Utsalady; Crowell at the same place; Thompson at Port Lud- low; Oliver Engleblom at Port Blakeley; Bryant at Port Madison; Hammond at Seattle; all before 1870, and who may be considered as pioneers in ship- building. After that the business declined. In 1869 18 vessels, including two steamers, were built, but the following two years witnessed great dul- ness in the lumber trade, affecting all other branches. Victor's Or., 269; Meeker's Wash. Ter., 34. In 1871 a thousand-ton ship was built at Port Madison-the Wildwood, sold after 4 years in the lumber trade for a third more than her original cost. S. F. Alta, April 1875-and at Seattle a steamer in 1872, from which time there has been an increase in the number of yards and of vessels built. Middlemas had a ship-yard at Port Ludlow in 1870; Westervelt at Port Madison in 1871; there was another at Freeport-later called Milton-in 1872; Boole had one at Utsalady at the same time; in 1873 Reed Brothers rented Yesler's yard at Seattle and moved their business to


331


SHIP-BUILDING.


that place from Port Madison, and in 1874 Hall Brothers from Cal. estab- lished themselves at Port Ludlow; after which ship-building became a more prosperous industry. Tacoma Herald, May 28, 1875. At Port Madison were built after 1862 the barkentine W. H. Ganley, 360 tons; the bark Legal Tender, 1863, 190 tons; bark Northwest, 1865, 315 tons; bark Tidal Wave, 1869, 600 tons; the whole four being for the use of the mill in carrying lumber. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 46. Also in 1870 the schooners Margaret Crockard, 169 tons; W. S. Phelps, 90 tons; and in 1873 the Mary Ilare, 64 tons, and Empire City, 732 tons. The Empire City was taken to S. F. and converted into a steamer. It was claimed that building the steamer in this manner saved $10,000 to ber owners. Seattle Intelligencer, Nov. 22, 1873. In 1874 the barkentine S. M. Stetson of 707 tons was built at Port Madison, and in 1876 the sch. Robert and Minnie, 99 tons, and str Dispatch, 66 tons. Portland Board of Trade Report, 1877, 34. At Port Ludlow the sch. Light Wing was built in 1870, 101 tons; and bark Forest Queen, 511 tons; in 1873 sloop Z. B. Heywood, 107 tons; in 1874 barkentine Pio Benito, 278 tons; and schooners Annie Gee, 155 tons; Ellen J. Mckinnon, 70 tons; Twilight, 185 tons; Jessie Nickerson, 185 tons; and sloop Mary Louisa, 155 tons. S. F. Bulletin, Feb. 10, 1875. The Ellen J. Mckinnon in 1879 became water-logged in a gale and foundered, only one out of 10 persons on board escaping. S. F. Post, April 24, 1879. In April 1875 the schooner Cassie Hayward, 200 tons, was launched at Port Ludlow, and in Nov. the schooners La Gironde, 205 tons; the American Girl, 220 tons; besides the Annie Lyle, Ida Schnauer, Emma Utter, and Wm L. Beebe, built the same year. Seattle Pac. Tribune, Nov. 27, 1875. In the following year there were launched at this port the schs Courser, 357 tons; Reporter, 337 tons; Premier, 307 tons; barkentine Quickstep, 423 tons; and sloop Katie Stevens, 5 tons. Portland Board of Trade Report, 1877, 34. In 1881 there were built at Port Ludlow the barkentines Wrestler, 470 tons; the Kitsap, 694 tons; and the sloop Mystery of G tons register. Seattle Intelligencer, Sept. 3, 1882. From the ship-yard at Seattle in 1870 were launched the sch. Planter, 121 tons; the str James Mortie, 8 tons; and the barge Diana, 24 tons. In 1871 the strs Comet, 56 tons; Clara, 26 tons; Zephyr, 162 tons; and the sch. Lolita, 120 tons. In 1874 the sch. C. C. Per- kins, 27 tons; the scow Schwabacher, 19 tons; and the strs Ada, 81 tons, and Lena C. Gray, 155 tons. In the following year there were launched at Seattle the strs Nellie, 100 tons; Minnie May, 5 tons; and the barkentine Kate Flickenger, 472 tons. In 1879 the str George E. Starr was launched at Seattle. She was built for L. M. Starr of the Puget Sound S. N. Co., was 150 feet long, 28 feet beam, and 9 feet hold. Seattle Intelligencer, April 17 and Ang. 13, 1879. In 1881 there were built at the same place the City of Seattle, a sloop of 7 tons; the sch. Two Jacks, 6 tons; and the strs Jessie, 12 tons; Sea Witch, 38 tons; Alki, 45 tons; and Lillie, 80 tons. At Milton, opposite Seattle, were built the Etta White, str, 97 tons, in 1871; the str George Seabeck, 39 tons; the scow M. S. Drew, 28 tons; and the sch. Big River in 1872; the scow Western Terminus, 56 tons, in 1873; and the barkentine Ella, 260 tons, in 1874. S. F Bulletin, February 10, 1875. At Port Blakeley was built in 1868 the double-topsail sch. Alice Haake, 104 feet keel, 115 feet deck, 30 feet beam, and 10 feet hold; owned by J. C. Haake & Co., S. F. S. F. Alta, Jan. 10, 1868. In 1870 the sch. Ontario, 14 tons; in 1872 the str Blakeley, 176 tons; and scows Uncle Davy, 33 tons, and George, 24 tons; in 1874 the schs Alice, 232 tons; Una, 200 tons; and barkentine R. K. Ham, 569 tons; in 1881 the schrs Lottie Carson, 226 tons, Maria Smith, 365 tons, Annie Larson, 377 tons, and str Harnet, 8 tons. Seattle Intelligencer, 1882, passim. At Port Discovery, in 1872, the schrs Marietta, 141 tons, and Serena, 206 tons; in 1874, the barkentine Discovery, 416 tons. At Stillaquamish two small sloops were built between 1870 and 1876, the Undine and Artful Dodger; at Whidbey Island the schooner Dolly Varden, 19 tons, and sloop Albion, 8 tons; at Port Gamble the schooner George Francis Train, 28 tons, in 1873, and steamer Yakima, 174 tons, in 1874. On Orcas Island the sch. Orcas was built in 1873, 11 tons; at Steilacoom the sloop Magnolia, 12 tons, and scow Red Cloud, 34


332


RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.


tons; at Tacoma the sloop Polly, 9 tons, in 1874; at Fidalgo Island the sch. Fidalgo Traveller, 9 tons, in 1876; at Port Townsend the sch. Jennie, 15 tons; at Arcada the str Biz, 80 tons, in ISS1. At Olympia, in 1876, were built the strs Capital, 24 tons, and Messenger, 121. In 1877 the Seabeck Mill Co. built the bark Cassandra Adams, 1,127 tons, and the tug Richard Holyoke; and in ISSO a ship with a keel 214 feet long, beam 44 feet, 17 feet hold, and single- decked, probably the largest single-decked vessel afloat. Seattle Intelligencer, July 1, 1879. John Kentfield & Co. of S. F. also built a sch. at Seabeck in ISSO. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 8. In 1SS1 two barkentines were built there, the Retriever, 548 tons, and the M. Winkelman, 532 tons. The only steamboat built in the eastern part of the Puget Sound collection district, which included Colville, was the Forty-nine, owned by Leonard White. She was launched at U. S. Fort Colville, Nov. 18, 1865. She was 114 feet long and 20 feet 4 inches wide. She was run as high up as Death Rapids, 270 miles. See a very interesting account of her trip in Leighton's Life at Puget Sound, 63-74. This little book, by Caroline Leighton, published in 1884, is unique in description of Washington life from 1865 to 1881, and of the natural scenery of the country. The incidents are well chosen and style de- lightfully natural.


In 1869, a report was made on ship-building to the board of marine under- writers of S. F., by their secretary, C. T. Hopkins, and by Joseph Ringot, in favor of using the Puget Sound and Oregon timber for ships, and showing that the economy in wood more than counterbalanced the higher wages of shipwrights on this coast, and the expense of importing copper, cordage, and other articles. Cordage, linseed oil, pitch, tar, and turpentine could be man- ufactured here; and so in time could iron and copper. This report declared that 'sailing vessels of any size and description can be built at Puget Sound, at Coos Bay, on the Columbia River, and at several other points north of S. F., of as good quality as the vessels built of Maine materials, and for less money in gold than at New York or Boston, provided the business be undertaken on a large scale by experienced and prudent mechanics, backed up by a large capital.' Hopkins' Ship-Building, 26. The cost per ton of a first class New York sailing vessel, exclusive of coppering, was, for a 100-ton vessel, $115, 300 tons $109, 600 tons $96, 1,000 tons $87. The Northwest, 315 tons, built in the Sound, cost $87 per ton coppered; the Tidal Wave, 600 tons, cost $83 per ton without copper; the Forest Queen, 511 tons, cost $117 per ton with- out copper; the Wildwood of 1,000 tons, $73 per ton coppered; the barkentine Modoc, built at Utsalady in 1873, $99 per ton without copper. These varia- tions in cost depended upon the amount of capital at hand and local circum- stances. To construct a 1,200-ton ship there were required 10,000 working days of all classes of mechanics and laborers, 3,500 days in the yard. Olympia Transcript, March 18, 1876; Tacoma Pac. Tribune, Sept. 24, 1874.


Propositions to form a company with five millions capital to enter upon ship-building on Puget Sound was made by the S. F. board of underwriters in 1874, which was not, however, acted upon, the chief difficulty appearing to be that mechanics could not be secured in sufficient numbers at reasonable wages, owing to the expense at that time of travelling from Mains to Wash- ington. Undoubtedly the shipping interest has suffered through the indiffer- ence of congress to its importance. What with the whale and other fisheries of the Northwest Coast, and the coal and lumber trade, large fleets of vessels of moderate size should be furnished by Puget Sound ship-yards. Down to 1880 there had been between forty and fifty steamers built and employed in the Puget Sound trade. Olympia Pac. Tribune, Sept. 14, 1872; Stuart's Wash. Ter., 14; New Tacoma N. P. Coast, Jan. 15, 1880.


Prior to 1872 there were between 90 and 100 sailing vessels built, most of them of small size, for the local freight service, the larger ones for the lum- ber trade. In the ten years following there were from ten to twenty vessels built annually, yet the vast inland sea still looked solitary, and hundreds of miles of wooded shores were as silent as when Vancouver explored them nearly a century before. During the year ending June 30, 1878, 69 sailing and


333


MARITIME COMMERCE.


39 steam vessels were documented at Port Townsend, the port of entry of Puget Sound collection district, with a carrying capacity of 31,000 tons. This tonnage was exceeded by only 28 of the 125 collection districts of the U. S. American vessels in the foreign trade entered in the same ycar were 263, with a tonnage of 152,828; there were cleared 284, with a tonnage of 167,178. This surpassed that of vessels so entered and cleared during the same time at 120 of the 125 ports of entry in the U. S., being exceeded only by Boston, Charles- ton, New York, Detroit, and San Francisco. Rept of Chief of Bureau of Statistics, 1878, pt ii. 802-4. Foreign vessels entered at Port Townsend dur- ing the same time 46, with a tonnage of 19,915; cleared 61, with a tonnage of 30,962. This was exceeded by but 31 out of the 125 ports of entry of the U. S. American ocean steam-vessels in the foreign trade entered during the same time at Port Townsend were 178, with a tonnage of 130,471; cleared 183, with a tonnage of 131,432; exceeded by only 2 other ports of entry in the U. S .- N. Y. and S. F. The tonnage of foreign ocean steam-vessels in the foreign trade, which entered and cleared at Port Townsend during the year ending June 30, 1878, was exceeded but by 10 other ports of the U. S. It was estimated that at least 75 deep-sea vessels in the general coasting trade, which were enrolled and licensed, and did not make entry or clear- ance, were employed in the Puget Sound trade, only about one third of which were documented in this district, the remainder in S. F. In 1880 there cleared from Port Townsend, for the four months from July to Oct., 66 Amer- ican sailing vessels for foreign ports, with a tonnage of 46,244. For the same months in 1881 the tonnage of this class was 65,393. The number of Ameri- can vessels entering from foreign ports in the same months of 1880 was 62; in 1881 it was 115. The number of American steam-vessels entering from foreign ports in the same months of 1880 was 30; in 1881 it was 72. The number clearing was 33 in 1880, and 73 in 1881. The increase in ocean ton- nage from and to foreign ports during the same mouths of 1881 over 1880 was 100 per cent.




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