150 



COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION, AMERICAN. 



imported $1,511,712, $483,281, $498,891, and 

 $186,355, their respective shares in the total 

 foreign trade being 2'10, 1-50, 1'49, and T29 

 per cent. 



The value of the imports of merchandise at 

 interior points of the United States without 

 appraisement at ports of first arrival was, dur- 

 ing the last fiscal year, $16,594,934, as against 

 $13,360,066 during the previous year. The 

 total value of the direct exports from Chicago 

 to foreign countries amounted to $33,750,000 

 during the year 1882. In 1883 the exports of 

 Chicago are reported as $3,723,548 and the 

 imports as $649,090. The exports from Min- 

 neapolis, St. Louis, and other interior points 

 which are shipped direct to foreign countries 

 are not officially reported. From Huron, Mich., 

 and the district of Minnesota, exports were 

 shipped of the value of $10,948,590 and $7,- 

 169,185, the imports entered at those districts 

 being $2,906,247 and $1,085,213 ; while at Os- 

 wego, N. Y., and Vermont district imports 

 were received of the values of $8,341,324 and 

 $6,194,886, the amounts of their exports being 

 respectively $1,465,170 and $1,809,521. The 

 proportional shares in the aggregate commerce 

 of the United States in 1883 borne by those 

 customs districts which transacted less than 1 

 per cent, and more than y 1 ^ of 1 per cent, of 

 the total were as follow: Huron, 0'90 per 

 cent; Oswego, 0'63 ; Minnesota, Minn., 0*53 ; 

 Vermont, Vt., 0'51 ; Buffalo Creek, N. Y., 

 0-37; Portland, Me., 0-33 ; Charnplain, N. Y., 

 0-33; Wilmington, N. C., 0'32; Detroit, 

 Mich., 0-31 ; Chicago, El., 0'28 ; Willamette, 

 Ore., 0-26; Richmond, Va., 0'22; Niagara, 

 N. Y., 0-21 ; Mobile, Ala., 0-21 ; Miami, Ohio, 

 0-20; Oregon, Ore., 0-19; Oswegatchie, N. Y., 

 0-19; Corpus Christi, Tex., 0'18; Brazos de 

 Santiago, Tex., 0-14; Pensacola, Fla., 0-14; 

 Puget Sound, Wash., 0-12; Brunswick, Ga., 

 0-10; Yorktown, Va., O'lO. 



Shipping and Navigation. The aggregate ton- 

 nage of the American merchant marine in 

 1883 and the three years preceding, compared 

 with the tonnage at quinquennial periods since 

 1850, was as follows : 



Tons. 



Under sailing-vessels in the above returns are 

 included barges and canal-boats, the tonnage 

 of which in 1883 amounted to 435,736 tons. 

 The shipping which constituted the mercantile 

 marine of the United States was distributed 

 between the foreign and coasting trades and 

 the fisheries as follows : 



Foreign trade 



Coasting trade 2,888,854 



Whale-fisheries 82,414 



Cod-fisheries 95,038 



Total 4,285,487 



The tonnage of sailing and steam vessels 

 built in the United States in 1883 and the 

 three years preceding was as follows: 



There were built in 1883 33 ships, against 31 

 in 1882, 29 in 1881, 37 in 1879, 71 in 1877, 114 

 in 1875, and 28 in 1873 ; 2 brigs, against 2 in 

 1882, 3 in 1881, and 10 in 1879 ; 567 schooners, 

 against 473 in 1882, 317 in 1881, 256 in 1879, 

 337 in 1877, 502 in 1875, and 611 in 1873; 

 and 227 sloops, canal-boats, and barges, 

 against 363 in 1882, 314 in 1881, 494 in 1879, 

 352 in 1877, 340 in 1875, and 1,221 in 1873. 

 The number of steam-vessels constructed in 

 1883 was 439, 502 in 1882, 444 in 1881, 335 

 in 1879, 265 in 1877, 323 in 1875, and 402 in 

 1873. Of the total tonnage of vessels built in 

 1883 there were built on the seaboard 210,349 

 tons, against 188,083 in 1882; on the New 

 England coast alone, 110,226 tons, against 93,- 

 965 in 1882 ; on the Mississippi river, 26,443 

 tons, against 35,817 ; and on the Great Lakes, 

 28,638 tons, against 58,369. The tonnage of 

 iron vessels built in 1883 was 39,646, of which 

 2,033 tons were sailing-vessels ; in 1882 40,- 

 140 tons, nearly all steam-vessels; in 1881, 

 28,356 tons; in 1880, 25,582 tons; in 1879, 

 22,008 tons; in 1878, 28,960 tons; in 1877, 

 5,927 tons; in 1876, 21,346 tons; in 1875, 21,- 

 632 tons; in 1874, 33,097 tons; in 1873, 26,- 

 548 tons; in 1872, 12,766 tons; in 1871, 15,- 

 479 tons; in 1870, 8,281 tons; in 1868, 4,584 

 tons; in 1868, 2,801 tons. 



The tonnage of American and foreign ves- 

 sels entered at American seaports each year, 

 from 1864 to 1883 inclusive, was as fol- 

 lows: 



