132 EFFICIENCY IN THE OPERATION OF STEAMSHIPS. 
ably points out that wages on an American ship amount to but 12 to 15 per cent of the total 
operating cost. It can be readily seen that, even though American wages were 50 per cent 
more than paid by foreign ships, the increase in operation would amount to a very small per- 
centage indeed. I believe that the higher American wages could be, at least in some measure, 
offset by more efficient stevedoring and such additional savings as assisting in giving the ship 
a quick turn around. 
A company that I was formerly employed by had compiled a very excellent pre-war com- 
parison of German operated ships and American operated ships, and while it was shown that 
the German wage was much less, it developed that the costs per barrel of oil moved—for 
the vessels under comparison were tankers—were astonishingly similar. Therefore, instead 
of emphasizing our inability to compete on account of a higher wage scale, which in regard 
to the licensed ship personnel cannot be reduced to meet foreign wage scales due to our 
higher standards of living, other channels of more economical operation are open, such as: 
endeavoring to get legislation passed to relieve or have refunded to American ships in Ameri- 
can ports and at the Panama Canal, tonnage dues, customhouse port charges; also, for the 
operater to make more advantageous contracts for towage, dock hire, by purchasing supplies 
in bulk by several companies pooling their requirements of standard stores and supplies, by 
keeping an eye open for economical fuel contracts, based on a sliding scale, etc., would tend 
very materially to place our ships on an equal basis with British, Norwegian and 
German ships. 
In regard to the use of motor ships in the oil transportation business, which question I 
have investigated very carefully, if you could build a motor ship which could heat and pump 
out efficiently, without resorting to steam, the various grades of heavy Mexican oil now 
used so extensively for fuel, you would have a very economical transportation unit indeed. 
However, as it has not been practical to date to heat oil in a tank ship by other means than 
steam, oil companies have been very reluctant to adapt motor ships, as they are not in 
favor of a combination motor and steam installation. The above, of course, does not apply 
to transporting refined oil, gasoline, and other light oils which do not have to be heated. 
Mr. E. H. Riac, Member of Counctl:—Captain Sullivan’s paper this year, and his dis- 
cussion last year, on the economical operation of ships, have both been very interesting pre- 
sentations in connection with the subject, and I want to congratulate him on having made 
so interesting a contribution on this occasion to a subject which we must all study. I do not 
appear before you as an operator; I am afraid that I belong to that class which must carry 
its share of the blame for high first cost, namely, the shipbuilder. 
I want to bring out a point briefly in connection with what Mr. Bogert said. His com- 
parison was on the subject of the fuel consumption per ton-mile. The people from the Great 
Lakes must remember this fact, which influences the comparison—-the lake steamers operate 
only during the summer, that is to say, only during normally good weather. In the winter 
the lakes are largely frozen over and ships do not run, except in a few special cases. On the 
other hand, the ocean carrier operates also during the winter and must buffet the severities 
of winter weather on the ocean. That must be remembered when you compare the fuel con- 
sumption of the lakers and ocean ships. ; 
Another point is, as Dr. Sadler tells us in his paper of this year, the Great Lake waves 
do not appear to be as severe as ocean waves. Now, if they are not as severe, it is obvious 
that the ocean ship must be given a handicap for the heavier waves when comparing fuel per 
ton-mile. 
