246 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



oil from the factories and refineries of 

 this country. 



The: importance: of coaung stations 



Coaling stations and coal supplies are 

 an important factor in determining 

 routes of travel for steamers. The sta- 

 tions are numbered by hundreds and 

 scattered over the entire travel world, 

 yet the quality and prices of the material 

 which they offer and the distances be- 

 tween ample and cheap supplies have 

 much to do in determining steamship 

 routes. 



British coal is the standard for steam- 

 ships in Europe, the Mediterranean, and 

 western Asia ; India, Australia, and Ja- 

 pan are the chief sources of supply for 

 eastern Asia and the western Pacific, and 

 the United States chief purveyor to all 

 of America and adjacent waters. Aus- 

 tralian, Japanese, and American coals are 

 somewhat cheaper than the English, and 

 if the stations tributary to the Panama 

 routes were so near to each other that 

 the steamship could get supplies at fre- 

 quent intervals, and thus devote most of 

 its carrying space to merchandise rather 

 than to large coal supplies, the routes via 

 the Panama Canal would offer special at- 

 tractions. 



Coal is nearly one-half the cost of 

 running a freight vessel. A large share 

 of the freight now moved on the ocean is 

 carried in "tramp" steamers of from 

 3,000 to 5,000 "net register" tons ca- 

 pacity, but an actual carrying power of 

 about twice as many tons of dead weight. 



To charter a vessel of, say, 3,000 reg- 

 ister tons, including the officers and 

 crew, costs about $200 a day, while the 

 coal required to run such a vessel at the 

 very moderate speed of 10 miles an hour 

 would cost about $150 per day. For pas- 

 senger steamers, making higher speed, 

 the cost of coal is much greater, and 

 would probably be quite as much as the 

 hire of the vessel and all of her officers, 

 crew, subsistence, and incidental ex- 

 penses. 



A freight vessel of the type above de- 

 scribed, carrying about 5,000 tons dead 

 weight and making about 10 miles per 

 hour, would probably burn about 3,000 

 to 4,000 tons of coal on a trip from New 



York to Yokohama or Shanghai and re- 

 turn, and if a saving of $1.50 per ton 

 could be made by going via Panama and 

 using the cheaper coal offered by that 

 route, the economy in coal alone might 

 turn the scale in favor of that route. 



So it is apparent that coaling stations, 

 coal supplies, and coal prices are factors 

 of considerable importance in determin- 

 ing the choice of routes where distances 

 are nearly equal. 



the: sphere of influence: op the: 



PANAMA CANAL, 



The sections of the world which may 

 be considered as probably within the 

 "sphere of influence" of the Panama 

 Canal are the eastern and western coasts 

 of America, the eastern coast of Asia, 

 and the islands of the Pacific. All of 

 western America will be nearer to Eu- 

 rope than at present, and all of western 

 America and most of eastern Asia and 

 Oceania will be nearer to the eastern 

 coast of America than at present. 



A study of the production and con- 

 sumption of the various countries lying 

 within the canal's sphere of influence 

 shows that their various products are 

 thoroughly interchangeable. The west- 

 ern coast of South America offers chiefly 

 natural products. Chile has nitrates, 

 copper, and comparatively small quanti- 

 ties of wheat and other grains. The ni- 

 trates are needed by both the United 

 States and Europe ; the copper comes to 

 the United States to be smelted and re- 

 fined and the grains are wanted by Eu- 

 rope. In exchange for these Chile takes 

 manufactures, and both the United States 

 and Europe have manufactures for sale 

 in ever-increasing quantities. 



The Philippines and the Dutch East 

 Indies offer sugar, tobacco, hemp, and 

 other tropical products, and both Europe 

 and the United States want these and 

 pay for them chiefly in manufactures, 

 which form the bulk of the imports of 

 these countries. Australia and New Zea- 

 land offer meats, wool, and hides and 

 take manufactures in exchange ; and 

 both the United States and Europe want 

 the wool and hides, and Europe wants 

 also the wheat and meats, and she, as 



