LIVERPOOL

Evening Star, Issue 18145, 8 December 1922, Page 2

LIVERPOOL

EVOLUTION OF A PORT. ENTERPRISE AND ENERGY. ALSO A GREAT MANUFACTURING * CENTRE.

The origm of the name of Liverpool 1* a moot point with historians; but only the “Liver” is a mystery. There is no doubt about the “Pool,” which kwi from the river where the ‘Custom House now stands to the lower land behind ot. George’s Hall, termed by Gladstone ‘ the finest municipal building in Europe. Here was a natural shelter for boats—an ideal harbor pool into which ran the tide. It was long years before this tide was “ taken at the flood,” but it was slowly leading on to fortune as far back as the reign of Richard 1., as the oldest extant document concerning the town attests. King John, however, really founded the city. To him it was a useful strategic point for his designs on Ireland. He granted letters patent, making R a “Y borough upon tho sea, on August 28, isui. Up to this date Lancashire possessed no port. Prosperity did not come rapidly, out the town became well known, and is frequently mentioned in historical records. Edward 11. paid Liverpool a visit m loAjLater it .attained to the di"nity of a mavor and connoilmen, and in 1614 Henry Vlil., solicitous for his Royal purse, appointed a Commission to inquire Into its revenues and to find out why they were not larger. But the flood tide of prosperity was not yet. There was more ebb than flow. In 1703 the real change, for tho better began, when the idea was conceived of constructing a dock, the hret in England. Sanctioned by an Act of Queen Anne, it was opened on August 31, l/10, and completed in 1720. Increased trade followed (writes a correspondent in the ‘Daily Telegraph ), aha very soon' a second dock became necessarv, and was finished in 1753. The third dock (1771),* the George’s, after subsequent reconstruction, finally passed out ot existence in 1900. The original Ml Dock ” wan closed in 1826, on August 01. August, bo it noted, has ever been an important month in Liverpool s dock history. In 1829 the Canning Dock, previously willed the Dry Dock, was inaugurated. From the birth of his Canning Dock really dates the great activity m dock construction. Every alternate year saw a new one created and in full buzz of commerce. It is superfluous to reccnd that all this enterprise entailed stupenduous cost and gigantic energy. Great engineers came to the task. Thomas Steers, after him Jesse Hartley, were followed by George Fosbery Lyster, who reconstructed and remodelled the long line of harbor fortresses from 1861 His son and successor, Anthony George Lyster, engineer up to 1913, was the originator .of the , Gladstone Dock scheme. Father and sen did great work for Liverpool. They were far-seeing men, and it their clarity of vision had been more fully recognised at the time much money might have subsequently been saved.

an enormous dock extension. The Mersey Docks and Harbor Board are proceeding ■with the completion of the Gladstone. Docks, commenced in 1906,_ a section of which was opened 1 by King George in 1913. During the war the work was reduced to a minimum, but it is now well in hand again. It' was originally estimated that the cost of the extension would be about £4,000,000, hut this figure' has since swollen to £7,500,000. The actual expenditure so far has been about one-third of this amount, £2,500,000. When finished the largest ships afloat will bo able to enter and depart on every tide, and boats of average size, with a draught of, say, 28ft, at all times, excepting spring tides, when the dock service will not be effective just before and after low water. The complete Gladstone • scheme .provides the following substantial additions to the port:—Water area, 551 acres; quayage, miles; new sheds, 13| awes; new floor area of sheds, 54 acres. Electric light will be everywhere, and the whole of the new quays will have two yets of rails along the quayside, and naturally similar or more extensive 'accommodation on the road side of the sheds. Movable and stationary cranes and every other known, appliance for the rapid handling of cargoes will be available at every point, and on completion 'the port will ho able to boast that in the Gladstone Dock it has provided the most modern and effective example of ship accommodation extant. Northward of the work in progress the Dock Board has purchased an area of 340 acres of foreshore in anticipation of further developments if and when required. In the meantime a thorough overhaul, alteration of existing accommodation whore needed, 'the scrapping of some that is obsolete, and the reconstruction and modernising for quicker handling of present facilities must be part of the programme. The Liverpool docks extend along the river for six and a-half miles, and possess twenty-seven miles of quays and a water area of 450 acres. On the opposite side of the river are the Birkenhead docks — transferred tq.ihe Mersey Docks and Harbor Board m 1857, the year of its inception—with ten miles of quays and a water area of 172 acres. A wonderful port in very truth, and still with vast possibilities.

TRADE OP THE PORT. Ths trade of the Port of Liverpool is truly colossal, and the history of it abounds with -romance sufficient to fill many volumea. Some of the pages of these volumes would bavo to unfold a grim narrative. 'Liverpool was onoo known as the “black spot on the Mersey,” and the stage of a lurid drama of horrors, suffering, and degradation; hut it has marched with the enlightenment of the times. The slave trade in a way acted aa a boon, and lifted the port out of its struggling period into one of bursting prosperity. Prom 1783 to 1793 no fewer than 1,878 round voyage® were made by Liverpool slave ships, carrying 303,737 slaves of a neb value of £15,000,000. It was a great income, and one easily got, but there were Liverpool men of high minds who sot their voices against it —‘Edward Rush ton (blind poet), William Rathbon-e, James Currie, and William Roscoe. The slave trade was finished in 1807, So much for the dark ago; let us come to the light. There was ample scope tor trade developments. The .wharves were groaning with the heavy weight of merchandise. In 1800 about 5,000 ships entered ‘the port; ‘to-day ‘the total is in the region of 25,000. To exemplify tho growth in another way, the dock dues in the year 1800 amounted to £23,579: in 1921 they soared to £2,607.129. Tho total imports and exports of Liverpool in 1021, apart altogether from the coastwise goods, were valued at £525,012,834. Many industries have gone to tho making of Liverpool. It is not only one of the great marts of the world, a receiving house for the products of China and Peru, and all the intervening countries, but it is what many neglect to recognise— a jgrea-t manufacturing city and industrial Its manufactures range from soap and feeding stuffs to toys and stylo pens; its industries comprise ehipbuildii,;, flour-milling, and dried flies from Mexico for pheasant food; its commerce engulfs the products of the four corners of the universe. The raw materials of the world pour into this veritable gateway —cotton, rubber, corn, timber, tobacco—and, hand in hand ■with all tins vast stir of myriad Interests, there marches the great protecting bodyguard of shipping, insurance, and banking. Around- tho palpitating hive of fruitful endeavor has sprung up a city that is good for : the eye _to look upon. Broad streets and noble buildings abound. Of these, tho most inspiring is the magnificent St. George’s Hall, to which reference has already been made; but it is only one among many noteworthy achievement®. As a centre of education, art, and music Liverpool may be put to tho acid test and not found wanting. Her" university hao medical and engineering schools of world-wide fame. In tho study of tropical diseases her professors and students have led the way in research and discovery. And amidst tlio towers and spires winch signal to the sky the triumphs of architecture there vises the growing mass of th» stately and impressive new cathedral

As a municipality the city stands second to none. . The corporation controls tho electric light, tramways, and water supply; and efficiency rules in all departments, nob neglecting the (health-giving principle of clean and' well-kept streets. The gas undertaking, dating-back to 1817, is in private hands, - and claims to bo the largest in tho kingdom outside London. As a shopping centre Liverpool has many unique features. Bold street has outstanding individuality. Then there, is the renowned Rodney street, the Ha.rJey street of Liverpool, where W. E. Gladstone was bom in a rambling, old-fashioned house, which during the war was a busy hive of khaki activity.