LONDON PORT BUSY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13594, 23 January 1915, Page 3

LONDON PORT BUSY.

WAR HAS STIMULATED TRADE AND SHIPPING FOR GREAT BRITAIN.

(Press Assn.— By Telegraph— Copyright.)

LONDON, Jan. 22. The chairman of the Port of London Authority stated that owing to the previous activity of the Emden and other enemy vessels the accumulating shipping how arriving m London is overtaxing' the accommodation. Nearly 20 Australasian vessels have arrived, and] the influx of shipping is the biggest since London became' a port. (Received January 23, 9.15 a.m.) • . ■■•■.. LONDON, Jan. 22. The Manchester Guardian says the Board of Trade enquiry into the increased freights tends to show that the main cause is congestion at the docks rather than a shortage of ships. A million tons of •■, snipping is lying idle .all round the coast. It is hoped that increased pay and overtime will attract additional labor to the" docks.

LONDON, Nov. 26.— The war has resulted m\a boom for the shipping industry of Great Britain and nowhere has this been felt more than m London. The port of London never has been busier, and a notice just posted by the Association of Master Lightermen appeals to shipowners and manufacturers to do' all m their power to obtain the prompt discharge of cargoes, as a measure of relief for the unusual congestion of traffic.

As for foodstuffs, the present Teserve stock is five times larger^ than, it was this time last year. Of grain there are 130,000 tons now afloat for London. The stock of barley on hand is twice the usual amount but the stock of oats is Ivwer than cofltbioary. A consignment of. 250,000 bags of flour, as a gift from Canada several weeks ago, is still m the dook, warehouses, presumably being held as part of the reserve supply for , the. troops. The supply of meats is not as large as had. been planned. Steamers to carry meat require special refrigerating machinery and the Government has, commandeered a considerable part of "the available shipping of this character for use m carrying meat supplies to the troops. Arrangements now are being made, however, for bringing into use such of the captured German vessels m Australia, and South Africa as. possess refrigerating apparatus. The supply of tea apparently, was affected by the activity of the German cruiser Emden m the Far ' West. With this menace removed heavy arrivals are expected shortly. The shortage of lumber which was noted during the early part of the war has been remedied by the arrival of vast quantities from the Baltic and Archangel. Trade from Archangel and the Baltic has been active also m other lines than lumber. Immense quantities of eggs from Russia as, weir, as other, produce and supplies of various kinds have been large and there has been, of course a large return trade. ■■ -. ' The demand for shipping of all kinds came at a. time when the trade was expecting depression, if not paralysis. With the beginning of the war, freight rates began to rise steadily and some times rapidly.

Freights fpt grain from the Plate have more than doubled m three months and freights from the Pacific coast of North America have advanced more than a third- Of course the increase was due m considerable part to the effect of the acquisition of many vessels by the governments of England, Russia, and France, but at the same time with this j withdrawal of vessels there came an undoubted expansion of trade. Part of the revenue to ship owners from increase freights have gone into increased expenses. War insurance has been heavy ; the cost of coal and stores have been higher and the wages of seamen have been advanced by leaps and bounds.