GERMAN SHIPPING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 476, 7 April 1909, Page 7

GERMAN SHIPPING.

: *. NORTH-GERMAN LLOYD'S BIG'LOSS FOR 1908. (BY TELEOKApn—F-RESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIOHT.) Berlin, April 5. The loss of the North-German Lloyd Steam Ship Company for 1908 amounted to £892,600. Dr. Wiegand, general manager of the Company, died from nervous prostration, due to tho crisis. DR. WIEGAND'S MISCALCULATION. One indication of the extent to which German shipping companies were losing last year was the anxiety shown by the general. manager of the Hamburg-American Line, Herr Ballin, in his effort to come to an arrangement with English companies. Dr. Wiegand, general manager of North-German Lloyd, must hnvo been especially disappointed with the results of 1908, for he had at the beginning of tho year told the shareholders that "prospects were much brighter, i rovided • only that the competitive struggle between tho companies were stopped." Evidently the German iragnate had no forewarning of such n tremendous drop in the Trans-Atlantic traffic as 910,000 passengers, and six millions sterling. Strangely enough, Dr. Woigand'a address at tho beginning of 1008 emphasised .the fact that in the first hnlf of 1907 "one drawback was that the company had not enough tonnage at its disposal to copo with tho great traffic which presented itself. Thousands of passengers of passengers were detained several weeks at Bremen waiting for berths, and this cost the company large sums. Extra steamers were occasionally put on, but this proved, unprofitable, because tiose boats found it difficult to obtain return cargoes." In the circumstances, it was not unnatural that the management should build for increased business, nnd the effect of the slump was thus intensified. <