PORT OF BRISTOL

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2146, 12 May 1914, Page 9

PORT OF BRISTOL

ADVANTAGES SET FORTH.

ITS AREA OF DISTRIBUTION

REDUCTION OF RAIL HAULAGE '■

SPEECHES BY THE ENVOYS

The gentlemen who are visiting New Zealand with tho object of interesting New Zealand exporters in the possi- : bilities of the port of Bristol as a port of entry into the United Kingdom addressled the WelliiigtonChamber of Commerce I yesterday. Mr. Henry L. Biscky spohc generally of the advantages of the port ; of Bristol, and Mr. E. Mantling Lewis, commercial superintendent, of the port, spoke in more detail of the facilities for the handling of cargo at the docks, a»d the distribution of it to markets Probably owing to'the wintry weather the attendance of members of the ■ Chamber- was not very large. The president, Mr. C. W. Jones, was in the chair. What Bristol Has- Done. Mr. Riseley extended greetings and good wishes to the Chamber from _ the j light Hon, the Lord Mayor of Bristol r and the Bristol Chamber ef C'ofmnerce ; and Shipping. "Bristol, from a commercial standpoint," lie said, "is deserving of every 'consideration at your hands. Not from a sentimental view—for it can not -be sup- ! posed for one moment that sentiment would weigh i-ii commercial transactions, but.having propositions to place ' before the members of ymr trading community, greatly to their advantage, it will be' surprising if we fail to convince- them that a closer relationship commercially with the city and port of Bristol will be beneficial to all coilcerncd, more especially to .thcmscjvcs. An important announcement I have to mak© is that the cold storage arrangements at Bristol are admitted to tie the best at the present time in tto United Kingdom—this is upon authority which cannot be disputed.' "From time to time the accommodation of the Bristol Docks has been largely . augmented to cope with increasing . trade, and the ever-increasing size and draught of steamers, the latest extension being the construction of the R-eyal Edward Dock at a cost of to the city of considerably over £3,000,000, At the present moment additional wharves, warehouses, cold storage and such like, a-re being provided to meet requirements, whilst the new loading berth for New Zealand and Australian liners is the last word in perfection of equipment—there is nothing superior to bfe found.

"As a centre of distribution tho following figures spool? for themselves. Within a radius of 25 miles of Bristol the population is 830,000; within n radius of (50 miles, 2,550,000; within a radius of 75 miles, 5.120.000'; within a radius of 100 miles, 10,000,000; within a radius of 120 miles,' tiro hours by rail, 17 s OOO,OOO. More Steamers Wanted, ."At the present time there is a get* vice of steamers direct- to Bristol from New Zealand, -supplied by the Federal Shire Lino. These sail from Now Zealand every month as far as circumstances permit-—the cargoes'' cjifriod are frozen i»eat and general produce Our mission to A T ow Zealand is to encleayow to increase tii.o shipments to aristoj- by those steamers to such an extent as to, call for and warrant an acoalera-tod servkrc direct between jßris-. tol.and' y-Oiir Dominion for all proctitis wmcn ©a-n ho dealt with in tie* distriet covered by Bristol's area of distribution, and to bring into closest possible touch t-lio producer and consumer on of ,BaHif f stly to llw advantage

"From the Home Country our 'mission, so far, proves that rill abundance of shipments direct from Bristol •f S® IV|ll found .to pis. tify tlie increase mi service desired, "and with regard to the homeward cargo irom i\ew Zealand, it only remains for i shippers of grain, wobh dairy produce, frown and canned meats, and genera] merchandise'to cot-operate with ivs snpport our efforts, and ship direct to "listfll to bong about improvements in tiio steamer service whrch will greatly facilitate the expeditious handlins. marketing, and distribution o.f • your products." ■ Doou Facilities, Mr. Manning Lewis then addressed the members ©f the Chamber. . "Wo start wall the assumption," lje said. that tlia cheaper yottr produco can bo aoHvered to tuc consumer on the. other side, ami the manufactured or partrtyMtamifaelured goods: yon require-can he dowered to you., the belter it will be Joi- your, trade generally, and'm hops jo prove that by using the- port of Jinstol this desirable end can he attained as regards a substantial profioitron of the trade. .

■first, witji repan-l ia the facilities of the port of Bristol for handling traffic;, .he purpose, kept in view has been Uto eonibiSation of the quickest dispatch with the minimum of' labour, thus economising time and tost. • Docks capable oi accommodating the largestclasses of steamers have been Constructed with ontrflßCES locks 875 feet H./nj|, 100 feet wide, and a dop'ch of water varying from 36 feet to feet. A- commodious passenger station has been f?rovidyd ; . and pf.is.goi3goftj aj"o conveyal between the port and London wii-iim two hours. As regards traffic, railway mies the quays enable cotimiction to bo made with any part of the liiiited _ Kingdom, thus entirely eliminating the e?;tra. expense of cartage and double handling, Modern electric and hydraulic cranes, with lifting eapafrom 1 ton to 33 tons, transfer traffic from ship to railway car or vice versa—one of tho prominent features of the port, being the large quantitv of traffic which is dealt with bv 'this method. "Uenerar produce is delivered to rail', jvay cars direct, or, alternatively, is pat ■ into cool., ferro-concrete transit .sheds for sorting and storing, thence it is delivered to cars which are brought up ess either side of the sheds. Fmen Prodtise, "The arrangements for dealing with frozen _ produce have be« designed with tho greatest care, and after thorough investigation of the various methods already in operation -elsewhere. Acting on the knowledge thus gained the stores were constructed■ on thfe quay wall, alongside the steamship berths, with railway access. on either side, under the verandahs of tfao -stores, thus enabling produce to be delivered to store and thence to refrigerated railWay car for c-nnv-eyanco te the retailer with practically no exposure: it is, therefore, kept in its frozen state from tho tiisi'j of being shipped iu Now Zealand until it reaches tho retailer oil the other side. There- are various lines of steamers between Bristol, Canada, North America, the Continent of Europe, and other places, by which carjfo can bo readily transhipped. / A Growing Port. "For the purpose of proving to you that there is already in Bristol" a. splendid market, iot all kinds of overseas produce, I would like to give you a few details with regard to tlio trade of tho port, Taking the last 2G years, tho registered tonnage shows an "increase of SfO per cent., and for tho twelve months ' ending on April 30 the total will eclipso

alt previous records. During the same penod two value ol" goods cnteriiiff from loivign pm-ls lias iiiftroitscd by ?Jj3 j.ior cc-iu. I iio quantity oi grain imported ■)> -o iior iti it. ('! his year grain will fiiiov,- a large increase.) Petroleum bv 540 per cent. Sng.'ii- by 81 per W ni. ' And onuigo* and lemons liy 23-1 per cent, iiananas, tho importation of which emnmenml hi 101)1, have risen iron) 080,000 bundles lor the first compfcte y<«ar of import ution to L',500,000 fwndi<* last year.

"Canada, for many years found her best market lor butter was Bristol about. 5000 tons per year, or between 50 per cent, and GO per cent. of the total quantity exported being dealt with at our port, us well as 20,000 to 25,000 tana, of cheese per annum, and large consignments of ha-con, apples, cattte.. and sheep. It is interesting to it©te that last year Bristol stoocl second iii the list of British ports for the importation of clieeso from all parts of the world. As the exportation of dairy produce from Canada lias now decreased, we 10-.-'k Hi Australia and Aew !£eal*tiul to supply the demand. To Reach the Donsui'Tiei*. I propose dealing with the Question of a lew of the outside- markets which can be most advantageously served from Bristol. At the present'time a large proportion of your produce comes into tuts district through other ports, and not only has it to pay a high railway rate, but it is also subjected to the'higher charges which obtain at these- ports, and in addition it necessarily undergoes in* creased handling with the contingent deterioration in the condition of 'the produce., This brings us to the question of charges, and to prove that Bristol can supply important markets at considerably lower -ebst- than other large ports, I propose to deal with the coiiina.rati.ve charges from London and Bristol respectively on produce as regards large centres of population outside the Bristol district, itself. The figures- given include dock dues or wharfage, landing, storing for « short period, delivering"to railway ears'; railway liaulago and delivering in the places named. Hie figures quoted, for ineivt iuehtdg one week's cold storage.

_ "First take ,the case of Bun.iiilglr.ani, a city which provides a market for a large district, with a population of ripwsnis ef 2,000,000. The eosts, so' far as it is possible to arrive at them, are:—'oto apples, t-akitig-'fO cases to the- ton: Via Bristol, 16s. 3d. per tort; via London, 28s. 2d. l>er. ton.. Oft 'butter: Via Bristol, 21s. Bd. per ton; via London, 85s. sd. per ton. On canned meats: Via Bristol, 225. per t<a; via Loitckm, 29s od. per ton. On frozen meat: Via Bristol, '20s. 6d. per ton; via London, -375. 6d. per ton, - ■ '

"The other large centres I wßi only deal with as regards butter a-ftd meat, and compare tlw> inclusive charges from the same ports .

Butter. Me.it. Kris- Ijoii- Bris- LoflPorm- tol, Job. 101, <lon, la- p£r-' pet per per lion, ton-.' toji. ign. ton* Newport ... 8-1,009 10/5 30/2 82/4 Cardiff ... 153,85 D 10/5 .'lO 2 17ft 84/4 Plymouth ... 112,001) 16/6 3!>/rt 31/3 43,9 Southampton 119,090 1-5/8 28/6 2-3/11 3-2/7 Swansea, ... .13,-11 3!.j;8 ,-7/B -15/-1 Walsall 92,000 24 t 36/3 33/- , tt/2

"Quo naturally asks, 'Why sho'ild your- ! procluco bft subjected to increased hs-iwj-i ling, a- long railway li.totl, Had an a.pp-ro-i ciabty heavier cost, when it can be ■ brought through the Port af Bristol to tho very doors of the districts it is intended to supply ?' There are markets in the United Kingdom to which little, . . if any, of your produce finds its way, ; [ for tho reason that the high t'raMs.porta- , t-ion charges which it has to heat to L rea-ch those . markets by tho present fnothods puts it out of cottrt in coapeti- [ tion with prodtoeo -which -coines to a centre from svhioh those markets are \ more accsssible. | THa Importers' Viewpoint. i "Now, with regard to the goods you , , import, I desire to prove to you that > equally favour-able conditions may be ob- , tallied by using; tho Port of Bristol, . Bristol itself is a, city with, a variety , of manufactures, chief amongst which a.r> galvanised iron and. general ironwork, railway wagon bodies., colours and . paints, boots and slices, woollen goods., ready-made clothing, dairy wteiisils, agricultural machinery, china-ware, earthenware. leather, olincolatss aha' confectionery, and tobacco. For ilio manufacture of these a.fefgq proportion of rjiw material has to ho iflipoTted., and you are.in a position to supply a .portion of this. In addition, the manufactured goods themselves a-ro amongst tko classes you import. In obtaining -quotations the general practice appears to bo to ask for prices f.o.b. British port, a-nd as a largo proportion tho trflilic is shipped at London, !ho manufacturer 'adds the cost of delivering at that portto tho price of his goods at' works. Kofi? it is in the interests of tho mamifactisrer to quote the lowest iiguto possible-; his profit is included in tho prise of tho manufacture at the- works, and ho is, therefore, generally prepared to charge' only tho actual cost of delivering, .o.r in the ovoiit of a 'higher figure having been included, to give a rebate equal 'to tho amount so saved. It will he readily seen that the cost of delivering goods maimfactored in Bristol to a steamer at Lwi> don instead of to a steamer at tho P®'t of _ Bristol itself g-rcatly increases tho' price, and in a lessor degree the same is the case- with regard to the goods ni-s-nu-U!? lureii in the area Sewed'by Bristol. The-amount saved \vonhl vary according to the places in which this traffic arise?!,, and the class of traffic, hut you may take :! as anything between 2s.'and 13s. per ton. "To illustrate the ease rrf Birmingham, Which is 91 miles from Bristol a-iifl 1.J4 • miles i'rftm Loudon, the ,saving in the. railway rate on Iwdste-ads, if shipped at Bristol instead of London, would hp Bs. 4d. per ton, on colours and paints Gs. 3d. per ton, on hardware 7s-. Ifid.i oai hollawa.re (>s. Id. per ton, on iron andsi.ee! 4s. 'Id. per ton, and on vinegar Bs. 4d. per ton. If advantage is taken of the excellent waterway between the port n«l the Midland Comities of England, which is entirely freo from .railway control, along which, most of the traffic is convoyed in motor-boats, and collected or delivered in the Midlands by motor-lorries, and the cost- compirod with the railway carriage to London (on which; remember, the f.o.b, quotation is invariably- based), the saving on tho conveyance to Bristol as compared with Limtten would he: Bedsteads 125,, colours-and paints IQs. lid., hardware 10s., hoilusvaro 14s. 3d., iron and -steel ss. 3d. More Steamers Presently. "Yon a-iread.y Itiivea iimt-i-fiass service of steamers provided by the fodetal and ■■ Shire lines, loading in both New Zealand [Kiits and Bristol, by which literchandiss is conveyed. 'The fleet owned i by tjiese compaiiics includes steamers i of 11,000 tons, and tho numbe-i- js lie- 1 i-iig augmented by several vessels i-io-w -i under construction. "Now, gentlemen, yon will realise that ' it is only possible to pat our case- in a grm-end way in an address of this kind, i Wo bc-hovo that the? arguments for using the port of Bristol for a portion of jw»r trade are miaitsWerablK,' ali-fl We invite, tho. fullest investigation of the statements made. Wo have no doubt that -as a result you wUI ««mo to the ■ oonclnsion, as merchants in the otivor centres we have visited haw done, that Bristol not only oll'cfs you a new market for your products., kit that it also provides a ehan'Hcl whereby yo«f re* fjfl.ireineiiis from Mimic tuav reach you at tiie lowest possible cost." A number of questions were asked by gentlemen present, all of wbicfe Mr Siaiiniiig Lewis answered. Subsequently a vote of thanks, proposed hy lilr. .Tames M'-Lcllan mid seconded hy'Sir. (Tames Macintosh, was carried with acclamation.