Tacoma’s Bid for Global Trade
Shipping lines pivot to Tacoma as West Coast ports suspend traffic with the Orient.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Puget Sound shippers are inclined to believe that the action of the steamship companies operating from Portland and San Francisco in suspending freight traffic with the Orient will materially increase the shipments from Puget Sound ports, especially Tacoma. It is pointed out that shippers will not suspend operations and that merchandise that would ordinarily have been shipped from the ports of San Francisco and Portland will come to Tacoma. When the announcement was made of a suspension of Oriental traffic at certain ports, the Boston Steamship company immediately began negotiating for two additional steamships to put on the Puget Sound-Oriental route. This company operates one of the largest lines of steamships on the Pacific coast between Tacoma and the Far East. Beyond immediate increases, some trade is expected to remain here because of the superior facilities Tacoma offers for receiving and discharging cargo.
“merchandise that would ordinarily have been shipped from the ports of San Francisco and Portland will come to Tacoma.”
Tacoma’s role as a major maritime gateway remains a cornerstone of its economy, though the trade dynamics have shifted from steamship lines to the massive container terminals that define the modern Port of Tacoma.
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