i-Memoirs ollar . 22- ROBERT DOLLAR 'Robert 'Dollar T)ec ember, 1921 Second Edition April, 1922 PRIVATELY PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY W. S. VAN COTT &. CO. SAN FRANCISCO Copyrighted, 1921 by ROBERT DOLLAR COMPANY Printed by W. S. VAN COTT & CO. San Francisco, Cal. U. S. A. INDEX Addresses At Hotel Oakland, Oakland, Calif ............................................................. 63 Bankers' Convention at Pittsburg, Pa ....................................................... 10 Chamber of Commerce, Manila, P. 1 ......................................................... 106 Commonwealth Club, San Francisco .......................................................... 134 Foreign Trade Convention at Pittsburg, Pa ............................................. 2 Meeting at Stockton, Calif ........................................................................... 21 Merchants and Manufacturers at Calgary, B. C ..................................... 40 Seventh National Foreign Trade Convention, San Francisco ............ 49 Bombay, British India ............................................................................................ 123 Bombay Enroute to New York ............................................................................ 129 Bombay, Port Facilities of .................................................................................. 126 Bore, The, in the River Hugli .............................................................................. 119 Calcutta, Docking at ................................................................................................ 112 Calgary Press, Comments of ................................................................................ 41 Chia Ho, The ............................................................................................................ 26 Chicago, Established Office in, 1919 .................................................................... 37 China Commercial Club, The .............................................................................. 1 Christian Converts in China ................................................................................ 92 Chungking, Census of ............................................................................................ 92 Chungking, Latitude and Longitude of .............................................................. 76 Commercial Commission from Pacific Northwest, Report of .................... 66 Conference in Seattle .............................................................................................. 145 De Lesseps Statue, The .......................................................................................... 132 Diagram showing Percentages of Goods Shipped .......................................... 29 Distance Traveled in 1921 ...................................................................................... 145 Dollar Steamers Commandeered ........................................................................ 15 Dollar Steamship Company Fleet ........................................................................ 144 Dollar Steamship Company Fleet, additions to ................................................ 148 England, Enroute to ................................................................................................ 57 Entertain Chinese Students .................................................................................. 61 Esther Dollar, Purchase of .................................................................................. 60 Excerpt from San Francisco Chronicle ............................................................ 146 Excerpts from San Francisco Press .................................................................. 148 Formosa, Straits of, January 1, 1920 .................................................................. 45 Government Ships, How they should be sold .................................................. 31 Hankow, Latitude and Longitude of ...... : ......................................................... 76 Hongkong .................................................................................................................. 104 Hugli River, The ............................................................................................... v ..... 110 Hunt's Point, New York, Purchase of land at ................................................ 44 Ichang Chamber of Commerce Presents Address to Robert Dollar ........ 78 INDEX Ichang, Looting of Property at 77 Iloilo 108 Inland Transportation on Rivers of India 119 Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce 29 Madras, British India 121 Manila 104 Margaret S. Dollar Chair, The 60 New York, Arrive at Port of, October 13, 1921 133 Oakland Press, Excerpts from 63 Orient, Another Trip to the, in 1917 14 Orient, In the, December, 1919 45 Port Moody Timber Limits, Purchase of 48 Philippine Government, Mismanagement of 105 Prestige Goes if Islands are Freed 106 Progress, Illustration of, at Hakodate 55 Rafts of Poles, Description of 72 Railroads of India 128 Re-foresting Compulsory in China 73 Reminiscences 150 Robert Dollar Activities Discussed by Judge Bufnngton 141 Robert Dollar Chair, The 1 San Rafael, Calif., Arrive at, October 27, 1921 134 Shanghai 103 Shanghai Y. W. C. A. Building, Dedication of 103 Shipping Laws and Regulations must be changed 33 Shipping Register, Excerpts from 27 Ships of United States Government Ordered Sold 143 Singapore 109 Steamers, Purchase of four new 46 Suez, The City of 130 Tonnage, Comparison of 5 Tonnage Comparison of Suez and Panama Canals 131 Tower of Silence, Bombay 125 Trip around the world on board Wenatchee 66 Trip to Washington at Request of Shipping Board 147 Vancouver, B. C, Made Western Terminus 12 Wages of Crew, Solution for Adjusting 32 Wuchang Y. M. C. A. Building, Dedication of 98 Yangtse River, Description of Trip up the 68 Yangtse River from Ichang to Chungking 82, 87 Yangtse River, Height of Water in . 83 . ILLUSTRATIONS Robert Dollar Frontispiece Sawmill at Dollarton, B. C 12 Log Dump at Union Bay, B. C 12 Lumber Yard and Office Building, Tientsin 22 Robert Dollar Building, San Francisco 26 Steamer Robert Dollar '. 34 Office Building and Warehouse, Shanghai 44 Workmen's Cottages and Office Building, Dollarton, B. C 54 Steamer Esther Dollar 60 Steamer Melville Dollar 60 Mrs. Robert Dollar 66 Steamer Harold Dollar at Shanghai 72 Robert Dollar II and Hulk at Chungking 78 Loading from River Craft alongside 78 Gorges of the Upper Yangtse 82 The Rapids of a Yangtse Gorge 84 A Whirlpool in the Upper Yangtse 86 Cargo Junk Shooting Tchin Tan Rapids , 90 Trackers Hauling Junk Up Stream 90 Approach to Chungking Showing Junks Laid Up 92 At Chungking 92 Sitting Room Shanghai Y. W. C. A. Building Erected in Memory of Mrs. Melville Dollar 94 From Bungalow to Chungking by Chair and Boat 96 Wuchang Y. M. C. A. Building Erected by Robert Dollar 98 A Yangtse Gorge Showing Cliffs 102 Office Building at Shanghai 104 View of Gorge from Steamer 106 A Junk on the Yangtse 106 Hulk at Hankow : 108 Steamer Robert Dollar II 108 Steamer Alice Dollar 110 The Ichang Waterfront 110 Company Office Building, Singapore 112 ILLUSTRATIONS Office and Lumber Yard, Hankow 112 Banyan Tree at Botanical Gardens, Howrah, British India 116 Robert Dollar I and Robert Dollar II 120 Steamer Newsboy, our fleet thirty years ago 124 Steamer Grace Dollar, first addition to fleet 124 Steamer Esther Dollar 128 Steamer Melville Dollar 128 The William Dollar 132 Cliffs Rising Perpendicularly from the Water 138 The Mae Dollar 142 Steamer Diana Dollar .. 148 MEMOIRS of ROBERT DOLLAR HILE making a trip on board the steamship Wenatchee from Seattle to Shanghai during the month of April, 1921, I resumed the writ- ing of my memoirs which I had discontinued with the close of the year 1916. I commenced the year 1917 by presenting to the San Francisco Theological Seminary, of San Anselmo, California, a check for $50,000 to endow the Chair of New Testament Interpretation, of which Dr. E. Wisher was the professor. The endowment has been named "The Robert Dollar Chair." In looking over my diary, I find the following entry on the first of "January : "I commence the year in humble and perfect trust in God's guidance in all that is before me during all of this year." Getting together a number of San Franciscans that were interested in the trade of China, we formed what was called "The China Commercial Club," at the first meeting of which there were forty prominent merchants present. The object of the club was to increase and further develop the trade be- tween China and the United States, particularly the Pacific Coast. It turned out to be successful in after years, and in- creased not only the trade, but the friendship between the two countries, as many distinguished men were entertained. For many years I have been a director of the Seaboard National Bank and lately of the Anglo & London Paris v Na- tional Bank, both of San Francisco ; but as it is illegal to serve MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR on the directorates of two national banks, by mutual arrange- ment with the presidents, I resigned from the Seaboard and my son Stanley was elected to succeed me. In January 1917 I addressed a meeting of bankers at Oakland on the subject, "Foreign Trade a Necessity to United States Prosperity." A great deal of my time was taken up attending meetings, I at that time being president of many companies, Shipowners' Association, Y. M. C. A., Theological Seminary, Merchants' Exchange, Douglas Fir Club, and others. It was during this month that 130 San Franciscans in- terested in increasing our trans-oceanic trade, left on a special train to attend the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Foreign Trade Convention at Pittsburg, Pa. On the 26th of January, I delivered the following address, which was received with tremendous applause. ADDRESS BEFORE FOREIGN TRADE CONVENTION Mr. Chfcirman and Gentlemen : What I am going to talk about are the conditions that existed previous to the war, what they will be after the w r ar, and present conditions. I have often said, anybody can run a ship today and make lots of money, but I am going to take you ahead to the time when we will have to get down to the keenest competition the world has ever seen. I want to say to you that in foreign shipping we are in competition with the whole world, and we must meet the keenest and sharpest men the world produces in this competi- tion. It is certainly a man's job. In a talk at New Orleans I did not speak of the handicaps against American ships, but later, some of the members, espe- cially those from the Middle West, said they wished I had mentioned them. I did not have the time to discuss the sub- ject, owing to the vast number of handicaps authorized by the Government. Take, for instance, the method of measuring an American ship. The American Government measures a ship larger than MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR any other nation. The result is, when its ships go to a foreign country, from 20% to 30% more tolls are paid to the foreign Government than the shipping of any other nationality. That amounts, .in a ship of 8000 tons deadweight measurement, to about $5500 a year. The extra cost of inspection : An American has to lay a vessel up to be inspected. In a foreign country, the inspector will say he wants to inspect your vessel, and asks if you are ready and what you have ready. The inspector is told what is ready, and, after inspecting, a certificate of inspection for that certain part is issued, and the ship proceeds to the next port, where the inspection is finished. This method of inspec- tion insures a minimum of delay. But, instead of trying to work with the shipowner, our Government says, "Stop work and wait until we can inspect your ship." I had a ship in Honolulu at one time on which the inspec- tion certificate had expired. She was held up. The nearest inspector was in San Francisco (there was none at Honolulu). After telegraphing a number of times to Washington, we finally got the consent of the authorities to send an inspector to Honolulu. In the meantime our ship and crew were waiting there for the inspector to come (laughter) at a cost to us of about $30,000 a year. Then in the difference of wages : I have the records in my books of the wage cost of operating three ships; one an American ship, one a British ship and the other a Japanese ship. The Japanese ship we chartered, but the other two I owned. The wages on the American ship were $39,240 a year; the wages on the British ship were $15,696 a year; and the wages on the Japanese ship were $9324 a year. When we get right down to keen competition, this is the kind of competition we are going to meet along with all the other handicaps we have. I won't mention them now as it would take too long. Mr. Furuseth of the Seamen's Union, in planning the Sea- men's Bill which has since been enacted as a law, said his plan was to get every sailor that came to an American, port on a foreign ship to desert from his ship, and then re-engage MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR him at American wages. In theory that was fine, but in prac- tice it wasn't worth a cent. (Laughter.) He forgot that, according to Japanese law, if a sailor deserts from a Japanese ship in a foreign port, when he returns home he is put into jail for a year. Now, Mr. Furuseth made provisions in the Seamen's Bill, that the sailors of every nationality who deserted their ships in the United States would return on their own ships, or they would be taken in charge by our immigration authorities and deported. He did not take into consideration that the Japanese would go back home and then straight into the calaboose on arrival. (Laughter.) Now, what I have to say is this : Shipowners don't want a subsidy; because a subsidy, you know, is to Congress like showing a red flag to a bull ; but, if other nations are paying their sailors $20 a month and the American wage is $50 a month, and the Government wishes to keep this scale of wage, then let the Government pay to every American sailor shipped, the extra $30 a month. That will not be a subsidy, that will only be a little help to the poor men. (Laughter and applause.) For the benefit of you men who are not in the shipping business, I will say : When you hire a man, the bargain is just between you and him; you hire him and he works for you. Not so in shipping. When we hire a crew for a ship we have to take them before the United States Shipping Com- missioner who explains to the men the agreement and each man signs the shipping articles. Then, when it comes to pay- ing off, we are not permitted to pay each man, but we must take the money and give it to the Shipping Commissioner and the Shipping Commissioner pays him. You see, gentlemen, that the Government comes in between to keep the wicked shipowner from "doing up" the poor man. (Laughter.) Now, a question that you gentlemen no doubt have often asked yourselves, is this; "What difference does it make to us whether we ship our goods in a foreign or American ship, provided the rate of freight is the same." It shouldn't make any difference. But I will tell you where the difference comes in. Take a shipowner running a ship from an American port ; he is the best drummer of trade you can get, because, as I MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR have explained to you, he will go to extremes to obtain a return cargo for his own port, and try to increase the com- merce of that port. But, if I were living in London or in Liverpool, do you think I would be pulling for this United States? Not at all. It is because I live in this country that I am a drummer for the trade of this country and I try to keep my ships going. As an illustration, I cited a case where we sent a ship clear around the world to get back to our own country. That is the advantage of having ships of our own. Another thing. If a ship is to come back in ballast, you gentlemen are going to pay just about double for the freight going outward. A return cargo will almost cut your freight bill in two. The Emergency Act was about the only thing that was passed by Congress that amounted to anything at all in the way of helping American shipping, and that was drafted by a committee of this organization. But the ink had hardly gotten dry on the President's signature, when down came the LaFollette Bill, which practically crushed us out of existence. I have not time to go into the details of that Bill, as it would take a half hour to tell you about it, and you would be tickled to death with the explanation, if I only had the time to give it. (Laughter.) That was by way of helping the American Merchant Marine over the left. Now, I am going to read these figures of the Department of Commerce report of last May, just try and keep them in your mind. Before the war, the American tonnage from the Pacific Coast was 26.10% of the whole tonnage. In May, 1916, after the beneficial LaFollette Bill had gotten in its deadly work, the American tonnage from the Pacific Coast was 1.97%. Shall I read those figures over? Before the war, 26.10%, and after, 1.97%, after you know what. (Laughter.) Then, the British tonnage before the war was 29.38%, and now, in May, it was 37.09%. The German tonnage was 18.47%, which of course was wiped out. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Then, Japan. I want you to take particular notice of this, gentlemen, and take it home with you, if you will. Just make a note of it: Japan, before the war, did 26.05% of the Pacific trade, and in May, 1916, 50.90%. That is the effect of the LaFollette Seamen's Bill. You will notice the Americans went down to 1.97% and the Japanese ran up to 50.90%; and, if I had the statistics up to the first of January, it would show an increase for the Japanese up to and over 60%. They would not show any decrease for the Americans, because we were right down to nothing. (Laughter.) Then the Dutch came in. Before the war they did nothing at all, but since the war they are doing 10%. Those figures are very significant taken in connection with the legislation that is going on. I want to say to you gentlemen that I am not making a political speech. The Republicans did their worst to hurt the American Merchant Marine, and the Democrats were only more successful because they were better at figuring they were able to do us up worse than the others. (Laughter and applause.) You see there is no discussion of politics in this. Now I will give you just one more illustration. The old Pacific Mail Steamship Company paid no dividends for thir- teen years. How would you like it? (Laughter.) Thirteen years between drinks. Think of it. Then the Seamen's Act became effective, and if the company had remained in busi- ness it would have had to pay $600,000 more a year. The Seamen's Act provides that a sailor can demand and receive half the wages due him, at any port at which the ship arrives. Some of you don't know what sailors do when they get their money, but I do. When a ship of the new Pacific Mail Steamship Company arrived at Honolulu, the crew asked for and received half their wages, and all hands went up town. I don't know what they did up town, but they forgot to come back. When the captain was ready to start, the crew were not ready, so the ship remained there a day waiting for the crew, and then proceeded to Yokohama. There the same thing was repeated, only they brought whiskey aboard the ship. While in Yoko- MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR hama the company gave a banquet to a number of Japanese gentlemen aboard the new ship after it had been inspected by the guests, when the waiters got into a free-for-all fight right in the dining saloon amidst the guests, and broke furniture as well as each other's heads; then again at Kobe the dose was repeated. The company decided it could stand it no longer, so sent to China for a Chinese crew. The American crew were sent home as passengers, and the company continues running its ships with Chinese crews. Do you blame it? The Japanese, I will just say, are increasing their trade to South America. Their trade to South America during the past year has increased about 50%. There is one thing more I wish to say, that is : With these abnormally high freight rates where shipowners are making money as never before, the Americans are out of it, and the other nations are in it. Japan has increased her wealth so much, her balance of trade was just about even but ship- ping has increased her wealth to such an extent, that every steamer leaving San Francisco, practically has from one million to two millions of gold the balance of trade now being very much in her favor, the result of Americans not having a merchant marine. Gentlemen, I thank you. Those meetings were very successful and are gradually getting the people to appreciate the necessity and importance of foreign trade. Credit for their success was due largely to the leadership of James A. Farrell and other brainy men who gave their time and influence to the Foreign Trade Coun- cil meetings. I visited Washington and called on various members of the Government, and had conferences with the new Shipping Board, who were trying to devise ways and means of properly conducting this great undertaking. But as time went on the situation became more and more complicated and difficult to manage; until at the present writing it has reached a deplorable state, there not having been a fully authorized board in many months. There are now only two members on the board, neither of whom have authority to do anything constructive, consequently business has come to a standstill. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR The situation has become so acute and difficult that the present administration has been unable to obtain the right kind of men to accept appointments to the Board. The Act governing the personnel provides that no one interested in shipping is eligible, the inference being that all shipowners are men who could not be trusted a sad and unjust slur on the shipowners of the United States. Compare this policy with that of Great Britain, where the biggest ship- owners are the active members of the Shipping Board, hence the great success under their management. Also compare this British policy with the latest Wilson appointments, where the majority are law r yers and newspaper men, all honorable and good men, but utterly incapable of managing the biggest merchant fleet in the world. It requires men of lifelong experience in maritime affairs and shipping to successfully handle our merchant fleet and this knowledge can only be had by the hard knocks of personal experience and application. The holding of ships at a price more than four times the price of similar ships that other nations are willing to accept, only goes to show that our Shipping Board is completely out of touch with the actual and true situation. Shipping Boards have to do business throughout the world, and must meet the competition of every nation, therefore, they must meet their rates not only in the selling of ships, but also the rates of freight that all others nations are willing to accept. Com- petition has gotten almost to the point of a survival of the fittest, as there are afloat throughout the world over twelve million tons of shipping more than existed before the war in 1914, the chief cause for such great numbers of ships being laid up today. The Shipping Board reports over half of its fleet laid up, and present conditions would indicate that it will be many a day before all the idle ships are employed. Besides all this, there are over six million tons of ships building that will be in commission before the end of this year. Tank steamers were scarce; but, there are so many now under construction that it is a certainty many of them will be forced to lay up with the freighters for lack of profitable business. 8 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR The situation in regard to passenger steamers is different ; many of them were lost during the war, and very few were built as compared with ordinary freighters, so that there is room for a few fast passenger steamers; but even in this class of vessel the shortage is rapidly being made up, so that by the end of this year I think there will be as many in commission as will be required. One thing is sure as far as the Pacific Ocean trade is concerned, by the end of 1922 there will be more passenger steamers in commission than there will be business for them. So taking the ship owning situation as a whole, it is going to be a survival of the fittest, which will be determined by : First. Those having the most modern ships; Second. The best organization to secure world freight; Third. The most economically operated and best managed ships ; Fourth. Those best equipped financially to weather the storm. Those having the above qualifications will come through pending the hard times we have just entered into, and which we must expect and be prepared for all through 1921 and 1922, and perhaps longer; but human foresight cannot look very far ahead. But, as we have just passed through a period of prosperous times, it is quite in order to take some of the bad. I visited New York and discussed with the leading ship- owners, the shipping situation. I am sorry to have met for the last time, George Dearborn, president of the American Hawaiian Steamship Company, who died shortly afterward; and Willard Straight, who died in France. Had an interest- ing talk with F. A. Vanderlip, the great financier. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER II On my way home in February, I stopped off at Pitts- burg, and addressed about 700 people at a banquet given by the Bankers' Association, mostly young men. Mr. Herr, president of the Westinghouse Company, presided. I received a warm welcome, and spoke, about as follows : ADDRESS BEFORE THE BANKERS CONVENTION The first matter that I wish to bring to your attention is Honesty. You may be surprised when I say to you that there are two kinds of honesty. One, the clean cut genuine article that is carried out in word, deed and action ; the other kind permits a man to go right up to the prison doors, but being smart enough, he keeps out. The latter kind of honesty you should have nothing to do with. You must work in this world as no success can be obtained without work. The men that are looking for soft snaps, if they manage to get them, will never get any further along. The man that works and wants plenty of it is the fellow that gets up to the top. Work, to me, is one of the greatest pleasures I have; and if you follow this course to its logical conclusion your greatest pleas- ure will be in the work that you are doing and the satisfaction of seeing what you can accomplish. Life is short and you are all here for a purpose. That purpose is not to lie around doing nothing, but to work and accomplish results. It is commonly reported among young men that there is not the opportunity now to progress that there was many years ago. This is a fallacy. There never was a time in the his- tory of the world when young men were in such great demand, and there are more vacancies and places at the top than ever before. Our educational system of today has a great deal to do with giving young men this misconception. A young man coming out of a university gets the idea that the education he has obtained will earn for him a living. 10 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR To illustrate what I mean : A fine strapping young man came to see me and said he wanted a position. When a young man asks me for a position it is like showing a red flag to a bull. If he asks me for work it has exactly the reverse effect on me. I questioned him about his experience. He replied, that he was a university graduate. Finally to try him out,. I asked what wages he wanted, he promptly replied $2400 a year. I stated that there was only one job in our employ that would suit him and that I would not like to give it to him, as it was the position I held myself. He went away crestfallen when I gave him this advice : "The next place you go, ask for work, and tell them to let you work a week so as to show them what you can do." He thought that because he had a university training it would earn for him his living. This is not the case, a man must apply himself and work, to get up, otherwise he will fail. It is a great thing to endeavor to be independent and the only way this can be accomplished is by strict economy and saving. There are more opportunities for such men than ever before. Ask any man who is at the head of a large company and he will immediately tell you of the great difficulty he has in getting men capable of taking charge of a business. It is of great advantage to a young man to study hard and learn the conditions that exist throughout the world. Especially is it beneficial to him to know the geography of the world, so that when the name of a place comes up he 'can immediately locate in his mind as to where it is. To illustrate my meaning : In addressing a meeting of one of the large Chambers of Commerce some years ago, I stated that I was given a complimentary luncheon by the Chamber of Commerce at Hankow, and that a banker w r as present from a city with a population of three-quarters of a million people, the capital of Hupeh Province, which city is directly across the river from Hankow ; and I asked that any in the audience who knew the name of this city to hold up their hands. There was not a single hand raised. Now what would you think of a man in a foreign country that did not know the name of Pittsburg. After I had finished my address a gentleman II MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR in the audience rose and said to the chairman that it would not be right to let me leave before telling them the name of that city, as there was not a man in the whole audience who knew the name of it. It was Wuchang. Turning more particularly now to banking. I would say to you that you are blessed in living in a country that has the gold standard. In China we have the silver standard which is the bane of our existence, as every morning the value may be different from the value of the night before. In this connection I would caution you to beware of fads. You recol- lect the first time that Mr. Bryan ran for the Presidency? He came very near going in on the free silver issue, which, if put into operation, would have so demoralized the banking system as to have practically put us out of business. I would also call your attention to the importance of our having banks in foreign countries. Practically all our business has to be done through foreign banks; in fact it was only two years ago that national banks were permitted to engage in foreign banking. This has now been changed, and a few American branches are now being established in different parts of the world. I then explained to them the working out of exchange as between different Chinese States, and also between China and this country. VANCOUVER MADE WESTERN TERMINUS Some time ago, on account of the drastic clauses in the LaFollette Seamen's Bill, which of course we expected to be enforced (but which never has been), The Robert Dollar Company moved the terminus of its British Steamship Line from San Francisco to Vancouver, B. C., and in a recent visit I found that we had succeeded beyond our expectations, as our ships were running full of cargo to and from the Orient, and we were making preparations for an extension of the service. However, as we considered the price of ships too high we finally decided to await lower prices before buying more ships, and had to content ourselves with chartered steamers, with which 12 Upper SAWMILL AT DOLLARTON, B. C. Lower LOG DUMP FROM OUR CAMP AT UNION BAY MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR to do the best we could to keep up our service until we could buy more steamers. At this time we discussed a proposition to produce cargoes for our ships when hard times would come upon us, and after a thorough investigation decided that the only sure way to get lumber cargoes would be to build a saw mill of our own. So we bought 100 acres of land near Roache's Point on Burard Inlet, six miles from Vancouver and built a modern, up-to- date saw mill, especially constructed to supply our China trade. We intended to buy our saw logs, but soon found out that we must buy and own our own forests and get out our own logs. In a very short time we found ourselves producing from two camps all the logs necessary to supply our mill, so our busi- ness was a gradual advance from one stage to another to meet necessities as they arose. Then we had to build a number of scows to carry the lumber; the next was a tug to tow them and a car barge to bring the empty cars to the mill, and return the loaded ones to the railroads. Then we had to lay out a village, and build houses for our employees ; these we consider to be the best working men's houses to be found anywhere. Each house has a garden and the rent of $15.00 a month in- cludes water, electricity and wood. A postoffice, with a daily mail service has been established, which is called Dollarton. Dollarton also has a church, the minister being on our pay roll, and a school. It is a very happy and contented com- munity. In April of this year Mrs. Dollar and I made another of our trips to China. I remember very well my first voyage, which ended very unsatisfactorily. When about six years old I got a large washtub and floated it on the Forth and Clyde Canal. I had a stick for an oar, but when I tried to propel the tub it only turned around and around. I drifted away from shore, and becoming frightened, made a great outcry for help. My father was in a lumber yard near by and hearing the S. O. S. call came to see what was the trouble. Seeing me adrift in a tub, he came out in a boat and rescued me. The reward I received was a first-class licking. This was my first and last voyage in a tub. 13 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Had many important matters to attend to in Shanghai, one being that I had decided we must have a wharf, warehouses, and a terminal for our steamers. I examined the Whangpoo River ten miles from Woosung to above the arsenal on both sides of the river, and after much thought decided on a site at the mouth of Pai Lien Chien Creek, where I bought about twenty acres of land having 1000 feet of river frontage, but later we added to it, and now have about three times as much. The wharf which we built is the strongest and most substantial wooden wharf I ever saw, and our godowns are all reinforced concrete and perfectly fireproof. A good boiler and engine- house furnishes pumping facilities and electricity, so I feel safe in stating it is an ideal up-to-date plant, and should last without repairs for many years. There is no salt water in the river, but it requires filtering for drinking. We have a plant for this purpose. I had no idea that business would grow to anywhere near the proportions it has reached, as I felt sure one-third of the land would be sufficient for all our requirements. Our wharf now can dock two of the* largest steamers, and we have two-story godowns 500 feet long by 100 feet wide, besides examination sheds 800 feet long by 40 feet wide. We have also opened a lumber yard on this ground, and even with our very big capacity it is crowded to the limit. Besides, our tonnage has recently been doubled, and although it looks improbable at this writing, the growth has gone so completely beyond my highest expectations that I don't like to anticipate what will take place in the future. We built a fine substantial office, as well as dwellings for our officials, and adjoining our land a large sized village has sprung up. On my last visit I arranged to build a school house to educate the sixty children of school age who are in the village, and also agreed to pay the teacher and all expenses connected with it for the first year. Our ferry steamer makes hourly trips and carries over 200 persons, we also carry many men from Shanghai. Last year we carried over one million passengers and, as is the custom, no fares were charged. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER III On the 24th of May, 1917, I got a rude awakening by re- ceiving a cable from the British Commodore in Hong Kong informing us that he had commandeered all our steamers and asking when and where we would deliver them. I replied asking if it would be of any use my going to see him with a view to modifying his order. He replied he would be glad to see me any time but gave no indications as to what he would do. The Bessie Dollar was ready to sail from Shanghai, so I went 'with her, and on arrival in Hong Kong immediately went to see the Commodore. I asked him if he was at liberty to tell me what he intended doing with the vessels. He was very nice about it and told me frankly that he wanted our vessels to carry coolies from North China to Vancouver for transportation to France. I asked, "Would it be satisfactory to you to allow me to do the work for you, and use the space in the ships not other- wise needed?" He said such an arrangement would be en- tirely satisfactory, but that I had overlooked a very important part, and that was the compensation, I then dictated a letter to him reciting what I had agreed to do, and stating that I would leave the compensation entirely to the Admiralty in London. He was a very much surprised man, and asked, "What if they pay $1.00 for each ship?" I replied that this was war time, and I would stand by my offer. The following day he sent for me and said he had a reply from London, and that in justice to me he had cabled my entire letter. Their reply was entirely satisfactory, in fact, was considerably more than I would have asked. In the meantime I had turned over the Bessie Dollar to them, and they were rapidly transforming her into a troop- ship. The business went so satisfactory to the British Govern- ment that at the close of the war the Admiralty in London sent us as nice a letter as they could write, thanking us fot the 15 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR service and congratulating us for the very satisfactory manner in which we carried out our part of the agreement to its ful- fillment. We also carried a lot of coolies back from France and Vancouver on the termination of the war. This business, along with the freight which we carried, was most satisfactory to us as well as to them. No prospect could have been more dismal than the loss of all our ships, with the resultant total paralysis of all our Far Eastern business, so I repeat the old sayings; "The darkest cloud has often a silver lining," and "all is well that ends well." The weather was intensely hot and the difficulty of suc- cessfully carrying on the business at this time was very great, so I had anything but a picnic. However, the ultimate success well repaid me for all the hard work and harder thinking. I visited Manila to endeavor to work up more business; bought a lot on which to build a house for the manager. I found it difficult to increase the business, but we must keep right after it. We seem to have far better success in China than in the Philippines, but I do not know why this is, although I be- lieve that if the Philippines are properly developed they will become a great country. It has always been my claim that Java is the most fertile island in the world; and although it is small, it supports over thirty-five millions of people. If Luzon had the population and they worked like the Javanese, it would produce more, as I think it has more arable rich land than in Java. Then there are the other islands having millions of acres of rich uncultivated land. The Hollanders compelled the natives to work, which has given them indus- trious habits, that the Filipinos lack, and which the American Government did not instill in them, but spoiled them by paying higher wages than are paid in any of the East Indian countries, and at least double, if not three times more than in any nearby country. This caused idleness, as they could earn enough in one or two days to keep them a week, and as the mass of them only work to keep body and soul together they only work about one-quarter of their time. The early educators did not teach them that no nation can become truly great except by frugality and hard work, but allowed them to believe that 16 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR when they got a smattering of education and wore shoes, the world owed them a superior living and that they did not have to work. I visited the fine large school at Capiz on the island of Panay, and was surprised to find that no effort had been made to encourage industry. Sometime after this I learned that the educational authorities had thoroughly awakened to the mis- take that was made, and have adopted a system whereby the boys are taught that no success in life can be assured with- out industry, and that it is not dishonorable to work, but highly honorable. To our youth at home this advice is unnecessary, but it has to be pounded into the Malay mind. I understand far better results are now obtained. The Chinese are the mer- chants of the Philippines, brought about by their industry and intense, hard work. At this time the cost of stevedoring was nearly three times as large in Manila as in Hong Kong, and about half as fast. This has since been changed, but not alto- gether, as there is still plenty of room for improvement, both in the cost as well as in the rapid handling of cargo. I was in Shanghai on the fourth of July and attended a reception at the Consulate, and an inspection of marines and sailors by the Admiral and the Consul General, viewing the parade from the reviewing stand. This is the first time in Shanghai that all nations joined heartily with the Americans in celebrating their national holiday. I was real glad to see it, as it was a demonstration of friendship and a pulling to- gether brought about to a great extent by the European War. I hope this feeling may continue, especially with the English speaking countries, as I believe a co-operation and an under- standing between us will have the same effect as the League of Nations would have had, if it had been possible to have successfully put it through. We went up the river to Hankow, where we thoroughly investigated our business, which I found to be in an excellent condition. I visited the Wuchang Y. M. C. A., which is now under the management of a secretary paid by the Robert Dollar Company; also investigated the necessity of a building^ for this work. 17 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR It being July, the weather was intensely hot, but I managed to meet all whom it was necessary to see and made sufficient investigations into business conditions to satisfy myself as to how it was conducted. We then went to Peking, but many of those I wanted to see were out of town at summer resorts to avoid the intense heat. However, I saw all there were in Peking who were interested in our business. Thence we went to Tientsin and found our business in excellent shape and very prosperous. At Tientsin we own two half city blocks of im- proved land, but buildings have gone up around us to such an extent that the land has become too valuable to use for a lum- ber yard, so in anticipation of increasing values, we purchased a block just across the river Pei Ho, in the Russian Concession, which will suit us just as well for a lumber yard and we can ultimately dispose of our present yard for building sites. While in Shanghai I drove around the city trying to get a correct understanding of its growth since I first saw it, less than twenty years ago. I located the boundaries at that time and noticed the growth and the expansion that has taken place since then; and unless I had obtained that correct viewpoint, I never would have believed that the growth had been so great, it was easily 30% to 35%. This was particularly true along the river front, where there has been built wharves, factories and public works of many descriptions. One of the biggest changes has taken place in Nantoa, between the walled city and the Bund. Good and permanent building has been done by reclaiming the fore shore. Many permanent improvements have also been made at Pootung, across the river as far up as our wharf, which is now practically at the head of deep water navigation. Amongst many others, the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation has developed from nothing to a tremendous power in the city. This institution is cro\vded to its utmost capacity both day and night, and its religious work has also increased correspondingly. While at Pootung I witnessed a most remark- able hail storm. The hail stones were so large they went right through the tiling of roofs, and made round holes similar to bullet holes. The destruction of glass was so great that a 18 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR sufficient quantity to repair the damage could not be obtained for weeks. The sizes of the stones I measured were six inches in circumference and two inches in diameter. Fortunately the storm did not last long. On the 5th of August we sailed for home after a few months of real hard work and of great pleasure in being able to accomplish it. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER IV On my arrival at Vancouver I spent fifteen days looking over the mill which was not giving entire satisfaction, but we got it better organized. I also visited our logging camps. Arrived home on the 8th of August after an absence of four months. In October I made a trip to New York to attend the an- nual meeting of the Foreign Trade Council, and also visited Washington on shipping affairs. Had many important con- ferences both in Washington and in New York. From New York I went to Ottawa and in a personal interview with the Canadian Cabinet made satisfactory terms about carrying government freight to Vladivostok. Was real glad to get home again although in looking over my diary I find I had presided at from two to four public meetings a day, besides trying to look after our own affairs, and raising $360,000 for the Y. M. C. A. war fund. This was a big and successful undertaking. Before the end of the year I made two more trips to Vancouver looking after our interests there. I find recorded in my diary for 1917, that we had our annual dinner of employees at which twenty-four were present. (At a similar meeting in 1921 there were fifty-six present; this shows the expansion of the Robert Dollar Com- pany during four years.) I copy the following from my 1917 diary, December 31st: "Had a very busy day, every minute was fully occupied" ; then the following: "As the years go by I find each succeeding year brings me more cause for great thanksgiving to God for all his abundant mercies and blessings which are past finding out. No man can possibly have more reason to thank God than I have. The question comes up always, what shall I do for all this goodness to me and mine?" 20 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR In January 1918, I addressed a meeting in Stockton, Cal.. on the importance of foreign trade and shipping to our nation : ADDRESS TO MEETING AT STOCKTON To talk of foreign trade in this city seemed to me at first to be out of place. But you are to develop a deep waterway here. You do not need deep water for your local commerce, and the present depth is amply sufficient for your local needs. In making a deep waterway, you go into foreign trade. This country did not look very favorably on foreign trade until recent years. Then came the war. Now we must have for- eign trade we cannot do without it. Secretary of Commerce Redfield said the factories of this country can supply the requirements of the people in six months. If that statement is correct, either the production for the remaining six months of the year must be sold abroad, or the factories must shut down and the workingman be idle for that length of time. The factories must be kept busy and we must go after foreign trade in a way we never went after it before. Secretary of State Bryan once told me to stay at home with my ships or I'd get into trouble. I said, I won't. Who is interested in foreign trade? The farmer is, for he must sell what he produces; the merchant is, for he must handle the goods; the banker is. Until recently there was a law on our statute books prohibiting branch banks in foreign countries. All other countries compel their banks to estab- lish branches. Now things are beginning to change with us. The light is beginning to dawn in Washington. What difference does it make if Great Britain or any other country has a branch bank in every port? When I sold a bill of exchange, the documents were attached and sold to a foreign bank. The foreign banker saw what we were doing and knew our plans. Blood is thicker than water, you know, and these foreign bankers gave their countrymen the tip as to what we were doing. I know, as I have received a tip myself. When we get American banks in foreign ports, no one else gets the benefit. We want American citizens in foreign 21 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR countries to attend to our business; otherwise we "get it in the neck." Now we are busy establishing banks. It is true that American inventive genius is all right, but we need an equal chance with the rest or we will have a hard time of it. You are urging deep water here. The Yangtse River and its tributaries in China provide commerce for one-sixth of the human race. The commerce of that river is tremendous. If you get a deep-water channel to this city. 10,000-ton ships will come here from Hankow before I die. I am 75 years old and I expect to keep actively in business for twenty- five years more. You get busy, for I want the privilege of bringing the first 10,000-ton ship to Stockton. I sent the first 9000-ton ship into Los Angeles harbor and I want to go a thousand tons better for Stockton. The world is changing. You may say there is not so much commerce. Thirty-six years ago only one company had four ships on this coast, and those ships aggregated 10,000 tons. Today the ships engaged in commerce have a capacity of 700,000 tons here on the Pacific. Thirty-five years hence what will it be? We are just getting started. Imagine the tremendous amount of commerce coming ! You all know the commerce of the world started in the upper end of the Mediterranean; during our own time it moved to the Atlantic. I propose to live to see the center of commerce on the Pacific. Why should you pay out your money for a deep-water chan- nel if there were not such a future? The commerce coming to the Pacific, in which Stockton w r ill share, passes the bounds of imagination. The Seamen's Bill has turned over the commerce of the Pacific to the Island Kingdom. To protect myself from this law I had to move my ships to Vancouver. We had to pro- hibit the export of gold to prevent our stock from becoming depleted, because Japan had the tonnage and rates on us; that is what can be accomplished with plenty of ships. Japan has 461 postoffices in Korea and 124 in Manchuria, which are supposed to be under the influence of China where the open-door policy is supposed to exist. Japan has a club 22 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR there with which to knock us out if we attempt to enter. There are 12 post-offices of Japan in China. America has a postoffice in China. That's how one country helps its people. Sixty years ago concessions were secured in Shanghai by the United States, Great Britain and France. The others beautified and developed their concessions, but the United States let its concession go. Now our consulate there is located across the street from a warehouse, and Washington had paid $350,000 to buy a part of the land it once let go, in order to secure a location for the consulate. But America is getting there just the same. The American population in China has increased 33% during the past two years, and they are the right sort of Americans. President Wilson said that if American citizens hadn't enough get-up-and-go to them to operate ships, the Government would do it. I replied to him then, that American citizens had two and a quarter million tons of shipping under foreign flags because they could not financially operate them under our flag with success, because of the conditions imposed by the Govern- ment. In other countries American ships had to pay all assess- ments, and that was 30% more than I had to 1 pay in operating ships under the British flag. Some officials say the raise in wages required for American ships does not count, as American energy offsets all costs. If that is so, why do they compel us to carry 30 % more men to operate our ships than any other ships afloat? Up to this time our country had practiced the destruction of big business. Then the war came, and they almost begged on their knees for big business to come back and help them, because the politicians had failed. I have here the manifests of two of my ships. They left for China carrying 298 different commodities. I don't care what your business is, you are interested in some of those com- modities on those vessels. Coming back they brought 127 dif- ferent commodities. All here will get the benefit of some of these. Our Government took all of our ships to operate during the war. It gave me $40,000 for one ship's voyage, and I 2 3 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR had to pay back $170,000; and now the Government proposes to keep the ships and operate them. The wise college professor at Washington tells us what the rates will be to the ports of the world. He has a rate of $20 a ton from New York to Shanghai. The rate for steel from Pittsburg to this coast is $17, so that leaves the munificent sum of $3 a ton for the rest of the distance. It is an utter impossibility for the Government to engage in foreign trade. Look at the Government's management of the railroad business. The railroad presidents, hat in hand, had asked for an increase in rates of 10% and they were refused. Then Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo took charge of the railroads and increased the rates 35%. We don't know what the Government will do, for the Government is the people, and how are the people to tell us when they don't know themselves. Our ships are laid up in large numbers in various harbors, for they can not venture out to compete in foreign trade. We do not need any advantage, as we can care for ourselves, if we have an even break. A shipowner who must have "pap" from the Government does not deserve to combine in the business. Through exposure in Vancouver I had a very serious at- tack of erysipelas, which confined me to my bed for twelve days, during which time I was totally blind for six days, and delirious for three. This is the first real sickness I have had in forty years, and for a month I was unable to attend to business, but I got over it and am as well as ever. I find a note in my diary stating that I had sent a check for $50,000 to the New York Y. M. C. A. to be used in erecting a building at Wuchang, Hupeh Province, China. I also sent direct to Wuchang about $15,000 to purchase additional land to allow for expansion. I consider there is a great opening for this work as there are many hundreds of young men going to commercial and other schools near the site of the building, which will be completed and occupied by 1921. I find a note in my diary that I had been working several days on a history of steam navigation ; whether I will ever get the time to finish it remains to be seen. I also note that most 24 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR of my time is taken up with public and charitable matters and what time I could spare went to the business, every minute of my time from early morning till late at night is fully occupied, and I hope it will always continue. I neither want idleness nor an easy time. I spent half of August either in New York or Washington. It was really hot but I got through with a great deal of busi- ness, principally in connection with the consummation of the contract for the Chinese Government to build steamers for the American Government. On closing the contract the Chinese Government through their Ambassador, Wellington Koo, con- ferred a very high honor on me by telling Mr. Hurley, Presi- dent of the Shipping Board, that his Government requested the American Government to hand over to me all the money in payment for the ships, which would amount to many millions of dollars and not to ask me to give either bond or agreement for the money. I cannot help but prize this confidence as one of the highest honors I have ever received. For our part in this business the President of the Chinese Republic honored me with the Chia Ho, a description of which is herewith given in the following excerpt from the San Fran- cisco Chronicle. "Order of the Chia Ho, China's most prized decoration, has been conferred upon Captain Robert Dollar, San Francisco capitalist, in recognition of his service during the war in secur- ing from the United States Government for the Chinese Gov- ernment a $14,000,000 contract for the construction of eight ships. Captain Dollar received the decoration four stars, two gold and two silver overlapping, with a raised shock of wheat in the center from the President of the Chinese Republic, Wednesday. "The distinction conferred upon Captain Dollar is one that rarely goes to foreigners, General John J. Pershing also is a member of the order. "Captain Dollar has extensive interests in China and his reputation for honesty and integrity is so well established that no bond or other security was required of him by the Chinese 25 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Government in handling the $14,000,000 shipbuilding contract. The money, secured from the United States Government, was turned over to the Chinese Government by Captain Dollar. "The Chia Ho in English takes the meaning of Bountiful Harvest. The decoration was brought to this country by offi- cers of one of the ships of the Dollar Steamship Company." During the month of August I attended many meetings of which the following is an example of one day: Meeting of Seamen's Church Institute; Foreign Trade Committee of the Chamber of Commerce; presided at meeting of China Com- mercial Club; directors meeting of San Francisco Savings & Loan Bank. In addition I had to attend to all my own busi- ness. Is it any wonder I make a notation that I went home tired? At the urgent request of the Harbor Board I went to Los Angeles to attend its annual meeting, where it was to take under consideration various methods to make Pacific Coast ports more attractive to shipowners. In November I went to New York and presided at the an- nual meeting of the Foreign Trade Council. From New York I proceeded to Washington where I had the pleasure of meet- ing many of our big men of affairs; this was particularly bene- ficial to me as it put me in close touch with the broad-gauge men of finance, commerce and shipping. I also attended the Fourth Annual Banquet of the India House which was presided over by Mr. James A. Farrell, who persuaded me to deliver the address of the evening. It was an opportunity to speak to the biggest men of finance and com- merce of our country. The room, a large one, was crowded to its utmost capacity and many had to stand. It has been a pleasure to me to have been a charter member and vice president of this great and prosperous club. We had the pleasure of being the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Alba B. John- son at their beautiful home at Rosemont, near Philadelphia. At Washington we also had the pleasure of meeting a great many friends which made our visit a very pleasant one, al- though it was taken solely for business. 26 ROBERT DOLLAR BUILDING 311 California Street, San Francisco We bargained to buy what was called the Insurance Block, 311 California Street, which has turned out to be a bargain. We have made it into a ten-story building and remodeled it so that it is one of the best office buildings in the city. It has always been one of the most attractive office buildings on California Street, which is now the bankers' and foreign mer- chants' street of San Francisco. Two banks are on the ground floor and The Robert Dollar Company occupies the entire upper floor, which does not appear to be any too large for our com- pany. The boys have re-named the building, "The Robert Dollar Building," in my honor. EXCERPTS FROM THE "SHIPPING REGISTER" "Workmen are busy putting the finishing touches on the Robert Dollar building at California and Battery streets, which has just been completed at a cost of $1,000,000. The struc- ture is of imposing dimensions, occupying a half block on Cali- fornia street and nearly the same space on Battery street. As the accompanying photograph shows, it is ten stories in height, of Class A construction and forms a handsome unit in San Francisco's financial district. "When Robert Dollar purchased the property a little over a year ago it was improved by a building of five stories only. Recognizing the advantage of the location, Mr. Dollar deter- mined to increase the structure to take care of what he deemed the needs of the future. Under the direction of architect Charles W. McCall of Oakland, the task of adding five stories was undertaken. Besides this the entire front and general ex- terior was altered, additional high-speed elevators installed and changes made to bring the structure to the highest point of efficiency. During the entire period of eight months in which the changes were made not a tenant was disturbed, business being carried on as usual by all the occupants. "Long before the building changes were completed, space on all the five additional floors was sought by business firms who realized the advantage of the building and its surround- ings. The tenth floor, however, was reserved by Robert Dollar for the firm's own offices and when the fittings, especially de- 27 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR signed for the purpose are installed, the Dollar Company will have as fine quarters as it is possible to provide. "As the photographs of the new building show, the archi- tect was given full rein with the detail with the result that, the decorations on the structure's exterior are not only novel but appropriate as well. The pillar decorations include capstans, anchors, tridents and dolphins. Surmounting the first story is a border of cordage set out at intervals with starfish. Repro- ductions of the Dollar house flag are additional nautical sug- gestions as to the origin and character of the structure." 28 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER V In January 1919 I addressed a meeting of the merchants and manufacturers in Los Angeles at their urgent request at which there were four hundred present. The Foreign Trade Committee of the Chamber of Commerce was also present. ADDRESS BEFORE MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS. The question that is troubling all thinking men today is: How are we going to operate our ships after the war? See- ing that in normal times our present laws and regulations make it a financial impracticability, we must not be carried away with the present abnormal condition and rates of freight, which make it quite possible for anyone to make a profit, no matter how inexperienced. So all the figures and considerations in this article are based on normal conditions which are sure to come after the war. So that you may fully understand the folly of our past legis- lation, I herewith give you a copy of a diagram prepared by Mr. P. W. H. Ross, showing the percentage of American goods carried in American ships in years gone by. This was during the period of preferential duties. 1789 23.8% 1795 90.0% 1800 89.0% 1810 91.5% : 1820 89.5% 1830 89.0% 1840 72.5% 1860 66.2% 1870 35.6% 1880 17.4% 1890 12.9% 1900 9.3% 1910 8.8% 1914 1.97% 5" This is the record before the war. 2 9 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Another illustration that would not be out of place here is one showing the conditions on the Pacific Ocean up to May, 1917. In 1913, before the war and before the Seamen's Bill had gotten in its deadly work, Japanese vessels in American trade on the Pacific were, 26.05%; American vessels, 26.10%. After May 1, 1917, Japanese vessels increased their trade to 50.90%, while the trade of American vessels (as a result of the Seamen's Bill) fell off to 1.97%. The following records, taken from our books, is the cost, per month of the crew's wages on three steamers which we were operating in 1914. The indicated horsepower of the ves- sels was exactly the same and the tonnage nearly the same. The difference in man power is due to governmental regulation : American steamer, 47 men, $3270; British steamer, 36 men, $1308; Japanese steamer, 36 men, $777. On the Pacific the keen competition Americans have to meet is from the Japanese, and after the war this competition will also be felt on the Atlantic. The foregoing figures give a good idea of what our handicaps are. Japanese shipowners made enormous profits during the war; therefore, competition with the Japanese will be backed by plenty of money on their side, in addition to their having subsidies for shipbuilding and for carrying the mails, and other advantages that American ship- owners must combat. There is some talk of our government chartering its ships to individuals after the war and not selling them. This will be a fatal mistake. The men, who in the past developed American and British foreign trade, were shipowners. Ship charterers having no money invested, will operate the ships only as long as they can make a profit. Responsible shipowners will keep up the business even at a loss, and stay with the business until times get better, thereby keeping up the foreign trade of our country. At a banquet in Philadelphia the Secretary of the Navy an- nounced the contemplated extension of government ownership, to own and operate American ships and to engage in foreign trade; thereby destroying the private ownership of ships and going into competition against our merchants in the foreign trade. (Our Government has already started to trade com- 30 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR mercially, I understand, in Siberia.) The result of this policy would be to destroy the initiative, "p e P" and "getup" of our merchants in that trade and the few shipowners we have left; and this while we are on the even of the keenest competition the world has ever seen. Then, in addition to all this, we were told that the rates of freight would be lower than those of our foreign competitors. (The foreigners will have something to say about the rates. ) In as much as we are in direct competi- tion in our foreign trade, and as our country is going to require this trade as never before, it is the opinion of our bankers, merchants and the people generally that the administration has another guess coming before it will be permitted to carry out such a destructive and disastrous policy. I suggest that, instead of government ownership, the ships should be sold at prices to meet competition and on reasonable terms of payment, so as to encourage the ownership of ships by men of moderate means. Example : Government ships should be sold at the current price of similar ships and on the same terms prevailing in Lon- don ; one-quarter cash, one-quarter in one, two and three years, with interest at 4% per annum, and when the various payments fall due the amount to be paid shall be the price prevailing then in London, thereby putting our shipowner on an exact equality with our foreign competitors as to the first cost of the ship. In other words, keeping the cost of the ships so bought equal to the cost of foreign ships while the owner is paying for them. The difference in cost to the Government and the amount sold for, to be charged to the cost of the war, the same as ammuni- tion, etc. Wages : As explained, the wages of the crew is a very im- portant matter ; and, as the American cannot be brought down to the level of his foreign competitior, any more than the foreigner can be raised to the level of the American, the Amer- ican will, as a consequence, leave the sea unless he can get about the same wages as he would receive on shore. I offer as a solution of this condition, that shipowners hire their crews at full American wages, but that the difference between this wage and what is paid by Japanese competitors be paid by the 31 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Government to shipowners on proper certification by the ship- ping commissioner of the amounts so paid. As for example, if the wages of the American seaman is $60 per month, that of the Japanese seaman $15 per month, then have the United States Government pay the $45 per month difference. This will enable American labor to receive its full wage and permit the American ship to compete with its foreign rivals in trade with their lower paid crews. This is no sub- sidy to shipowners, but only an equalization of American vs. foreign labor. To those who are not familiar with the custom I would ex- plain that when a man hires to work on a ship he must go before a United States commissioner and sign the articles of contract, which is explained to the man by the commissioner. Then, when the voyage is ended, the shipowner does not pay off the crew, but takes the money to the commissioner, who pays the men. By this arrangement the men would receive the full American wages, and such fine young Americans as are now being trained in great numbers would be sure to continue to follow the sea, if the entire crew of a ship were composed of Americans. And especially if that vicious clause in the Sea- men's Act is abrogated, which provides that 65% of the crew must be certificated able seamen ; no other nation calls for such regulations, and, if it were enforced, would tie up half of our ships, as there are not nearly enough of so-called able seamen to man half our vessels. The manner of licensing our officers must also be modified so as to be the same as our competitors. In ships running to the tropics, Americans will not stand the work in the hot fireroom, and in that trade it is also a question if Americans would work in the steward's department. All American owners have had this experience. American sailors on deck, however, get along all right. Outside of the equalization of wages of the men, and the proper payment for service rendered in carrying the mails, I claim that to maintain American ships on the ocean no other financial assistance by the Government is required. 32 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR But our laws and regulations must be radically changed, not in such a way as to give shipowners any advantage over their competitors, but to put our ships on an exact footing with those of all other nations. To do this it will not cost our country a cent, except in equalizing wages. Following are some of the changes in our laws that are necessary. For example, the standard steamer of 8800 tons deadweight, of which scores are being built for the Shipping Board. The steamer Robert Dollar, of which all these are dupli- cates, according to British measurement, has a net tonnage of 3420 tons; under American measurement she will average net 4283 tons, a difference of 863 tons. Since all port charges, pilotage, drydocking, etc., are based on the net tonnage of a vessel, the American ship in foreign trade pays 25% more than the ships of any other nation ; and, since this is paid in foreign ports and to foreign nations, is it not up to Congress to tell us why our ships are thus penalized? (Note The laws of Great Britian and ours, as to meas- urement, are about the same, but in the application of the law there is a difference. The fact remains, however, that the actual difference is as stated.) (Note In November, 1921, it is reported that the American Government has at last capitulated and changed its form of measurement to correspond with the British method. It has taken twenty-five years to accomplish this reform.) In an address delivered by Colonel Goethals in San Fran- cisco we were told of two sister ships, one under the British flag and the other under the American flag. The latter paid $500 more tolls than the Britisher. I would again ask Congress, why ? In this connection it might be pertinent to ask why an American ship carrying a cargo of lumber pays more tolls than a ship carrying merchandise, coal or iron. Under American regulations, the ship must be free of cargo, and the boilers filled with cold water; therefore, handling of cargo must be suspended, and the inspection must be completed before work is again resumed. On British ships no work stops. One part of the inspection is finished ; then, when another part 33 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR of the hull, boilers or engines is ready, that is inspected, and if the inspection cannot be completed the vessel is allowed to proceed to the next port, where it can be finished. The instruc- tions to the inspector are, not to stop the ordinary work of handling cargo. In the successful operation of ships, one of the most important factors is their quick dispatch in port. The American regulations require a cold water hydrostatic pressure, once and a half the working pressure, to be applied to the boilers once a year; this racks the boilers and piping, causes much expense and shortens the life of the boilers. This method is not required annually by any other nation, and they have no more explosions of boilers than those inspected under the American plan. American rules require a fusible plug in each boiler. This is not required by any other government. The loss of time and expense to American ships is considerable. Again I ask, why? Especially, when no benefit is derived by this loss of time or money. In my opinion, more inspectors should be employed and the regulations entirely changed, thus enabling our ships to gain much valuable time. Secretary Redfield, under whose jurisdiction this comes, has said that Americans are able to and can do more and better work than any other workmen, and fully pay their employers for their higher wages and better board. Therefore, it is again quite pertinent to ask why, on a 10,000-tons dead- weight American steamer, it takes 30% more men than on a similar sized steamer of any other nation? On a ship of this class the British require two licensed engineers, where the American requires four ; and, in addition to this, the American requires three oilers and three water tenders. Ordinarily on foreign ships the storekeeper, donkeyman and a greaser do the work of the oilers, and no water tenders are carried. In fact, the name of water tender is unknown. At an investigation of a committee of the House, I was asked what the water tender did. I replied he sat on a box in the fireroom and did nothing but draw his wages and eat his meals. Now we come to that clause in the Seamen's Bill which states that 75% of the crew, in each department, shall be able to understand any order the officers may give. This prevents 34 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR American ships from carrying 1 75% foreigners who do not un- derstand the English language. This is intended to prevent the carrying of Chinese crews on American ships, which it is necessary for us to do if we desire to successfully compete with the Japanese. But, the Bill does not prevent Japanese ships from carrying Japanese crews with Japanese officers; hence, another reason that has been instrumental in placing the Japan- ese of to day in full control of the commerce of the Pacific ocean. Another clause to which I refer provides that 65% of the crew, exclusive of officers and apprentices, shall be certi- ficated able seamen. This portion of the law was so impos- sible of execution and so unreasonable (because the men were not obtainable), that no notice has been taken of it during the war. When peace comes, however, it may be enforced, and will result in the tying up of half of our merchant marine. Another clause in the Bill provides that a collector of cus- toms may, on his own motion, and shall upon the sworn in- formation of any reputable citizen, deny clearance and hold a ship until an investigation is made. So any waterfront sore- head can hold up any ship. This is so drastic and vicious that it also has not been enforced; but it is the law nevertheless. Another clause provides that a seaman can demand and shall receive half of the wages he has earned (note the word "earned," not "due," as it should be,) at every port the ship goes to, and every succeeding five days he can make other de- mands. This has done more harm to the few American ships that were left than anything else, as it gave to the men money to keep them in a drunken state. The police records of vari- ous ports where American ships have gone, especially Shang- hai, Kobe and Yokohama, bear ample proof of the bad effect of this law. The intention of this clause was, to allow the men to draw their wages and desert ; but it did not work that way, although it causes serious delay to a ship at almost every port. This must be repealed. The sailors shall be divided into two watches. On many ships a big crew is carried and enough men to navigate the ship are put on "watch and watch." The balance of the crew sleeps all night and works all day, the object being to get the 35 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR day crew to keep the ship in good condition. If this section was enforced, a ship would have to carry a smaller crew and let the keeping- up of the vessel go, as men cannot do any work at night except that which is necessary in handling the ship. This Bill is entitled "to promote the welfare of American seamen." The inspector's records of San Francisco, shortly after it became a law, show that of 2064 men, 8% were Amer- ican born, 17% naturalized citizens, and 75% were aliens. An American steamer cleared recently from San Francisco with a crew composed of three Hollanders, four Greeks, one Swede, two Irishmen, three Englishmen, one Australian and three Americans. What a joke, calling them Americans! The clauses in the Bill providing for greater safety of life at sea and having better accommodations for the crew should be retained (except the absurdities relating to davits and life- boats on cargo vessels, which have never been enforced). The American ships built recently have excellent acommodations and leave nothing more to be desired, and the food served to American crews is much better than that served on board of ships of any other nation in fact, it is as good as I have at my home. The foregoing are only the most vicious parts of the Bill, and only a few of the many changes that must be made to put us on an equality. Other parts of the Bill against foreign ships will, no doubt, be attended to by foreign nations after the war. The President said that if American shipowners could not operate ships the Government would operate them. This state- ment is on a par with tying our hands securely behind our backs and putting us in the prize ring against an opponent with both hands free and backed by his government. The answer to this is, that American citizens before the war were successfully operating 2,500,000 tons of ships under foreign flags. Those same men would be only too glad to operate them under the Stars and Stripes if our laws and regu- lations would only permit them. More foreign trade is conceded to be an absolute necessity after the war; therefore, it is well to remind the people of the United States that our foreign trade is so linked with our mer- 36 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR chant marine that they cannot be separated. This is also true of our manufacturing plants, banks, merchants and farmers. The ramifications of this subject are so great that, directly or indirectly, they affect every American citizen. Therefore, the time has come to demand the necessary legislation and regu- lation to put the operation of our ships on an exact equality with those of our competitors. Nothing else will do. We certainly want some ordinary common sense injected into our laws. Surely the Government will see that our useless and oppressive laws and regulations will be changed, in view of the fact that when the reconstruction period is over we will have nearly as big a merchant marine as Great Britain. If these changes are not made, we will see our merchant marine melt away, as shown in the diagram from 1810 to 1914. Had a very enjoyable Sunday on the second of February, 1919, when Grace's son and Stanley's daughter were baptized in the church at San Rafael. They were named Alexander Melville Dickson and Diana Dollar respectively. In April I attended the meeting of the Foreign Trade Con- vention in Chicago, and addressed a very enthusiastic gathering at which about two thousand were present. The subject was "Our Merchant Marine." I arranged to establish an office in Chicago, the principal object being to solicit and collect freight for our trans-Pacific steamers. This office has been a success, so we have con- siderably enlarged its scope by soliciting freight from many cities for both Vancouver and New York. I bought five acres of land in Oakland for the Occidental Board to be used for the bringing up and the education of small boys and girls of Chinese parentage. Suitable buildings will be erected in due course. This work is ably carried on under the direction of Miss Donaldine Cameron. I was recently elected president of the Pacific American Steamship Association, and although I am really overburdened with work, accepted the responsibility as I felt sure the associa- tion would do a good work in getting all the companies to pull together and present a solid front. This also had the effect of 37 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR getting the Shipowners' Association to work in with it so that all the shipowners now present a solid front to obtain what is right. Then they both are working in harmony with the American Steamship Company of New York, so that all the organizations are working together. About this time we decided to purchase some more steamers, so Melville and I went across the continent from Vancouver to Sydney, Nova Scotia, where the steamer War Melody was about to arrive, and we wanted an opportunity to inspect her. She is a vessel of 10,760 tons deadweight, and came near to our requirements, so we bought her and renamed her Grace Dollar. While she is not exactly our style of ship, she has turned out entirely satisfactory. This I learned by sailing on her for over a month in the Far East. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER VI As an illustration of the care one should take in attempt- ing to help others of whom we know nothing 1 , I cite a recent experience of mine. At the request of a man who was offered parole if I would promise to employ him, I went to San Quen- tin Prison to see him. The warden said he could not recom- mend me to help him, but he had a real bright prisoner about to be released, who had charge of the office, and whom he could recommend me to help. I went to see this man on two dif- ferent occasions, and found all the warden said of him to be correct, there being no question as to the possibility of his becoming a fit member of society. On his release I sent him to China so as to give him every opportunity of starting life a-new, and did not let any one know where he came from. He arrived in Shanghai, but instead of reporting at our office he turned up in what is known as the "tenderloin," got on a drunk, signed my son's name to a check for $50, which he attempted to cash. As the check was drawn on a bank with which we had no account, payment was refused and he was arrested. While awaiting his trial, he got so well in the graces of the jailer that he obtained possession of the keys and late one evening headed the other jail-birds to the tenderloin resorts. A policeman became suspicious of him and on general principles arrested him and delivered him to the jailer; this was the first intimation the latter had that his prisoners had fled. Finally he was tried and sentenced to San Quentin for five years. A deputy marshal was sent with him to Nagasaki with instruc- tions to put him on a transport. Just before the arrival of the transport at Nagasaki, he got the marshal so drunk that he had to go to bed. Then he got a Norwegian sailor so drunk he did not know what he was doing, and, taking the commitment papers out of the marshal's pocket, and incidentally his money, took the Norwegian on board the transport, produced the court 39 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR order and reported, "here is your man," got the paper receipted by the captain for the correct delivery of the prisoner, who was promptly locked up aboard the transport and sailed for San Francisco. He returned to the marshal, and put the receipt in his pocket. When the latter awoke from his drunken sleep and found the receipt, he thought he had put the prisoner on board the transport, but had no recollection of it. On arrival of the transport in San Francisco the Norwegian was promptly turned over to the warden at San Quentin. The man protested that he was innocent, but that is so common in prisons, no one took it seriously. To return to our friend. He left Nagasaki for Yokohama, where he put up at the Grand Hotel. But the marshal's money did not last long, and he again got into the hands of the police, was tried and sentenced to two months in a Japanese jail. When he got out a deputy sheriff was waiting to escort him to Shanghai where he was placed in the same cell with the deputy marshal whom he had last seen in Nagasaki. The marshal had been arrested on complaint from San Quentin that he had de- livered the wrong man to the transport, as the Norwegian finally convinced his consul that he had committed no crime, and he was released. The marshal got a term in prison, and our friend was sentenced this time to Bilibib prison, Manila. A short time ago in looking over the books of a bank in Manila, I saw where he had borrowed $5000 and had gone into business. I wanted to give him another opportunity and did not tell the bank manager that I had been acquainted with him, but cautioned him to get the money back as soon as he could. I have not heard from him since, but I feel sure he is busy doing something, whether it is good or bad remains to be seen. What a pity it is, that a fellow with such ability should not turn it to good instead of to bad account. In August I received an urgent appeal to address a meet- ing of merchants and manufacturers in Calgary, Alberta Prov- ince, B. C., on Foreign Trade, a subject that they did not know much about, situated as they are in the interior of Canada. 40 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR About six hundred listened to my talk. From Calgary I went to Edmonton where I addressed a crowded house. They were much impressed with the necessity for foreign trade, as most of them had thought, before hearing me, since they were in the interior of the country it was immaterial to them whether they had foreign trade or not; but, when it was explained to them that they were producing more than they could consume and that the surplus must be sold foreign or their product would be a glut on the market and lower prices would prevail, they be- came fully aware of its importance, and inquiries came from all directions as to what they must do to get more of it. While there, I was the guest of the Government and the Canadian Pa- cific Railway. I had a very enthusiastic reception at all of the meetings, and although it was considerable of a tax on my time, I was well repaid by the results. "One of the most forceful addresses came from Captain Robert Dollar, president of the Dollar Steamship Lines, on 'The Necessity of Foreign Trade and Canada's Opportunity in the Far East.' He spoke out of a' ripe experience regarding trade in the Orient, especially in China, and gave Canada some very splendid advice. Then with the naturalness of a pulpit orator he said: " T believe there is better opportunity for trade in China than in any other part of the globe. We business men deserve no credit in securing this foreign trade. It is the missionaries who deserve the credit. They preceded us and made it possible for us to trade in China and other foreign countries.' It was a deserving tribute to the efforts of the Christian Church, that this large audience of business men loudly applauded the statement. "It is only of recent years, since means of travel have be- come so rapid and confortable, that business men touring the world in search of foreign trade, have come to see the wonder- ful work of the church in its missionary propaganda. They have met it on every hand and marvelled at the religious, edu- cational and social work done by the representatives of the MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR church in foreign lands. They have come to admire the cour- age, faith and self-sacrifice of men and women who did real pioneer work, facing hostile peoples, persecuting governments, alien religions, tropical diseases and untold hardships. They have been compelled to admit that the heroes of the battlefield have nevef excelled the heroes of the mission field ; that the mis- sionaries have been the pathfinders in the dark places of the earth, to be followed by the trader, the capitalist, and the or- ganizer, who have explored and developed the countries." On the first of September the American Fleet came into San Francisco Bay. It was a holiday and we went to Sausalito, but the crowd of automobiles was so great we could not get near the town so we went to Fort Barry near Point Bonita from which we had a good view. It was an inspiring sight and con- vinced us, who had so long been advocating the importance of the commerce of the Pacific Ocean, that at last, after so long a wait, our Government had its eyes opened to the fact that in a very few years the center of the world's commerce would be on this ocean. But even yet it is impossible for Europeans and our people living in Eastern States to realize that this .is rapidly coming to pass. When you consider that only eighty years ago the Pacific Coast had only a scattered population of white men; less than fifty years ago the first steamship crossed the ocean from America to China; that the entrances and clearances at Pacific Coast ports, twenty years ago were 5,825,293 tons; ten years ago 6,384,800 tons; and for the year 1920 amounted to 12,127,886 goss tons. If the same ratio of increase continues, you can see how soon the Pacific will exceed in tonnage that of the Atlantic; but we cannot hope for this rapid growth to continue. But, with the development of China going on as rapidly as it is, we can see clearly whence the great increase is to come. The Philippine Islands have made remarkable progress as evi- denced by their trade returns of last year, 467,587,387 as com- pared with five years ago 206,250,375, and ten years ago 180,- 695,648. The tonnage of the ships has changed very much. Twenty years ago the lumber to China was all carried in 42 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR small sailing- vessels; eighteen years ago the first of our steamers carried a full cargo of lumber at rates much lower than sailing vessels were getting; in fact we had great difficulty in persuading" anyone to give us a steamer cargo, so I came to the conclusion that if we were to stay in the business we must furnish our own lumber cargoes. It was fortunate for us that we were compelled to do this as we now have a permanent business for our steamers. The size and speed of steamers have increased very much as the years have gone on. A 6000-ton deadweight steamer was a big one twenty years ago, and an eight or nine knot speed was considered satisfactory. Now we think of 10,000 or 12,000 tons deadweight as about the right size, and about a twelve knot speed. The last steamer we bought, the Robert Dollar, could carry 16,000 tons and steam twelve knots. In former days 3,000,000 feet of lumber was a good cargo. This last addition will carry nearly 10,000,000 feet. As far as carry- ing lumber to the Far East goes, the sailing vessels are com- pletely out of it. It looks as if we had reached the maximum size of steamers, but in these years of progressive improve- ments it is not safe to prophesy. Within my recollection the first Atlantic cable was laid ; the telephone was introduced; wireless has been developed; im- provements in the use of steam have been very great ; the pro- pellor has been introduced, since I was a boy, and superseded the paddle steamer. In those days every steamer was fitted with sails and depended to a great extent on them for propul- sion. Now we do not see a sail on a steamer. Internal com- bustion engines are gradually being introduced, but on account of their complicated machinery the progress has been slow. There must be many improvements made, however, before they will be in general use. I believe, however, this class of engine has come to stay, as the saving in fuel is so great that if it only can be made more practical it will supersede the steam engine. I had occasion to visit Ottawa, Canada, on business, and had a very pleasant time meeting the few men who are alive, 43 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR whom I knew when I was a boy working there. I was especi- ally pleased to have a long talk with the grand old lumberman, I. R. Booth, who has passed his ninety-third birthday. I worked for him more than sixty years ago. I also had a very pleasant time with W. C. Edwards and chatted with Hiram Robinson, who is near his ninetieth birthday. It is sad, however, to think how few there are left. Mr. Robinson and Sir James Grant have died since my visit. I always have a very kindly feeling for the place where I started work, even though it was under very adverse and the most difficult conditions, and with hard- ships and under working conditions that are unknown to the working men of today ; but I look back at those times with the feeling that it was those conditions that developed the man in me that perhaps never would have shown up if I had not been brought up in that hard school of practical experience. Before leaving New York for home I made an offer for about twenty acres of land at Hunt's Point, fronting on the East River in the Borough of Bronx. On arrival at Omaha I received a telegram that my bid had been accepted. On this land we will erect warehouses and wharves so that our ships will get the best despatch possible and at a minimum of cost. The present cost of handling ships in New York is out of all reason, hence our determination to build a terminal and keep our expenses down to a minimum. It will also be necessary for us to build a mile of railroad as soon as we get a franchise; but, as we have secured a right of way, we hope to have as good a terminal in the City of New York as we have in Shanghai. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER VII The middle of December, 1919, found me again in Shang- hai, where I had to attend a number of functions given in my honor. I had fifty of our employees to lunch with me as a get-together party, at which we had a very enjoyable time. It was also at this time we decided to erect an office build- ing on Canton Road near the Bund. The building will be over 150 feet on Canton Road by 65 feet to an alley way. It will be as high as the regulations will permit (7 or 8 stories). On New Year's day, 1920, we were passing through the Straits of Formosa on the Grace Dollar, en route to Hong Kong, Manila and Singapore. I calculated that during the year 1919 we had traveled 36,700 miles, while attending to our business affairs. While in Hong Kong I spent a few days looking over various sites for a wharf, having in mind the pur- chase of land and the erection of a wharf and warehouse, so as to facilitate the handling of our cargoes. While at Manila I was called on to address the merchants at a luncheon at the Manila Hotel. I looked closely into the affairs of a bank in which I was interested, and found it to be in a very prosperous condition, which promises well for its future as it has only been in existence a short time. Our stay was much too short, only two days, but I made the very best use of the time. As communication with Singapore was uncertain I had to make the trip on the Grace Dollar so as not to lose too much time. Time with me is an all important factor, and I find it impossible to accomplish all I desire, no matter how hard I try. So I have to be content with doing all I possibly can, working from early morning until night. I was fortunate in having eight days in Singapore, which enabled me to get around and see everyone in the business. I found our business to be well organized and in good shape, as we were getting our share of what was offering. The "Grace 45 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Dollar took out a part cargo, valued at over $4,000,000. We have hopes of a permanent business for the future, as I decided to carry freight from Singapore via ports through Suez to New York; besides running our smaller vessels by way of Vancouver and Panama, also to New York. For the Suez service which is around the world, we have purchased four large vessels. The Robert Dollar, 16,000 tons deadweight, M. S. Dollar, 13,700 tons, Esther Dollar, 11,544 tons, and the Grace Dollar, 10,760 tons 52,000 tons in all. It will take some hustling to keep them all full of cargo, but we hope that our excellent organization will be able to do it, although in these hard times with hundreds of steamers laid up all over the world I appreciate that it's a man's job. On the return trip we spent two days at Hong Kong, called on all the lumbermen, and had them to lunch. We are getting much more than our share of the lumber sales. Business at Hong Kong has never reached the top-notch of former years when the Germans were doing so much of it ; whereas Shang- hai has gained very much during the war, and appears to be able to keep up the rapid gait it struck during the boom. I re- mained only two days in Shanghai and left for our northern offices. First I visited Tientsin and called on all our customers, which took two full days. Business there has been satisfac- tory and successful ; starting with a small capital it has grown financially to be quite a factor in our lumber business. While in Tientsin I had the pleasure of dining privately at the house of the ex-president of China, General Li Yuen Hing. Had a very interesting talk with him, as he is one of the big men of China. He has dropped politics and is intensely interested in commer- cial affairs. The general is a good man for his country, but far too honest to succeed in Chinese politics. He is what Pope called the noblest work of God, "An honest man." Our office in Peking is not as old as some of our other branches, but I found them making headway. I gave them some plans which have developed satisfactorily, and they are now paying their own way. Many Chinese officials called to 46 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR see me and I called on as many as my time permitted. I gave a luncheon to a large party in the hotel, and Admiral Sah gave me a complimentary banquet at which representatives of the Government were present. It was altogether a governmental affair and while somewhat formal it passed off very well. After a very pleasant and profitable visit to Peking we left for Han- kow in a special car, but it broke down on the way, and we had to be switched into a shop for repairs, so we lost a day, not a very unusual occurrence when traveling in China. Remained only two days in Hankow when we left for Changsha. We had a special car on the line, which was badly disrupted by soldiers, as the seat of war was centering around Changsha. Our consul was very kind, as he invited us to be the guests of himself and wife, for which we were more than thankful, as there was no European hotel in Changsha. We started on a tug to the landing where the manganese ore was loaded and walked ten miles to the mine and the same distance back besides walking all over the mine. It was hard traveling as there was snow on the ground and it was dark when we returned to the landing, and late at night before we landed at Changsha. We had to walk across the walled city, which was a very risky undertaking as the city was over- run with soldiers. However, after a great deal of trouble, we got to our car which had been commandeered by soldiers, but we obtained possession of it. We were glad to get to bed that night, as it had been a most strenuous day, alternately raining and snowing and the weather cold. There is a big deposit of ore, although it is rather too low a grade for the American market, but it will turn out all right later on. At Wuchang I was tendered a great reception by the Chinese at the home of Dr. Yen, and at the Y. M. C. A. Building. Hankow has made great progress during recent years and promises to be what a number of us have predicted, the second city in China as well as the railroad center. For this time of the year the water was good, being seventeen feet at the lowest shallows. On arrival at Shanghai I looked over the town as I had at Hankow, and was amazed at the progress that had taken place in the past ten or twelve years. I think I am safe in saying 47 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR that it has doubled in that time and the improvements that have been made are all good and permanent. This survey gave me courage to go ahead, and to have not only faith in the future, but to plan for bigger things. The estimated population now is 1,700,000. On such an urgent request that I could not refuse, I preached from Joshua, chapter I, verses 8 and 9. The hall was crowded, with many standing. It appeared to be well received, which was a wonder, as preaching is entirely out of my line as I had never tried it before. In March I was twenty days in Shanghai before leaving for home. Every day and sometimes into the night I was meet- ing innumerable parties, discussing future business, so that every minute of my time, except Sunday, was fully occupied, and I certainly made the very best use of the time that I could. All of this hard work was a great pleasure to me. On arrival at Vancouver I found that the boys had bought the Port Moody Timber Limits and railroad, including all equipment. This turned out to be a good purchase. At Van- couver I inspected the logging camp, mill at Dollarton and our steamers that were in the harbor. 48 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER VIII On the 12th day of May, 1920, an event of great import- ance to the foreign trade of our country took place. That was the meeting of the Foreign Trade Convention at San Francisco headed by James Farrell, and of which I was vice-president. I delivered the address of welcome, which was well received by the 2500 persons present. I gave up all my time while the sessions were held during the week. My address, reading as follows, was much commented upon : ADDRESS SEVENTH NATIONAL FOREIGN TRADE CONVENTION Mr. Chairman, Honored Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen : It is certainly a great pleasure to me, and a privilege to welcome to San Francisco such an audience as I see before me this morn- ing. You come from every State and Territory in the Union, from North and South America and from all parts of the Far East, Japan, China, the Philippine Islands and the Straits Settlements. This is the first time that we have ever had the privilege of welcoming foreign delegates and it is an auspicious occasion for San Francisco. Hospitality is all very good, and I hope that you will be satisfied, but the object of getting you here is business, to develop foreign trade, and nothing else. No doubt we will do our utmost to be hospitable and treat you the best we can; but, remember the object is the development and increase of foreign trade and nothing else. All nationalities are welcome to this gathering and I can assure you that you will be treated fairly and right. Those from neighboring states, also, will be treated in a very liberal manner by this organization. It is opportune that this convention is held here. In the first place, foreign commerce started, as you all know, in Persia or along the Persian Gulf, and it gradually moved westward towards Egypt and the Mediterranean ; and there for centuries 49 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR the people of the various Mediterranean countries and those of Asia Minor competed for commercial supremacy. At times that supremacy was Persian and Phoenician, again it was Pal- myran, and then Rome got it and held it for centuries. Then it spread over Europe and the center finally reached to London. On account of the war it still took a stride westward, and tem- porarily New York was the center of the world's commerce. I am going to talk to you a little later on where commerce is going to land before so very long. We are all interested in foreign trade, every one of us. There isn't a person in this room that is not interested either directly or indirectly in foreign trade. On two of our ships I counted the commodities that were carried just on two and there were 304 different commodities on those ships being- exported from this country to the Far East. Homeward there were 153 different commodities carried this way. There is not a person in this room but what is interested in some one of those commodities and, therefore, I am talking to an audience that is interested in foreign trade ; and I want to say to you that no nation in the history of the world was ever truly great that did not have foreign trade. Those that are interested are manufacturers, merchants, shipowners and bankers. Now the shipowner, as you all know, is an absolute necessity. Congress by its wisdom, if we can call it by such a name, legislated our ships off the ocean. Our honored President has said there must be no politics in this and anything I am going to say to you has no political bearing at all; but so that you will understand me aright, I want to explain to you the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats. (Laughter and applause.) The Republicans went to work to legislate the merchant marine off the ocean and they came very near doing it, but they did not quite manage it; but the Democrats got in, and am blessed if they didn't finish the job. (Laughter.) This recognition of the Pacific is timely. It is not too soon, and I can assume you all that we appreciate your coming so far to attend this convention. When this organization started, it reminded me of the proverbial saying of the man crying in the 50 wilderness. Our foreign trade had reached a very low ebb, but through the instrumentality of our worthy president here, we got this Foreign Trade Convention started seven years ago, and the result is before my eyes. True commerce is to buy and sell. A great many people think that commerce is to sell only. We must buy. Did it ever occur to you what it would cost to ship your commodities from this country and bring the ships back empty ? Wouldn't you have to pay about double the freight ? But, if we can get the cargoes each way, then we get our stuff shipped for about half the money; therefore, true commerce is to bring cargoes both ways. The balance of trade would necessitate that, and if we do not have the correct balance of trade we must export gold and silver. From this port alone in 1919 there was $350,000,000 in gold sent out instead of sending $350,000,000 in products. That is not true commerce, gentlemen. We must have a buy- ing and selling arrangement to make it a success. A couple of years ago I was in a port in China where we had been shipping a great deal of American raw cotton. Strange to say, we were bringing back Chinese raw cotton it is almost unbelievable. I asked of our manager, "Have you investigated this?" He said, "No, sir, we are getting the trade both ways and I think we should keep quiet about it." I was a little bit inquisitive so I went to the man shipping the cotton, and asked him to explain the matter to me. He said, "Here is some American cotton, it has long fibers and is very fine, straight cotton. This over here is Chinese cotton, which is very short on the grain and very crinkly. By some hocus- pocus that I cannot explain to you, I ship this cotton on your ships and when it gets into the New England factories in America it is converted into wool to make all-wool clothing." (Laughter.) I could tell a great many things we have found out, but I only mention that one to show you the peculiarities, if I may call it that, of commerce. Thus we are getting freight both ways and it isn't up to us to talk too much about it. We need banks in foreign countries, and strange to say our laws prohibited our national banks from establishing branches 51 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR in foreign countries until three years ago when the law was changed. Then came the Sherman Act, but through the instrumental- ity of this organization and a vigorous effort on the part of our secretary, Mr. O. K. Davis, the Webb-Pomerene Bill was put through to allow us to develop foreign commerce. There is one thing that is detrimental to us which this organization has taken up, and I think we should fight to a finish; namely, the law which prevents us from forming corporations in foreign countries and which compels us to pay taxes twice. By the American law we pay taxes in foreign countries to the foreign countries, which is right, as we are doing business there; but it is not right that we should pay, especially the excess profit taxes in this country, which deprives us of the privilege of extending and developing our foreign commerce. Every other nation has that privilege. We have regulations innumerable to hold us down and prevent our doing things, and mighty few regulations to help us to develop our foreign commerce. That is wrong. (Note The Bill to permit us to incorporate as other nations do, has been defeated by Congress which shows what help we can expect from our wise law makers). Put the whole thing in a nut shell, our merchants and our shipowners must be put on an equality with their foreign competitors. Nothing else will do. We must demand that and see that we get it! I will give you an illustration. On one of our ships some years ago, there was a bully and he had beaten every one he had tackled; but he reserved one fellow whom he was a little bit afraid of, until the last. Finally he challenged him to come out and fight. Before the fight he thought he would pray to the good Lord and this was his prayer and it is the prayer of us fellows to Congress : "Good Lord, this is the first time I have ever prayed to you and it will be the last time. I don't ask you to help me. I don't want you to help me, but if you will only agree not to help the other fellow it will surprise you how quick I will wipe up the decks with him." (Laughter and aplause. ) Now if Congress will only say, "We are not going to help you but 52 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR we will put no obstructions in your way," I want to tell you we will come pretty near getting there. (Applause.) We are terribly handicapped by the delay in our cables. That you all know, and some desperate effort should be made so that we can get our cables through and not have to wait a couple of weeks for them. In the modern way of doing busi- ness we have to have cables. In the olden times we did not need them. Now we must have cables and better service, and it is up to our Government to see to it that we get better service. We have brought you here to look out on the Pacific Ocean, and you are looking out on very nearly one billion people; far more than half of the people of the world are on the other side of this Pacific. That gives you some idea of the importance of this meeting here. I am going to make a statement which I think I will sub- stantiate with figures. In a short time the center of the world's commerce will be transferred from the Atlantic to the Pacific. That is not very nice information for you gentlemen of the East, but it is going to happen and nothing can stop it. Probably you will say, "Well, he is optimistic." The fellow that is in foreign trade and is not optimistic, is not in foreign trade at all. (Applause and laughter.) All that I want to say to you is by way of encouragement, and I do not wish to say anything in the way of discourage- ment. There never was a time when those who are in foreign trade had more cause for congratulation and encouragement than at the present time. In order to show our present pro- gress I will tell you of some of the things that are being accomplished. Five years ago, I tried with our Consul General in Shang- hai to form an American Chamber of Commerce and we could not get together twelve men to form such an organization. The consul called a meeting of the American business men and only three responded. I then gave a luncheon and asked as a particular favor to me that they attend, and the result of that meeting is, the present membership of 300. Isn't that encouraging, an American Chamber of Commerce over there? 53 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR As you all know, the whole world is upside down. Sterling exchange, that has been the standard of the world, has dropped to an unimaginably low figure the silver of China is worth more than gold today, so there is to be a clay of reckoning soon. In talking of what is ahead of us, what would any one have said if a man had stood up, as I am standing before you today, in the days of Columbus and talked about the center of the world's commerce coming to the Pacific; or what would they have thought if he had talked of the center of the world's com- merce moving out of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic? Wouldn't they have locked him up as a lunatic? They would! Now just a few words to show you what progress has been made here. Twenty-six years ago, 40,000 tons of cargo passed through the Golden Gate at San Francisco, and 37,000 tons passed through Puget Sound, a total of 77,000 tons of trans- Pacific cargo. Of this total there were only 7500 tons of American products bound for the Far East. In other words, our ships were mostly in ballast going to the other side. Fifty-three years ago the first steamer crossed the Pacific Ocean. I have given you these figures to show you the com- parison of those times and the present so that you can figure out what the difference is going to be in twenty years from now. Just twenty years ago the real start was made in steam shipping on this Pacific Ocean. Two hundred and thirty-seven thousand net tons of steamers were engaged at that time! In 1919 the entrances and clearances on this Pacific Coast were 39,000,000 tons. I wish that some of you fellows who are smart at figuring would tell me where we are going to land in twenty years at that ratio. Is it any wonder that we have big expectations? Japan now has 90,000,000 people. Commodore Perry opened the ports of Japan sixty-six years ago. Sixteen years ago when I happened to be in Hakodate, there were only three Americans there at that time. They were celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Hakodate to the world's commerce by Commodore Perry. On the prinicpal street there was a painting of the Mikado shaking hands with 54 Upper WORKMEN'S COTTAGES AT DOLLARTON Lower COMPANY'S OFFICE BUILDING MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Commodore Perry. They didn't shake hands when he first went there. He threatened to blow them off the island if they didn't open the port We went into the park, where there was a full-sized model of a yacht. The framework of wood was covered with canvass and painted so as to represent a perfect vessel of the type, including masts, smokestack, etc. Hanging on the side of the ship was a placard with printing in Japanese characters. An interpreter translated it for me as follows: "This yacht was presented by Queen Victoria to the Mikado thirty-three years ago. It was our entire steam fleet at that time. To show you what progress we have made and what we have done since, please turn around." The painted canvass had been placed on a hillside, and turning around and looking in the opposite direction, there was disclosed to view the great battleship fleet of Japan at anchor in the harbor the fleet that was in a comparatively short time to destroy the Russian ships. I never saw a finer illustration of progress than that. I want to talk more particularly of China because the opportunities in China are so much greater than in any other country. There are 400,000,000 people there and I am sure there are even more than given by the census. One day a Chinaman met me on the street and we discussed the pos- sibilities in China. I said to him, "The way we are going to increase the trade here is to increase the purchasing power of the people." He said, "How can that be done? It cannot be done." At that particular moment there were thirteen men who came along hauling a wagon of lumber, which happened to be from my lumber yard. It was in the winter time and there was snow on the ground. Those men were all barefooted, and I was paying them eight cents a day. I said, "You take those thirteen men off that wagon, put a horse there with one man to drive it and put the other twelve men into a factory and you will increase their purchasing power; then they will buy more and develop the commerce of your country." I asked that man how many men and women in China were going bare- footed, and he replied that there must be 100,000,000 anyway, 55 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR if not more. I told him if they could earn more they would not go barefooted, that they were going barefooted from necessity and not from choice. I also told him that each one wanted to buy a pair of shoes and stockings. There are some shoe manufacturers here, and I just want you to take that home with you. (Laughter.) Hong Kong for several years held second place in the world's commerce of seaports. That gives you an idea of the magnitude of its business. China produces one-third of the raw cotton; it has minerals beyond calculation. Then again, there are a great many oils. I want to tell you gentlemen that it is a good thing you are not so optimistic as I am, and that you don't see the prospects as I see them, because every mother's son of you would want to go over there and get into business. The Province of Szechuen has more inhabitants than all of South America. The last census gave 66,000,000. Szechuen is entirely cut off from the world's commerce as there is no way to get there except through the Yangtse River gorges, a dangerous trip. Two powerful steamers are now running through the gorges to Chungking, 1700 miles from the ocean, both of them flying the American flag, and incidentally you will see the Dollar mark on the smokestack. There are a great many young men here in the audience, and I want to say to you, that many of you will live to see the center of the world's commerce on this Pacific Ocean, and I am not dead sure but that I will live to see it myself. In conclusion I will say to you, that San Francisco opens wide her doors to you, her heart is with you and through her Chamber of Commerce and her citizens she offers you the very best that she has. I thank you. (Applause.) It was a great event for the foreign trade of the Pacific Ocean, as it brought our very biggest men face to face with the importance of the prospective development of the American- Asiatic trade. This was the first of any of these meetings to be held on the shores of the Pacific and on account of the dis- tance from the centers of population, especially from the east- 56 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR ern seaboard of the United States, we went about it with some doubt ; but the attendance and the enthusiasm exceeded that of any former convention, which was a surprise to all of us who were back of it. In New York, last October, I made the motion to hold the next meeting in San Francisco at this time, and possibly more on that account than any other, it was agreed upon, although there were grave doubts of its success on the westerly rim of the continent. However, all is well that ends well, and this .convention certainly rilled the bill. The next one will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, May, 1921. On account of our being unable to get reliable information about the price of ships, Mrs. Dollar, Margaret Dollar Dickson and I left for England by way of Vancouver. I visited the mill at Dollarton and surroundings, and found everything in excellent shape. I also visited the logging camps and found the work progressing satisfactorily. Addressed a meeting of the Canadian Manufacturers' Asso- ciation in Vancouver, on Pacific Ocean Trade, a subject I was sorry to find that most of them knew nothing about. So my talk was like Greek to many of them, and it was as though I were speaking in an unknown tongue. A lot of missionary work must be done in Canada before they will thoroughly appreciate and understand the vital importance of foreign trade to the Dominion. They are gradually working up to it but it is discouragingly slow work. This is especially so in refer- ence to the Far Eastern trade, as the merchants and manu- facturers of Eastern Canada are looking only to the Atlantic; whereas, the merchants in the Eastern United States are fully alive to the situation and are reaching out quite fast now for what they have learned to be the most promising trade of the world in years to come. On the way to New York and England I stopped off at Ottawa City. Senator W. C. Ewards took me up the Gatinean to see the places where, as a boy, I started work. To say I was intensely interested does not express it, as I left there fifty-seven years ago. Many of the places came back to my mind^, but 57 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR as I remember it, it was an unbroken forest, with no one living near the place and at that time it was certainly a wild country. I went to the site of the first shanty I worked in. The lake I used to carry the water from was there, and the ground on which the camp was built where I washed the dishes and did the chores, but instead of the unbroken forest there was a beautifully cultivated field. The forest had disappeared and it was difficult for me to realize the tremendous change that had taken place. The country now was dotted with happy farmers' homes. Instead of only a path or trail, we drove there in an automobile, whereas, we had carried our bags of clothes on our backs and marched Indian fashion through the woods. I visited the village of Desert, now a terminus of the railroad. In my time it was a Roman Catholic Mission and a small Indian village, now it is a small town. All this caused me to ponder as to the future of the foreign trade of the United States on the Pacific, which a few of us had started in the smallest kind of a way, and see how it has grown already, although only the surface has been slightly scratched. As a boy I had been a pioneer of the unbroken forest that was now a fine agricultural country; and if I could live fifty-seven years longer, what a transformation I would see in this Pacific Ocean trade, of which I was also a pioneer. The change would be greater by far, and of more national im- portance, than the changing of a forest into cultivated lands. On this visit I met an old man named De Chain whom I had worked with when a boy. I had completely forgotten him bnt strange to say he had watched my movements all these years. I went to New York and entered the hurry and rush of that great city what a change from the scenes I have been describing. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER IX Arrived in Liverpool the sixth of July, and left immediately for Glasgow where I interviewed many of the big shipowners and shipbuilders ; thence to Newcastle, and saw as many as my time would permit. In London I got in close touch with the Shipping Board, especially Sir Joseph McLay, who was at the head of Government shipping. Was pleased to have the oppor- tunity of visiting Falkirk, my native town, and actually gave up business for three days. But I was not exactly idle as I carefully looked over twelve acres of land in the town, called the Estate of Arnotdale. There were four houses on it, all rented, one of them a fine big mansion. I did not make it known, but I gave the Mayor enough money to buy it. Some time after this I got a telegram that they had closed the trans- action. It will make a fine park right in the town. There is a swimming bath on the place, and the rents they receive will make it self-supporting. All this was the result of taking three days off from work. EXCERPT FROM THE FALKIRK HERALD "Arnotdale, a large residential property in Falkirk, with adjacent grounds extending to fully eleven acres, has been purchased for the benefit of the town through the generosity of Mr. Robert Dollar, San Francisco, a native of the town. The price paid for the property was 5600. The donor, who left Falkirk when a young man, is the founder of the Robert Dollar Line of steamships, plying chiefly between America and China. Mr. Dollar's previous benefactions to Falkirk include the Dollar Public Library, which formed the nucleus of the present Free Public Library; a gift of 3000 towards the erection of public baths in the town, and a handsome granite fountain which stands in the Victoria Public Park, as a memorial to Sir John De Graeme, who fell at the first Battle of Falkirk in 1298." 59 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR While at lunch with Sir Joseph McLay, he strongly advised me to go to Bristol and look over the steamer Parisien that had just arrived from America with a cargo of wheat, as he wanted to sell her. She was a German prize ship and I found her to be in excellent condition, and made an offer which was ac- cepted. We changed her name to Esther Dollar. She is 11.- 500 tons deadweight and has proven quite satisfactory. I had no idea of buying a ship when I left home, but the unexpected often happens. Was ten days in New York, where I had to make a change in the management of our shipping department, and succeeded in securing a very good man for the job. Office room was so scarce, that our offices were in different locations ; the merchan- dise office being 17 Battery Place and the Dollar Steamship Company's office at 44 Whitehall Street. This is a bad ar- rangement, but could not be helped. Offices are not so much in demand now, and no doubt we will soon get them all in one building. In an endeavor to increase our business I stayed one day in Chicago. At a luncheon I met many prominent men, with whom I discussed the ways and means of increasing their for- eign trade. I arranged to increase our force of freight soli- citors, so that they could cover more territory and obtain freight for our New York end as well as for Vancouver. We were preparing to meet the effect of the Jones Bill, which if enforced, would prevent our Vancouver vessels from getting any over- land freight; therefore, we would be forced to divert all the freight possible by the shorter rail haul to New York, hence our line would be able to get freight that way and not be cut off altogether on account of our trans- Pacific steamers being British. But the Government seems to be afraid to enforce this law on account of the belief that other nations would retaliate, which they would certainly do. On the 16th of September I had a very pleasant duty to per- form at the "San Francisco Theological Seminary" at San Anselmo. As president of the Board of Trustees, I assisted in the ceremony of inducting the Rev. L. T. White into the Margaret S. Dollar chair of Christian Sociology, which became 60 Upper STEAMER "ESTHER DOLLAR" Lower STEAMER "MELVILLE DOLLAR' MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR possible by our endowing the chair with $50,000, which I paid last Christmas. There was a great crowd present a.t the ceremony. Afterwards at the reception and tea we had a real pleasant time and everyone seemed to enjoy the proceedings. Mr. White will also take charge of the library which is very much in need of reconstruction. This work is well under way and will prove a great boon, not only to all connected with the Seminary, but as a lending library to all ministers west of the Rocky Mountains, so the benefit will be far-reaching. This is a big job, but is being well done. Mrs. Dollar and I had the pleasure of giving a reception at the Commercial Club to over two hundred Chinese, mostly young men, but some young women, who had come to America to finish their education. They were very fine looking intelli- gent people, who will do a great deal when they return to their native country toward increasing and perpetuating the happy and friendly relations that now exist between America and China. It is impossible to estimate the great benefit these returned students are to the trade between the two countries, as they come from and return to every province of China. Other countries are making a strong effort to get them, notably Great Britain and France. Japan has tried to get them, but the Japanese policy in China has caused the withdrawal of many students from Tokyo. A short time later, we received another lot of eighty, also at the Commercial Club. I addressed a meeting at the Seminary dinner; the subject given me was a most remarkable one: "What I Would Do If I Were a Minister." At first I thought I could not do it, but I made the attempt and was told that I had succeeded fairly well; they certainly were a very appreciative audience. October 16th we had a great reception at our home, at which over one hundred were present, sixty of them were Chinese students, who were attending the university and schools in the vicinity. The remainder were our friends, professors, ministers, and those interested in the Chinese. When I returned from England, I found that the Water Company had sold twelve acres adjoining the park and this cut off our water supply, leaving the San Rafael park valueless if 61 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR we had no water ; so I started proceedings to have the sale can- celled and succeeded in getting the land for the city by my pay- ing $12,000. All this caused a good deal of stir in our small community, but the result is quite satisfactory, as the park is now assured of an abundant supply of water, and besides, the twelve acres of land make a valuable addition to the public, which, later on, will be improved and made a lasting benefit to future generations. Addressed a big meeting of the Transportation Club, on "The Merchant Marine and Shipping Matters Generally." All present were in the transportation business and seemed to enjoy what I said. They gave me a real good reception. In November I visited various branches of the Y. M. C. A. in San Francisco, and was surprised and pleased to see the pro- gress that had been made in the Filipino, Japanese and Chinese. I was the guest of honor of the Chinese Six Companies. All were in favor of having a building erected on the land owned by the Chinese branch of the Y. M. C. A. Mr. Mott was in- terested and we hope that funds will be provided to have this building erected in the near future. At San Rafael I addressed a meeting of the Masons on Pacific Ocean Commerce, especially with China and Japan. I bought and presented to the San Francisco Y. M. C. A. a lot adjoining the main building, to enable them to expand and to provide for the ever-increasing boys' \vork. It is a valuable acquisition for the future of the association. Last year I purchased and presented to the Orphanage at San Anselmo, forty-two acres of land adjoining its present hold- ings. This includes a piece of bottom land that will pasture enough cows to supply them with all the milk they require, saving the institution $1500 a year. Those two purchases amounted to about $20,000. In December, at the very urgent request of various clubs of Oakland, I accepted an invitation to address an audience at the Hotel Oakland, at which there was not even standing room for all who wanted to get in. My subject was "Foreign Trade and Advice to Young Men." 62 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR EXCERPT FROM LOCAL PRESS " 'The Pacific Coast is the most favored part of the world and is destined to supersede the Atlantic as the center of world commerce/ Captain Robert Dollar told more than five hundred business men at the Lions' Club luncheon in Hotel Oakland. Members of the Rotary Club, Kiwanis, Progressive Business Men's Club, and the Lions' Club of Berkeley and San Fran- cisco, were among those who were present to hear the veteran shipping man speak on foreign trade. " 'Captain Dollar told of the opportunities in opening the field of foreign trade, of the hard work and assured success, and threw in for good measure some typical "Cappy Ricks" observations on the League of Nations and' the Japanese situa- tion. With humorous stories he brought many a laugh and with emphatic utterances drew rounds of applause. "In part he said : " 'The trend of foreign trade, which has always been from East to West, is now on the Pacific. To those pessimists who are wondering what will happen here, I would call attention to the fact that the first steamer to cross the Pacific sailed only fifty years ago. The end is not yet, and will not be until the commerce of the Pacific supersedes that of the Atlantic. " 'We have awakened to the fact that we must have foreign trade. The manufacturers of the United States produce in six months enough for our needs for a year. No nation and no treaty will bring this foreign trade to us. We have got to go out after it, and I want to tell you it is some job. " 'We on the Pacific are in the most favored position of any nation on earth. We are facing the world commerce. Our Government once passed the law prohibiting our national banks from having branches in other countries. Can you beat it?' "Captain Dollar outlined the principal factors of foreign trade as the manufacturer, the retailer, the shipowner and the banker and added : " 'Congress has retarded and held us back until recently. The Japanese during the world war had control of the Pacific. That has been changed and now America has control. The 63 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Standard Oil company, the Steel company and the Tobacco companies did more to develop our commerce than any others and Congress laid awake nights trying to put them out of business. A few years ago Americans were discouraged. ' 'If we wish to go in for foreign trade we must go for keeps. Hopping in and out will not do any good. Look the ground over and be prepared for hard work and for obstacles and I want to tell you success is assured. There are not enough men anywhere to fill the positions on the top. " 'The young men are the ones who will conduct this busi- ness. We must have American citizens to do our business in foreign countries. If you do business with foreign houses you will get the business provided it doesn't suit them better to do it with their own countrymen. " 'The great effort in this country to stir up international strife is to be deplored. We don't want Japanese workmen here, and should tell them in the proper manner and I don't believe that, in that event, they would be offended. We are on the eve of seeing trouble if we do not look out.' "Of the League of Nations Captain Dollar said : 'A union of the English speaking peoples of the world is a league that will accomplish something. What nation or combination of nations would dare oppose us ? That is away ahead of a league of nations, for it would be workable.' ' The day before Christmas I gave a luncheon at the Com- mercial Club to our sixty-five office employees, all having an enjoyable time. This number shows the great increase of our business in recent years. As a mark of appreciation of their services everyone received an extra month's salary as a Christ- mas present together with a half holiday, so they went home happy. Their appreciation was sufficient satisfaction to me and fully repaid me. The great success that we are having is pro- duced by the loyalty of our men, without which it would be utterly impossible to successfully carry on the great work we are doing, and I hope we will be able to keep alive this interest in all our employees throughout the world. We decided to start a line of big steamers around the world. Four have already made the trip with very satisfactory results, 64 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR and we are in great hopes of being able to maintain this record permanently. I find a note in my diary December 29th, "That I spent the day working hard, planning the future development of our rapidly expanding business." I often think that it is ex- panding too fast ; but the curtailment of it presents quite a prob- lem as the business appears to demand the expansion. Look- ing backward only a very few years, we are convinced that it has exceeded the ordinary growth, as we have offices in Japan, China, the Philippines, Straits Settlements, India, Russia and Greece, seven offices in the United State and Canada, besides twelve in the countries stated above, making nineteen offices in all. It is only by enumerating these various offices that one realizes the increased scope. On the 31st of December I find this note: "Every minute of this day was taken up until bedtime and still I could have used some more if human strength could have held out." But I feel thankful to be able to w r ork as hard and accomplish as much as I have. I cannot do better than copy the note I made at the end of my diary in 1920 : "Above all the years in my life this one certainly takes first place in my earnest and sincere thanks to God for all the blessings he has heaped on me and mine during 1920. We have had abundant pleasure and hap- piness and have all enjoyed the best of health ; and as to pros- perity and success in all our undertakings, we must thank the Giver of all good for success beyond our most sanguine expec- tations and desires. All of our steamers have run without ac- cident, in fact it is remarkable how free all have run for so many years, so we can all say from the heart, 'Thank God, from whom all blessings flow.' ' Therefore, we start the year with supreme confidence in the future, knowing that God is with us and hoping prosperity will enable us to aid humanity with our money, and that we will be permitted to leave the world a little better than we found it. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER X In order that the purpose of my proposed trip around the world may be better understood, I will relate briefly my reasons for making it. Many matters in connection with our business had been developing in the Far East that could only be properly settled at close range, so that I decided to visit all of our offices ; and accompanied by Mrs. Dollar, left San Francisco on April 2, 1921, for Seattle. I had planned to sail on one of the Dollar Company steamers from Vancouver to Japan ; but received so many requests from various quarters to accompany the Commercial Commission from the Pacific Northwest on the Shipping Board steamer Wenatchee, that I finally decided to go with the Commission as far as Shanghai, and from there continue my journey on the Robert Dollar II. On returning to the United States the Commission made its formal report, a part of which covered that portion of the trip on which I accompanied them and from which the following is an extract : "Captain Robert Dollar, as a member of the visiting delega- tion and yet as a leader and pioneer in the development of American business at Shanghai and throughout China, spoke as one at home and at the same time a guest. He reviewed what has been done in a few years, and urged the earnest effort of all to develop the full possibilities of trade between China and America, based on fair dealing and mutual respect. "Captain Dollar extended an invitation to all those at the luncheon who cared to do so, to join the Pacific Northwest dele- gation on a trip on one of the Dollar Company boats along the entire Shanghai waterfront, leaving the customs jetty at 2 :30. Amorfg those who accompanied the party on this river trip were Captain Dollar and his son, J. Harold Dollar, in charge of the 66 MRS. ROBERT DOLLAR Helpmate and adviser of Captain Dollar MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR business in the Orient; Julean Arnold, American commercial attache; Captain W. J. Eisler, representative of the United States Shipping Board ; Dr. Frederic Lee, American economist consul; W. A. Chapman, secretary of the American Chamber of Commerce; Paul P. Whitman, and others. "The river trip was one of the most interesting experiences at Shanghai, and in China. The boat went up the Whangpoo River skirting the shore, passing innumerable river craft at landings and in the stream, and running close to the Govern- ment shipyards at Kiangnan, where four freight vessels for the United States Shipping Board were turned out. Two of them were about completed. "Vessels of various types, including large river steamers, one of them for the Dollar Company, were under construction along the river front. When the terminal of the Robert Dollar Company, including wharves, godowns and storage yards, was reached, across the river from the main city, the boat landed and the excursionists went ashore. They inspected with keen interest this substantial plant, representing more than three- quarters of a million dollars investment already. It is the only elaborate American-owned shipping terminal in the Far East, outside of the Standard Oil 'plants and possibly the terminal in Manila, although there is nothing like it developed by private American capital even in the Philippines. "Here two United States Shipping Board freighters, oper- ated by the Admiral Line, were discharging cargo. One was the Edinore, which had towed the Wenatchee into Yokohama, and the other was the Abercos from the Columbia River, built at Vancouver, Washington. The visitors watched the Chinese coolies moving, entirely by hand, the cargo from the ship across the wharves to the warehouse and storage yards. They con- gratulated Captain Dollar and Harold Dollar on the substantial and permanent character of the development. Mr. Singelow, the photographer, took moving pictures of the cargo handling, the plant, and Captain Dollar. Lumber from the Pacific North- west and steel from America were being discharged from the ships, 700 Chinese laborers being employed at this work. r 67 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR "At Shanghai Captain and Mrs. Dollar bade farewell to the crowd, as they were to remain in China for some time. Some other members of the delegation arranged for trips to Peking and the interior of China." Two hundred miles before we reached the mouth of the Yangtse River, some 1600 miles of which I shall attempt to de- scribe, the color of the water of the China or Yellow Sea begins to change to yellow and nearing the mouth it is a dirty brown, appearing to be almost the consistency of gruel. The Saddles, small rock islands, are sentinels located a few r miles from its entrance. The river enters the sea in two channels, the south- ern one being used by large vessels. The distance across the entrance is about 20 miles. Only a few miles up the river is Fairy Flats, where it shoals up so that ocean steamers can cross only at high tide. This is a great obstruction to navigation and must be remedied, and can be remedied effectually by levees confining the water. The enormous amount of silt that the river carries into the ocean every day in the year will require the confining of the channel so that it will scour itself out. Four distinguished engineers from as many nations are soon to meet in Shanghai and decide on the best plan to adopt. Colonel Goethals is the American representative selected. The great commerce of this river will be explained and the importance of this great work shown, which will make it possible for ships of any size to go to Shanghai, which- is destined to be one of the great seaports of the world. When I state that fully one-eighth of all the inhabitants of the \vorld live on the banks of this river and its tributaries, it should convey some idea of its importance. Shanghai is situated on a tributary of the Yangtse, the Whangpoo, which enters the river at Woosung, the center of the city being about twelve miles up. The city is solidly built along the river front for eight miles on each side. On the left side going in is Pootung, which at present is occupied chiefly by warehouses, shipyards and factories. On the right side is Shanghai proper, which is divided into districts; first, Hong Kew, which was to have been the American Concession but was refused by the United States, and is now part of the Interna- 68 tional Concession, is separated by Soochow Creek from the British Concession; then, what was the Yang King- Pang Creek is filled in, and is now Edward the Seventh street and separates the British from the French Concession. Follow- ing is the "Old" Chinese city which was formerly walled in. Along the upper waterfront is Nantou, usually crowded with native boats and junks of every description, a very unique sight. The vessels are anchored in rows and perfect order is kept, otherwise river passage would be obstructed by them. The most important part of the waterfront is called the Bund, fronting the British Concession, a fine street over 100 feet in width. Broad pontoon landing stages occupy the entire front, which are lined with launches and ferry boats, generally three or four tiers deep. This section is rapidly becoming far too crowded for the large population of the city and suburbs, as the original plan did not taken into consideration the probability of its expansion. There is a population of over one and one-half million in this locality, of which about 11,000 are Europeans, 2200 Americans, 10,000 Japanese, and the remainder Chinese. The great cotton manufacturing district is on the Shanghai river front, in Hongken and along Soochow Creek for some miles, factories of various kinds occupying the entire distance. The growth of this district almost surpasses the imagination. Ten or twelve years ago it was all cultivated fields while now it is a sight worth seeing, with its varied fleet of boats and launches passing in an endless procession. On two different occasions I counted them passing at the rate of sixty an hour. This continues twenty-four hours a day. The development on the river side is blocked by the Government Arsenal Dock Yard and Shipbuilding plant. They are just completing four 10,000- ton steamers for the American Government, and are fully occupied with both government and commercial work of every description. A little further down the river and on the opposite side the Dollar Steamship Line has just completed a wharf over 1300 feet long, with three large two-story warehouses, houses for employees, and a complete outfit for the rapid handling of 69 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR its ships. These improvements cost over three quarters of a million dollars, and furnish at times employment to over 700 men. This is the only American-owned wharf and terminal in the Orient. (See page 102.) As to the city, I find it difficult to describe the improve- ments of the last twenty years. As opposed to present condi- tions there was very little manufacturing being done two de- cades ago, and the city has more than doubled its population since that date. Up to the formation of the Republic, ten years ago, very slight advancement had been made; but since that time the progress has been rapid, the greatest strides having been made in the past two years. I think I am safe in saying that in no city in the \vorld has so much building been done, and the end is not yet, as in every section, especially in the residential part, new buildings are being erected. This is especially true of the French Concession. Along the Bund and in the business section many very large, modern buildings have been erected and many are in course of construction, notably, the Jardine Matheson's Office Building, The Glen Steamship Company Building, Hong Kong-Shanghai Bank, The Char- tered Bank, Nisshen Kissen Kaisha, and the large, modern office building of the Robert Dollar Company. It is in manufacturing plants, however, that the greatest strides have been made, as over a dozen very large cotton mills, each employing from two to four thousand men and women, several flour mills, large electric light plants, tobacco factories, oil mills, etc., having been erected. There is now no question but that Shanghai is by all odds the greatest industrial and commercial city of China, and that it will continue its growth. Its commercial future looks par- ticularly bright, situated as it is at the mouth of this great river where the development of the natural resources have hardly begun, and with over two hundred millions of population back- ing it up. When developments are finally made, many known commercial minerals will be produced in large quantities ; such as, coal, iron ore, manganese, lead, silver and copper. No doubt oil will also be found, as it was discovered in Szechuan 70 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR many years ago. German experts sent by the emperor some years ago, made an exhaustive examination for coal and re- ported there was as much coal in China as in all the rest of the world, and a very large proportion of both coal and iron ore was in the Yangtse Valley. I emphasize coal and iron, since the future of any country or place that has plenty of coal and iron ore of good quality is assured. The ore that is now ex- ported from this river runs as high as 60% of metallic iron. Ordinarily 50% is considered good. As to agriculture, the country produces plenty to feed its population of nearly five hundred million, besides producing some for export. Production is varied, ranging from tropical to products of the temperate zones ; the northern provinces hav- ing a cold w r inter produce the best wheat, beans and like food- stuffs. Continuing up the river from Shanghai we find great level plains of alluvial soil formed from the sediment of the river, as, like the Nile, it overflows its banks and deposits a sediment that keeps the land as rich as any in the world. The high water reaches its greatest height in July of each year. At this writing (the middle of June) the water has almost reached the top of the bank, and the farmers are out in great numbers harvesting the crops that are now ripe; that is the first crop. When the water recedes the last of July or August, they will put in another crop. This valley is one of the most productive farming countries in the world. The lower part of the valley is made-land from silt deposited by the river. Probably no river carriers as much silt to the ocean as the Yangtse. The land during the last two thousand or three thousand years, in the vicinity of Shanghai, has all been made. Shang- hai translated, reads, "A place by the Sea." No doubt when the city was first established it was on the ocean shore and the silt has gradually made the land until now the city is sixty miles from the ocean. It is so level that at very high tides when a typhoon is raging, the whole country is flooded, and many of the streets are covered with water to the depth of from one to two feet until the tide recedes. The difference between low and high water is about eight feet. The effects of ordinary tides are felt as far up the river as Wuhu 330 miles from the ocean. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XI On the way up the river, near Wuhu, we passed four rafts of poles that had been brought from a considerable distance up the river. The poles were from four to twelve inches at the butt, and twenty-five to thirty-five feet long. The rafts were over one hundred feet wide and about four hundred feet long, and as they were six feet out of the water they must have been eight feet under the water, making a mass fourteen feet deep. Most of the surfaces of the rafts were covered with mat houses for the crew of considerably more than one hundred men to each raft. They were well and solidly fastened together with strong bamboo ropes about two and one-half inches in diameter, then fastened to the shore with six bamboo ropes three inches in diameter. It required all these fastenings to hold such a solid mass of timber in the strong current. They were on a long journey from the up-river forests to the market at Wuhu or Chinkiang, where they would be broken up and sold in quanti- ties to suit the customers. As there was such a large quantity, it would take a number of purchasers to buy one raft. In my younger days I had .considerable experience in raft- ing timber, but I have never seen anything that approaches the mass of timber in one of these rafts, which must have taken considerable skill to bind together. In a swift water I must confess that without anchors, I would not know how to do it. I noticed many stakes had been driven in the ground and each stake had a brace put against it, then as stated, it took six large hawsers of three inches diameter, made of bamboo; these on account of their weight and stiffness, are not by any means easily or expeditiously handled, but the fact remains that they did it. Each rope was so tight it was just like a bar of iron, and was all of 200 feet from the end of the raft to the shore. This is the competition we have to meet in the small sizes of Oregon pine, and the reason that the Chinese market for Oregon pine calls for large sizes and excludes all of smaller. 72 i " MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Those rafts are floated many hundreds of miles from the forests of Szechuen to the market. For a long time I thought, when they were cutting such small timber that they must be nearing the end of their supply, but on investigation I find that whenever a small tract is cut off it is compulsory to immediately re-forest it by planting the ground over with small plants, and that in sixteen or eighteen years a full crop is again ready for cutting. This is quite an improvement on the American mode of cutting everything down and doing nothing to reproduce. This Chinese method of reproduction will give them an everlasting supply of small timber. Would it not be well before it is too late, to take a leaf out of the Chinese book of knowledge, even though we think we know so much more than they? After passing Nanking, we passed through the mineral part of the country, mostly iron and coal. This section continues for a distance of 300 miles. On the left side of the river, at times, the hills are so far away as to be invisible, and great fertile tracts of land extend for miles on each side of it. It was a great sight to watch the harvesting in full operation on such an abundant crop so early in June, as the land is in a very high state of cultivation. It is commonly reported, especially in Japan, that the steamer travel from Shanghai to Hankow is made very un- comfortable, due to poor accommodations, indifferent food, and nothing in particular to see, etc. It is remarkable that such re- ports gain credence, as the very reverse is the case. The first- class accommodations on the river steamers are unsurpassed on any other river steamers within my ken; and as to what is to be seen, no person making the trip will ever regret it. As a matter of fact I have never met a tourist that did not praise it highly after having made the trip, so I do not hesitate to say to all visitors take the river trip. The reaches of the river are divided into three sections, or rather into four. The first sixty miles is from the ocean to Shanghai ; the second, which extends from Shanghai about 700 miles to Hankow; the third, Hankow to Ichang is nearly 400 miles on account of the many turns to the river; and the fourth, 73 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR through the gorges from Ichang to Chungking, is 462 miles, the last named being over 1600 miles from the ocean, and due south of Hankow. At Wuhu I noticed the gauge stood at forty-three feet ten inches above low water, and at Hankow it was about the same. This is considered low for the time of year on account of the extreme high rise of the water in summer, due to the melting snow on the Himalaya Mountains. Because of the extreme dif- ference of fifty feet between high and low water, no wharves can be built for steamer landings, but in their stead are hulks. They are anchored far enough from shore to allow steamers to go alongside at low water. At high water pontoons are anchored at intervals between the hulk and the shore, and by the use of planks a bridge is formed between the hulk and the shore. Steps from the Bund lead down to the bridge at low water, and during high water it is level with the land. Steamers between Hankow and Ichang are of shallow draft, drawing from six feet to eight feet. In going up the river during high water they follow close in to shore, and for miles will not be further than from thirty feet to fifty feet from the bank. This is to avoid the very strong current that is in mid- stream as it runs from five to six miles an hour close to shore, and frequently advantage is taken of eddys and the backwater. On account of steamers following so close to the shore, the swells cause a constant falling in of the banks, as the soil is made up entirely of silt which results in a constant change in the topography of the country. Much of this soil is deposited on mud banks, and is one of the causes in producing a constant shifting of the channels. There is also a large quantity of this silt carried far out into the ocean, probably for 200 miles the water is discolored by the silt brought down by the rivers and is the reason for that body of water being named the Yellow Sea. Thousands of tons of this soil are yearly carried out into this sea and result in its becoming very shallow. No effort so far has been made to bulkhead, or as it is called to bund, the shores, except at the large cities where good and permanent rock rip-rapping has been found to be satisfactory. In the not distant future the condition will become so bad that work of a 74 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR similar character to that along the banks of the Mississippi River will be necessary. The river at this writing, at a distance of 1000 miles from the ocean, varies from two to five miles in width. This will give an idea of the tremendous volume of water rushing towards the ocean and carrying untold tons of silt. The boats are a sight to behold, big junks, small ones, sail boats of all kinds and description, row boats from twelve feet long up to fifty feet, besides power boats varying from large passenger steamers to small gasoline launches. If it were pos- sible to enumerate them, it would no doubt surprise the world, as the number runs into the hundreds of thousands. Every vil- lage has its own fleet tied up at the river bank, and the smallest creeks or canals are crowded with them. It is impossible for me to tell what they find to do, but they are always busy doing something, and when they are going up river, especially when it is almost calm, there is a tow-path. Along each river-bank miles of boats can be seen as close together as they can move, towed by men on the shore. Each boat has a line tied to the masthead, and according to the size of the boat, from four to twelve men are hitched to the tow- line and pull the boat along as fast as they can walk. It is a common sight to see them bending to the work with all their might. When a little wind arises the big sails are of much help. The rich agricultural valley is as level as a floor and most of the time it is so wide that the hills cannot be seen on either side, hence the explanation that China produces food enough (and some for export) for her five hundred millions of in- habitants. Besides, there is a good deal of land not fit for cul- tivation, but that which is under cultivation is made to produce crops by intense effort, as is done in no other country. The population is very dense in this stretch between Han- kow 7 and Ichang, as every two or three miles apart, villages and towns can be seen. All the towns are walled in. There are places along the river which are very crooked and a steamer has to sail to every point of the compass. At one location in particular, we had steered south for three miles, 75 MEMOIRS 'OF ROBERT DOLLAR then made a sharp turn and headed north for another three miles, and after steaming the six miles were only one third of a mile nearer our destination. The steamer on which we made the trip from Hankow to Ichang was the Kiang-Wo, a typical steamer for this run. She is about 300 feet long, 38 feet beam, and carries about 1200 tons on an eight-foot draft ; has accommodation for thirty first- class and some three hundred steerage passengers. She is a very comfortable and a well-operated steamer, and adapted to the trade in which she is engaged. She made about ten knots through the water against the current, which is but half her speed over the bottom ; or in other words, she had to run twelve nautical miles through the water to cover half the number of miles on land. Hankow is in Latitude 30 33' N, Longitude 114 20' W, and Chungking in Latitude 29 35' N, Longitude 106 30' W, so it is about southwest of Hankow. 76 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XII The old Chinese city of Ichang is walled, and built along the Yangtse and a small river. The so-called foreign part (there are very few living there as there in no foreign conces- sion, and all are under Chinese rule) is further down the Yangtse and is fairly well built, although not a modern city. Along the river it is comparatively well built up, with stones as a bund. The street is narrow, but there are good stone steps at frequent intervals along the front. These are necessary as the rise and fall of the river is fifty feet. All freight has to be carried up these steps to be stored in godowns, and when re-shipped, must again be carried down to lighters to be trans- ferred to steamers, that lay at anchor four hundred or five hundred feet from the shore; all steamers making this port are of shallow draft. At the time we were visiting Ichang there was so much looting of property and so many fires of incendiary origin, that building was at a standstill, as men were afraid to work. A condition of terror existed in the entire community from fear of the lawless soldiers. There being no law or order, the soldiers helped themselves to anything they wished, and as they have cleaned out all the native shops, their next move will be on the foreign godowns. But the great drawback to their undertaking such a depredation is, that there are seven foreign gunboats anchored a few hundred feet from the build- ings, and the foreign commanders are determined to land troops and clear out the lawless Chinese at the first move they make toward looting the godowns. They number about ten thousand and the crew of the gunboats are only about five hundred, but the latter are confident of success even against such odds. The Chinese citizens are now signing a petition asking the for- eigners to make it a foreign settlement, and prevent any soldiers 77 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR from coming into it. This matter has the serious considera- tion of both Chinese and foreigners, but the initiative must come from the Chinese. It is encouraging to Americans to know the interest our Governmen is taking in foreign trade. This is shown by the fact that Mr. Julean Arnold, Commercial Attache, made the trip with us through the gorges to Chungking for the purpose of gathering information that would benefit our country. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce of this city entertained me at luncheon in the Salt Gabelle Building, their own build- ing with its contents having been totally destroyed by fire set by the soldiers a few days previous. The merchants presented me with an address in Chinese, which translated, reads: "Ladies and Gentlemen : We feel greatly honored that you favor us this tiffin. On account of the recent upset general condition of affairs, we did not entertain you soon after your arrival from Hankow as first arranged. "This is the first time you come to this city. What im- presses you most, is no doubt to us, the burnt down houses done by looters. We feel rather shy to describe to you such event. Within half year's time there were already two loot- ings, but we cannot blame soldiers because they did not receive their pay. General Wong is to blame, he causes such looting because 1 he converts soldiers' pay to other purposes and some- times he speculates. Hence, Ichang condition is always in the midst of danger. The only remedy is to stamp out such con- stant danger by having an International Settlement established. "You people can see better than we can and even know what our utmost need is. Szechuen Province is world-known rich in natural resources. Hence, we cannot deny the fact that transportation helps development of natural resources. There are two means to transport, either by railway or steamship. As there is no railway between Ichang and Chung King, then what helps us to transport? Steamers! "As far as we Dah Chuen Tung are concerned, we feel indeed gratified that you assigned us as your shipping hong. You added one more steamer, the Alice Dollar, that shows you 78 Upper "ROBERT DOLLAR II" AND HULK AT CHUNGKING Lower LOADING FROM RIVER CRAFT ALONGSIDE MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR give us more help in the matter of transportation, but all of us must bear in mind that co-operation promotes mutual profit." I replied in a conciliatory tone and tried to re-assure them by stating that it is always darkest just before daybreak, and that if they wanted International protection that the initiative must come entirely from themselves, as it would never do for foreign nations to land troops except on the greatest provocation; but, in the terrible extremity in which they were placed I was willing to assist them in every way I could, and if order could not be restored I would be in favor of a foreign settlement to prevent murder. While the American Government has no consul, it is ably represented by Mr. Smith, the British Consul General, who is very favorably located in large grounds with fine, large buildings. This is certainly in great contrast to the American Government, which has neither grounds nor a consular representative of its own. It is to be hoped that our congressmen will realize that there are American interests on the upper Yangtse River. Although the losses from stealing are very great, they do not compare with the destruction of property by fire, as the latter is not only a loss to the community but is of no benefit to anyone. No effort is being made to re-build, the people being completely discouraged. Inasmuch as I am more con- vinced than ever of the great future commercial prosperity of this district, we have let a contract to remodel an office building we bought sometime ago, and will make it attractive and credi- table to Americans visiting Ichang. Later on, we have more improvements in view. I sent the following letter to Dr. W. W. Yen, Minister of Foreign Affairs at Peking, and a copy to the United States Minister at Peking, the Hon. E. C. Crane. His Excellency; Dr. W. W. Yen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peking. My dear Sir : In private conversation with Chinese, I hear a lot of talk about having Ichang made a Foreign Concession, and was 79 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR much surprised today at a public meeting, to hear it openly asked for. As you are aware, the town has been looted twice, and last night several places were entered and everything of value stolen. I can assure you the situation is tense and requires drastic and vigorous means to stop it. Every soldier should be driven from this part of the country. I have told the people in public, as well as in private, to go slow about forming an international settlement, and to give the Government another opportunity of cleaning out the robbers. Our office has been looted and destroyed twice, and we have paid our Chinese for all their losses, but that is insignificant compared with the terrible losses by robbery and fire that Chin- ese merchants have suffered. Vigorous action is necessary. (Signed) ROBERT DOLLAR. The Hon. E. C. Crane, U. S. Minister, Peking. My dear Sir: I have just completed a trip to Chungking, and am more than ever convinced of the great possibilities of Szechuen Province. We now have two steamers on this run giving a bi-weekly service, and we are well patronized. I enclose copy of letter sent to Dr. Yen. This place has become as bad as parts of Russia. Might is right, no law or order at all. Mrs. Dollar joins me in kind regards. I intended sailing from Shanghai on our new steamer Robert Dollar about the sixth or seventh of July via Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Calcutta and Bombay for New York. (Signed) ROBERT DOLLAR. Messrs. Jardine Matheson & Co. have built a very large three-story godown, and Butterfield & Swire have also built extra storage accommodations. 80 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR The British and American admirals will meet in Ichang, and no doubt discuss the subject and decide on a policy of patrolling- and protecting foreign interests on the river. But, far greater interest must be aroused in America of the great opportunity that is presented to American commercial inter- ests in the fully opening up and developing of the great trade than can be carried on between the outside world and the seventy millions of people in Szechuen Province. Only a short time ago the United States had seventy millions of people. Think of the probable condition of affairs if they had had no communication with the outside world. Yet this is practically the case over there today. While there are a half dozen steamers running from Ichang to Chungking, in Szechuen Province, their combined cargo capacity is much less than 1000 tons. While there are a great fleet of junks of all kinds and sizes, they can only run at certain stages of water (the same being true of our steamers.) The risk incurred by them is greater than in any other class of transportation in the world. The loss in junks runs as high as 20% per annum, and the correct accounting of the loss of life is over 1000 per year. Think of it ! three lives a day for every day of the year. 81 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XIII Now as to the river from Ichang to Chungking. I made the trip in the early part of June on the passenger steamer Robert Dollar II, leaving Ichang at daybreak, as no steamers run at night. Steamers in this service must be built to suit the conditions that exist, and I do not know of any other river navigation so difficult. In fact, during a few days of extreme high water, it is impossible to run. Then for five months in the winter sea- son the water is so low that it is impracticable to run at all. The ideal steamer is about 200 feet long, 34 feet beam, and about 8 feet draft, and about 2000 indicated horsepower with boilers in excess of the horsepower, so as to drive the vessel in still water about 15 knots an hour. In places, even with this speed, there are rapids in which even such a vessel cannot stem the current in the middle of the river, but must take advantage of the eddies on one side, then cross the river when there is an advantage of less current on the opposite side. The hull is built as light as practical, with a stem that has a very sharp curve back to assist in steering. There are three rudders, all connected ; and for the speed required she must have fine lines, thereby limiting her cargo capacity, which does not exceed 500 tons. The steamer on which I traveled had armor-plated shutters to enclose the bridge, as last year she was fired upon by bandits; the marks of the bullets are still visible on the plates. At present this precaution is unnecessary. In this section, the width of the river is from 400 feet to over a mile. While only 400 feet wide, it is supposed to be from 400 to 500 feet deep, and the water is very swift. This goes without saying, as the great volume of water that must pass from a river one mile wide into such a narrow width, must flow with a great rush. One precaution I was pleased to notice that the Government had taken, was the establishing of signal stations at places where the river turns at right angles, and it is 82 GORGES OF THE UPPER YANGTSE MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR impossible to see ahead. A man is stationed where he can see both ways; if the approach is clear he hoists a cone with its point upward; if a steamer or junk is coming, the cone-point is downward. This allows the up-stream vessel to stop in still water and the other to pass without danger. In entering a gorge where the cliffs towered over 1000 feet high, rising per- pendicularly from the water, the first thing that occurred to me was, how is it possible for what is called the trackers to walk along and pull the junks against the cftrrent. But I found that a path, in places not over a foot wide, had been cut over a thousand years ago in a very irregular way along the face of the cliff, and where small streams came in, steps were cut in the rocks for the men to go down one bank and up on the other side. It takes at least 120 men to haul a reasonably sized junk through the rapids, none of the men were entirely naked as most had straw hats or bandages around their heads. Except for this, however, they could be described as naked. A big hawser of twisted bamboo is used, and each man has a small rope around his breast fastened to the hawser. Generally they are stooped to the ground and pulling for dear life, certainly a very hard and dangerous occupation. I learned that they are paid a lump sum for the round trip which takes about six weeks, their wages being $1.00 gold and their rice furnished. I saw men swim out and clear the line when it fouled on a rock, no very safe job in the rapids. This may appear to many a fairy tale, but it is the truth. At high water, Ichang is 220 feet above the level of the ocean, and Chungking over 710 feet, so the elevation to be over- come is nearly 500 feet in about five hundred miles. In some exceptional places the current in the middle of the river is so swift that a steamer of 15-knot speed cannot surmount it, and in many places an 8-knot current has to be overcome. As to the scenery it would be impossible for me to give even a faint description, this I must leave to those more com- petent, and all I will write you must consider as only superficial. Photographs are a great help in a case of this kind but on ac- count of the very high and almost perpendicular hills the dark 83 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR shadows make photography difficult. Every mile brought to view something new and different from anything that we had seen before. One of the very strange sights was, the families living on the steep hillsides \vhere one would think only goats could exist, but we could see small patches only a few feet square terraced out of the rock, and with a little soil, which must have been carried there, they were raising a few vegetables and Indian corn, as it is impossible to raise rice. Under such conditions one wonders how it is possible to reach those places, and how they managed to carry up material to roof the shack, although stones were obtainable to build the walls. There are a number of people living in caves which can be seen in many places on the hillsides. How they all manage to live is a problem that I have never succeeded in solving. The difficulties of navigation are very great and the ex- periences are thrilling, but the level-headed navigator with clear sight and steady hand can bring a steamer through what would appear to be the impossible. I remember on coming around a sharp bend at a rapid that we met a big junk bound down- stream rowed by over 100 men, every man naked except the captain. At first it did not seem possible to avoid cutting her in two, but by extraordinary, skillful and rapid handling of our steamer, we rushed by her with less than two feet to spare. Those junks are all steered from the bow, as well as by a rudder. The bow sweep is from 45 to 50 feet long. For a few seconds I shuddered to think of the terrible loss of life that ap- peared to me to be inevitable. While the men were all good swimmers, at this place on both sides of the river the rocks rose perpendicularly from the water, and for miles it would have been impossible for any of them to have gotten ashore ; and in this critical situation it would also have been impossible for us to have rendered them any assistance. When we passed, I looked to see how they would run the rapid and saw a big whirlpool catch the junk and turn her completely around. The last I saw of her, her bow was headed up-stream. The rapids, whirlpools and eddies make a ship act like a feather on the water. In all my experience with ships I never saw one handled so quickly and efficiently as this one. 84 THE RAPIDS OF A YANGTSE GORGE MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR To give an idea of the extra power required at certain rapids, the captain has an arrangement with the engineer, that when the engines are running at full speed, if the telegraph rings full speed again he will open her out more, but if he again rings full speed it indicates she is in a critical situation, and then the engine is run what we call "wide open," and the boilers are made to produce all the steam possible. To show what reserve power she had, on an occasion such I have just described, the safety valve of the boilers actually blew off steam. For the safe navigation of the gorges plenty of power is one of the most im- portant essentials. We reached Quai-fu at 8:00 p. m., 110 miles from Ichang, where we anchored for the night and filled our bunkers with coal. The appearance of the rock formation indicates plenty of minerals. Coal is in abundance, and only the out-croppings have been worked as yet. This is quite a good sized walled town. The hills are much lower than in the gorge and there is plenty of rich agricultural land in this vicinity, the principal crop being corn, although some tobacco is grown. There are lots of goats all along on the hills. On our trip from Ichang to Quai-fu it rained in tor- rents all day, which we thought was a great disadvantage, as the heavy rains caused innumerable water falls over the cliffs. In fact there was a waterfall, small or large, about every 1000 feet of the way through the first gorges. It was a sight never to be forgotten. As we went along the muddy water of the waterfalls changed in color from light yellow to dark brown, and in some places to a light red, all indicating the various kinds of soil the water was passing over. The dark brown color of the Yangtse continued as at the mouth of the river, and full of sediment. In this 110 miles we must have passed more than twenty temples, some of good size, but the majority small, all built on the tops or near the tops of the hills. They were in the most inaccessible places one could imagine. Evidently they were of the opinion that God did not descend to the lower levels. As to the quality of coal we are getting, some of it is fairly good, while some is only passable, but for surface coal 85 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR it can be considered good. When it is mined farther in from the surface, coal of a better quality may be expected and any amount of it right close to the river. Our second day's run was from Quai-fu sixty-seven miles to the big city of Wang Hsin, where all steamers have to an- chor and report to the European customs officers, who come on board and make a very perfunctory visit, get a copy of the manifest, etc. A short distance further we entered the big rapid of Hu-Tan, at the foot of which there was a big whirl- pool, big enough to swallow a small sized boat. Stories are told of several having been swallowed in this whirlpool and all hands lost. At this part of the river, between rapids, there were some good stretches of straight river about a half mile wide. We now passed stretches of good agricultural country, the hills that are not too rocky being terraced and cultivated to their tops. The principal crops are corn and tobacco, which gives one the impression that the climate must be similar to our Southern States. The first attempt to supersede junks in the navigation of this river was made by a tug with a lighter in tow, in 1908. This effort was only partially satisfactory. Then a passenger steamer service was inaugurated in 1914, and up to the present it can be said to have been only partially successful, on account of the numerous and costly accidents, several steamers having been a total loss. But it would appear, with a better knowledge of the river and by putting on steamers of greater power, that accidents should decrease. To give an idea of the erratic rise and fall of the water. At Wu-Shan rapid and gorge the high water mark reached 203 feet above what is called zero, which is supposed to be normal low. When we passed this gorge going up it registered 93 feet, and when we returned three days later it had fallen to 79 feet, a drop of 14 feet and at a time when we expected a rise and not a fall, as extreme high water comes in early August, and is caused by the melting snows on the Himalaya Mountains. At this place the greatest rise and fall occur. At Snihpoachai we passed a monastery built on a rock that is perpendicular on its four sides, and to reach the top to build 86 A WHIRLPOOL, IN THE UPPER YANGTSE MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR the monastery they erected a nine-story pagoda leaning against one side of the rock, thereby providing the means for the monks to go up and down to their domicile, nearly 200 feet above the ground. The rock appeared to be about 400 feet square on the top, which was entirely covered with substantial buildings. Since writing the foregoing I am in receipt of our weekly Ichang report, telling of the sudden rise of the river at Ichang gorge where it reached the incredible height of 330 feet above low water level, the highest in 25 years. It flooded the bund at Ichang to a depth of four feet. This gives a good idea of the very erratic rise and fall of the water in the Upper Yangtse. On the third day we passed the large city of Feng Tu. At another city, Fuchow, we have an arrangement to have junks loaded with coal waiting for our steamers to replenish their bunkers. Here we obtain good coal, which comes down a tributary river about fifty miles from Fuchow. At Li fu Chang is a very large pottery plant and at this place last year bandits fired a volley of bullets at our steamer, but the armor-plates saved the captain and pilots. No bullets penetrated but many dented the steel, and the marks they made are still plainly to be seen. The marines aboard made short work of the bandits with machine guns, as eleven bodies were seen to float by. This action gave our steamer a "clean bill of health" at this place, and we have not been molested since. Near this place are two statues cut into the solid cliff far enough in to protect them from the weather. They represent an honest man and his wife. From the reception our steamer got here we must assume that even in olden times an honest man and his wife were such a rarity that they perpetuated their memory in this manner. It is refreshing to know that hun- dreds of years ago there was an honest man in this den of bandits. \Ye reached Yellow Flower Gorge at 6 :00 p. m. This is an- other passage with sides of perpendicular rocks. On both sides it is dangerous to meet vessels as there are two right-angle turns in it, and as it is not more than four hundred, feet wide the current is very swift. At both the turns it looked as if we had come to the end of the river until we got to the corner and then 87 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR the channel opened up before us. I noticed several openings in the side of the gorge where coal had been mined, or rather where the surface seams had been opened up, showing that there is an abundance of coal that can be had on the surface. At Chang Shun we anchored for the night. We noticed a very high bridge, that had been built many years ago, across a tributary. It was of stone and had four symmetrical arches a fine piece of architecture. A peculiarity I noticed in the junks was, that all those bound up river had their masts stepped, as sails are set when there is a favorable wind, in conjunction with the trackers' rope; whereas, all junks bound down stream had their masts down and generally lashed alongside. I mention again the efficient system of warning all steamers and junks of the presence of vessels when it is impossible to see ahead before they would be on top of each other. I fully ap- preciate the great saving of life this system affords, besides, at the most dangerous places, life saving boats and crews are pro- vided and are continually on the alert for accidents. They are called the Red Boats. We are now getting into a more fertile country which shows intense cultivation, and as a result big crops ; corn and tobacco predominate, although many other crops are in evidence. On the morning of the fourth day we passed through the gorge and rapids of Ye Lo Tse od, (Wild Mule Rapid) . I sus- pect it is called this on account of the vigorous kick it has. A few miles below Chungking we came to the installation of the Asiatic Petroleum Company which has tankage, good houses and godowns. The Standard Oil Company installa- tion is a short distance above the city on the opposite side of the river. We arrived at Chungking at 10 :00 a. m. We did not run at night, our day being from 4 :30 a. m. to 7 :30 p. m. We made the trip up in fifty-four hours. The first appearance of the city was very impressive, as it is built on a rock foundation about three hundred feet above the river, on a level plateau. At present our steamers berth across the river, but we have secured land on the city side at the juncture of what is called the Small River and the Yangtse. 88 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR When I saw it, it was nearly half a mile wide and had a very strong current. Our land is near a principal gate of the city, but it is very steep, as is all land on the city front. The great advantage is to have a mooring place for our hulk, and from the limited time that I had, it looked as if the location was as good as could be had on the city front. The pontoon, a real good one built of Oregon pine, and the very first to come to the Province of Szechuen; is well built and adaptable for the service it is intended. An interesting part in making it fast to the shore to resist the great current caused by the rapid rise of water, (up to over ninety feet,) is the manner in which the chains are fastened. Holes are cut in the solid rock, and the chains are shackled to them, so to break away, a part of the rock hillside would have to come out. When this is completed we will have by far the best landing equipment in this city. All roads from the water up to the city are steps cut into the rock. Immediately before arriving, the steamer passed an image cut into the rock and recessed about three feet to protect it from the weather. It was beautifully gilded and resembled gold. This is the god of the river and every steamer or boat that passes, "fires off" fire crackers; if bound up, thanking it for a safe pas- sage, and if starting down, beseeching it to grant a safe passage through the rapids. 89 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XIV It is impossible to give an idea of the number of boats passing here; they run into the thousands, and each big junk has from 100 to 120 men on board. They are all hired by the run, which takes about six weeks. The current wage paid is "Mex." $2 or Gold $1. In addition they receive their food, two bowls of rice a day. Taking into consideration that this is the most hazardous occupation I have ever come across, the wage is certainly low, although in years gone by in our Chinese lumber yards we only paid from eight to ten cents "Mex." a day, and the men boarded themselves. But when we take into consideration the risk, which statistics show to be over one thousand deaths by drowning a year, it certainly exceeds any- thing I have yet come across. They all appeared to be hardy young men, stark naked except that they usually wore a hat. The captain was dressed, but always bareheaded and bare- footed. The following, copied from Captain Plant's book, is about as good a description of the trackers as can be obtained. "Most interesting it is to watch a big junk maneuvering through some difficult passage. Seventy or eighty men ashore hitched to the stout bamboo hawser by bandoleers of cotton line, are straining with bent backs and swinging arms, their fingers nearly touching the ground, whilst the head men as naked as they were born, armed with split bamboos, rush madly up and down the double row of trackers, shouting themselves hoarse testing each man's bandoleer as they run along, by tapping on them with their bamboos, with the acuteness of a grand piano tuner, and dealing out whacks on the bare backs of the slackers. Away in the rear of the trackers three or four men are stationed at intervals along the tow line, and it is their business to clear from the boulders and projecting rocks, the tow line which is constantly catching. It is a job involving great risk of bad falls, broken bones, and drowning. Perched 90 Upper CARGO JUNK SHOOTING THE TCHIN TAN RAPIDS Lower TRACKERS HAULING JUNK UP STREAM OVER RAPIDS MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR on the rocks, away out in the swift running river those naked men may be seen, ready to wade or swim in the wake of the tow line, throwing it clear as they go. Powerful swimmers all of them, they perform the most daring feats, often swimming long distances." On our arrival we had a real Chinese reception boats dec- orated with flags, luncheon set out for us, a great big brass band, and receptions by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and other organizations ; addresses of welcome and then thousands of fire crackers. The following is one of the addresses, trans- lated from Chinese: "Sir, you are well known in our country. We have been very anxious to see you. Now you personally pay a visit of inspection to Chungking and do honour to us. We are veiy fortunate and very happy. "It was very difficult formerly for passengers and cargoes to pass through the Yangtse River, because there were very few steamers sailing on it. With a view to helping and benefiting the passengers and cargoes, you began to build many steamers and sail them about this river. Only one year more the com- munication of waterway from Chungking to Shanghai is much more convenient than before. Such good results are accom- plished by you, Sir, and Harold Dollar. We have nothing to say but that we hope you and your company are as constantly prosperous in the abundance as the sun is in its journey through the heavens." "Your servants, "Dah Lai Chuen, "Y. A. Young." If I had been their long lost brother they could not have done more. They acted as if I had been acquainted with them for fifty years, and this was my first visit. Then when I went over to our office, which is situated on the principal street of the city, which is about ten feet wide, there was such an explosion of fire crackers that travel was suspended for a few minutes. There was a great concourse of people going back and forth all the time. I was ashamed that they paid so much respect and MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR attention to me. The office is about five hundred feet from the custom house and eight hundred feet from the postoffice. The census shows Chungking to be a city of 800,000 people, and the size of it fully justifies that number, as it is solidly built, and the streets are only alleys, mostly from six to eight feet wide. Its commercial importance justifies a city of that size, to ,say nothing of the very rich country that backs it up. While Chungking is called the head of navigation, it is quite possible for our steamers to go from 200 to 300 miles further. Two small boats make this run now to Sui Fu, where the Yangtse changes its name to Kin Sha Ho River River of Golden Sands. This river is also navigable for 100 miles. When I see the richness of this great province from both .a mineral and agricultural point of view, I am completely lost in trying to think of its future during the next twenty or thirty years, as it is only commencing to be opened up to foreign commerce, which is so infinitesimal that it is not worth being called by that name. Take the capital, Chentu, 200 miles in- land, which had a system of irrigation introduced before the Christian Era, and is in perfect condition and in use today. It has been examined by modern engineers who pronounced it as good as it is possible to build today. When we consider that the population of the province is about seventy millions, self- contained and raising and producing everything it wants, and and does not have to depend on the outside world for anything; and when one sees so many cities, towns and villages, so thickly populated, it well reminds one that one-half of the world does not know how the; other half lives. The Chinese cities generally have red tiled roofs, but all the houses in Szechuen Province are covered with blue colored tiles which give the cities a dull, dark appearance, and at first make them appear strange. I learned that in the Roman Catholic Diocese there are over 50,000 converts shepherded by sixty-five native priests and forty-two European priests, and that in the province there are 160,000 converts. I have not the statistics of the Protestants, which I think must be considerable, so a great start, has been made to christianize that far away province. 92 Upper APPROACH TO CHUNGKING SHOWING JUNKS LAID UP Lower AT CHUNGKING MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR There is a fine large arched bridge, as good as can be seen in any country, across the Little River, which is navigable for sixty miles. The City of Chang Pei is on the other side of the river from Chungking. The day I was there happened to be Water Festival Day, and it was certainly a great affair. Canoes had been constructed for the occasion, long and only wide enough for two men to sit abreast, and from fifty to sixty men in each canoe, everyone paddling and keeping time to the tap of a drum, the captain standing up and also keeping time by waving a flag. All wore pants but no other clothing. There were some thirty canoes and over 1500 men. They raced from the bridge down to the Yangtse and back. The course was in front of our property, so I had a good opportunity of seeing it. There was an enormous crowd out, and every point of vantage was taken. But the great thing was to have a place to stand in the water, those farthest out had only their heads visible, then as they approached the shore, the great rush was to secure a place and get their feet in the water, if possible. Those in the canoes threw water on themselves. This evidently was the religious belief that some good luck would come out of being wet with the river water that day. Great crowds were also in swimming. It looked as if the whole city had turned out in holiday attire to see the festival. One canoe preceded them and in its center was a great altar and a figure on it, which I supposed to be the real dragon himself. Be that as it may, they certainly had a great holiday. Evidently it is held in different places at different times as on the way up the river we saw a small demonstration, when at Wang Hsin, two days after all the people had turned out; they had about ten or twelve canoes at this place and possibly 600 men. The Chinese arranged to give me a banquet in the city and as the city gates close promptly at sunset and do not open until sunrise, we arranged to have it between four and six o'clock in the evening. I went in our gasoline launch to see the pontoon we are building. As is usual with gas engines, it decided it had gone far enough for that day, and refused to budge. After trying 93 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR for a long time we got the launch out into the river hoping it would drift down to the city so that we could attend the ban- quet, but we failed to get there on time. Besides I was deter- niined to see our landing place, so we hired a sampan and got over and saw the landing, and incidentally the dragon festival. This completed a very busy day, as it was dark when we got back to the Robert Dollar II. That w r as not all, however, as several Chinese came to talk over future business and I stood it until 1 1 :30 p. m. before going to bed. Harold Dollar finished the conference at 2 :30 a. m. the next day, and the steamer sailed at 4:30 o'clock. I noticed some high, well built bridges around the outside of the wall, providing a roadway between the river and the wall, which is very high and strong. Across the Yangtse from Chungking are some godowns and places of business, but not very numerous. The few foreigners who are located there, live up on the hills on this side, but it is very steep and sedan chairs have to be used, and it takes considerable time to come and go morning and night, which is quite a disadvantage. As to the trip down the river, we started as soon as it was daylight. The up-trip had been full of new experiences, but we had other and far more exciting experiences on this down- ward voyage. At Kwei Fu we found that the water had fallen fourteen feet in the three days since we had passed. This re- leased a great fleet of junks which were waiting for this favor- able turn, as too high water is extremely dangerous for them. This brought a new menace to the steamers as we passed junks in every position. One would naturally think they would be heading straight down stream, but this was not the case, as they are unable to keep steerage way and the currents and whirlpools sent them out of their course, and it was no unusual occurrence to find them crosswise of the channel. For instance, in the narrow crooked channel of the Tan Rapid, we overtook a junk that had been whirled around and broadside to the channel and at first it appeared impossible for us to avoid running it down, but at the last minute, by a fortunate swirl of the current and by the almost superhuman efforts of the crew at' the fifty- foot bow sweep, we passed them with not more than three feet to 94 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR spare. I could see the captain on top of the poop jumping and gesticulating like a demon. No doubt, if what he was roaring had been understandable, it would not have been fit for Sunday School literature. Remember, the steamer was rushing down this rapid with a speed of at least twenty miles an hour. One is apt to ask, "Why rush at this breakneck speed?" The current was run- ning at fifteen miles an hour; therefore, the steamer was only going through the water at a little over five miles an hour, which was the lowest speed possible and maintain steerage way on her; moving slower than this, the current would have twisted her broadside to the stream as it had the junk, which would have resulted in her landing on the! rocks. The captain had no choice but to keep right on. The steamer went through one rapid four miles long in less than ten minutes. The entire distance of 460 miles was made in nineteen hours on the re- turn trip, whereas it took us three and one half days to go up. We saw a great many temples that we had overlooked on the way up, all perched in the most inaccessible of places. How the priests manage to have the necessities of life carried up to them is a conundrum. There are many pagodas scattered through- out the country chiefly of seven stories, although in this dis- trict I saw some of eight stories. On a number of high eleva- tions near cities, we saw great fortifications which are called robbers' castles. Brigands tenant some, but others are occupied by the Tuchan "generals," therefore the name is absolutely correct as the Tuchans and their substitutes are worse than brigands. They are the real curse of China today. Following are some of the crimes perpetrated by the robbers with the sanction of the commanding general : the destruction of the Ichang Chamber of Commerce building by fire as well as looting it, setting afire hundreds of buildings and comman- deering two steamers to carry away the stolen goods. A few days afterwards the general demanded money from the chamber. When they replied that their property had been destroyed and they had no money, he gave them a few hours in which to get some or be shot. They gathered $3000. He was very much displeased at receiving so small an amount and 95 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR told them to get ready as he would be back in a few days. As a sequel to this looting, the soldiers took the steamers to Han- kow where 300 of them boarded a train. Fifty miles out the train was switched on to a siding and the engine detached. All along the siding, another general who disapproved of these depredations had his machine guns placed and riddled the train with bullets. The result was so effective that only one man, badly wounded, was known to have escaped. Many ran from the train into a field, but were killed. A friend of mine passed there the day following and counted forty men dead on one side of the track and ninety-five on the other side, besides those that were killed in the cars. All this, however, was no lesson to them as the night we were in Ichang, soldiers broke into four stores that had been overlooked and helped themselves to what they wanted. To show what a farce was being enacted, a poor coolie was marched all through the town by the soldiers (who are the real thieves) and was beheaded in the park because he had probably stolen something from a soldier. China will never be herself again until all the soldiers are disbanded. They are not needed, as the citizens are peaceable, law-abiding people and soldiers are not required. 96 FROM BUNGALOW TO CHUNGKING BY CHAIR AND BOAT MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XV From Ichang, on the way to Hankow, we made a fast run on account of the strong current. On leaving our office to go on board the steamer a big deputation of Chinese accompanied us from the Chamber of Commerce and more fire crackers were set off. From a barge there were so many exploded that the smoke prevented our seeing any distance. We sailed Thursday at midnight and arrived in Hankow early Saturday morning. While on the way we noticed that the river had risen to near the danger point of overflowing the fields. The country adjoining the river is a great alluvial plain made up of the sediment from this river. The great wonder is, how it is possible for the water to carry for hundreds of miles such a large amount of soil to deposit on the land when it overflow's. It is this constant addition of silt that keeps the land so fertile. The river is continually changing its course by cutting new channels and filling up the old ones, which makes it very crooked and increases the distance between ports. The crops were heavy and the harvest was well advanced. We saw the farmers working to finish the harvesting before the river could overflow the land. After the water falls, in a month or six weeks, they will plant a second crop and get it off before winter comes on. On arrival at Hankow we went immediately to our hong, which we make our home while in this city, and had breakfast. It is a very comfortable and well furnished house. Had con- ferences with our business associates during the day, and found our affairs in a satisfactory condition. Sunday morning went to church and ir the afternoon went across the river to Wuchang, where we were present at the dedication of the Y. M. C. A. building, that I had provided money to erect and furnish, as well as to buy about half the land. It is very well located on one of the principal streets, the land running through from street to street. When the city was looted a few days 97 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR ago and a good part of it burned, it was fortunate that the soldiers spared this building. It was said that when they were told it was a Y. M. C. A. building they did not apply the torch, although they did not spare buildings in the immediate vicinity. While the looting was going on, the building and grounds were filled with terror stricken inhabitants, who felt sure of safety from the soldiers in a Y. M. C. A. It is significant that this was the first use the building was put to. At 3 :30 p. m. the dedication services commenced. On the platform were repre- sentatives of the civil and military authorities of the province accompanied by a very large military band. The audience hall seated 600, all standing room was fully occupied and many were turned away for lack of room. It was certainly a very representative gathering of the higher class, though not so very long ago it was stated that only the coolie class was interested in Christianity, and now we find the highest in the land helping the good work along. The late President of China, General Li Yuen Hung, furnished part of the money to buy the first piece of land on which the building stands. And so the cause of Christianity is increasing rapidly in China, not only on the seaboard, but here in this city 800 miles from the ocean, and the geographical center of China. A great many speeches were delivered, all too laudatory of what I was doing. Herewith are some of the newspaper reports of the dedication. EXTRACT FROM THE CENTRAL CHINA POST "Captain Robert Dollar, the venerable, veteran business man of America, and leading lumber merchant of the Pacific Ocean, returning to Hankow from a visit to the Upper Yang- tse gorges in Szechuen Province, dedicated yesterday afternoon (June 26, 1921) the new building of the Wuchang Y. M. C. A. in the presence of a representative audience. The donor of the building, Captain Dollar, was the recipient of hearty thanks and appreciation from the audience, and especially from the twelve speakers, none of whom omitted a well deserved remark of thanks and admiration. 98 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR "In opening the ceremony, Mr. Li Wei-ling, Chairman of the Board of Managers of the Wuchang Association, made a brief address welcoming all those present and the donor of the new edifice, Captain Dollar. After the singing of the National Anthem, and offering of prayer, Dr. Z. T. K. Woo, General Superintendent of the Han Yang Iron and Steel Works, speak- ing in English, officially thanked Captain Dollar for the gener- ous gift to the cause of young men in Wuchang, of the fine, modern, commodious building which all rejoice in having. "Then the Captain stood up, and in his usual pleasing man- ner, expressed his gladness at seeing the speedy finishing up of the building. Reminding his hearers that his prime purpose in giving the building is to benefit Chinese young men, making them all-around men. Captain Dollar emphatically remarked that he had never made an investment for any purpose unless he knew it to be productive of good. In the case of the Wuchang Y. M. C. A. he expressed his confidence in leaving it to Chinese management, and publicly thanked for the work done, Dr. Yen Teh-ching, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Wuchang Y. M. C. A. now in America on government service, Mr. A. M. Glittery, and Mr. W. C. Jordan. Touching upon his trip to Szechuen, the Captain forcefully pressed on his audience the tremendous possibilities of the Upper Yangtse Valley, which, he said, no one in the room could possibly imagine. Next the Captain urged all Chinese to appreciate and make good use of their wonderful heritage. (He espe- cially asked his interpreter to bring this home to his Chinese listeners in clear Chinese.) After expressing his deep regret on seeing the destruction of property in Wuchang, the speaker emphasized 'This must be remedied and changed,' and then said, 'a word to the wise is sufficient.' "The other speakers who followed were representatives of the Tuchun, Civil Governor, and Chief of Finance Bureau, Intendent of the District, Provincial Educational Director, former Magistrate of Wuchang, Mr. Kung Tze-tsai, a Chinese lawyer in Wuchang, Mr. Chon Kai, Commissioner of Foreign Affairs, Mr. J. C. Huston, American Vice-Consul, Mr. A. E. Marker, Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce 99 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR of Hankow, and Dr. A. A. Oilman, President of Boone University. "Mr. Huston expressed his admiration of the Christian manhood of Captain Dollar, who is known in America, he said, from the Pacific to the Atlantic Coast. He closed by advising all young men to join the Y. M. C. A. Mr. Marker suggested that the best way to express appreciation of Captain Dollar's donation was to support the new work now before the Wuchang Association. Dr. Oilman, speaking first in Chinese and then rendering the same into English, emphasized that the Y. M. C. A. works internationally in its scope, and is the best for constructive efforts to uplift the people in virtue and wisdom." Suffice it to say that everything went off smoothly. I looked over the building, and found it exceeded my expecta- tions. It is of reinforced concrete and built to stay; as it is fireproof, it should be a good serviceable building fifty years hence. It is well furnished and well adapted in every way for the purposes for which it is intended. The architect and all those connected with the management deserve great credit for producing such a good building for so much less than was ex- pected, as all the money subscribed was not expended, but will be used for future improvements. In addition to the main building there are two dormitories, and there is room for a tennis court which will be installed at once. There is a good well on the premises. In digging it they came across old build- ing stones and bricks, and at a depth of 24 feet they found a fairly well preserved brick wall and a lot of crockery, showing this to be a very old city, probably dating back to long before the Christian Era. , This was a walled city dating back so far that there is no record of it. The present wall was repaired and rebuilt more than 200 years ago. Some of the gates look as if they had been built more than 2000 years ago. We know that the gates in the Great Wall were built before the Christian Era and the gates of Wuchang look much older, but the masonry is in as good condition as the day it \vas built. It is a study to think of the countless millions of people that have passed through those arches during centuries long past. 100 Turning to something more modern, on the Hankow side of the river we have bought the land on which to build the terminus for our steamers, and have a good hulk, which was once a sailing ship, connected to the shore with pontoons which makes a good landing place. It is centrally located in the Russian concession. This in time should develop to be a valu- able auxiliary to our shipping interests. Outside of the German concession we own a big piece of land adjoining the railroad, part of which is used for our lumber yard, on which we have built our modern and commodious office building with living quarters for our manager and staff upstairs. IOT MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XVI We sailed from Hankow for Shanghai on the steamer Long Woo. Like all the river steamers she is well fitted up for first class passengers, and the food was all that could be desired. We had a very pleasant passage. I noticed at Kuikiang that the gauge showed the water to be 40 feet above low water level, so it was encroaching upon the land that was not protected by dikes or levees. At noon we arrived at Shai quan (Nanking) and most of the passengers went by train to Shanghai. But I had writing to do so we stayed on the boat, arriving in Shanghai at 10:00 the next morning, so I got in nearly a full day's business. July 1st we had a terrible tropical thunderstorm, accom- panied with torrents of rain. I had a meeting with the Chinese head men of the village at our wharf at Pootung at which I offered to build and equip a schoolhouse and pay all expenses the first year, if they would provide the land; they to take it over and run it themselves after the first year. We selected a suitable piece of land and they were satisfied and agreed to my proposal. I found there were about sixty children of school age, and that none of them attended school. This village is the result of our building a wharf, warehouses, lumber yard, etc. The village started after we commenced to build, and there is now profitable work for a great many men at one time. When we had three vessels in port we employed from 600 to 700 men. Just a few words about our wharf. It fronts on the Wham- poo River and Pa Ling Ching creek, with a frontage of 1400 feet on the river, and can accommodate three large steamers at a time. The wharf is one of the strongest wooden wharves I have ever seen; a rail track on the front for a steam crane provides for handling heavy lifts up to thirty tons. The buildings are all of reinforced concrete. We have two two-story warehouses, 80" x 300' and 100' x 400', respectively, with an aggregate storage capacity of 40,000 tons; customs 1 02 A YANGTSE GORGE SHOWING CLIFFS MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR examination sheds 80" x 450' ; a very good modern office, a power house that supplies the plant and vessels with water and electric light, houses for the managers and men, a lumber yard capable of storing six million feet of lumber, and plenty of ground for open storage of coal up to 50,000 tons, and any other commodities that don't require a roof over them. It is as complete a plant as one could wish for, and provides the means for the rapid handling of our ships, which is a great advantage. Our ferry steamer to Shanghai carries 23,000 passengers monthly. A few days ago we had the privilege of attending the dedi- cation of the Young Womens' Christian Association Building, which we erected to commemorate the death of our daughter- in-law, Mrs. A. Mel-ville Dollar, which occurred in Shanghai, December 1918. It is a fine building. The lower part will be used for a reception hall, and the upper story for bedrooms for the girls. We were well pleased with what had been done. A Chinese lady delivered an excellent address in English. SHANGHAI I inspected our new Shanghai building, which is on Canton Road, near the Bund. It has a frontage on Canton Road of about 165 feet, with alleyways on three sides. It is a Class A building of reinforced concrete, seven stories high and is intended for a first-class office building; plenty of light is provided for each room. We will use part of the lower floor for a shipping office, the balance of the floor will be occupied by a bank. Our main offices will occupy the entire upper floor. It is centrally located and will make a good home for our Chinese business. This makes me think back twenty years, when w-e sent to China our first steamer, the M. S. Dollar. The result of that voyage was a loss. This convinced me that if we hoped to make a success of this trade we must have an organization on the ground. So I made a trip and carefully looked over the field, and opened an office in one small room on Szechuen Road. This was certainly starting in on a very small scale. This is my ideal start on a small scale and work up from a 103 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR sure foundation. We moved several times in order to get larger quarters, until we landed in our present offices, which we have completely outgrown. Hence, the necessity for moving into larger quarters in our new office building when it is completed in October. Our Shanghai office was our first in the Far East. Now there are eleven of them, and each one seems to have plenty to do. The same progress has also been made in America. Twenty years ago we only had the San Francisco office; now we have five others. For all this I have absolutely no reason for self-glorification, but have to thank a good providence that has permitted such success. HONG KONG After seeing the great progress that Shanghai was making I must say that I was very much disappointed in the looks of this city. It is certainly going backwards, and it does not resemble the busy, hustling, pre-war city. I was very sorry to see that they have never been able to recover from the effects of the expulsion of the Germans. It is to be hoped that this seaport, that once stood second of all the seaports in the world, in point of ships' tonnage entering and clearing, will soon be able to recover from the effects of the war. Kowloon appears to be about holding its own, but is very quiet compared with pre-war times. I never saw so few ships in the harbor as at this time. I did not have time to go to Canton, so cannot report on condi- tions there, but I imagine Hong Kong's dullness would be re- flected in Canton, as to a great extent Hong Kong depends on the commerce of Canton and tributary rivers. Except for fin- ishing up old work on hand, the shipyards appear to be on the eve of very dull times. When we take into consideration that one-third the ships of the world are laid up, it goes without saying that only one-third the repairs are necessary. MANILA On arrival at this port, it certainly looked deserted, as only a very few ships were lying at anchor, and not one at any of 104 OUR OFFICE BUILDING AT SHANGHAI MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR the docks. The Philippines, like all other countries, were hard hit by the slump after the war, and Manila, being the great commercial center, was hardest hit of all. But in addition to the commercial depression, came government financial troubles. The Philippine National Bank failure was disastrous ; the stock is practically owned by the Government, and from accounts we hear on the streets, the capital has completely disappeared. Several of the high officials have been arrested for stealing, and if we would believe half the stories we hear, it has been systematically looted. Mr. E. W. Wilson has tackled a big job in trying to pull it through. It appears to have been run by politicians and their friends for their personal benefit. It is to be hoped that it will not turn out half as bad as is reported, though that will be bad enough. The Government mismanagement during the last four years has put the country in debt; all public works have been sus- pended ; roads have gone out of repair, and an era of wreck and ruin has taken the place of Governer Forbes' energetic and good management. The management is now entirely in the hands of the Filipinos. During the former regime there was always a surplus in the treasury and great improvements were to be seen going on everywhere. Since then the taxes have been doubled, practically all work suspended ; money is all gone and a big debt has accumulated. A proper question would be, "Where has all this money gone?" The only answer that can be made to that question is, that it must have gone into the pockets of hungry politicians. As an illustration : On enter- ing the harbor I tried to locate the dock that the Pacific Mail was on the eve of starting eighteen months ago ; also the great Government pier we have heard so much of, but neither was visible. At that time, a year and a half ago, I looked at the rein- forced piles they were making, and all the preparations under way. Now I find the conditions required by the Government prevented the Pacific Mail from going ahead, and that the Government pier was in the same condition as when I left nothing really accomplished, expenses have been kept up all these eighteen months. The Jones' bridge was well advanced 105 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR at that time; now they claim they need $260,000 to finish it. I only cite these conditions as otherwise it would be impossible to believe what I have written of the terrible finan- cial straights. The leaders who have brought about this state of affairs are clamoring for independence. What they did when they had a free hand should be sufficient to convince the world that they are utterly incapable of managing their own affairs. It is to be hoped that when they get the money Congress has authorized, that it will be put in charge of someone who will see that it is expended in a proper manner. The Chamber of Commerce gave me a complimentary luncheon at which every seat was taken, and when I spoke, all standing room was occupied. The president, Captain Heath, made some very complimentary remarks about what I had done. The following is what one of the papers had to say of my remarks. PRESTIGE GOES IF ISLANDS ARE FREED "Robert Dollar, 'Grand Old Man' of the Pacific commerce, who spoke at the American Chamber of Commerce luncheon at noon, was introduced by Captain Heath, who made a few facetious remarks about business men liking to hear a Dollar talk, and spoke more seriously of the important role played by Captain Dollar for the last twenty or thirty years in developing Pacific commerce. He reminded the members that Captain Dollar was seventy-two years old. "Captain Dollar spoke briefly on a number of topics. He said when he left the States that the finances of the country were on an absolutely sound basis. The only fly in the oint- ment he said was the attitude of the labor unions, which have decided to accept no reductions in war-time wages. So long as the unionists persist in that attitude, said Captain Dollar, effective competition with other nations is absolutely impossible. "The speaker told of how astounded he was at the Fourth of July celebration at the American Consulate at Shanghai several weeks ago. He said that there were three times as many Americans in Shanghai now as there were three years ago. This is very encouraging, he said, although they have 106 Upper VIEW OF A GORGE FROM STEAMER Lower A JUNK ON THE YANGTSE MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR their troubles at present just as they have in the Philippines. The Dollar Company has a line of ships going 1600 miles up the Yangtse River now, opening up a country of 70,000,000 people. This means something to the Americans in the Philip- pines, claimed the Captain, for there is a community of interests among all the Americans in the Far East. "Shipping all over the world is in a bad condition. There is a tonnage of 15,000,000 over and above the tonnage of the world at the beginning of the war, and business has decreased. About half the tonnage of the world is laid up. 'When there was lots of business and not enough shipping, we shipping men, said the Captain, 'could tell you where to get off,' and could charge whatever rates we pleased. But now, as there are more ships than there are cargoes, you can tell us where to get off and we are getting off too, I can tell you,' he said sadly. 'I do not expect much improvement in the world business situation until 1922.' "Captain Dollar criticised the Shipping Board, saying that there is not a shipping man on it; three are lawyers, one a newspaper man, and the rest are politicians. "Captain Dollar operates both British and American ships. He said he cannot use American ships on certain runs where he does use British ships because of certain harmful laws. No laws have been introduced in Congress to benefit shipping, but many to harm it. Things do not look very hopeful. " 'There is no use in stirring up animosity over the trade of the Far East,' said the Captain. 'The best friends I have are competitors of mine.' "Captain Dollar believes that if independence were given to the Philippines that they would be in trouble several months afterwards. He wants America to adopt a fixed policy over here. He wants America to tell the world what it is going to do over here and then do it. He said he did not know what the Wood-Forbes report was going to be, but that he was sure it was going to be right, and that it was up to the United States to follow up the mission's recommendations, whatever they are to be. 107 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR " 'The opportunities for American commence in the Far East are gigantic inconceivable/ said Captain Dollar, 'but if we let the Philippines loose, I don't see how we are to retain our prestige in the Orient. America wants a share in the commerce of the Far East, a fair share. Perhaps I won't live to see it, but I hope I may. Captain Heath gave you my age. That was my age five years ago.' "After Captain Dollar's speech and long applause, Captain Heath read an Associated Press cable from Iloilo in which General Wood is reported to have said, 'I am a soldier of the Republic, and I go where I am ordered. I am too old to change.' The reading of this dispatch was followed by con- tinued cheering. When the tumult had somewhat died down, Captain Dollar rose and said, 'We all hope he will never change'." ILOILO It is ten years ago since I last visited this town. At that time the Government under Governor Forbes was improving the roads, the harbor, and the town generally; building a custom house; also a sea wall along the city side of the river from the custom house to the entrance of the river, to make the depth of water twenty-six feet at low tide. They went along with the work until it got into the hands of the Filipinos, when all work was stopped. The building is about half com- pleted, and the depth of water is only eighteen feet. The custom house is in use but neither it nor the grounds have ever been finished; roads have become ruts; and automobile roads that were once the equal of those of any country, have been allowed to go to wreck and ruin. It is out of my line to write tales of woe like this, so I will stop, not that I have exhausted the subject, but it is displeasing to me. July and August are bad months for big vessels to lie in the outer harbor on account of wind squalls, rain and typhoons. This time we got our share of them and lay there waiting for four days, and for three days we could not get ashore. This place has every appearance of becoming a great sugar shipping port if the harbor is improved; if not, then various small ports will spring up. 1 08 Upper OUR HULK AT HANKOW Lower STEAMER "ROBERT DOLLAR II' MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XVII Next to Shanghai, Singapore is the busiest port in the Orient. But they placed too much dependence upon one com- modity for export Rubber. When the terrible slump in price of this article came, it struck this port heavily. A good deal of building is going on, and there is an air of activity about the place that was totally absent from Hong Kong or Manila, so for the kind of times we are passing through I would say Singapore has "no kick coming." The harbor was fairly well filled with shipping, and we were told that the previous month was busier than when we were there. Quite a fair amount of cargo was moving, despatch was fairly good and stevedoring was cheap. The Robert Dollar was an unreasonably long time in port on account of having to move a large quantity of Bombay lumber from the 'tween decks to the deck so as to make room for 3000 measurement tons of cargo. Had it not been for this she would have had quick despatch. I found that the other steamship lines had gotten it into their heads that we were not only interlopers, but also rate slashers, and gave us the cold shoulder. This was partly brought about by our refusal to sign an agreement, that all the others signed, to keep the present rates, and before making any cut to notify all the others of our intention. Mr. Shreve, how- ever, did send them a letter to the effect that we would keep rates. We had a meeting at which I told them we never had been guilty of being the first to cut, but reserved the right as soon as anyone cut, to follow or not as we saw fit, and, fur- thermore, that we were there to stay, and wanted to work harmoniously with them, and wanted to get our fair share of the business. They are convinced now that we are a per- manency, and I don't think there will be much more trouble. The strange part of it was that, the Blue Funnel Line man- ager, Mr. Hennings, was the greatest complainant and just at this time his Liverpool office ordered the rate on rubber cut 109 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR from $15 to $12, without consulting anyone. This no doubt was because that company wants to rule the roost and tell all others where to "get off." No one can understand such a cut at this time as there is enough cargo to go around. It requires close watching to hold our own. The Robert Dollar Company office has been moved to 117 Market Street. It is commodious and much better than the one we had. We are getting our share of the business and our affairs appear to be in a prosperous condition. THE HUGLI RIVER For many years I had read all I could get on the subject and tried to get information from others. Then, when I came to Calcutta, and inquired of everyone who is supposed to know, and closely questioned pilots, I must confess that the more I tried to learn, the less I knew. So, I am writing a brief account of what I found out in eight short days. I make this statement so you may understand how imperfect my account must be. Pilot Ridge Rung, 142 miles from Calcutta, is where a pilot boat is generally to be found. The pilot boats are three- masted steamers and are of good size for this sort of work. The pilots are graded into four classes, besides apprentices, the higher-ups taking the big boats and so on down the line. When we came along with the Robert Dollar we took on a pilot of the highest grade, who told me that this was largest ship that had ever attempted to go up the Hugli to Calcutta. They depend upon the speed for safety, and when he learned that we could give him twelve knots he was reassured and satisfied. I watched as closely as I could all the way, but at times the rain fell in such torrents it was impossible to see a ship's length ahead. Fortunately the showers were not of long duration, and we had intervals during which we could see clearly. This river is the best buoyed and "shore-marked" of any river I ever saw, and I came to the conclusion that this total lack of obtainable information, and the tales that we hear of the terrible dangers in navigating this stream are caused by no Upper STEAMER "ALICE DOLLAR" Lower THE ICHANG WATERFRONT MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR the hue and cry of the pilots, so they will be able to hold their positions. I totally failed to see anything to prevent a good captain from taking his own ship up or down with the aids to navigation that I mentioned. I understand the Pilots Asso- ciation is a close corporation and no one is allowed to pilot a ship until he has served an apprenticeship of five years. Generally, the pilot and an apprentice board a ship. The pilot who brought us up appeared to be a first-class navigator. The water of the Hugli is of a brownish color and full of sediment. During the rainy season it is subject to heavy freshets. The first bar is Saugor Island Middleton sand bar, ninety- four miles from Calcutta and forty-eight miles from the pilot boat. I completely failed to get the information as to what bar had the least water on it, so cannot make a comparison, and the only thing to assume is, that they all have the same amount of water on them, which of course is not correct. While we were sounding, five and one-quarter fathoms was the least we found on any of the bars, of which there are six in all. The next bar is twenty-four miles further up, that is seventy miles from Calcutta, called Gabtola bar. Then eighteen miles fur- ther along is Bellary bar. Up to this point the land is very low, all alluvial and made from the silt deposits. It resembles the mouth of the Yangtse very much. The river up to this point is several miles wide, with many mud banks, some show- ing at low water, and many with only a few feet of water over them. Only in the buoyed channel, which has been dredged is there sufficient water for steamers. From here up the rich land appears to be well cultivated, and the crops look healthy, as it is the rainy season. Ten miles farther up is Diamond Harbor, which appears to be just a wide bend in the river. As a matter of fact, the indentation on the right leads to the entrance of the Sun- derabunds, the waterway to the Brahmapootra Valley and the Ganges. Vessels often drop down to Diamond Harbor and lighter cargo from incoming ships, so as to lighten them for the trip over the next bar, five miles up the river, called the James and Mary. in MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR The James and Mary is the most dangerous shoal in the river Hugh, as it is of quicksand formation. More than one vessel, with all hands, has been sucked into its cavernous depths without a chance of rescue. The unlucky vessel which may be swept on this shoal by the current or through any defect of machinery or steering apparatus, has no chance to escape this treacherous bar. Fifteen miles further is Royapur bar, then a "reach" of four miles in length and the ship arrives at the last bar, eigh- teen miles from Calcutta, and said to be the shallowest of them all. Between Diamond Harbor and this bar there is no anchorage ground for ships. Fifteen miles further up brought us to Garden Reach, where the new wet dock is being built, an immense undertaking. At this place new wharves and warehouses are being built for two miles along the river bank. This work is only partially completed. The Robert Dollar was the first steamer to dock at the lower end. The wharves and warehouses are of steel and first-class in every way, an excellent place to berth big steamers. Garden Reach is five miles from Calcutta although within the harbor limits. An assistant harbor master must berth and make fast all steamers, as no captain is supposed to be competent to dock a steamer in Calcutta. And here I saw an exhibition that made me sick. We started at 2:00 p. m. and finished at 9:00 p. m., seven long hours that any captain could have done in half the time. Sixty fathoms of our 2%-inch anchor chains had to be placed on a barge and taken aft to moor the ship to the wharf. They compel each ship to be made fast with two pieces, 30 fathoms of their anchor chains. The pilot bringing the ship up the river will not allow the anchor to be unshackled until we get to the harbor lines, then the harbor master won't allow the ship to come alongside until he goes through all his costly farce of getting his chains ready. One would ask "Why?" The only answer is, pure cussedness. There we lost a clear half day. I never saw or heard of such a performance in any other port. Then, it takes about the same time to let go and put all the chains back in the lockers. So, it took the Robert Dollar one whole day to make her fast at the dock and let 112 COMPANY OFFICE BUILDING, SINGAPORE OUR OFFICE AND LUMBER YARD, HANKOW MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR go again. As it takes two days to bring a ship up the river and three days to take her back, when figuring the cost of the port, one must charge up six days' time more than has to be allowed at any other port, a very serious handicap against Calcutta. Therefore, a higher rate of freight must be obtained to offset this loss of time. My instructions had been not to figure on going out of Calcutta with more than twenty-six feet draft, but all my figures were based on salt water. On further investigation, I believe twenty-five feet would be much safer; then, if there is a high tide the ship may be loaded down to twenty-seven feet, which would mean twenty-seven feet fresh water at Calcutta. The pilots claimed that ships of less than ten knots are difficult to handle on account of the strong current, but I informed them that they could get twelve knots out of every vessel we sent into the Htigli. CALCUTTA To write of a city of one million people with an acquaint- ance of only eight days, must of necessity be only from a limited observation. In approaching it from the river, the first thing I saw was a great number of tall smokestacks, showing it to be a manu- facturing center. Then, coming closer, I was impressed with the structures, all of the most solid and substantial sort, giving one the impression that the city had come to stay, and I think it is the great commercial center of India. Calcutta is well laid out, with many wide straight streets. All streets are well paved and well kept up with good wide side- walks, in fact a modern city. The buildings are generally solid and substantial, from four to five stories high. Many have only stairways to the upper floors, but the more modern ones have lifts (elevators), nearly all of which carry only three people, and in most cases a young fellow can run up stairs as fast as the elevators go. Why they don't have elevators that will carry fifteen or twenty people and run six hundred MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR feet a minute I was unable to find out but for three people who are not in a hurry they are a convenience. One thing that must impress all strangers is the magnitude of the public parks. One called the Maidan, said to be seven square miles, is laid out with great wide driveways, seventy to one hundred feet wide, all good automobile roads. The grass is kept green all the time by constant watering and there are great avenues of fine old trees. Dalhousie Square, in the center of the business part of the city, is another fine park about fifteen hundred feet square with a small lake in the center. The Exchange and best buildings of the city are in its vicinity. I was passing in front of the Exchange, which is a very fine building, during a busy time when the street was full of autos and carriages (a great many of the latter being still in use here), when on the sidewalk and in the midst of this great crowd two cows were sauntering along. The cows evidently were used to the situation, as they took no notice of the crowd. This is not an uncommon sight, as cows appear to be privileged characters, but having such a privilege one would think that they would have better manners than to stand in the crowd and drop manure on the fine, wide, and other- wise clean sidewalks. Such is the case, however, and if you are high-minded and don't look to your feet you will get into trouble. This is one of the strange sights I saw. In the native sections of the city, goats, pigs, dogs, chickens, naked children, etc., are some of the sights to be seen on the streets. I think 95% to 99% of those you meet are natives. But a short distance above the Howrah bridge on the Calcutta side of the river is what is known as a "burning ghat." Here the bodies of dead Hindus are cremated in plain view from the river, but not from the roadway. Although I did not attend any cremation, an eye witness to many of them informed me that the burning ghat consists of a piece of land surrounded on three sides by walls, but open to the river. The funeral pyre is composed of three or four layers of logs about four or five feet long, laid criss cross. On this the body is placed after the limb joints have been broken. Three or four more 114 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR layers of logs are then placed on top of the body and the entire mass covered with ghee, a native grease, and set afire. When the body begins to be consumed, a pointed iron is thrust into the skull to prevent it from bursting. Prayers and crying by the mourners usually accompany the ceremony. The men, who make a business of cremation, are the lowest cast of Hindus, called domes. The Hugh River runs along the entire length of the city, while a canal for small boats runs entirely around it. The great means of transporting freight is with the slow ox cart, two oxen to a cart, which causes many blockades on account of the slowness of the oxen strings of them a mile long can often be seen. Large auto trucks are being introduced but only a comparatively few are in evidence, yet automobiles are gaining fast over the one-horse carriage or "gharry" although the horse-drawn vehicle is in the majority. There are 8000 private motor cars and 3000 taxis. I never saw so many large offices as here. Many have from 300 to 400 people in one room. One company generally occupies an entire floor of the building, which is open so as to get plenty of light, but more especially, plenty of air, which is a most essential requirement in this hot climate. When wooden partitions are used, they are built about eight or nine feet high. Office work commences at 10:00 a. m. and stops at 5 :00 p. m., so it requires more clerks than if working from 8 :00 a. m. to 5 :00 p. m., besides I don't believe the natives can accomplish as much as Europeans. All Europeans act in a supervisory capacity, therefore, all the clerical work is done by natives. Office space, as a rule is equal to the demand, and there are few if any offices avail- able for renting. As in England, business is practically all done by brokers, and freights are closed by them. I was not aware of this until I got here, although I was quite familiar with the custom in England. The principals of the firms that I met, are nearly all high-class men, not many of whom are over fifty years old. They appear to be keen traders, and it would take a very able business man to surpass them. I was very much surprised MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR not to meet some men from fifty to seventy years of age, but they were only conspicuous by their absence. I was told that such men are all in England managing the business from that end. Calcutta, like Shanghai, is built on level alluvial soil just a few feet higher than high water mark, and many centuries ago the ocean shore was where the city now stands. As to the water front, in which we are much interested, commencing at Garden Reach, fine substantial steel wharves are under construction. The Robert Dollar occupied the first one finished. They are straight along the bank of the river with fine large warehouses attached. Just below these new wharves they are building a new wet dock, which will take several years to complete, as it is to be large and will accom- modate many steamers. Further up the river and above Garden Reach, at a suburb of Calcutta called Kidderpore, is located the wet dock, which can accommodate a dozen or more large steamers. This dock has also plenty of warehouse accommodations to take care of all cargoes, incoming or outgoing. Still further up the river as far as the Howrah bridge, ships are berthed at the river side. Howrah is a large suburb on the left bank of the river and is the terminal of the East Indian Railway. This bridge is a wonder in its way; it is built on pontoons and is about forty feet above the water. It is double tracked, and four vehicles can pass over it abreast, but even with this capacity it is unable during the busy times of the day to carry the great crowds of pedestrians, autos, horse- drawn vehicles and the everlasting string of ox carts. Then in addition to all the berthing space there are a great number of buoys for vessels to make fast to, when the harbor is crowded. It was slack when we were there and all vessels were accommodated at wharves. I consider the port charges excessive. Some excuse may be made because the Robert Dollar was the largest vessel that had ever docked at Calcutta. I visited all the lumber yards to see what stock they carried. The mills are located on the left bank of the Hugli, 116 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR or the Howrah side as it is called, a little farther down stream and about opposite where the Robert berthed. I found only a small quantity of Douglas fir in the yards, probably one and a quarter million feet, they count it in tons. Most of it was not in very good condition, as it was stained and black, and in some cases white ants had gotten into it. There was a large stock of teak of all sizes, and an immense stock of square logs in the water, some very big pieces being amongst them. There was quite an assortment of native pine of small sizes and lengths, but nothing to compare with the size and length of Oregon pine. However, the native wood being cheaper, it is used whenever it is possible. Near the yards are situated the Botanical Gardens, and we heard of a wonderful Banyan tree, so we went to see it. It was certainly one of the wonders of the world. It had been planted over 1 50 years ago, and had since put out big limbs in every direction. Parallel to the ground and about ten feet above it, the limbs put out what might be called runners back to the ground, where they took root about ten feet apart, and continued their growth giving one the impression they were posts supporting the limbs. Those posts, as I called them, are now twelve inches in diameter; this system has con- tinued until the limbs of more recent growth are from one inch and up in diameter. The mother tree has a diameter of about eight feet and I measured the distance to the outer growth and found it to be 325 feet, the outside circumference of the tree is over 1000 feet. The main trunk is now show- ing signs of decay, but all the sprouts are in a very healthy condition. The avenues, within the gardens, are all well paved and in excellent condition, there being some fine ones bordered by palms. The size of the gardens is about 400 acres, and in its vicinity there is a big native population to whom this place is a blessing. Mr. Watson, Manager for McLeod & Co., was kind enough to drive us up to his Kelvin jute mill, a dozen of miles up the river, and we were very glad of the opportunity of seeing a modern jute mill, where several thousands of men and women were employed. The machinery seemed to be of the very 117 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR best and was running to perfection. As this is the first one I had ever been in, I won't attempt to describe it. We saw the raw material coming in and being turned out in cloth, and various kinds of bags, truly this is one of the great industries of India. One thing that interested me in particular was the sight of a number of children in the mill from two to six years of age, most of them as naked as they were born. On inquiry, I learned that their mothers were working in the mill and were allowed to bring the children with them. Boys and girls of seven years and over were working at light jobs at which they appeared to be quite smart. The mills run thirteen and a half hours a day, but no one had to work more than eight hours, although I did not learn how the time was divided. The com- pany has good houses for its European employees, of whom there were more than a dozen. There is both water and rail transportation to and from the mill. We next visited their shoe factory, a short distance away, which was a revelation to us the making of shoes entirely of jute soles, uppers, heels and all. The manufactured product had the appearance of being a serviceable article. Here we saw the raw material going in and the finished article coming out. It is a comparatively new business, and so far, the entire product is sold in India. The factory employed a great number of girls and boys. The girls were a curiosity. All had their nostrils pierced and everyone had, I was going to call them "ear rings," but I must call them nose rings, some of them hanging down as far as the mouth. Their arms and ankles were adorned with a variety of rings, both of metal and colored glass. They were an interesting side show. We saw only one European, the manager. Both of these plants gave us the impression that there was someone at the head who was a first-class organizer, as I fully realized the great difficulty in getting manufacturing plants into such good working order where there are so many natives employed. Another strange sight, not seen in other countries, is the large number of crows and bromlekites doing scavenger work on the streets and river front. They go on with their work 118 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR and don't mind the crowds passing by. I was told the follow- ing story of the fearlessness of the kites toward man : Several of the crew of a sailing vessel were eating their dinner on the forecastle head, when one of the men put his plate on deck while he filled his cup with coffee. He had hardly turned around before a kite swooped down and stole the meat from his plate. Another scavenger bird that is common to Calcutta is the "Adjutant," which, though a bird of wonderful plumage, has a very peculiar appearance, as it stands about three and a half to four feet in height, and struts about like a military man on parade. One peculiarity of the river Hugli is the appearance during the southwest monsoons of a phenomenon called the "bore," which is a solid mass of water from six to eight feet in height. It enters the river at its mouth and continues its course up- stream far above Calcutta at a rate of from twenty to twenty- two miles an hour, sweeping everything before it that is not properly secured, and generally causing considerable damage to native craft. Vessels at anchor or moored to buoys or wharves at Calcutta during the season of the bore, always attach rope hawsers to their chains for springs, so that the first shock of this tidal wave will be taken up by the hawsers. This is done to prevent the snapping of the chain cables. Navigating the rivers of India, is very similar to the inland navigation of China, excepting that where there are rocks in the Yangtse, there are sandbars in the Ganges and Brahma- pootra. During the dry season in India the channels of even these large streams are very shallow and often shift over night. If a vessel were to strike a sandbar and no attempt made to get her off at once, it would be but a few hours before she would become engulfed in sand. I have been informed that, whereas, during the dry season a river steamer on its way up the Brahmapootra will be steam- ing between banks but a few hundred feet wide that in the rainy season over the same course, the only land visible is the lofty peaks of the Himalayas, a hundred miles or more away. In other words, the river has spread out to such an extent that water instead of land forms the horizon. 119 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR At the commencement of the rainy season, navigating conditions change. The sluggish waters of the two large rivers show signs of an increasing current, which as the season advances, become torrents, and where the Ganges and Brahma- pootra come together there are said to be times when steamers bound up-stream find it difficult to stem the tide. With the rising of the waters, the river banks are more or less cut away, and the channels shift with the course taken by the swift-rushing water. As the rivers continue to increase in depth, they also lose the confinement of the banks and spread out over the land which but a short time previously has been producing crops. Transportation between Calcutta and the Brahmapootra Valley, and along the lower Ganges, is carried on by one or two steamship companies. The steamers are side-wheel vessels, something similar to the old Mississippi boats, but smaller, and they carry only a few hundred tons of cargo. The cargo vessels, which are called "flats," are built of steel plates, shipped in sections from England, about one hundred and fifty feet long, by about twenty feet beam. They are somewhat similar to a canal boat, with the exception that they are roofed over with galvanized iron, high above the deck amidships where the iron sheets from each side form a peak. The lower end of the sheets are fastened to a fore and aft beam on each side, which is supported by stanchions about eight feet above the deck, and from six to eight feet apart. These vessels carry about 1000 tons at a draft of six feet. Cargo is loaded into the holds as well as on deck. The officer's quarters (only one white man to a vessel) are built forward, the crew sleeping on the after deck. A steamer leaving Calcutta for up-country will take a flat or two in tow. Only a small, general cargo is carried as a rule. To reach the confluence of the Ganges and Brahmapootra rivers, a distance by rail of less than one hundred and fifty miles, it takes a steamer with flats in tow from five to seven days, according to whether it is the dry or the rainy season. From Calcutta they steam down the Hugli to Diamond Harbor, turn at almost right-angles to the eastward and enter the 120 ROBERT DOLLAR I AND ROBERT DOLLAR II MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Sunderabunds, which are a network of small streams traver- sing dense jungle land. One author in speaking of this section says, "The Sunderabans cover over 6500 square miles of water-logged jungle infested with tigers and other wild animals." With one exception, the rivers through which the vessels pass, are narrow, and tortuous, and in several instances they have to make the turns in single file, swinging around the corners by the use of lines made fast to trees, or to stakes driven into the ground. Several hundreds of miles are covered before reaching the junction of the Ganges and Brahmapootra, from where the vesels proceed up the river to which they are destined. The steamer and flats return to Calcutta with full cargoes of the various products of the region at which they load. These consist of jute in drums, wheat, tea, rape seed, mustard and other varieties of seed, castor oil beans, dry pepper in sacks, rubber and what not. To show the difficulties in getting out of the river Hugli, the following may be interesting : The first day the Robert Dollar was taken down the stream forty-five miles from Calcutta and brought to an anchor; the second day she made a distance of thirty miles toward the sea, and the third day she got out. MADRAS Previous to the building of breakwaters, Madras harbor was unprotected, there being only a straight coast line for many miles with shifting sands for a bottom ground, so it was a big undertaking to make it a safe harbor. The breakwater is built of concrete blocks, weighing twenty to thirty tons. It resembles the harbor of Manila, but is far more substantially built, as it has to resist heavy seas at times and constantly shifting sands. Since the first sea wall was built the sands have encroached nearly half a mile. A railroad track is built on the breakwater, and is used for handling bulk cargoes into the cars. Warehouses are built the entire length on the shore side, so cargoes can be delivered in or taken out direct to stiips. There are sufficient cranes for lifting .heavy 121 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR weights. The piers are of solid masonry and there is twenty- seven feet of water at low tide at the docks. There are plenty of buoys for vessels to lay to if the wharves are occupied. At the present time the harbor is large enough for all require- ments, as at least thirty large steamers can be accommodated at one time. Good despatch is given, something over 1000 tons a day, and the charges are reasonable. Mr. Mitchell, chairman of the Harbor Board, was very kind and showed me about the harbor, and all that was to be seen, fully explaining its management and working system. Steamers should have no delay in entering or leaving Madras and good despatch can be given. There is ample storage room and plenty of warehouse space. Large quantities of ore of various kinds were piled ready for shipment. I was much pleased with this port, both in its management and in its facilities for doing business. The tides are very small, only from two to three feet. One strange sight was, that instead of oxen pulling the big cumbersome carts, men were used. I asked the reason and was told men were cheaper than oxen. In most other places oxen furnish the motive power in the moving of merchandise. This goes to show how low wages are. The distance we had to travel by rail from Calcutta to Madras, was over 1032 miles. The old city adjoins the harbor, and all the business houses are located nearby, with the native quarters back of it; but the retail and residential part of the city is across a river, and about five miles further along the ocean shore. A great park divides the town. I have never seen any city situated just like this one. The residential part is laid out with wide straight streets, well paved and, for a tropical country, they are modern. In the old parts are many buildings, the lower floors of which are used for warehouses, and the upper parts for offices. Our agents, Walker & Co., have occupied the same offices since 1849. The British first occupied Madras about 500 years ago. They have some very good clubs, and also a woman's club, which is a beautiful building, standing on a big tract of land outside the city. There are many large shade trees, a good size banyan tree, large lawns and a river runs through it. Take it all in all, it is ideal for a tropical country. 122 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XVIII Bombay, which is 800 miles across from Madras, is said to be built on six small islands connected together. The city appears to a stranger as though it were two long points or prongs of land sticking out into the sea, and where the two come together is the center or business part of the city. Taking the regular line of sailings from Singapore or Colombo, it is a deviation of 462 miles longer to Suez by going to Bombay. The first impression I got of the city was the solidity of its buildings and docks, and that it had been built to stay. The buildings are not high, from three to four stories, and a very few of them five stories. One thing that surprised me was the great number of large buildings in course of construction. There are more large office buildings going up here than in any place I have visited on this trip. But, as far as I saw, there were very few dwelling-houses being built. The' streets are, as a rule, wide and straight. They have been well paved, but of late not kept up, probably on account of the great number of automobiles. I noticed a few trucks, but not many of them. The motive power for delivering merchandise is the ox- cart, and there are said to be thirty thousand of them. We were never out of sight of long strings of this ancient style of conveyance. I did not see any horses used in hauling freight. The oxen have great long horns, some of the more high-toned ones having their horns painted in various colors, some gilded, and others with colored garlands hanging on them. I saw some men hauling ox-carts, but not as many as I had seen in other cities. There are a great many churches and temples, denoting that the people are religiously inclined. It is a very old city, as there is a record of its being a seaport before the year 1700. It is now a city of about one million people. Labor is abund- ant, and it is hard to see where they all get employment, but 123 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR there are a number of factories, mostly cotton, that employ a great many. Wages, working on the dock, run from thirty to thirty-five cents gold a day. One peculiarity of this place that I could not understand was, that business does not start until 1 1 :00 a. m. Clerks come to the office about 10 :45. Why they lose what we con- sider the best part of the day, I could not understand, especially in this hot climate. Then they appear to have quite a number of holidays. For instance, last week on Saturday, business started as usual at 1 1 :00 a. m. and closed at 1 :00 p. m. Then came Sunday, Monday was a holiday, and all offices were closed. Next Friday will also be a holiday; Saturday two hours work, then the following Friday, Saturday and Tues- day all offices will be closed again. No doubt they know how to do it, but looking at it from our point of view, business would be impossible. Either they must have the capacity of doing twice as much as we do in the same time, or that we are accomplishing double as much as they do. We are the same race and enjoy a far better climate than they in which to work, as in this tropical climate it would seem that a man would not have the same energy and get-up to him as those living in a temperate climate. Like all other Indian cities, this one has fine large parks in various parts, which must be of great and good service to the community. Bombay is said to be the gateway of India, so it is of great value from a traveler's viewpoint as well as commercially. We stayed at the Taj Mahal hotel, centrally situated. It is a big group of buildings. Two pecularities I noticed in it were the enormous thickness of the walls six feet, and the floors of the hotel which were different than anything I had ever seen or heard of. It appears they were all laid with cement, then broken crockery placed on the cement before it dried. The pieces are from one inch to one and a quarter inches square. Although they are of every shape that one could imagine crockery might be broken into, it makes a fairly smooth sur- face, with a glittering appearance. The borders are of different colors from the center, and in some places very beautiful 124 Upper STEAMER "NEWSBOY," OUR FLEET THIRTY YEARS AGO Lower STEAMER "GRACE DOLLAR," FIRST ADDITION TO FLEET MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR center pieces have been worked in. I think that each piece of the entire floor had to be placed by hand. They are cer- tainly unique and very nice to look at, and as far as durability goes they are everlasting. There are many very old buildings here. We were entertained at a residence that was built 120 years ago, and it seemed to be in very good condition. It was of stone, with very thick walls. We had several showers of rain every day while we were in Bombay. Generally they don't last very long, but make good use of the time when they are at it, as a great amount of water falls in a few minutes ; this is evidenced by the record of rainfall from June 1st this year until September 7th, it being over seventy-five inches. To give an idea of the importance of this port, 1500 ships entered it in 1920, handling six million tons of cargo. As in all Indian cities, the cow has the right of way on the side- walks and on the streets. While going along the principal street near the Merchants' Exchange during a very busy time of day, I noticed the crowd leave the sidewalk and go out on the street. When I came to the place the crowd avoided, I saw a cow stood crosswise of the sidewalk. This probably sacred animal seldom uses the street, but monopolizes the sidewalks. On Malabar Hill, the highest point of land about the city, within the boundaries of a goodly sized piece of land planted out in trees, the Parsees have erected their burial place, The Tower of Silence. The tower is of stone, about sixty feet high by three hundred and twenty-five feet in circumference and open at the top, there being no roof on it. The general plan of the amphitheaters of old has been followed in its con- struction, with the exception that niches for reclining bodies take the places of seats. The Parsees, of which Bombay boasts a large population, are worshippers of the sun, and their dead are offered to this deity. In Bombay the dead are taken to the Tower of Silence and placed in the niches and it is supposed that their god takes the departed spirits. Whether he does or not, the vultures, of which there a great number, eat the flesh of the dead, and 125 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR the bones are left to bleach in the sun. They are then swept into the pit of the tower where the rains dissolve them. I was shown a small model of the tower, and also saw any number of vultures waiting around for their daily food. They appeared to be very well fed, and were large birds, from two to two and one-half feet in height, of a coal-black color, and villainous looking creatures. It was stated to me that a body does not last over fifteen minutes, and the men who carry the bodies to the tower are armed with sticks to prevent the birds attacking them. There are also a large number of crows, as in Calcutta, which act as scavengers, but they and the vultures do not mix; each seems to have its own particular line of work laid out, and they evidently have plenty to do without encroaching on the other's domain. They have good large markets in different parts of the city, and prices seem to be reasonable. This must be so, as the purchasing power of the people is very low. Double as many are employed in the offices as in America, and even with this great number, I am sure two men do not accomplish nearly as much as one person in our offices. BOMBAY PORT FACILITIES There are three wet docks at this port, this being necessary on account of the high tides, which have a rise and fall of sixteen feet. The Alexandra dock has an entrance one hundred feet wide, and is fifty acres in extent, and the largest steamers are berthed in it; it can berth seventeen steamers at a time. The Victoria dock has an entrance eighty feet wide, and covers an area of twenty-five acres, and can berth fifteen steamers up to four hundred feet in length. Then there is the Prince's dock, with an entrance sixty-six feet wide, and an area of thirty acres. In this all the smaller- sized coasting steamers are berthed. Vessels drawing up to forty feet can be berthed in any of the docks. Then outside, about one mile from shore, there is unlimited anchorage for vessels. All the docks have warehouses except four open 126 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR docks for loading ore or discharging coal or lumber. The berths are generally provided with hydraulic cranes, which the Harbor Board claims can handle cargo faster than a ship's winches. My experience has been that our winches could have handled fifty per cent more than the cranes. The dock officials have absolute control, and a ship must abide by their decisions in all matters. Our ship was along- side, ready to receive cargo at 6 :00 a. m. but we did not get a sling load until after 10:00 a. m. No one seemed to know why, and no one apparently cared when we would start. There are railroads on all the wharves, but the rails do not extend to the cap of the wharf. In discharging 1,637,000 feet of lumber it took us five and a half days and five nights. We filled up one berth and then the ship had to be moved to another berth which we also filled. Men carried a lot of the planks back and piled them, and two small locomotive cranes carried all they could which they piled further back. Despite all this, we blocked the berth completely. It was an easy cargo to discharge, as we had about one-third on deck. Then to get our outward cargo, we had to move again to the berth where it was being assembled. The steve- dores are good and we got much better stowage than we had expected. But the shore gang are Port Commission men, and the stevedores can only handle cargo as fast as they receive it. No one is allowed to work on the dock except the port's men. The stevedoring rates are quite reasonable. Ships are handled expeditiously both in entering the harbor, and in moving about inside. The work of moving a vessel is done with two good tugs, but they insisted on having steam up on our engines as well, which is a drawback, and often prevents the overhauling of the ship's engines. It takes about two and a half hours from the time the ship arrives at the outer dock gate until she is ready to handle cargo. Freights are lower here than at other Indian ports, so there is no inducement on that score to make it a port of call. There is considerable delay due to rain, which comes in very heavy short showers, although there must be some long ones mixed in with the short ones. 127 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR They have plenty of dry docks; one about 1000 feet long and 100 feet wide, with a gate in the center. I saw two steamers in one compartment, and one large one in the other end. The docks are all solid stone masonry of the most sub- stantial construction; the warehouses are good and modern and are mostly single story structures. The roads around the wharves are good but somewhat out of repair. Altogether the impression one gets is an air of substantial solidity about the whole surroundings. Further up the bay there are well protected timber ponds, where a great amount of teak is kept, and there was also some piled on the shore. In a large ore yard there was stored many thousands of tons of iron ore. There was also a goodly sized stock of coal on hand. Mr. McKenzie's saw mill, which is in this vicinity, appeared to be doing a very big business with a large, though completely out-of-date saw mill. The lumber we brought out was for it. RAILROADS OF INDIA From the maps of the country it looks as if the railroad facilities are good. The passenger cars are the old English style, good for short runs, but completely out of date for long runs such as they have in India. There is no corridor through the train, that is, no communication from one car to another. The carriage doors all open outwards at each side of the car. The only dining car we saw was for one meal out of Calcutta. Passengers had to get out of their cars when the train stopped so as to get into the diner, then they had to wait in the diner until the train stopped at a station so they could get out on the platform and return to their cars, which was, to say the least, a very inconvenient way of traveling. After the dining car was detached, meals were to be had at dining stations where plenty of time was allowed in fact, time seems to be one of the cheapest commodities. The meals were good, and the price less than half of what we have to pay in America. I looked over several of the locomotives, all of English pattern, but as good as the best in any country. They carry 128 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR three men, one engineer, one full fledged fireman learning to be an engineer, and an apprentice who does the hard work. Then in freighting, they only have the old fashioned four- wheeled trucks as they are called, which are mostly of ten tons capacity, though I saw some of twenty-tons burden which were open cars. The freight-cars, however, were too short to handle our long lumber, so it was necessary to take two cars for one length of timber. Many of them are used in carrying perish- able freight, when they are covered with tarpaulins. The box- cars are about the same size and similar in construction. They give one the idea of doing business in a small way, as compared with the American freight and box-cars of fifty tons capacity and upwards. The locomotives I saw did not compare with the size of our big freight engines. The roadbed and general upkeep seem to be of the best, everything connected with it being solid and substantial, much more so than are American railroads. Stations are large, generally built of stone; the platforms are of stone; the pas- senger trains, on account 'of trie solid road beds and good bridges, are able to make good time. Station stops are fre- quent, and much too long, whereby a great deal of what appeared to be unnecessary time was lost. The railroads are owned by the Government. The station at Bombay is said to be the best in the world. It is certainly a magnificient building. The voyage from Bombay enroute to New York by way of Port Said was remarkable in some respects. Ordinary ocean voyages as a rule are much the same, but in this case, one remarkable condition was the temperature of the water of the Arabian Sea, where the thermometer registered about eighty degrees. In the Red Sea it rose to eighty-eight degrees, caus- ing the vacuum of the engine to suffer, as it fell to twenty- two inches. Another remarkable thing was the current in the Arabian Sea, which ran all the way from twenty-four knots a day shortly after leaving Bombay, until nearing the Gulf of Aden, when it was as strong as forty-eight knots a day. The whole way across a strong westerly monsoon was 129 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR blowing-, some times reaching the velocity of a small gale. In the Gulf of Aden it still blew but moderated and the current against us diminished to one-half a knot an hour. It was blowing quite fresh when we passed the port of Aden. Xinety- six miles further is Perim at the entrance to the Red Sea. Our course until this point was due west. Here we turned at right- angles into the Red Sea. Then our course was nearly north to Suez. The water of the Red Sea is a beautiful deep blue. All the way to Suez we had a light northerly wind, which made it nice and cool when in the breeze, but outside of that it was very hot. SUEZ We arrived at Suez at 6 :00 p. m. but had to wait the arrival of more vessels before entering the canal. At midnight we left in a fleet of five steamers. They get. them in bunches this way to prevent the continual passing of single vessels. Then each lot waits at certain places to allow others to pass; or if a single ship or two is permitted to go, then on meeting the fleet they must tie up and let all of the fleet pass. Posts for this purpose are placed the entire length of the canal about three hundred feet apart. They are timbers eighteen inches square and creosoted. The canal is in long straight stretches, and as the country is all level, vessels can be seen for a long distance in daylight, and at night each vessel has a searchlight. The course of the canal is nearly north and south, and on the west side trees in long stretches have been planted about eight or ten feet apart, and make a good wind break to prevent the sand from drifting into the canal. From Ismalia to Port Said the railroad parallels the canal. This is the line to Cairo and Alexandria. For long distances good stone walls have been built at the edge of the water to prevent the wash of passing steamers, which are restricted to a speed of five and one-third knots. But with all these pre- cautions I noticed drifting white sand banks had been approach- ing the canal bank, so that gangs of men were removing them by light railroads and cars; and at other places long strings of camels were carrying sand away in big boxes strapped to their backs. It seemed strange to see them kneel down to get 130 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR loaded. The canal is kept in very good condition. On account of the sand continually drifting into the canal, many dredges were in evidence. The canal is said to be one hundred and twenty feet wide at the bottom with a minimum of three hundred feet at the top of the water, and is thirty feet deep. The American Consul, Mr. Foote, reports that the ships that passed through the canal the first six months of 1921 numbered 1870 of 8,474,000 Suez measurement tons, being an average of 4531 tons per ship. The countries having more than 80 ships were: Great Britain, 1108; Holland, 216; Italy, 124; Japan, 120; France, 97, and the United States of America, 85. The percentages were, Great Britain, 59.3 ; Holland, 11.5; Italy, 6.6; Japan, 6.4; France, 5.2; and the United States, 4.6. A comparison of the net registered tonnage passing through the Suez and Panama canals for a period of five years follows : Year Suez Panama 1915 3,259,625 3,843,035 1916 2,310,540 2,479,762 1917 1,328,744 6,009,358 1918 1,638,254 6,658,858 1 9 1 9 2,693, 1 5 1 6, 1 3 1 , 575 Suez Canal dues equal 8.25 francs (about $1.20) per ton. Panama Canal dues equal $1.25 per ton. Coal shipped south through the canal in 1914 amounted to 1,257,000 tons. In 1920 it had dwindled down to 118,000 tons. The was caused first by the war, and later by the miners' strike. This has caused coal to come from the South from Durban, Lorenzo, Marques, Calcutta and Australia to the amount of 186,000 tons. This movement practically did not exist before. A remarkable change took place in 601 ships, being 15% of the ships passing through the canal, which took on an average of 300 tons of oil each. They must have con- sidered oil cheaper than coal. I noticed two American ships in Port Said. Neither of them were working. At Ismalia we changed pilots, as it takes sixteen hours to go through the canal. Eight hours is plenty for one to stand on continuous watch. I was interested to see in passing, the great quantities of military stores and junk at Kantara, where the British Depot was located for the invasion of Palestine. When we see the country they had to go through, one cannot help but be full of admiration at their attempting to overcome the almost insur- mountable difficulties they met in moving an army through that barren wilderness where there was no water. They had to lay a pipe line to furnish them with water, which had to be pumped at relay stations to force it through. The enormous piles of now useless material convinces us of the terrible waste and destruction that war produces. On the breakwater in entering the canal from the Mediterranean is a very fine bronze statue of De Lesseps. His arm is extended and his finger is pointing towards the canal, which is very appropriate. Thinking of the great and incomprehensible changes that are going on in the world, Port Said is only one hundred and fifty miles from the seaport of Tyre, where the great center of the world's commerce was over two thousand years ago when the Phoenicians were the great merchants of the world. Now all that is left of this once great mart is a few fishermen's houses, and in the modern charts of that part of the Mediter- ranean the name is not mentioned. Part of this great trade was with the cities of Nineveh and Babylon, the latter being by all odds the greatest city of the world in its day. It went so completely out of existence that the place was forgotten and it was only by excavating in the miles of mounds of ruins that its location has been proven. Then it brings out this question: What great countries will pass into oblivion and what places and names of now great cities will be forgotten during the next two thousand years? Then, the big changes that have taken place in ships. The big ships of ancient times would be 100 to 150 tons burden. Now ships of 10,000 tons are quite common. What will they be in the next two thousand years? All this is food for serious thought. When we entered the Mediterranean, a gale was blowing from the west, which continued with a considerable head sea for thirty-six hours before it calmed down. In passing Malta the ocean was perfectly smooth and calm. We had been 132 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR averaging ten knots. This voyage at this time of the year can be called the head wind route, as after leaving Singapore, for three days we had it calm and a smooth sea ; we then had a strong westerly wind, sometimes a small gale, until we reached the mouth of the Hugli. This was accompanied with very heavy rain. Then from Calcutta to Bombay, for the entire distance we had a strong head wind. Out of Bombay a very strong wind kept up steady until we reached Perim at the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, the entrance into the Red Sea, where our course was changed to north, and instead of the westerly winds we had been having, the wind changed to north and we had a head wind the entire distance until arriving at Suez. As stated, as soon as we left Port Said, we went right into a gale from the west. In our passage through the Mediterranean we had four days of perfect calm, and the first sixteen hours on the Atlantic it was calm and the sea smooth. Then heavy southerly squalls with rain struck us, which soon shifted to west and we again had our old friend, head wind, with some sea, which cut down our speed. We then ran into a calm spell, with a very big dead sea rolling in from the west. This caused our long ship to pitch heavily, and reduced our speed nearly two knots. I thought of how a short steamer would act. It would cut her speed down by half. On Saturday, the eighth, there was a remarkable change. The sea ran down in the forenoon and we actually had a fair wind. It later shifted completely round and settled in the southwest, the ocean became smooth, and the weather was clear and fine. Two days before our arrival at New York we ran into a very cold northerly wind, which necessitated our changing the light, white clothing we had worn in the tropics to our heavy winter wear. As we had been through some intensely hot weather, we felt the sudden chill much more than if it had come upon us gradually. We arrived in New York October 13th, twenty days from Suez, which was fairly good time for a heavily laden cargo steamer. 133 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XIX On my arrival I immediately went to work at the office and also called upon many friends. I gave a luncheon at the India House to a large party of steamship men which was thoroughly enjoyed. Meetings of companies in which I was a director and company business took up the balance of my time during our eight days' stay. On the last day I worked from early morning until late at night. We arrived home October 27th, and was real glad to see San Rafael after an absence of just seven months of a lengthy and profitable trip. I received many calls to address associations; but declined them all with the exception of the Commonwealth Club, before which body I spoke at a luncheon on Nevember 10th. ADDRESS BEFORE COMMONWEALTH CLUB We must all commend President Warren Harding for his wisdom in calling together at Washington the representatives of the principal nations of the world. This meeting should be of the utmost importance and hopes for success and best wishes of the American people are with the President, and every effort must be made to make it a success. As to the personnel of the conference, there appears to be some doubt. The Japanese members will be either military or naval, as Japan is under complete control of the militarists, and it will not be wondered at, that they should send such representatives. Although militarists are in the minority, they are kept in power by the limited franchise. The big majority of the Japanese people have no voice, for if they had, the personnel would be of an entirely different caliber and would be represented by merchants, manufacturers and working people, who are strongly opposed to war. 134 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR The Chinese delegates will be peace loving men who will do everything in their power to do away with war. England will be strongly in favor of peace. The French delegates are all military or naval men, or backed by this class, and will not favor disarmament. The same can be said of Italy. The best men of the United States have been selected, and we can rest assured they will do what they can to secure permanent peace and disarmament. So while we have great hopes of success, we cannot help but feel disappointed in those members who will not favor peace. It is not reasonable to expect that they will vote to put themselves out of business and out of the way of making an easy living. However, we must not despair, but hope for the best. As nearly as I could ascertain, the standing armies of the various nations are approximately: United States 138,000, United Kingdom 280,000, while Japan is variously estimated to be from 600,000 to 1,000,000. These figures are significant. Before the war Germany was looked upon as the great danger center of the world. Now Japan has taken her place. Therefore, as it were, a great black thunder cloud hangs over the western side of this Western Hemisphere. Japan claims she must continue her conquests to make room for her fast increasing population. Let us see how they have expanded in the last dozen years. The Island of Formosa was the first conquest, and is of such importance today, that it practically produces all the sugar that Japan uses. Manchuria, her next conquest, is not more than half populated and is a very rich agricultural country. Then Korea fell into her lap, a country offering great oppor- tunities for expansion. She next acquired a big slice of Mongolia which is a very sparsely populated country. Siberia, drawing a line from the Bering Straits to Lake Baikal and thence to Harbin, may be said to be Japanese. In this great territory there are comparatively few people. Last, but not least, the Japanese acquired Shantung, a country rich in minerals and agricultural possibilities, with over fory millions of inhabitants. They have always said they would return this 135 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Province; but when the Chinese asked for an explanation of the delay, the Japanese mentioned the conditions that would make this possible. When the Chinese learned what those conditions were, they theoretically threw up their hands in despair, as the conditions were impossible. It would be perti- nent to ask what more they want, as it is quite apparent that the plea of overcrowding and the necessity for more territory is a myth, unless they are looking some thousands of years ahead. In addition, twenty-one demands were made of China, which if accepted, would give to Japan the entire country. I have been reciting only actual facts as I have the most kindly feelings toward the Japanese. We should make every effort to prevent strife or ill feeling, and to promote a lasting peace between America and Japan. Inasmuch as the Pacific Ocean in years to come will be the great center of the world's commerce we cannot help being intensely interested. We want our share of this great trade that is increasing so rapidly. China is to show the greatest development in the near future and it remains with us not to do anything that would provoke strife or prevent our getting a portion of this great wealth of commerce. All true commerce is an exchange of commodities. Buying is as necessary as selling, as we must get return cargoes for our ships. One-way cargoes mean nearly double freight charges. As time goes on our need of foreign trade increases. Mr. Redfield, ex-Secretary of Commerce, has stated that the factories of the United States could manufacture sufficient for our requirements in six months, therefore, we must either sell our surplus products in foreign countries or our men will be idle. The importance of foreign trade must appeal' to us all, as there is no one not directly or indirectly interested. The British have long been alive to this situation, and in every port of the world British ships are to be seen, and merchants and bankers have long been established. When we go after a share of this trade, we must expect to meet with keen competition as others have held the trade for centuries. Some of our American merchants and shipowners take serious exception to this, evidently expecting to be received with open 136 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR arms, as if they were a long lost brother. It is for this reason there is so much newspaper publicity concerning the unjust discrimination against Americans. I call this by its proper name: "The keen competition for the world's commerce." The British are thoroughly organized and have competent men to manage their business, men who thoroughly understand conditions, Many of our people are without previous experi- ence, and it is not to be wondered at that they do not succeed. They, however, return home stating that foreigners employ unfair methods into play against them. Therefore, I want to say to you: Before going into foreign trade, be sure you have the man before you start. I find humanity the same the world over stripped of its racial peculiarities and customs man is the same. It is environment that has changed him. To illustrate this further: When I was in London last year I was invited to attend a luncheon of shipowners, bankers and merchants, at which the Lord Mayor presided. Lord Robert Cecil delivered an address on the League of Nations. I was the only person at the speakers' table who was not a nobleman. The presiding officer then called upon me to address" the meeting, but I refused, stating that I was a comparative stranger and it would be entirely out of place. He would not take "no"' for an answer telling the guests that I did not want to speak because I was a stranger, and asked if there were any who did not know me to hold up their hands, but not a hand was raised. I had to be careful in commenting on the League as our Congress had refused to accept it, so I explained that we favored peace, but considered the conditions of the League unworkable. I said that a league of English speaking peoples of the world would be a far better combination and would make war almost impossible. This turned out to be the keynote of the day, as the entire audience rose and cheered so that I had to stop speaking for quite a time. I apologized to Lord Robert for getting so much more enthusiasm than he, but he replied. "You struck the keynote that we all want." Many came up afterward and thanked me for the suggestion. MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR I find in my travels around the world that the Germans and Belgians are underbidding us in various commodities, especially in products of iron and steel. I had an experience in Peking which illustrates this. When bids were opened for freight cars, the lowest American bid was $2,095,000; the lowest British bid, $1,342,383; and the Belgian bid, to whom the contract was awarded, was $1,126,850. There were seven American bids and twenty-nine of other nations. Wages have a long way to drop before we can compete . We cannot get business while staying at home, and must go out and hustle for it and only our best men should be sent, as they have to compete with the best that other nations can produce. I will give you an illustration of the difficulties we have to contend with in China. When I arrived in Ichang, which is on the Yangtse river, 1200 miles from the ocean, I found that the town had been sacked and partly burned by soldiers, and the contents of our office had also been destroyed. This was not the first time our office had been looted, it having happened six months before. We went to work, however, and after replacing what had been lost, are now doing business "at the same old stand.' I wrote my friend, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Peking Government, that twice a year was too often for this to happen, and I thought once a year was sufficient. He replied in the same strain, stating he agreed with me and that he would endeavor to limit the occurrence to once a year in the future. If internal military turmoil was going on in any other country such as it is in China, business would be paralyzed. In China however, fighting, looting, and the killing of people is prevalent, w ? hile in cities only fifty or seventy-five miles away, business is transacted as usual. From Ichang we have passenger steamers that run to Chungking, but have had considerable trouble on account of bandits and soldiers attempting to hold them up. This has necessitated our installing bullet-proof shutters to protect the officers from gunfire. I saw where many bullets had dented 138 CLIFFS RISING PERPENDICULARLY FROM THE WATER MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR the iron plates. Recently the attacks became so constant that we had to give up operating vessels for a time. The trip through the Gorges from Ichang to Chungking is one of the most interesting and picturesque that I have ever taken. The walls of solid rock rise perpendicularly on each side and the great river is confined to such a narrow space that it rises to unheard of heights. This summer it reached a point 330 feet above low water. The steamer service opens up the great Province of Szechuen in which there are some- thing over sixty millions of people that heretofore have been practically cut off from communication with the outside world. They produce everything that they require. A great variety of minerals are to be found within its borders and it is very rich in agricultural land. The city of Chungking, the terminus of our service, is 1600 miles from the ocean. A recent census places the number of inhabitants at 800,000. A very encouraging condition that prevails in China which must be of interest to Americans, is that the American popula- tion has increased very much since the war. An American Chamber of Commerce has been formed in Shanghai with a membership of over 300. This body made a vigorous effort to have a Bill put through Congress permitting the incorpora- tion of companies for the purpose of doing business in China and putting them on an equality with other nationals as regards taxation. The Bill, however, failed to pass through lack of knowledge or comprehension of what Americans are doing in China. The same may be said of Congress with reference to changing our navigation laws so as to permit us to operate American ships in foreign trade. The subject has produced considerable amount of discussion, but without results. To those engaged in this trade it would seem as though discussion were unnecessary as it is so plain to us that all that is necessary to enable us to operate ships under the American flag is to have our laws exactly the same as other nationals, under whose flags we are successfully operating. I made an address before the Bankers' Association of California at Santa Rosa on Bankmg in Foreign Countries, and its connection with foreign trade, and also gave them 139 a short synopsis of our trip up the Yangtse River and through the gorges. It seems to me that I never let up to take a rest, but keep at work every minute of the day; and my health continues to be so* good, that I recently told some friends that I felt as much like working as I did thirty years ago. Plenty of work and good health are the greatest blessings one can enjoy. It was certainly a great pleasure for me to meet quite recently, all of our thirteen grandchildren. I found the Chinese Y. M. C. A. building in San Francisco had made no progress since I left, but I had a promise of $100,000 while in New York, and I gave $25,000 toward the total cost of $200,000. The association owns the lot free of debt. I learned that a Y. M. C. A. building for American young men in Shanghai was very much desired over there, and as Ambassador Crane gave taels 50,000, I also agreed to give a like sum toward a building which is to cost taels 300,000, as I am sure such a building will be beneficial. It will be built on the principal residential street facing the race track, where all kinds of games are played, a fine place for recreation. 140 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XX Under the caption, San Francisco Shipowner Hailed Great American Genius, The Call of San Francisco published on November 29, 1921, the following interview. "Through the foresight and activities of Captain Robert Dollar the United States today occupies a formidable position as one of the great future commercial pivots of the world," according to Judge Joseph Buffington of Pittsburg, Pa., senior circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals, who registered at the Hotel St. Francis following his return from the Orient. Discussing his observations during his tour of the Orient and particularly the part played by Captain Dollar, Judge Buffington said : "Hankow, -the greatest potential commercial center of China, in fact the greatest of the Orient of the future, has been developed by Captain Robert Dollar of San Francisco, who possessed the foresight to go into that uninviting territory when conditions were most unfavorable, and launch a project that has won not only the good will of the Chinese, but that has also won recognition from all other nations interested in the straightening out of the tangle in the Far East. "Hankow possesses all of the advantages of an inland city such as Chicago. Its facilities and natural location make it a natural distribution center for the most promising portion of China, and it is through Hankow that a great bulk of the Siberian trade will pass when this bolshevik nonsense is terminated. "Hankow also possesses all of the advantages of a seaside city such as our own San Francisco with its wonderful harbor. During my visit there, I saw great trans-Pacific liners along the waterfront in Hankow, nearly 600 miles inland. 141 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR "A visit to the Y. M. C. A. erected by Captain Dollar clearly demonstrates that Captain Dollar has picked the right man for the right place. The personnel of the staff in charge of that institution are all live wires and awake to the situation confronting them. "The greatest regret I have suffered during my entire trip is the fact that I was unable to talk with Captain Dollar, who is a great American genius. He is one of the few Americans who has realized that if we are in to gain our share of the trade with the Orient we must go there exactly as the Germans did before the war and exactly as the English are going there today. Americans must realize that it is necessary to live among the Orientals and to understand them thoroughly if we are to participate in their trade. "The Germans today are getting back into the Orient and they are going back after the trade that was cut off during the war. When they get back into the Orient they are going to remain there and build up their business just as rapidly as is possible. The hope of America in the Far East lies in the work we are doing in Hankow to a very large extent. "During my stay in the Orient I visited the rural districts of China and Japan because I wanted to get closer to the soul of these countries. I believe that I was at least partially successful in this. "Japan does not want to fight the United States. The people of Japan are keenly interested and hopeful of the outcome of the arms limitations conference at Washington and the entire Orient is united in its prayers for an agreement among the various nations which will reduce the excessive expenditures for armament. "China and Japan both are staggering under the burden of excessixe taxation due to the cost of the upkeep of their armies and China especially feels the need of reducing its ridiculously large and ineffective army. What China needs most is a centralized government which can have a small but thoroughly disciplined army for police purposes. "Japan wants peace with the United States because Japan realizes that she needs us far more than we need Japan. 142 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR California rice today is feeding thousands of Japanese, and these people have an exceedingly kindly feeling toward our country. "The Chinese people is a great people, although I do not believe that we should drop the bars against immigration which have been set up against them, because this probably would result in some very serious difficulties in our own domestic life. "Japan today is in a copying frame of mind. This makes Japan keenly alive to the opinion of other nations inter- national public opinion. "This psychological attitude of Japan, I believe, will influence Japan to eventually do the right thing by old China. "Japan realizes that a war of a few months' duration, especially a war against the United States, would result fatally to Japan." GOVERNMENT CARGO SHIPS ORDERED SOLD The United States Government has finally come to the conclusion as to the utter hopelessness of its ability to operate ships in competition with privately owned vessels of foreign nationalities. And, judging from the contents of a news dispatch under date of Washington, D. C, December 12, 1921, the Govern- ment has also come to view the suggestion made by me in my address before the Los Angeles Chambers of Commerce in January 1919, as the only logical and practical way in which to dispose of its ships. The dispatch is as follows : "Twenty-eight cargo vessels of various types have been ordered sold by the United States Shipping Board, effective December 28. The price of the vessels will be on a par with world tonnage prices, according to information received in San Francisco shipping circles. "Previously the Board had held that in the sale of ships the replacement and initial cost must be considered. "The change indicates that the Government will accept the price at which vessels of corresponding type of construction of foreign registry may be acquired. 143 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR "Five of the steamers to be sold are the Eastern Merchant, 12,500 deadweight tons, which was built in the Asano ship- yards in Japan; the steamers Oriental, Mandarin, Celestial and Cathay. The last four named steamers vary from 10,300 to 10,500 tons deadweight, and were built at the Kiangnan Dock and Engine Works in China. The Cathay is nearing completion in the Orient at present, but the other three vessels have been delivered. "The Mandarin has been tied up here since last March and the Oriental is now at the Moore yards undergoing repairs. These two vessels have never carried a pound of cargo. The Celestial is in Europe for the Williams, Dimond Company. "The other vessels offered for sale are the South Bend, 12,000 deadweight tons, Easter Trade, East Indian, Eastern Shore, Eastern Light, Chickamauga, Pinellas, Bethnor, Mason City, Macomet, Maddequet, Tashmoo, Oronoke, Suweid, Absecon, Tuckahoe, Minooka and the Delifina." DOLLAR STEAMSHIP COMPANY FLEET Thirty years ago this December, 1921, our entire fleet was the steamer "Newsboy," of 260 net registered tons. Now it is composed of a fleet of thirteen steamers with a deadweight capacity of 89,918 tons, and ten sailing vessels of 44,120 tons capacity; a total of twenty-three vessels with a deadweight capacity of 133,038 tons. Steamers Robert Dollar Alice Dollar M. S. Dollar Harold Dollar Robert Dollar II Esther Dollar Bessie Dollar A. B. Dollar Grace Dollar Agnes Dollar Billie Dollar Melville Dollar Callao Sailing Vessels Mary Dollar James Dollar David Dollar William Dollar Janet Dollar John Dollar Alexander Dollar Mae Dollar Joseph Dollar Jane L. Stanford 144 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR CHAPTER XXI On arrival home from my trip around the world I found so many things awaiting my attention, that it was utterly impossible for me to dispose of all of them, so I had to content myself by doing what I could. Public meetings and affairs con- sumed fully half of my time. I will mention only one instance, a meeting of the Foreign Trade Convention held in Tacoma, at which I spoke of the great opportunities afforded those of us who reside on the Pacific Coast of developing the foreign trade to and from the Oriental countries. There was a very large and enthusiastic audience and it seemed certain that good results would ensue from this meeting. The Tacoma Chamber of Commerce called this convention and it deserves great credit for its initiative. While in Seattle I met with railroad and steamship officials and the Harbor Board in an effort to have all rules and rates made uniform for the various harbors of this Pacific Coast. Seattle, however, would not agree to the plan, but insisted on the rail and ship paying all charges, and the owners of freight nothing. The conference accomplished nothing, and the attempt to obtain uniform charges for each port was a failure. There was nothing for San Francisco to do but accept the situation caused by Seattle's action and meet competition by reducing the rate ships have to pay in San Francisco lower than the Seattle charges. Nothing can be gained by pulling apart, as no port can succeed while trying to get the best of the others. Needless to say, Seattle's obstinacy has caused the other ports to have an unfriendly feeling against Seattle, which could have been avoided. I find that the distance we traveled in 1921 was 10,450 miles by rail and 22,090 miles by water, making a total of 32,540 miles in all, an average of nearly 90 miles a day for the year. The following is an excerpt from the San Francisco Chron- icle published shortly after I returned from my around-the- world voyage: VETERAN SHIPPING MAN RETURNS FROM TOUR OF ORIENT Captain Robert Dollar, dean of Pacific Coast shipping men and an outstanding figure in the field of foreign trade, is home again, and another world trip with its high lights and valuable data from the Orient has been recorded in the famous library of Robert Dollar diaries. Resting at his residence in San Rafael, the 77-year-old busi- ness hustler talked of international affairs, political and com- mercial, to a Chronicle reporter. When it comes to Far Eastern matters there is probably no American better qualified to speak than Captain Dollar. He is more widely known in the Orient and in Europe than in the United States, and has been honored by foreign governments on many occasions. On international trade conditions the shipping magnate reaches this conclusion after having visited the various nations : "The bottom has very nearly been reached. I don't think it will get worse. All countries are overstocked, but there is getting to be a shortage in certain commodities that looks promising, for it spells demand. "On the whole, the trip was very satisfactory. Of course, it is generally known that there is no money in freighting just now, but we Americans should hang on to our business until good times come. If we don't stay with it, we'll lose it. "You can't do it by staying at home. The man who sits at his desk and says, 'Well, if the blooming foreigners want to do business with me let them come and talk with me,' may succeed in boom times, but not otherwise. "This trip that I have just completed was absolutely and solely for business. My great ambition is to develop our Amer- ican commerce, and let me tell you, young man, I never missed a trick; I didn't step one foot on pleasure." 146 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR "Many men of your age, and younger, prefer the life of retirement to the busy marts of trade" was suggested to the captain. "When I retire," emphatically answered the veteran, "it will be life's end. I've worked hard and steadily since I was twelve years old. How long do you suppose I would last if I quit work now ? It's like making a man go to work in his old age after having spent a life of absolute pleasure." With the close of this year I also completed my 57th Diary, so that I can tell where I was every day during that time. I find the following note written on the last page of my 1921 Diary : "I closed this year by putting in a full day's work, and went home satisfied that I had done my best during the year. Not that I have done well nor that I have accomplished all that I might have done, but by persistent hard work I can safely say that I have given the best that was in me for the cause of Christ, and in my business I have striven to increase and develop American foreign commerce, for all of which I give sincere and hearty thanks to God, as only by His help ancj guidance was I able to accomplish this much." The New Year came in with its full quota of new problems, bringing many conferences, the most important being a request from the Shipping Board at Washington to form a company to buy and operate all the large passenger steamers it owns on the Pacific Ocean. At first I refused to consider this request on account of having all I could do, but upon the Board representing this to be a patriotic duty, owing by me to my country, I finally consented and went as one of a party to Wash- ington to discuss the situation. On arrival there, we found that they were not prepared to give prices and conditions, so the matter had to be postponed until the President declared his plan to Congress; consequently we accomplished nothing. Now that the President's policy has been declared, a further delay must take place until we find out what Congress will do. Up to the present time, the giving of a subsidy to shipowners has not been a drawing-card with Congress, and whether this 147 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR legislation becomes effective or not remains to be seen; there- fore, nothing will be done for some time to come. Incidentally, I bought for the Dollar Steamship Line four new cargo steamers from the Shipping Board. They are the Mandarin (to be renamed Stuart Dollar), Oriental (Melville Dollar), Celestial (Margaret Dollar), and Cathay (Diana Dollar). Their deadweight capacity aggregates 41,000 tons. The Company will be able to use them on its present routes as nine outside steamers are now under charter. The San Francisco newspapers gave a short account of these purchases and the trip to Washington, as follows : "Purchase of four shipping board steamers by the Robert Dollar Steamship Company has been announced by the Govern- ment, according to word received here from Washington. "The names of the vessels were not given in the advices, but when the Shipping Board opened bids for twenty freighters several months ago the Robert Dollar Company made tenders for the Chinese-built steamers Celestial, Mandarin, Cathay and Oriental. These vessels are each 10,000-ton cargo carriers and are a quartet of the finest steamers of their type built for the Government under war-time contract. "Robert Dollar is now in Washington with the Pacific Coast representatives of the proposed $30,000,000 Pacific Coast ship pool. "Captain Dollar recently purchased the liner Callao, renamed the Ruth Alexander, from the shipping board and has chartered the vessel to the Admiral Line. His latest purchases make Captain Dollar the heaviest purchaser in the world of ship tonnage since the armistice was signed". I cannot refrain from mentioning a matter of the greatest importance to the United States in general and to our business in particular. That is the results of the Disarmament Com- mittee to the four-power treaty and the settlement between Japan and China. For sometime past it has looked as if war were sure to occur in the very near future. Now, however, the war clouds that have been hovering over us have entirely 148 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR disappeared and President Harding's name will go down in history as that of the man who averted this great calamity to the human race, which would have been especially disastrous to all the nations bordering on this Pacific Ocean. Those of us who are directly interested in the commerce of this ocean can now proceed with renewed confidence and it appears as if the latter part of 1922 will see a little improvement in the commerce of the world. The revival in shipping will come later as a goodly portion of the great fleet of ships now tied up throughout the world must find employment before there is any great change in freight rates. 149 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR REMINISCENCES Thinking back fifty-seven years ago, or to be more exact, in the fall of 1865 when I was working as a common hand at the munificent salary of $16.00 a month in a lumber "shanty" (now called camp) at the head of Peache Creek, a tributary of the Gatman River, a letter came to Brooks, the foreman, telling him to send me to Ottawa. I could think of no other reason for this action other than that I was fired, but I would not allow myself to believe it, as I never had worked harder in my life than during the few months I had been in this camp. However, I had to obey orders and reluctantly started on my journey to the office in Ottawa. Little did I think that in leaving that camp with all my belongings in a bag on my back, that I was starting out on a new road whose ending, even my most fantastic dreams could not have imagined. With fear and trembling I reported at the office in Ottawa to hear my fate. I was at once assured that it was not something unfortunate but the reverse, as the kind face and words of Hiram Robinson soon set me at rest. What a fine policy it is to talk kindly to everyone you meet. How much it helps a poor fellow. I soon learned the purpose for which they had sent me. It was that Hamilton Brothers, the company for which I was working, had bought the Du Moine timber limits from the Egan estate and I was to go to their depot on the Du Moine and receive and look after all the outfit, stores, and supplies that went with the purchase of the limits. I well remember stating that having had no experience and being only twenty years old that this was a job far too big for me. However, I was told that for sometime back I had been carefully observed and they had noticed my endeavors to learn writing and arith- metic, and that in sending me, the risk, if any, was theirs and not mine. How a young man should watch and consider his action as he comes to the forks of the road when starting out in the 150 MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR world, as I had to at this time. One road would take me back to work without advancement, the other road lead to advance- ment and success. In the present days of fast railways and automobiles, it might not be amiss to describe my trip from Ottawa to show the wonderful change and advancement that has been made in the mode of travel as well as all other conditions. From Ottawa I took a stage to Aylmen, going from there by steamer to Shaw Falls. A light railroad had been laid over the portage and light cars hauled by horses carried the passengers to the head of the rapids whence a steamer took us to Portage du Fort. This occupied a full day. The next day I went by stage to Havelock (now called Bryson) where we got aboard another small steamer that sailed up past Calumet Island and across Coulonge Lake to Chapean. This completed another day. The following day I drove by stage across Allumet Island, then crossed in a boat to Pembroke, completing the third day. From there we went by steamer to Des Joachim where I spent the night. The fourth day I walked over the portage and secured passage in a row boat which landed me at the mouth of the Du Moine river. Here I hired an Indian with a small bark canoe to take me to my destination portaging over the numerous falls and rapids. This occupied three days more. I believe this distance could be covered in about a day with the present rapid means of transportation. After receiving all the material I hired a few Indians and trappers, a pair of oxen, and built a storehouse in which to store the goods that would come when winter set in, and also built a small camp to accommodate the teamsters. In this store- house sufficient provisions were safely stored for the next year's lumbering operations. Then I cleared fifty or sixty acres of land, and planted to potatoes and oats. A summer road then had to be built, as the only communication in winter was over the ice, so I cut out a wagon road about thirty miles long to connect with the outside world at all seasons of the year. The following winter we were busy getting out the logs and in the spring ran them down the creeks and rivers to the MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR Joachim boom where they were boomed out and with a capstan crib taken on their way, run over the rapids, assembled again at the foot, and so on until we finally reached the Chaudier Falls at Ottawa, where we made an ineffectual attempt to run them through. We then ran them through the north slide at Hull. They were the first logs that ever passed Ottawa City, and were only the forerunners of many millions of logs that were to follow. This was certainly pioneering. Out of a small acorn the great oak grows, and from that small beginning wonderful growth has been made, for the great lumbering operations still continue under the name and manage- ment of the Hawkesburry Lumber Company. They are there, but I have certainly moved around a long way through the world from that good start I received on the Ottawa river. San Francisco, March 29, 1922. 152 :pt A3 THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara STACK COLLECTION THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. APR4 1988 RETD MAR16198S RFTDOCT121989 10ft-10,'63(E1188s4)476D 7 3 1205 00825 V&3