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Show NEW STEAMER LINE MAY START TRANS-ATLANTIC RATE WAR; MANY THINK NEW YORK, Oct 4. The cabled announcement an-nouncement vot tha departure-of 'the Royal Steam' Packet company's steamer steam-er Tag-us from Southampton, England, ba Saturday for 'New York via the West Indies, Inaugurating- the new service of that company between this port, Jamaica, Central and South America and the Windward Islands, created considerable comment In transportation trans-portation circles. The service will be fortnightly. Emit L. Boas, manager of the New York office of the Hamburg-American line, yesterday said: "With reference to the proposed com petition of - the Royal Mall between New York' and the West Indies, the Hamburg-American line considers tflat this is an Interference with their business busi-ness and they propose to take steps to protect their Interests, for which reason rea-son they, have given notice of withdrawal, with-drawal, from the West Indian confer- encc, to" take effect October . They also wish emphatically to contradict the report that the new service of the Royal Mall ' has been started on the basis of a friendly arrangement with the Hamburg-American line." The West Indian conference Includes all the lines from England and the continent to the West Indies and they are at present in thorough agreement as to rates and other measures. The withdrawal of the Hamburg-American line from the conference, it Is said, may precipitate a rate war on both sides of the Atlantic In the West Indian field. A representative of Sanderson A Son, who are the New York agents of the Royal Mall Steam Packet company, com-pany, when Informed of the statement made by Mr. Boas, said: "We have no intention of antagonising antagonis-ing the Hamburg-American line In starting a line from New .York to Jamaica and other ports touched at by their Atlas line service and had hoped to work In entire agreement with them In the West Indian field.- It should be borne in mind that this line Is simply an extension of the Royal Mall Steam Packet company's service, which has been in operation for many years between be-tween England and the .ports touched at by the new service. "Of course, we expect to secure our fair share of both passengers and freight for the ports our steamers call at, but we do not Intend to cut rates to secure the business unless our competitors com-petitors start that kind of thing." |