Show ift A 1421 Y V W IM N f la F the thames at the tower bridge from the air prepared by the national geographic society washington D C the city is a mecca for L travelers and is known from books and stories throughout the london the port is comparatively little known yet in world economics it is even more important than london the lie city tile the story of this tin s great port In voles tile the ships that arod the thames from the selen sens seas the varied piles of products from all corners of the world that arp are set down on london quays and locks docks and the facilities tor for handling bandling this mighty business of providing in necessities and luxuries for a great block of the worlds consumers s tile the port of london lias has developed as her ships have developed in tier her 2000 years of history Y slie she lias has known the long rakish viking boats the little wind driven ships of the continent smacks frigates tippers clippers and since tile advent of steam and the gas engine great mechanical greyhounds grey hounds of the sea of ever increasing wc the smaller ships of the past con auiles found it possible to anchor in the thames or to tie up to her chares and quays cut but as ships became larger and more numerous tile the great tidal range of the river was found to be more nod and more troublesome it was tas then that ali lt london began the construction of the great closed lock dock system which gives tier her the most extensive area of artificial ship basins in the world A quay or wharf is merely a wall or platform niong along the shore of a hier aher or inlet A true lock dock is by dig digging aging into the bank 1 ank to construct a basin into which the gaibor water flows A lock and water gates usually connect the basin with the outer water when ships are floated into tile the dock at high tide the gates can be closed shutting in enough water to float boat the ships een cen ahen the water lias has dropped far below the necessary leel outside in some modern docks the water level cin can be maintained or even raised above the high tide level by gigantic pumping plants jah growth of the dock Sy system stern londona Lon dons system of docks now so extensile and elaborate grew by very slow degrees the alie first little wet dock dug at Clack Blac wall kwaII about 1 was used merely to outfit ships samuel mentions it in his diary next nest about 1700 came a larger dock used merely as a protected anchorage for ships that were vere to be long in port this basin came to be frequented by whal i ing ships in the greenland trade and was long known cnown as the greenland dock the whalers chalers soon realized that tl in t unloading and the taking on of supplies k could be better accomplished in the dock than in tile the river riner blubber factories storage facilities and all the ill ili smelling accessories of ali ailing grew up around the basin which thus m was as first to take anke on what are the elementary luen tary docking activities of today these beg beginnings innings Innia gs of me dock system were constructed within a few miles of of london arld bridge e from them the system has developed principally down alie t he rier into deeper and deeper water the west and I 1 vhf r st t andla docks doc ks were ere built about they now embrace acres of water bit sins millions of square feet of warehouse space and mole moie than llian file miles of quays the so called london docks tile basins to lo the bridge tire are relatively hely s mall covering 33 acres of witter muter and 65 acres of land the surrey commercial docks built around the original dock consist of acres of water 20 acres of land and and 5 miles of quays quadi royal docks the largest the rodal docks six or eight miles mile bolow below london bril bridge le ure are the ile beat t of londona Lon dons dock system and the most axtens extensive ive closed iu docks inthe itlie li world they consist of the royal victoria dock built in 1855 the elie 1 toyal albert dock completed in 1880 and the king george V dock opened in 1921 to AV A V gether ether they embrace acres of water I 1 and extend along tile the biter aher for three miles more blore tharl than half a million tons of shipping has been birthed berthed to in these connected docks at onu one time twenty slit SIX miles below london bridge Is tile the most remote of londona Lon dons shipping basins babins the tilbury docks to accommodate these were ere opened in tile the largest of tile the esses les ess sels ls entering the elie port and those of the deepest draft its new ell entrance trance lock Is approximately of the dimensions of tile the great locks of the panama canal with a depth of 45 feet fee t 6 inches below high water it is in the tilbury doclie that the he eit of 0 the trans ocean passenger steamships berth ships of 0 lose dose to tons london is not dependent alone on oa docks along the CO miles of alner which supply the city with potential facilities ore fire many miles of open Nh chares ares and quays to these comes a 0 constant procession of barges coasting boats und and even sizable steamers for tile past 19 years the great dock system of london lias has been under puh pub lie lic ownership managed by the port of 0 london authority a corporate body whose members are in part appointed by br the admiralty the london county council and other public organizations andin part are elected by tax find and groups particularly interested in the file port business tile the port authority also controls some boine open but the greater portion of this is under tir liate ownership vast streams ns of trade with its river its scores of miles of 0 wharves and docks tind and its vast ware houses and vaults the port of london is a gateway and a treasure house through which and into which pours it a stream of goods ranging from the barest necessities and the crudest raw materials to the most costly products of loom and factory artist find and craftsman in ili part the lallie alue and volume of londona Lon dons seaborne sea borne trade are owing to its geographic situation between continental europe and the americas in pirt part to the cites status as head and heair ot of the world wide british empire many of the docks and warehouses demote them themselves seles to certain specialties the old greenland dock and its neighbors are concerned largely with will the balale white sea and canada trade for the most part made up of timber and grain to the west india docks come thousands ot of tons ot of sugar scores of thousands of gallons of rum and hard woods sugar is also unloaded by the thousands of tons til lit the east india docks along with tile the spices silks rugs and dozens of other commodities from the east the quantities of goods that pass oer londona Lon dons docks and eliares wl ianes Is stupendous the leading import in quantity is grain and meals close to bushels bus liels are brought in yearly their value reach reaching lag such dissimilar articles as tea and fresh and frozen meats lead all imports in value more than thain worth of each arrives annually the greater part of the alie tea Is for consumption the balance for re export the meat Is practically all for tion and it Is supplemented by a considerable sid erable quantity ol of home grown meat on to the docks pour ench each year tons and tons of butter buffer valued ot at more than worth ot of heese cheese and more than JO e gs there is a steady stream of wines vines and spirits in hogsheads hog pipes barrels and bottles host alost of these find their way to the underground vaults of the london authority N where here there is complete equipment for blending bottling storing and aging there tire lire more than a lozen doen huge vats each with a capacity in excess of gallons fortunes in warehouses warehouse this Is ig but a suggestion of the vast stream of goods that pas passes pases es over tile the docks and into the warehouses of london enough tobacco Is in storage 4 to make a smoke screen for the navies of the world the it best C st t tobacco U baca that 1 Is afforded by the americas Amerl cas greece turkey burnia burma china aliina sumatra borneo cyprus and africa other warehouses contain fortunes in rubber ivory metals rare earths eart lis drugs perfumes por porcelains celal ains ni fine fabrics and laces feathers furs and hundreds of other commodities that minister to the wants of a complex civilization in 1928 the total net still ship lu in and 1 nd out of london was sins although tile the london water frontas front la ls called upon to care for ships and goods from all the worlds continents and seas it lias has not wholly a co commercial zarner flavor the most important buildings in the empire the houses of parliament li ament front on the river find and for miles along the banks extend tle tie beautifully laid out embankments embank menta which furnish stately drives along tile winding course of the river the most famous of these Is the victoria embankment ban kment which ex extends between westminster minster bridge near afie 1 houses 1 uses of parliament and 11 ridge bridge down tile the river near st pauls gatha dral |