this change is afforded by the fact that in 1894 the
plates of the "Dirigo," the first steel square-rigged vessel built in the
United States, were imported from England. In 1898 we exported to England
some of the plates for the "Oceanic," the largest vessel built to that
time.

Even the glory, such as it may be, of building the biggest ship of the
time is now well within the grasp of the United States. At this writing,
indeed, the biggest ship is the "Celtic," British built, and of 20,000
tons. But the distinction is only briefly for her, for at New London,
Connecticut, two ponderous iron fabrics are rising on the ways that
presently shall take form as ocean steamships of 25,000 tons each, to fly
the American flag, and to ply between Seattle and China. These great ships
afford new illustrations of more than one point already made in this
chapter. To begin with they are, of course, not constructed for any
individual owner. Time was that the farmer with land sloping down to New
London would put in his spare time building a staunch schooner of 200
tons, man her with his neighbors, and engage for himself in the world's
carrying trade. It is rather different now. The Northern Pacific railroad
directors concluded that their railroad could not be developed to its
fullest earning capacity without some way of carrying to the markets of
the far East the agricultural products gathered up along its line. As the
tendency of the times is toward gathering all branches of a business under
one control, they determined to not rely upon independent shipowners, but
to build their own vessels. That meant the immediate letting of a contract
for $5,000,000 worth of ship construction, and that in turn meant that
there was a profit to somebody in starting an entirely new shipyard to do
the work. So, suddenly, one of the sleepiest little towns in New England,
Groton, opposite New London, was turned into a ship-building port. The two
great Northern Pacific ships will be launched about the time this book is
published, but the yard by that time will have become a permanent addition
to the ship-building enterprises of the United States. So, too, all along
the Atlantic coast, we find ancient shipyards where, in the very earliest
colonial days, wooden vessels were built, adapting themselves to the
construction of the new steel steamships.

How wonderful is the contrast between the twentieth century, steel,
triple-screw, 25,000-ton, electric-lighted, 2