10-October Page Page1 to 20 - Port of Houston Magazine Archives

T
People
Spell
Markets
for
Customers
of
the Port of
Houston
300-Mile
Radiu~
2O0-Mi
100-Mile
Radius
"Ser~,ing
A~erica’s
Hearfla~d"
Houston
dailygainsstatureasa
distribution
center.
Its linksto
international
tradethePortof Houston
andHouston
International
Airport(with
Houston
Intercontinental
Airport
dueto beoperational
in 1966)
make
it easyfor firmsto engage
directlyandprofitablyin worldtrade
throughHouston.
Nearly
tenmillionpeople
live withina
300mileradiusof Houston,
andeven
thatportionfallingwithintheGulf
of Mexico
is far more
thanjust an
expanse
of water.Thisaccess
to the
Seven
Seas
represents,
instead,a
highlysignificant
portionof Houston’s
totaltradeterritorywhich
stretches
notonlyinto23inlandstatesbut
around
theworld.
More
than4.000shipsin 1964
called
at thePortof Houston,
whichhandled
more
than59milliontonsof cargo
to rankthirdin thenation.
International
traffic through
Houston
International
Airportwasup14.67
percentin 1964
over1963.
Havea Lookat the Statistics!
WITHIN...
POPULATION*
RETAIL SALES
BUYING POWER**
$12,898,260,000...........
300-mile radius .........
9,921,729
................
200-mile
5,217,521
..............
6,939,302,000
..................
10,435,042,000
2,196,711
..........
2,927,613,000
................
4,578,189,000
radius
.......
100-mileradius .................
$19,843,458,000
"1960U.S.Census
of Population
*’1963 SalesManagement’s
"Surveyof BuyingPower"
PORT OF HOUSTONOFFICES ARE AS NEAR AS YOURTELEPHONE
A/waysSpecify the
HOUSTON
NEWYORK
CITY
CHICAGO
George
W.Altvater
EdwardP. Moore
Hume
Henderson
District SalesManager
District SalesManager
GeneralSalesManager
Board
of Trade
Building
JohnR. Weiler
FrankWard
WEbster
9-6228
District SalesManager
Assistant SalesManager Telephone
25
Broadway
C. A. Rousser
District SalesRepresentative
PhoneBOwling
Green9-7747
Pride of the Gulf
P.O. Box2562
TelephoneCA5-0671
l~()Rrll ’ ()F
.r 1
]!:!’()[I81
()N
2
PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE
MANCHESTER
Offers You
At The
Port of
HOUSTON
If you have shipping
unloading
Manchester
rail
cars
facilities,
Terminal.
that
needs fast,
you’ll
economical
or
save time and money by using
Here it is easy for ships,
to load and unload
loading
trucks
and
cargo with no delay.
¯ Concrete wharves
¯ Two-story transit sheds
¯ High-density cotton compresses
¯ Automatic sprinkler
system
¯ Large outdoor storage area
¯ Rapid truck loading and unloading
¯ Modern handling methods and equipment
For complete cargo handling service,
Manchester
P. O. Box 52278
Houston, Texas 77052
OCTOBER,1965
use Manchester Terminal.
Terminal
Corporation
General Office: CA 7-3296
Wharf Office: WA6-9631
3
!!iiiiiiiiiii
BETWEEN
"~ Conf;nenfal Europe
L Unlfed Kingdom
NORTHATLANTIC PORTS( Medlferranean
..) India - Paklsfan
i
U. S. GULFPORTS
PACIFIC COASTPORTS-- FAR EAST
..........
i
REGULAR
SAILINGS
WATERMAN
STEAMSHIP
CORPORATION
ShipTLandLTLon the Sea-Land
To Market
using
walkie-talkies
to give you
faster fueling!
Your fueling instructions are radioed instantly from
the Humbleterminal to pipeline crews on the docks.
This innovation at Port Houstonis a logical development in Humble’s continuing effort to give the very
best bunkeringservice possible. In practically every instance we can have fuel movingfrom our pipeline into
your vessel’s tanks within a few minutesafter receiving
your fueling schedule- and this can be done regardless of weatherconditions.
For the fastest delivery of the "World’sFirst Choice"
fuels and lubricants specify Humble.
HUMBLE
¯ .
.
OIL & REFINING
COMPANY
AMERICA’S LEADING ENERGY COMPANY
Untouched,
Undamaged,
PilterageFreebecause:
AsealedSEA-LAND
trailer . . . becomes
a shipping
container
. . . goes
vialowwaterwayrates. . . thencompletes
door-to-door
delivery.
SEA-LAND
OFFERS
TOTAL
TRANSPORTATION
SERVICE:
Between
New
York
(Elizabeth,
N.J.)andJacksonville [] Between
New
York(Elizabeth,N.J.) andTexas
DBetween
NewYork(Elizabeth,N.J.) and
Long
Beach,
Oakland,
Portland
and
Seattle
[] Between
New
York
(Elizabeth,N.J.)andSanJuan.Ponce,
Mayaguez
[] Between
Baltimore
andSan
Juan,Ponce,
Mayaguez
[g
Between
Jacksonville
andSanJuan,
Ponce,
Mayagaez
[] Between
Long
Beach,
Oakland,
Portland
andSan
Juan,Ponce,
Mayaguez
[] Between
SeattleandAnchorage,
Kodiak
[]
From
Anchorage
to Kodiak
[] From
Jacksonville
to Houston
[] From
Puerto
Ricoto Houston.
SEA
-LAND
SERVICE, INC.
America’a SeagoingMotor Carrier
Consult
your directory for the
Sea-Land
office nearest you.
NSK
YOUR
S[A-LANO
REPRES[NTATIV[
TOPR[PAR[
ACOST
ANALYSIS
Of YOUR
TOTAL
fR[IOHT
dISTRIBUTION
OOLLAN!
PORT OF HOUSTONMAGAZINE
The
BANK
LINELtd.
Regular Service
from
U. S. Gulf Ports to
Australia
and
New
lealand
¯ Brisbane
¯
Melbourne
¯
Auckland
¯
Lyttleton
¯
Sydney
¯
Area Code 713
Adelaide
¯
Wellington
¯
Dunedin
nmm
CA 4-6076
One Houston
General
Agents
telephone number assures
your shipments direct access to the Azores
Morocco ¯ Spain
BOYD,
WEIR
and
SEWELL, Inc.
New York
¯ Greece
¯ Turkey
¯ Ethiopia
¯ East
¯ French
¯ Italy
¯ Tunisia
¯ Libya
¯ Egypt ¯ Jordan
¯ Sudan
Somaliland
and West Pakistan
¯ Iran
¯ India
¯ Iraq
¯ Ceylon
¯ Burma
mmm
Gulf
Agents
Dial CA 4-6075 for American-flag liner
serviceto all major ports in these countries.
Your shipment will be scheduled and on its
way before you can say Khorramshahr.
STRACHAN
SHIPPING
CO.
Regular sailings
from U. S. Gulf
..............
~ and U. S. Atlantic ports
Houston - Galveston - Mobile
Memphis-New Orleans-Dallas
Chicago - Atlanta - St. Louis
Kansas City - Cincinnati
HOUSTON
FIRSTSAVINGS
BLDG.,711 FANNINST.
NEW ORLEANSoNEW
OCTOBER,1965
YORK o GALVESTON
.
BOMBAY
SERVICES FROM HOUSTOH
and other Gulf ports
INDIA SERVICE
Karachi ¯ Bombay¯ Colombo¯ Madras
Calcutta ¯ Rangoon
Also calls Mediterranean
andRedSeaports
PERSIANGULFSERVICE
Dammam
¯ Kuwait ¯ Basrah¯ Khorramshahr
Bandar$hahpour¯ Abadan¯ Bahrein
Also calls Mediterranean
andRedSeaports
HAWAIIANISLANDS SERVICE
Honolulu¯ PortAllen ¯ Nawiliwili
Hilo ¯ Kahului
World Wide Cargo Services from
All Coasts of the United States
BERTH
Intercoastal
Between
Gulf
Services
Galveston
jj Baltimore
Houston
Beaumont
and
Brownsville
Pacific Ports
From Pacific Lumber
Ports to Atlantic Ports
Long Beach
Los Angeles
Buealo Memphis
Mobile
Orl ....
Cleveland New
New York
Dallas
Detroit
Boston
Chicago
i
AGENTS
Norfolk
Philadelphia
Portland, Ore.
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, D. C.
COTTON EXCHANGE BLDG.,
HOUSTON
SHIPPING OVERSEAS?MoPaccan handlethe details.
Serving
thePort
of Houston
You are in Wichita.
Your
shipment must go to Tehran,
and the closest Port Authority
man is at a Gulf port. Who’s
going to answer your questions
about customs regulations?
About ship schedules?
About
packing, labeling, tariffs?
Ask us. MoPac.
We serve 12 ports on the
Gulf Coast and the Laredo,
6
Brownsville and E1 Paso gateways to Mexico. Our people
keep up to the minute on
changes in import-export procedures.
For on-the-nose
freight
schedules,
use MoPac’s coordinated rail/truck
service to
any of these Gulf ports. You
won’t have to worry about a
thing.
J. P. DONOVAN
ForeignFreightTraffic Mgr.
1706MissouriPacific Bldg.
St. Louis,Mo.63103
R. A. GRIESMAN
AssistantTraffic Manager
406UnionStation
Houston,Texas77002
PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE
PORT OF
HOUSTON
Official Publication
Of the Harris County HoustonShip ChannelNavigation District
Volume 7
October, 1965
No. 10
Directory
OfOfficials
FOR THE
Port of Houston
PORT COMMISSIONERS
HOWARD
TELLEPSEN, Chairman
W. N. BLANTON,
Vice Chairman
R. H. PRUETT
E. H. HENDERSON
W. D. HADEN
II
EXECUTIVE
DEPARTMENT
J. P. TURNER,
General Manager
VERNON
BAILEY,Assistant General Manager
J. L. LOCKETT,JR., Counsel
SAMUEL
B. BRUCE,
Auditor
TRAVIS
L. SMITH,
III,
Managero/Engineering and Planning
RICHARD
LEACH,Chie] Engineer
DARRELL
WAFER,
Accounts Manager
KENNETH
W. STEPHENS,
Personnel Manager
and World Trade Bldg. Mgr.
T. E. WHATLEY,
Administrative Assistant
VINCENT
D. WZLLIAMS,
Administrative
Assistant
PUBLICRELATIONS
DEPARTMENT
LLOYD
GREGORY, Director o/lnJormation
TEDSUMERLIN, Editor o] Magazine
VAUGHN
M. BRYANT,
Director o/
International Relations
SALES
DEPARTMENT
GEORGEW. ALTVATER, General Sales Manager
EVWARD
P. MOORE,
District Sales Manager
FRANKWARD, Assistant
25 Broadway, NewYork, N.Y.
HUME
A. HENDERSON,
District Sales Manager
Boardof Trade Building, Chicago,Ill.
JOHNR. WEZLER,
District Sales Manager
C. A. ROUSSER,
JR., District Sales
Representative
1519 Capitol, Houston
OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT
C. E. BULLOCK,Operations
Manager
T. H. SHERWOOD,
Managero/Grain Elevator
J. R. CURTZS,
Terminal Manager
WALLACE
J. STAGNEE,
Manager-Storage
Warehouses
CARL
L. SHUPTmNE,
Chie/Security Ogicer
W. E. REDMON,
Maintenance Superintendent
WORLD
TRADE
CENTER
EDWARD
J. FAY,Director
EXECUTIVE
OFFICES
1519Capitol Avenueat CrawfordStreet
Telephone CApitol 5-0671
P. O. Box 2562, Houston, Texas 77001
OCTOBER,1965
Contents
300 Exhibits
at Houston International
Trade Fair ......................
8
Scene At The World Trade Club ..................................
10
World Trade Association
11
Elects
......................................
The Houston Port Bureau Reports ..................................
Twenty-Year
Consular
Navy Man Is Expert
Changes
Our Visitors
Steamship
Schedule
of
16
Sense Of The Irish
Agents
General
13
14
.......................................
...................
..............................
Port of Houston Shipping Directory
Sailing
..................
.....................................
Luck And Good Business
Houston
Compass Adiuster
12
.....................................
Cargo Ships
......................
17
30
31
32
THE COVER
Moving slowly up the Houston Ship Channel is the IRISH ROWAN,
one of the
Irish Shipping, Ltd., ships which call frequently at Gulf ports. For information
about the luck of the Irish see Page17.
The PORTOF HOUSTON
Magazine is published monthly and distributed free to maritime, industrial and transportation interests in
the United States and foreign countries. Its
purposeis to inform shippers and others interested in the Port of Houstonof its development, facilities, plans and accomplishments.
This publication is not copyrightedand per-
mission is given for the reproduction or use
of any material, provided credit is given to
the Port of Houston.
Additional
information
orextracopies of
thismagazine
may be obtained
by writing
The Port of HoustonMagazine,2332 W.
Holeombe
Blvd.,
Houston,
Texas77025.
A beautiful Chinese
Dragon parades through
the Trade Mart of
Nations.
300 EXHIBITS
ATTRADE
FAIR
Houston’s eleventh an nual International
Trade and Travel Fair drew
98,742 people to see the official exhibits
of six nations and merchandise from
many more in 300 exhibits.
"Success of this year’s fair is based
on more and better exhibits and over
130 outstanding special events," Jack
Hooper, president, said.
Merchandise that is available for export to the United States was d!splayed
in the pavilions of six nations: Great
Britain, Italy, Japan, China, Finland
and Sweden. Hundreds of new and
novel products were shown and early
reports indicated that many sales were
nlade.
Heart of the fair is the Trade Mart
of Nations. In addition there were three
other divisions,
including the Trade
Mart of Industry and Commerce, International
Merel~andise
Mall and the
Building and Construction Exposition.
The exhibits this year were colorful and
most of them were animated.
Visitors were also able to see a $200,000 internationally
famous art exhibit,
fashion shows, a f~,stival of international
music presented by students at Houston
area schools and colleges, four days of
wine tasting and many other features.
For the first time the fair selected a
queen. She is 18-year-old Zaida Estes,
who will act as official hostess for the
1966 fair.
Large crowds waited at
the doors for opening
of the fair every day.
8
PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE
Products from Italy were
displayed in booths
along both sides of
this corridor.
Cars on display ranged
from Japanese sports
cars to the luxurious
Rolls Royce from
England.
Honored guests at opening
ceremoniesfor the International Trade and Travel
Fair were, from the left,
Consul General T. H. Chou
of China, Honorary Consul
RaymondEdmondsof Finland, Consul General
Gerald Simpsonof Great
Britain, Honorary Vice
Consul Mrs. Jack A.
Richardsonof Italy, Consul
General Hideho Tanaka
of Japan and Consul
General Tore Hoegstedt
of Sweden.
Port of Houston, one of
the sponsorsof the International Trade and Travel
Fair, had an interesting
exhibit on the new industrial area which is
being opened adjacent
to the Turning Basin.
OCTOBER,1965
9
S EENEAT THE
Captain Leon Votquenne,left, master of the Belgian vessel
M. S. ESCAUT,
and Don Cork, right, vice president and general
managerof Houston’s Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel, were guests of
B. W. White, center, vice-presldent, sales, Hansen& Tidemann,
Inc., at the World Trade Club recently.
~~
ili iii!
iiil iiiii I ii~
Ulrich Klimmey, center, of Nordeutscher Lloyd (North GermanLloyd) Steamship Line in NewYork but soon to be transferred to the Bremenoffice, visited the World Trade Club last
month as the guest of T. E. Dugey, right, vice president of
Biehl & Co., agents, and John lisager, also of Biehl & Co.
Colombia’s new Consul in Houston, Dr. Carlos Lopez Narvaez, right, was at the World Trade Club last month with
Colombia’s Comptroller General, Francisco Restrepo Osorio,
whowason a tour of his country’s consular offices in the United
States. Restrepo’s brother, Luis, was Consul of Colombia in
Houstonin the mid-fifties.
Richard B. Swenson,general managerof the Port of Freeport, Texas, had his family at the World Trade Club last month.
Shownwith Mrs. Swensonare daughters Lisa and Susan.
10
Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Smith of the R. W. Smith freight forwarding firm, were hosts to Japanese visitors at the World
Trade Club last month. Fromthe left are Mrs. Smith; Hiroshi
Hanaharaof Mitsui & Co.; Mr. Smith; Peter Lenard, Pan American Trade Development Co.; Yoshiharu Miyata, Tokyo International Commerce
Co., Inc.; Hiroshi Kimura, Toyomenka,Inc.,
and Alex Arroyos, import managerof R. W. Smith & Co.
PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE
Newofficers are, left to
right, VaughnM. Bryant,
R. C. Poston,A. Felix Prieto,
J. H. Branard, Jr., J. S.
McDermott, Alex Finney and
John W. Hazard. William
J. Reckling, the newpresident,
was out of the city and
unavailable for the
group photograph.
W
RECKLING,
retired execuPresident Ahvater reviewed the work
of Anderson, Clayton & Co.,
of the various other Committees of the
was elected president of the Houston
Association during the year which had
World Trade Association for 1965-66 at
worked in the fields of legislation, govits meeting last month in the World
ernment liaison at state and national
Trade Club. He succeeds George W. levels, export e x p an si on, membership,
Altvater, general sales manager of the
publicity and similar activity.
Port of Houston.
The year was marked by several outJames H. Stover, director of the Ofstanding programs at the monthly meetfice of Management and Organization
ings, arranged by them Program Chairof the Treasury Department addressed
man Reckling, including a briefing team
the meeting on the recent reorganization
of officers from several NATOnations,
of the U. S. Customs Department which
the assistant secretary of the European
has been carried out along the lines of
Free Trade Association, French Consul
his recommendations in the now famed
General Yves Rodrigues on the French
"Stover Report."
position in the CommonMarket, and Dr.
He told the group the Customs reNorman Ness of Anderson, Clayton &
organization should result in millions of Co. on the balance of payments situation.
dollars
of savings annually and exL. R. Westerman reported for the balplained the new plan, which will have
loting committee on election results for
only eight regional customs offices inother officers
for the 1965-66 year,
stead of the 53 which have been operatwhich were: Vaughn M. Bryant, Port
ing previously. Directors of the regional
of Houston, first vice president; R. C.
offices, of which Houston will have one,
Poston, Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., Inc.,
will be selected on a merit basis rather
second vice president; A. Felix Prieto,
than appointed, as in the past.
Houston Chamber of Commerce, secreDirector Stover’s address was of partary, and John W. Hazard, president of
ticular interest
to the Houston World
the International Bank, treasurer.
Trade Association since it had led the
New directors,
replacing Dr. Ness;
fight locally to obtain one of the regional
William B. Dazcy, attorney,
and J. P.
offices
when the plan was first
anTurner, general manager of the Port of
nounced. At that time there were only
Houston, were James H. Branard, Jr.,
six regional offices allotted, but strenuGulf Atlantic
Warehouse Corp. (Long
ous efforts
by a W.T.A. Committee
headed by R. Wilbur Smith, working
Reach Docks); Alex Finney, Humble
with Houston Congressman
Albert
Oil & Refining Co., and Capt. J. S. McThomas, resuhed in the change.
Dermott, Kerr Steamship Co.
I1AAAM d.
tive
ELEETS
GEORGEW. ALTVATER
Outgoing President
JamesH. Stover, right,
of the Treasury Department,
with U. S. Collector of
Customs, Sam D. W. Low,
who introduced him at the
meeting. Stover is author of
the CustomsOffice
reorganization plan.
IMPORT AND INBOUND coastwise
rates
on
bu±~ ±vrtllzzer
materials
from Houston to
Texas destinations
will be improved
on
October 27. Railroads
have cleared
for
publication on that date, a rate of $4.82
per net ton, minimum 140,000 per ear, to
cover Sulphate of Ammonium and Ammonium
Sulphate Phosphate from Houston to Plain-
HOUSTON PORT BUREAU’S MOTION, to separate issues according to port ranges and
to hold separate hearings, has been
granted under I.C.C. Docket 34522 and
I & S 8230, involving free time at U.S.
ports on export traffic. Under its order
dated September i, the I.C.C. divided
issues into four divisions (Atlantic,
Great Lakes, Pacific and Gulf) and reset
the first hearing for September 21 for
evidence and cross-examination concerning
Atlantic coast ports only. Houston’s
primary interest is amount of free time
and a continued average detention plan at
Texas Gulf ports.
OKLAHOMA GRAIN RATES were the subject
complaint by Lake Charles, Louisiana in a
hearing before an I.C.C. Examiner on
September 16. Lake Charles contended that
export rates to that port should be no
higher than rates to Houston. Because of
no grain elevator facilities at that port,
Lake Charles showed a primary interest in
flour and sacked grain products only.
Houston participated in support of the
defendant railroad.
view and Littlefield, Texas. These commodities are received inbound through Port of
Houston Bulk Materials and Handling Plant
and shipped to interior points for mixture
into various formulas of fertilizer. A
considerable amount of the finished product is then exported back through Port
of Houston into the world market. The Port
Bureau appeared with the proponent shipper at the carriers’ public hearing in
support of this favorable adjustment. The
new reduced rate also applies on packaged
shipments in both directions to and from
Houston.
, , ,
THE FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION has
issued its "agenda for pre-hearing conference" in Docket No. 65-31, Investigation of Overland and OCP Rates and
Absorptions. The pre-hearing conference
will be held on October 12, 1965, in Room
114, 1521 H Street, N. W., Washington,
D. C., at i0:00 a.m. Houston Port Bureau
and other Gulf and Atlantic ports have
intervened in the proceeding and will
attend the conference.
12
COTTON RATES based to 75,000 pound carloads from Southwestern origins to
Southeastern destinations have been disapproved by the railroads. Historically,
cotton rates to the Southeast and to
the Gulf have been established to minimum
weights that can be loaded in standard
size boxcars subject to general demurrage
rules. The proposed rates would have
required use of scarce 50 foot boxcars
that, it was contended, are not readily
available to cotton shippers. Representing
Port of Houston and Houston Cotton
Exchange, the Bureau urged that no rates
be established that would require larger
than standard boxcars, eliminate present transit privileges or reduce free time
for loading or unloading. Carriers’ disapproval of the proposed rate structure
will preserve the competitive situation for all cotton shippers rather than
just one segment of the industry.
PORT OF HOUSTONMAGAZINE
No.
64 In
a Series
Men Who Make
The
Port
of
Houston
Hum
\
Twenty-YearNavyMan
ExpertEumpass
Pidjust~r
By LLOYD GREGORY
Direclor of Information
"rttl.;
sI x or stars
UsIN(,in August.
1965. adjusted
for reference, Samuel B. Sproull
tile cOral)ass on 21 ships call-
ing al lhc Port of llouston.
Mr. Sproull. who retired froul [ nele SHUI’S Navy in 1955
after 20 )ears. boarded each ship at the Turning Basin, and
sailed a short dislanee into the Gulf of Mexico. ()nee he ~as
sure the eompass was "true," Mr. Sproull disembarked on a
small I,oat that I)rought him into the Port of (,al~esl(m.
Mr. Si)roull belongs to a small and proud groul). Tin,re are
only 12 professional (:ompass adjusters in the I-nited States.
Vice President an(l general manager of Texas Nautical
Company, Inc., offices on the ground th)or of thc World Trade
Building, Mr. Sl)roull (an look back (m a distinguished career.
He enlisted in the Navy in 1935, just after graduation from
old Central high school in Houston. He retired as chief quartermaster, thehighest enlisted petty officer rating.
l)uring the second world war, Mr. Sl)roull took part in
major engagements in the Pacific, serving mainly on destroyers and sea-plane tenders.
Mr. S1)roull taught oficers and petty officers: "Navigatiom
Compass Adjustment and Rules of the Road."
Mr. SprouIl laughiu(q ~ recalled:
"l{egular Navy offieers were taught so well 1o avoid collisions they sonletimes were hesitant to laud amphibious craft.
but most reserxe offieers enthusiastically crashed the craft (m
the land."
In 1939, Mr. Sproull served on President Franklin Roosevch’s personal navy staff. He was navigator on the l)resident’s
barge. He recalled
FDR didn’t want any "spit and polish"
on his fishing trips, and called each of his’10 sailors by name.
()n his retirement from the navy in 1955. Mr. Sproull went
to work for Texas Nautical. owned I)v Capt. A. A. Colbury,
and headquartered in the Houston Co(Ion Exchange Building.
Captain Colhury died in 1958, and Jay Herold 1)ecame the
owner. Mr. Sproull purchased the eompany in Octol)er, 1963,
and it was incorporated two months later with K. D. "Bowen
presidenl.
"Captain Colbury started buihling the reputation of Texas
Nautical for expert compass adjusting," Mr. Sproull recalled.
"Now many ship captains give us all their business."
"l)uringAugust,
we adjusted the compass on the Nuclear
Ship SAVANNAH,and on the MORMAC
LYNX, fully
automated freighter
owned by Moore-_McCormaek line, which had
been to sea eight months before coming into Houston."
Insurance underwriters require compass adjustments by an
outsider. The standard fee is $]00, plus expenses.
Mr. Sproull pointed out that any ship loading scrap-iron
with a magnetic loader must have a compass adjustment.
Mr. Sproull is a member of World Trade Association, World
Trade Club, Propeller Club, Navy League, and Code-Roth~ell
Masonic h)dge.
He is married to the former Victoria Egnatuk of Camden,
N.J. They have two children, Vickie Lynn, 9; Cathy, 7.
The family lives at 913 Pauline street, Pasadena, and attends the Pasadena Boulevard Methodist church.
OCTOBER,1965
SAMUEL B.
SPROULL
13
Other posts in Dr. L6pez’ eventful career have been those
of Secretary of the National Council on Education and of the
National Commission of UNESCO,and he was also director
of the national radio station in the Department of Cultural
Extension and Arts. He was also at one time head of public
relations of the National Telecommunications Co.
Dr. Ldpez visited the United States as a guest of the Department of State in 1952/53 and in 1962 was invited to Italy by
Foreign Office for eight months to lecture. While in Europe
he also traveled extensively throughout the Continent.
He holds the decorations of Order of Merit from the Italian
Government and the Grand Cross of Belalefizar from Colombia.
Dr. Carlos
Lopez Narvaez
Col, arabiaNames
Well-I~nown
AuthorAndHistorian
One of Colombia’s best-known literary
figures--author,
critic, poet and teacher---has been named that country’s consul
in Houston and opened new offices on the 14th floor of the
Chamber of Commerce Building.
He is Dr. Carlos L6pez Narvfiez, member of the Colombian Academy (of the Spanish language), as well as of the
Colombian Academies of Letters, of History and of Philosophy;
founder and/or former editor of several literary and historical
publications,
and a continuing contributor
to the leading
journals and newspapers of his country.
Dr. L6pez replaces Armando Velez in the Houston Consulate. He says he feels very much at home in Texas because
of a son, Eugenio, who lives in Midland and is married to an
Oklahoma girl. A daughter lives in Mexico City and two other
children are in Colombia.
A native of Popayan in the Department of Cauea, Dr.
L6pez has had a brilliant
career of dedicated service to the
arts and as a public servant in a variety of offices. A graduate
in laws, he has served the government in posts ranging from
a municipal judge to attorney general. In private practice he
has represented petroleum, mining and land interests.
The consular post is not his first service in the Foreign
Office as he was at one time Chief of the Economic and Commercial Section there, and was also auditor of the Ministry
of War in the early 1930’s.
Dr. L6pez’ true love seems to lie in education and especially
in the fields of literature and history. He says he considers his
greatest honor to be that he was the friend and confidant of
the Colombian poet, Guillermo Valencia, one of the great exponents of the Spanish language and father of the present
president of Colombia, Dr. Guillermo Le6n Valencia.
14
Colonel
Shmuel
Socher
FormerArmyColonelFrom
Israel TaRes
Consular
Post
Colonel Shmuel Soeher has replaced the popular Avshalom
Caspi as Consul of IsraeJ for Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana,
with offices in the World Trade Building. Ca@i, who opened
the Israel Consular office in Houston, has gone to Los Angeles,
California, as Consul General.
This is the first Consular post for Colonel Socher who is on
leave from the Israel Armywhile with the Foreign Service.
Soeher was born in Dresden, Germany, and migrated to
Israel in 1936 after being expelled from high school by the
Nazi government the year before. He served with the British
army for six years during World War II and in 1948 joined
the israel De(ense Army.
From 1953 to 1959 he was Adjutant General of the Israel
Army. He was Deputy Economic Controller of the War Office
at the time of his assignment to Houston.
Soeher has been to the United States twice before. In 1952,
he attended the U. S. Army Adjutant General’s School where
he was the only foreign officer in a class of 52. He was manPORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE
ager of the Israel National Soccer team when it played the
U. S. All Stars in Yankee Stadium in 1956.
Sports have beeF, one of Socher’s major loves. He served as
Chairman of the Armed Forces Sports Committee from 1950
until he came to Houston, managed Israel’s
soccer team for
six years, the national basketball team for one year, and has
been president of the Soccer Coaches Union of israel.
Socher is also a part-time journalist,
writing sports news
for MAARIV,Israel’s
biggest evening newspaper.
Colonel Socher, Iris wife Bracha, and their three children,
two girls and a boy, will live at 10203 Willowgrove.
iii!i
iiiii+!>
liiii!i~i~i
Mrs. Maria Esther
Casanova de Jimenez
Angel Oswaldo Alvarado
Monroy
in Washington in 1953. He was appointed to Houston by the
Guatemalan Government in a decree of July 19.
A native of Guatemala City, Alvarado was educated in
elementary and high school in California but returned to his
native country to attend university. He went into the foreign
service upon graduation but then returned from Washington
to teach school and later was in the export-import business.
The new consul is the father of four girls and a boy and is
a devotee of swimming, bowling and soccer.
LadyLawyerFromAr@ntina
Is Named
Vice-C0nsul
Mrs. Maria Esther Casanova de Jim6nez has been named
vice-consul of the Argentine Consulate in Houston, with offices
in the World Trade Building, and has already taken up her
new duties.
The Argentine Consul is Augusto Juan Lertora and Secretary is Miss Margarita Roldfin V.
Mrs. Jim6nez has been in the foreign service since 1956,
wllen she joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Buenos
Aircs and was posted to New York as an attache with the
Argentine delegation
to the United Nations. She attended
elementary
and secondary school in Argentina,
and was
graduated from the Law School of the University of Buenos
Aires in 1954.
Mrs. Jim6nez was with the protocol office and in the office
of Eastern Europe after her return from the United Nations
mission in 1961, and came to Houston from the Buenos Aires
post.
Guatemala
AppointsNew
Honorary
ConsulHere
Angel Oswaldo Alxarado Monroy has been named the new
honorary consul of Guatemala and will have offices at 1505
Texas /tvenue. He arrived last month to take up his new
duties, replacing Mrs. Maria Consuelo Men6ndez de Prats.
The Port of Houston as a leading eotfee importer has a
strong and growing trade with Guatemala. especially through
the fast-growing port of Matias de Gfilvez on the Caribbean
Coast, with frequent steamship services.
This is Mr. Alvarado’s second assigmnent in the foreign
service as he previously served as Third Secretary of Embassy
OCTOBER,1965
Jacques
Dessoudres
FrenchEulturalAttache
Will Promote
Events
Jacques Dessoudres has been named cuhural attache at the
Consulate General of France with dnties to include making
contact with high school and college lew.’l students and teachers
interested in the French language and in French culture, and
the promotion of French cultural
events such as lectures.
exhibits and movies.
Dessoudres was born in Brest, received his secondary education at the Lye6e of Brest and did his advanced work at
the University of Rennes. He has taught in Great Britain. in
various lve6es in France and in Cairo. Egvpt.
He is on loan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the
Ministry of Education while on assignment as cultural attache.
Dessoudres" wife, Monique, also a teacher, and their t,v,,
children are to join him soon.
15
OURVISITORS
Hon. Salvador AcevesParra, third from
left, sub-secretaryof the Ministry of Public Health of Mexico and personal envoy
of president Adolfo Gustavo Diaz Ordaz,
visited the Port during his visit to Houston
to participate in the observance of the
neighboring republic’s IndependenceDay
September 16th. He is shown here
flanked by his son, Rafael, and daughter, Leticia Aceves de Celorio, next to
whomis Mrs. Aceves. At left and right
are Mr. and Mrs. Jos6 Garfias of Mexico
City. Mrs. Garfias is the sister of Hon.
Luis F. Orci, MexicanConsul in Houston.
\
\
Hideji Kawasaki, left, memberof the Houseof Representatives of Japan, wasan interested visitor to the Port of Houston
last month where he was shown about by Hideho Tanaka,
Japan’s Consul General in Houston. They are shown here on
the Observation Platform at the head of the Turning Basin.
John Hall, right, a partner in the Auckland, NewZealand
firm of food importers and distributors JamesCrisp & Co., recently madeuse of the World Trade Center’s office space and
library reference facilities while in Houstonseekinglocal products for his firm to import into NewZealand. With him in the
World Trade Center Library is EdwardJ. Fay, director of the
Center.
16
Miss Grace T. K. T’ao, center, wasin Houstonlast monthas
the personal goodwill envoy of the Talpei-Houston Sister City
Relationship Committee. She presented an embroidered neckpiece as a token of friendship and gratitude to Mrs. Alice R.
Pratt, left, regional director of the Institute of International Education and leader of the group that organized Houston’s side
of the Sister City Committee.ConsulGneral T. H. Chou,right,
accompaniedMiss T’ao for the presentation.
Dr. Guillermo MunozG., right, memberof Venezuela’s National Congressand a participant in the U.S. Foreign Leader
ExchangeProgramrecently spent a morning touring facilities at
the Port of Houstonwith his escort-interpreter, JohnB. Anderson
of the State Department. His visit in Houstonwas arranged by
the Institute of International Education.
PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE
PEOPLEmight call it the "luck
SOME
of the Irish," but nobodycan deny
that it takes good managementand large
quantities of business acumento build
a steamship service like Irish Shipping,
Ltd., has done in less than 25 years.
Irish Shipping vessels come to Houston to carry general cargo as well as
grain and bulk cargoes to Ireland. Hansen & Tidemann, Inc. act as U. S. General Agents for Irish Shipping Ltd.
Irish Shipping Ltd. was created by
tile demandsof a terrihle war, but has
grown and prospered through the following years of peacetime. Today Ireland is duly proud of its modern and
growing fleet lint it took World WarII
to makethe Irish realize the necessity
of having such an adequate merchant
tleet of their own.
Prior to the war, Ireland depended
ahnost entirely upon the ships of other
nations, mainly British. In September.
1939, the ships on the Irish Register
totaled only 41,105 gross registered tons
and all of these were small vessels, such
as colliers and coasters, which traded
across tile Irish Sea and to the nearer
Continental ports.
Livestock
fromIrelandis beingloaded
onboardthe IRISHPINEfor export.
LUCK
And Good Business Sense
Perilous Position
Ireland was, in fact, dependent upon
the good will and services of others--a
perilous position for an island nation endeavoring to remain neutral in the war.
The first six months of the war were
relatively quiet and the Irish government found it possible to charter neutral
shipping, although at very high rates.
At this point the British Government
suggested, and Ireland agreed to arrange
such charters through the charter office
of the British Ministry of Shipping.
However, the great German hreakthrough on the Western Front, followed
quickly by the fall of France, the isolatmn of Europe and the virtual siege of
Great Britain in mid-1942 changed the
entire picture. Britain, nowin imminent
danger of invasion and suffering heavy
shipping losses from air and sea attack,
found herself unable to maintain supplies to Ireland. The tonnage allocated
to Ireland dwindled rapidly and by the
end of the year was non-existent.
Monumental Task Assigned
Of
The
IRISH
OCTOBER,
1965
Furthermore, under United States
neutrality legislation, no Americanship
could enter Irish waters and the supply
of neutral ships vanished with the German occupation of many European nations. Ireland found herself completely
severed from the sources of supply and
her people in danger of mass unempolyment and hunger.
It was to remedythis desperate situation that the government in March.
1941, established Irish Shipping Ltd.i
17
Newsprintis being unloadedfrom the
IRISH OAKat Dublin.
P. H. Greer, chairmanof the board of
directorsof Irish Shipping,Ltd., is a wellknownindustrialist and managing
director of Unidare,Ltd., specializingin aluminumproducts.
comprised of a hoard of directors
of
senior executives from other Irish shipping companies, assisted hy a handful
of ministerial experts.
The chairman of the board was John
l,eydon of the Department of Supplies
and other members were T. J. Flynn of
the Department of Industry amt Commeree, James J. Stafford of the Wcxford
Steamship Company, Captain A. S. Gordon of the Saorstat
and Continental
Steamship Company, and Major T. D.
Hallinan of Grain Importers (Eire) Ltd.
The secretary was J. F. Dempsey, then
secretary of Aer Lingus Teoranta.
The company was given the task of
finding ships anywhere and in any condition and the way in which it acquired
its first vessel was in keeping with the
ofteu bizarre conditions of those vears.
The ship was a Greek tramp whicl~ had
been attacked by German aircraft
and
abandoned with a cargo of 5,000 tons
of grain. She was found and brought
into port by a group of enterprising
Spanish fishermen, purchased by Irish
Shipping Ltd., extensively
repaired,
manned by an Irish crew and re-named
the IRIS1[ POPLAR.
Other ~essels were obtained at home.
paradoxically enough, through the German ~.ictories
in the West and by the
Rnssian occupation of the Bahie States.
Many ships of various nationalities
had
sought refuge in Irish ports as their
countries were over-run in mid-1940 and
in tile course of lime some o[ these were
acquired by Irish Shipping Ltd.. either
hy purchase or on charter.
Altogether, fifteen ships ~wre acquired
by Irish Shipping Ltd. during the war
years and their former nationalities
ranged from Esthonian through American, Italian,
Swedish. Panamanian,
Jugoslav, Chilean, Palestinian. Finnish,
Greek to Danish.
It took all the resources of the Irish
Government’s influence and connections
to acquire these ships and to make them
fit for service was a near superhuman
effort. E~entually, however, the Irish
Shipping tteet was sailing the war-torn
seas, bringing home vital food and supplies from the Americas. Africa, and
Portugal, as the company fulfilled what
had once seemed ahnost an impossible
task.
Peacetime
Prosperity
The end of World War I1 ushered in
a new phase in Irish martime history
as it was now fully apparent that the nation must ha~e its own deep-sea merchant marine of a size sufficient
t,,
sustain the country raider emergency
conditious. The first step was to make
Irish Shipping Ltd. a permanent part
of the Irish maritime scene and to replace the ohsolete and ~ornout wartiuw
fleet.
Ahhough Irish Shipping is slateowned, it has never received a subsidy
nor are its xessels shown preference in
The IRISH MAPLEis steaming across
the Gulf toward Houston.
18
PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE
i~i!iii
i~ii!iiiiii
A heavylift from the United States is
being dischargedfrom the IRISH SPRUCE
at Dublin.
Irish ports. From the beginning, the
government insisted that the company be
run as a profitable
commercial undertaking and that tile shipping require.
ments of the country’s exporters could
best be served by the free operation of
private enterprise.
The trade in which the company’s
ships engage is ~aried and comprehensive, including a coasting coal trade with
the United Kingdom and the nearer
Continental ports, and the regular cargo
service between Irish ports and the
American East Coast and St. Lawrence
and Great Lakes ports. There is also
general tramping throughout the world
keeping many vessels
busy and some
ships are hired on time charter to United
Kingdom and foreign shipping companies. No concessionary, freight rates are
available
at any time and cargoes for
foreign and even Irish destinations are
secured at rates determined by international competition.
The company provides for future personnel with certain training programs.
It awards scholarships to send boys to
the Crawford Mnnicipal Technical lnstirule at Cork while they arc undergoing
their marine enginering training,
and
provides a deck apprentice program, interspersed
with periods ashore at the
Irish Nautical College, Dun Laoghaire,
which enables boys to qualify as deck
officers.
These programs have been in opera-
L. S. Furlong, generalmanager
of Irish
Shipping, Ltd., is also chairmanof the
Dublin Port and DocksBoard. He is also
on the board of Palgrave Murphy,Ltd.,
another shipping company¯
tion since 1943, and in addition the
company assisted the na~al service by
providing facilities for deep-sea training
voyages fur naval cadets.
sion beyond the present total strength
will take place when world trade conditions point to a good prospeet of extra
ships making a profit.
The ships of Irish Shipping Ltd. afMeeting
Demands
ford their crews conditions of employToday, the company has 18 modern
ment and comfort unknown to seamen
vessels of some 148,000 tons deadweight,
not so many years ago and have prooperating both at home and throughout
vided Ireland with a modern deep-sea
the world. Before adding to the overall
fleet which, while not competing with
size of thefleet, however, Irish Shipping other Irish shipping companies, gives
will complete its planned replacement of
steady and growing employment to hunsome existing ships.
dreds of Irish seamen.
Designed to meet modern commercial
It makes a significant contribution to
trends, the new vessels will be larger and the national economy and insures that
more economical to operate and will
the nation will have tile ships it needs
match the best from other maritime nain any fnture time of crisis. The steady
tions. Since tile Irish Shipping fleet is
growt]l of Irish Shipping Ltd. has been
operated on a strictly commercial basis.
a snccess story of which the people of
it nmst at least pay its way and cxpan- lrelaud have every right to be proud.
TheIRISH PLANE
is typical of the company’s modernfleet.
OCTOBER,1965
19
UNITEDSTEVEDORING
HAULING
IMPORT
- EXPORT
LONGHORN
TRANSFER
SERVICE, INC.
Division Of
StatesMarineLines, Inc.
CottonExchange
Bldg.
CA7-0687
CA7-3374
16 YearsServingthe Port of Houston
7112Avenue
C.
WA6-2661
PROVES "The floated
the two
FEDERAL
ton
towboats in the world!
¯ The M/V UNITEDSTATES--9,000 h,p.
FBL will get it there...
fill
ler~Ver it is going along the rivers-Economically~Efficlently--Dependably-
!
FEDERAL
BARGE
LINES,INC.
, MISSOURI
63111
EAST
NeWOrleans,
andFairfield, A|a.D
GeorgeF. Alleyne, an industrial reporter in shippingand transportationfor
the EveningNews,Port of Spain, Trinidad, visited the Port of Houston
recently
as a participant in the Foreign Leader
Program of the U. S. Department of
State. Underthe local sponsorshipof the
Institute of International Education,AIleyne met and talked with shipping
agents, labor union officials and news
reporters.
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PORTOF HOUSTONMAGAZINE