volve many attendant circumstances. As will appear from the accompanying table the gross tonnage of American ships in the foreign trade from June 30, 1914, to June 30, 1921, increased eleven fold, and of this amount nearly 8,000,000 gross tons was owned by the United States Shipping Board, being built or acquired with the proceeds of taxation and the sale of Liberty bonds. But having this vast amount of shipping available and keeping it employed in 1921 were two different matters. Again, one has recourse to a comparison of statistics for the last year before the war dealing with the entries and clearances in foreign trade at American ports as it is only in that way can the great increase by 1921 be observed. Gross tonnage of United States documented shipping on June 30, 1914 and 1921: by American ships increased their proportion from 3 per cent to over 30 per cent or from 1,662,729 tons to 21,875,339 tons while trade carried under foreign flags declined from 48,280,091 to 44,705,463 tons. These figures, dealing as they do with the tonnage entered and cleared rather than with the volume of trade expressed in the money value of exports and imports, subject of course to shifting standards of value, were believed to supply a better criticism of the development of American shipping under the conditions brought about by the World War. The growth in American tonnage already referred to was one form of the answer of the United States to the destruction of shipping by German submarines, and followed the appropriation of over $3,000,000,000 by the American Congress. In 1921 these appropriations were virtually exhausted and on June 30, 1921, there remained to be completed only 25 steamships of 214,638 tons of the Shipping Board's building programme and later in the year a number of these were finished (see SHIPBUILDING). (See table, page 656.) In If the shipping of the United State increased during the war it is only fair to consider what happened to that of other nations, and for purpose of further reference the figures of 1907 are also given. These 14 years marked the gradual disappearance of sailing craft and the increase of steel steamships especially in larger units. 1907 the United States had less than 10 per cent of the world's steel steam tonnage, in 1914 still less than 10 per cent, while in 1921 it had 26 per cent of the world's steel tonnage and 27 per cent of the world total tonnage which is an amount adequate to handle not only 50 per cent of the American The foreign trade of the United States naturally divides into that with foreign ports of North and Central America and the West Indies and other islands, and that with Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, the islands of the Pacific and South America. In both of these fields the great gains were apparent not only in the total amount of trade and that done in American vessels. However, a word or two of explanation is in order. Ninetenths of the increase in the American trade with North America during the period under consideration was due to the importation of oil in tank ships from Mexico which increased from 737,000,000 gallons in 1914 to 5,606,000,000 gallons and the clearance of about 6,000,000 net tons of shipping in ballast, almost all American, from United States ports to Mexico. Considering also the overseas trade, it will appear that in the interval from 1914 to 1923 the proportion carried In THE UNITED STATES SHIPPING BOARD. connection with the expansion of its merchant marine the people of the United States had a brief but expensive experience in government ownership and operation of ocean steamships. This led to the abandonment of this policy which had a trial on a scale never before attempted or even conceived. Naturally much of this development came after the armistice as will appear from the accompanying table. On Dec. 1, 1918, the date available nearest to the armistice, the Shipping Board fleet comprised 541 ships of 2,037,584 gross tons. Of these, nearly half, 229 of 926,061 gross tons, were ships which had been ordered by shipowners before the United States entered the war and were requisitioned, and 50 of 174,114 gross tons in addition were bought from private owners; 47 of 230,778 gross tons were seized German steamers. The fleet ordered and completed by the Shipping Board to that date consisted of 125 steel ships of 461,075 gross tons and 90 wooden ships of 245,556 gross tons. Its growth to July 1, 1921, is indicated in the table. The number and gross tonnage of U. S. shipping Board and other branches of American Shipping at the beginning of each fiscal year indicated: July 1 .15,930,368 1,070,771 18,892,089 1,631,617 16,345,000 18,111,000 1,863,000 2,032,000 2,268,553 1,542,177 2,026,908 9,773,000 12,406,000 13,583,240 1,618,718 2,260,441 2,160,000 2,119,000 2,163,144 677,221 191,597 1,052,346 341,025 731,000 306,000 410,000 546,641 The year 1921 witnessed along with an increase in tonnage due to new construction a rapid fall in ship values and a steady decline in ocean freight rates. In 1914 a new cargo steamer it was said could have been purchased for $35 a deadweight ton; in May, 1919, $27 a ton was paid for a new 9250 deadweight ton ship figured with exchange at $3.75 a pound, while in 1921 a new steamer of 5000 tons was sold in July for $24 a ton, and a larger one, five years old, was sold in September for $11 a ton. One of the best German built ships turned over to the British government was During the year 1921 a new Shipping Board was formed under the chairmanship of Albert D. Lasker and an early act of the Board was to turn over the operation of ships to the Emergency Fleet Corporation. This organization was reorganized with directors who were experienced in the shipping business and to them were paid high salaries. The corporation straightway sought to put into effect policies of efficiency and economy, and aimed to develop the larger aspect of the situation by establishing broad principles of operation and enforcing more completely the Shipping Act of 1916 and the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, parts of which had never been carried into practice. The Emergency Fleet Corporation not only was seeking a fundamental basis of operation, but it reduced to a minimum the number of companies operating from the same port and withdrew from active operation ships that were incurring large losses. In fact it was stated that at the end of the year only about 300 of the 1500 government-owned steel steamers were in active service. bought back by the German line for which it was originally built for $28 a gross ton. At the end of the year the New York-London service of the U. S. Lines, the Shipping Board's transatlantic passenger fleet, was about to be augmented by the addition of three steamers. The vessels to be added were the Peninsula State and the Lone Star State, and the Old North State, previously operated by the line, but later returned. All of these ships were among the most modern vessels of American construction. The Peninsula State and the Lone Star State being of the 535foot class, of which twenty-three were ordered by the Shipping Board during the war emergency. They were designed to carry approximately 200 cabin and 300 third-class passengers and were equipped with every modern improvement for comfort and speed. The Lone Star State was given a successful trial trip shortly before Christmas and was delivered to the Shipping Board on December 31. There was a serious decline in freight rates during the year and berth rates fell off sharply. Thus the berth rate on grain from North Atlantic ports to the United Kindgom fell from 10 shillings a quarter in January to 7 in July, 5 in October, and 4 in December, while the rate on compressed cotton declined from 90 cents per 100 pounds in January to 25 cents by December. Rates on general cargo were better maintained as a result of a liner conference, and the rate of $1.00 per 100 lbs. from New York to Liverpool of January only fell to 75 cents by December. Charter rates as for coal from Hampton Roads to Italy ranged from $6.50 a ton in January to $4.25 in December, while rates to French Atlantic ports ranged from $5 to $4.50. Mention already has been made of the increased amount of commerce carried on by ships under the American flag in 1921. This was particularly true in the case of import and export trade to the Orient, Australia, India, and Africa. During the first ten months of 1921, the United States exported 2,231,932 long tons of commodities to the Orient, including in this region China, Japan, and the Philippines, and imported 531,754 tons from it. The relative share of this trade carried by American and foreign ships expressed in percentages is shown in the following table for our Atlantic Coast, Gulf Coast, and Pacific Coast, traffic, respectively: Imports Exports Grand Grand Imports Exports total 30 70 100 38 37 Atlantic American. Foreign. Gulf American. Foreign. Pacific- 50 45 The receipts and shipments at the Pacific Coast accounted for practically half of the American foreign trade with the Orient, and on this trade route American ships carried 50 per cent of the imports, 56 per cent of the exports, and 55 per cent of the total trade. This activity declined in the later months of the year as, while American ships carried 72 per cent of the cargo in January it was but 42 per cent in September and October. On the other hand, the performance of American ships in the Orient-Atlantic Coast trade, showed improvement after May. In October they carried 52 per cent of the traffic, and for the ten months as a whole 38 per cent. Imports and exports for this region amounted to 728,091 long tons, of which 516,897 tons were exports from the Atlantic Coast. On this trade route American ships carried 20 per cent of the cargo moving during the first ten months of 1921. NEW SHIPPING COMPANIES. The aggregate indicated investment in shipping companies of various descriptions formed during 1921 was $60,190,000. The total for the year compared with $585,400,000 recorded for 1920 and reflected very strongly the slump which had affected the shipbuilding and shipping industries as a result of the worldwide business depression. See SHIP BUILDING. SHIPWRECKS. See SAFETY AT SEA. SHOES, SHOE INDUSTRY. See BooTS AND SHOES. SHOOTING. Nicholas Arie of Kingman, Ariz., the national amateur championship at the Grand American Handicap Tournament held at the South Shore Country Club, Chicago, in August. The Amateur doubles title went to R. A. King of Delta, Colo., after a double shoot-off with Samuel S. Sharman of Salt Lake City, Utah. Fred S. Tomlin of Glassboro, N. J., captured the professional contest at 18 yards, while Arthur Killam of St. Louis, Mo., won the national singles professional championship. The women's singles resulted in a victory for Mrs. Grand Toots Randall of New York City. 4993 and France third with 4609. The individual were: Ordinary revenue, $26,825,000; ordinary honors fell to Walter R. Stokes, a civilian con- expenditure, $30,388,147. See preceding YEAR testant from Washington, D. C. Book. SHREWSBURY, EARL OF. CHARLES HENRY JOHN CHETWYNDY-TALBOT, EARL OF SHREWSBURY AND EARL OF WATERFORD. British peer, died, May 17. He was known in England as the first person to introduce hansom-cabs fitted with noiseless tires in London and Paris. He was born in London, Nov. 13, 1860, and educated at Eton. SIAM. A monarchy of southeastern Asia between 6° and 20° S. latitude and 97° and 106° E. longitude; about 1200 miles long from north to south and 480 miles broad. Capital, Bangkok. AREA AND POPULATION. Area, about 195,000 square miles; population (1915-16), 8,819,686; estimated (1918-19) 8,924,000. Population of Bangkok was estimated at 628,675, of whom 200,000 were Chinese; population of the island of Puket, about 179,600. PRODUCTION. The chief product is rice. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 1920, the export of rice amounted to 441,039; valued at £10,911,586. Other products are: Cotton, tobacco, peas, corn, sesame, hides, pepper, salt, dried fish, gamboge, and there is a large variety of fruits. Mineral resources are extensive and include: Coal, iron, zinc, tin, tungsten, wolfram, antimony, and manganese. There is a considerable exploitation of tin on the island of Puket. Great improvement in economic conditions was indicated in 1921. This was shown in the return of the rice crops to normal production after two years of failure. In 1919 the rice situation had been so serious that it was necessary to place an embargo on the export of rice and this embargo was not lifted until Jan. 1, 1921. COMMERCE. The following information was supplied by the United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce: Never before did the trade of Siam show such an adverse balance as that indicated by the trade figures for the calendar year 1920. The aggregate value of all imports from foreign countries amounted to 142,249,301 ticals ($52,760,266), while the totals for the exports reached only 54,609,101 ticals ($20,254,516), giving a negative trade balance of 87,640,200 ticals ($32,505,750). This unsatisfactory position was entirely due to the failure of the rice crop for the season of 1919-20 and the subsequent prohibition of its export to foreign countries. The serious results caused by this failure may be judged by the fact that the chief agricultural product of the kingdom is rice and its export forms the main source of wealth to the country, and, in addition, it is the national food. The proportion of the rice exports to all other exports from the kingdom to foreign countries was 100,000,000 ticals worth of rice to 17,000,000 ticals worth of all other exports in 1913, 86,000,000 to 17,000,000 in 1915, 96,000,000 to 20,000,000 in 1916, 103,000,000 to 25,000,000 in 1917, 88,000,000 to 29,000,000 in 1918, 189,000,000 to 45,000,000 in 1919, and 6,000,000 to 48,000,000 in 1920. COMMUNICATIONS AND FINANCE. Vessels cleared at the Port of Bangkok in 1919-20 numbered 639 of 581,230 tons. The state railways, March 31, 1919, were given at 2376 kilometres (1 kilometre equals 0.621 mile), of which 2215 kilometres were open for traffic. The budget estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1921, GOVERNMENT. Executive power is vested in the king (nominally hereditary) who acts by the advice of a cabinet, made up of the heads of the departments, many of whom have been members of the royal family. There is a legislative council of 40 members, appointed by the crown, including not fewer than 12 ministers of state, but royal assent to legislation is required. The administration is divided into 18 provinces or monthons, of which 17 are each under a lord-lieutenant whose authority is directly derived from the king, and one is a district under the ministry of local government. Formerly the tributary districts were under local chiefs, but the administration has been increasingly centralized. King in 1921, Rama VI, crowned, Dec. 2, 1911. In 1904 about 7800 square miles of Siamese territory passed under the control of France, and in 1907 boundary arrangements were agreed upon by which the French territory of Cambodia gained about 7000 square miles. France also acquired the four ports on the Mekong river to be held on a perpetual lease. Attempts to introduce western civilization have been made during recent years through the assistance of an adviser in foreign affairs (of American nationality); a judicial adviser (British); a legislative adviser (French); and legal advisers of other nationalities. There is also a British financial adviser and many British and European officers in the various departments. SIBERIA. The northern Asiatic part of Russia. Area, 4,831,882 square miles; population, estimated, Jan. 1, 1915, at 10,377,900, giving a density of 2 per square mile (later estimates placed it at 10,510,200). Chief cities: Irkutsk (population, 129,700); Tomsk (116,664); and Vladivostok (91,464). Nearly 70 per cent of the inhabitants are settled in the agricultural regions of western Siberia. The Great Trans-Siberian Railway, begun in 1891, establishes communication between western Europe and the Pacific coast. According to estimates in 1915 about 75 per cent of the inhabitants were white. After 1918 the Japanese troops occupied portions of the country, having entered it in August of that year especially for the purpose of providing for the evacuation of the Czecho-Slovak forces and opposing the Bolshevist danger. It was understood that this occupation was merely temporary and Japanese officials repeatedly implied that the forces would soon be withdrawn. Nevertheless these troops were still on the ground during the whole of 1921, and the Japanese authorities did not fix the date of their withdrawal, though continuing to promise to withdraw. The United States government protested in May against the Japanese occupation, saying that Japan was avoiding the "scrupulous fulfillment of the assurances given to the Russian people." Japan's attitude implied that it was determined to be the sole judge as to the proper time to withdraw. The subject was under discussion at the time of the Disarmament Conference, in connection with the demand of the Far Eastern Republic (Chita) for recognition. See RUSSIA and WAR OF THE NATIONS. SIERRA LEONE. A British colony and protectorate on the west coast of Africa with Liberia on the east and French Guinea on the north, including the peninsula which terminates in the cape of the same name and constitutes Sierra Leone proper. Area, about 4000 square miles; population (1911), 75,572, of whom 702 were whites. The chief town, Freetown, had a population (1911) of 34,090. In addition to the colony there is a protectorate, proclaimed August 21, 1896, and administered under provisions of March 7, 1913, with an area of 27,000 square miles; and a population (1911) of 1,327,560. Chief imports of the colony in 1919 were: Cotton manufactures, coal, tobacco, spirits, and kerosene; and chief exports were: Palm kernels and palm oil, kolo nuts, and ginger. No later statistics for trade and finance were available than those given in the last YEAR BOOK. The tonnage of vessels, entered and cleared, in the foreign trade in 1919 was 2,016,699, of which 1,953,760 were British. The government railway, open from Freetown to Pendembu near the Liberian border was 2271⁄2 miles in length and further extension was projected. Governor at the beginning of 1921, R. J. Wilkinson. SIFTON, ARTHUR LEWIS. See NECROLOGY. SILESIA. The name of a former division of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and also of a province of Prussia. The former was a crownland of Austria, with an area of 1988 square miles and a population, Dec. 31, 1910, of 756,949. After the late war it became a part of the new republic of Czecho-Slovakia (q. v.). The Prussian province of Silesia was the largest division of Prussia, with an area of 15,573 square miles and population (1910) of 5,225,962. After the war Upper Silesia was made the subject of a plebiscite, and the decision was rendered in 1921 (see UPPER SILESIA and POLAND). Measures were being taken under the award of the League of Nations for determining the frontier. In 1920 the area of Lower Silesia in Prussia was given at 10,270 square miles, and of Upper Silesia, at 4998 square miles, and the populations were given in 1919 at 2,987,904 for Lower Silesia, and 2,283,992 for Upper Silesia. See also the articles on WAR OF THE NATIONS in this and preceding YEAR BOOKS. SILK. The silk industry in 1921 suffered from a number of circumstances peculiar to itself as well as due to the general commercial situation. Reference to the accompanying table of raw silk production will show that the 1920-21 crop was the lowest in a number of years, and that while Europe, especially France and Italy, were returning to normal production, elsewhere in the world there was a marked decline. As also shown in the table over 50 per cent of the raw silk of the world's commerce was produced in Japan, and the condition of the industry there certainly was serious in the latter half of 1920 and 1921. In September, 1920, in view of the rapid decline taking place in values, the average price in July was more than 60 per cent below the quotation for January, the government established a syndicate, the Teikoku Sanshi Kaisha, to support the market by a pegged price at which surplus stocks were supposed to be taken. Furthermore in November of 1920 the filatures, or establishments for reeling the silk from the cocoons, were shut down. An arbitrary price of 1500 yen or about $6.00 for Sinshiu was fixed and maintained and under such conditions the year 1921 opened. Up to February 15 the syndicate was able to take about 30,000 bales at a time when there were about 75,000 bales in the market, but with financial assistance and with the With the price of raw silk mounting towards the end of the year the consumers and particularly the manufacturers were forced to face a serious readjustment, and when raw silk reached $8.00 a pound there was a question as to how far the buying public would go in the increased prices bound to result. Accordingly with the American public educated to the increased use of silk the manufacturer had to consider most carefully the matter of prices. In 1921 there was a greater demand for and production of silk hosiery and underwear, while there was poor business in broad silk. During the year the most popular dress fabric of silk was Canton Crepe which enjoyed greater favor than georgette. This was being made not only in popular shades of black, navy blue, brown and gray but with Jacquard patterns. In 1921 there was considerable activity in ribbons, in fact the best year ever experienced in this field as not only was there an active demand for the first half of the year but many new uses for ribbons were found. ARTIFICIAL SILK. The production of artificial silk in the United States in 1921 was estimated at about 20,000,000 lbs., which output was twice that produced in 1920, and may be compared with a total world production of 26,000,000 lbs. in 1914. About 18,000,000 pounds of the 1921 American production came from a single company which put a new plant into operation at Lewistown, Pa., and made plans for doubling the capacity of its older plant at Roanoke, Va. Furthermore this company, the Viscise Co., had acquired a portion of the former U. S. government powder town of Nitro, W. Va., comprising 52 acres and 3 pulp mills, and here it proposed to make its pulp from cotton linters. Another concern, the du Pont Fibersilk Co., began production at its Buffalo plant in July, these works having a capacity of 1,500,000 pounds a year. At Hopewell, Va., the Tubize Artificial Silk Co. of America began to operate in June, 1921, and the product for this second half of the year amounted to over 800,000 pounds. This plant which had a capacity in 1921 of 8000 lbs. a day was to be so developed that it would turn out eventually 30,000 lbs. a day if required. This plant used the Cliardonnet, or nitrocellulose, process as employed by the original Tubize Co. in Belgium where some Americans were trained in order to work as instructors in the new plant. This in 1921 employed about 1500 operators. Still another new company was the Industrial Fibre Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, which towards the |