AT THE HEAD TABLE--Seated at the front are Jake R. Aston, chairmanof the World Trade Committee of the Chamber of Commerce; Mrs. Jerry P.Turner; Jerry P. Turner, new general manager of the Port of Houston;Mrs. Howard Tellepsen; Ben C. Belt, president of the Chamber of Corn-

merce, and A. G. McNeese, chairman of the Magazine Houston Committeeof the Chamber of Commerce. At the upper table are Mayor Oscar Hol-combe, Mrs. Bob Casey and A. V. Martinez, dean of the consular corps.

TWO PORT LEADERSa lol of fun out of it. That eatm~ai~*n wasa delightful thing for me to look backon. I think the result of the electionmeans a ne~ era for the Port of Hous-Ion.

"q’he importance of this campaignand the continued progress of our port,1 believe, can be summed up in a state-ment made by Lloyd Gregory, the di-reclor of public information for the portand my mentor during the campaign.He said: ’Long after we have depletedall of the oil and sulphur in this area,we will still have our No. 1 asset, thePort of Houston.’ And l believe he isright ’."

Jake Aslon. chairman of the WorldTrade Committee for the Chamber ofCommerce. ~as master of ceremoniesand he introduced Howard Tellepsen,chairman of the Port Commission, whoin turn inlrodueed Jerry Turner. Thene~ general manager for the port madea quick survey of lhe port’s past, presentand future a~ld concluded with a veryoptimistic outlook.

"Surely no area in the United States,,,r perhaps exen the world, faces such,in inspiring future as we here in Hous-

’,,’e this year of 1957." *Ir. Turner.’ ha~;e everything on our side -

industry, population, agri-rausportation.

¯ CONTINUED ON PAGE 50

BOOK, SPRING, 1957

MR. TELLEPSEN MR. TURNER

MR, ASTON MR. BELT

A

B

C

D

E

F

HOUSTON

EXAMPLES

H~4n -- Coordinates H and 4 north sideH-4s -- Coordinates H and 4~ south side

Ado Oil Co. O-17sAmerican Can Co. H-10n

American Chain & Cable Ce.~ Inc K-11s

Arkansas Fuet Oil Carp O-17’~

A~mour Fertilizer Works K-14s

Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Co. H-43n

Baash-Ross Tool Co. H-iOn

Baker Oil Tools, Inc .... K-11s

Bama Co., The H-10nBayou Barge Terminal & Whse. Inc. J-29nBest Fertihzer Co ..... O-16sBethlehem Steel Co. 1-12~

Big Three Welding Equipt. Co.~ inc, 1-11nBludworth Shipyards, Inc. N-fSs

Brown & Root, Inc. H-Bn

Brown & Root Marine Operators, inc. K-29n

Buffalo Whse~ Co. (M & M Bldg.) H~4n

Butler Chemico] Company a-?in

Byer’s Barge Terminal 1-27n

Celanese Corporation of America N-42s

Champion Paper & Fibre Co O-24sChannel Shipyard H-43n

Chicagq Bridge & Iron Co. H-11n

Chipman Chemicat Co., Inc, P-23s

City Wharves !Fannin St,IH-4s

Coastal Oil & Transp. Co.(leased to Humble Oil) O-21n

Coffield Warehouse Co~ I-anColumbia Lessors, Inc, H-6s

Commercial Barge Lines {Brady Ish) O-16sCommercial Iron Works K-11 s

Consolidated Chemical Industries, Inc. O-lbsContinental Can Co., Inc. K-11s

Continental Grain Co. (elevator) O-17sContinental Oil Co ...... N-18nContinental Springs Co ..... I-9sContinental Supply Co ..... J-lOsConverted Rice H-11 nCrown Central Petr. Corp. (refinery) . O-25sCulbertson, Syd E., Co., Inc. K-flsDeere, John, Plow Co ...... K-11s

Diamond Alkati Co. (Deer Park) N-39sDiamond Alkali Ca. (Greens Bayou) 1-30n

¢hanne~

channel

Dickson Gun Plant {Hughes Gun Co.I M-18n

Dixie Chemical Co. I-gs

Drumex, Inc~ M-22n

Du Pont, E~ I ~ de Nemours & Co. s-4qs

Eastern States Petr Co, (Plant iO-~6s

Eastern States PetL Co. (Plant 2) O-19s

Eddy Refining Company O-15s

Ethyl Corporation L-30sFederal Steel Products Corp. H-6s

Fire Boat Station (Manchester) O-17s

Flint, Howard, Ink Co. H-10n~:olger, J. A., & Co, K-1IsFord Motor Co. I-1 InGaylord Container Carp. K-1 IsGen. American Tank Strge. Terminals N-22nGen. American Tank Strge, Terminals N-25s

General Tire & Rubber Co- J=51nGenera] Warehouse Co~ H-4s

Goodyear Synthetic Rubber Corp. Q-18s

Grand Prize Brewing Co~ L-lOs

Gulf Ath Whse. Co. (Clinton plant~ O-20n

Gulf Atl. Whse. Co. (Long Reach Docks) L-’~SsGulf Atl, Whse. Co~ (TerminaI Plant) N-1Ss

Gulf Chemical Co. O-21nGulf Oil Corp. M-22n

Gulf Supply Co,, Inc~ H-11nHaden, W. D.. Co. [Marine Dept~ Shop) O-15sHaden, W. D~ Co~ (shipyard) P~Igs

Harrisburg Math. Co. (ship repaprs! O-1SsHartwell iron Works, Inc H-Ss

Hess Terminal Corporation L~26nHorton & Horton H-Sn

Horton & Horton {Material & Shipyard) M-26sHouston Barge Terminal J-lOsHoustonHoustonHoustonHoustonHoustonHoustonHoustonHoustonHouston

Blow Pipe & Sheet Metal Wks. O-15sCentral Whse. & Cold Strge. Co. I-TsCompressed Steel Co ....... 1-27nExport Crating & Constr. Co. K-14sLighting & Power Co. H-SsLighting & Power Co. O-23sMarine Service ........ O-15sMarine Ways, inc. O-16sPacking Co .......... I-7s

25 26

PARK m

i

Houston Paper Stock Co, H-6nHouston Shell & Concrete Co, H-6sHouston Term. Whse, & Cold Strge. Co H-4nHughe~ Toom Co. L=~OsHumble Oil & Refining Co. {storogei ./-1SnHumble Oi~ & Rfg Co. (storage) K-13~Humble Oil & Rfg. Co~ (refinery) M~S2nHumble Oil & Rfg. Co. iwhorves) N-SlnHumble Oil & Rfg. Co, V-S4s

Idea! Cement Co (Gull Divislon! N~]qn

Index Chem~co~ Cor~oanv J-29~

International Harvester C~ J-9s

Jackson, ~yron~ C~. K-! I sEarh~ M. Jorgensen Cr~ H-IOn

Lo Porte Yacht Basin, Inc V-S4s

Lavne & Bowle~ Co G-!3nLee Construction Co. L~14skiquilux Go~ Services, ~n~ P-17sL. K, Pump Valve Co. J-9~Lone Star Cement Carp O.17sLubrizol Corp. The P-3BsMagnolla Petroleum Co iieased

to Eastern States! O~t7SManchester Termlna~ Cc~rp. Iwharv~) Po20s

Marco Chemical Co. K-14s

Maritime Oil Co~ (Drummin(3 Plant! ~-f7s

Mayo Shell Corp~ O-20nMerchants and Mfgrs Bldg. H-4n

~erichem Co, Inc~ H-2BnMid-Continent Suppl~ Co, ~-11sMontgomery Ward & Co. H-6nMorris Sewail & Co.~ Inc H-bnMurray Rubber Co, 1~9sMyers-Spaffi Mfg. Co- H-6sNational Steel Products Co. 1-10nNationa~ Supply Co. K-11sNay. Dist. Manchester Wharves O-!7sNaY. Dist. Public Grain Elevator K-15nNay. Dist. Public Wharves J-f4n and K-14sNay. Dist. Raiiroad (Elevator Yard) K-15nNay. Dist. Railroad (Manchester Yard) P-| 8sNov, Dist.. Railroad (North Yard) H-13nNay. Dist Railroad (Pasadena Yard) O-26s

~1 ~ I I I

Newlin, J. L. Roy, I~Nyotex Chemicals, IncOil & Chem. Products,Olin Mathieso~ Chern,Pacific Molasses Co , IParker Bros & Co !rParker Bros. & Co.~ inParker Sros. & Co ~rPatrick Shipsld~ Wa~ePeder~ Iron & Ste~.i C~Paterson Const. C¢ !~Phillips Chemiro C~Piatzer ShipyardPo~I City Compr~,~ WPort Houston IrO~ Wk~Port Houston i~c~, WkPritchord Rice Milii~Reed Roller Bi~ CcRepublic Steei CarpRepublic Suppiy CoRheem Monutocturir~Riesnei~ B A, & S¢~Rohm & Haas CoSampson Machin~o~ &San Jacinto Batt!e~ro~San Jaclnto Chemica~San Jacinto OrdnanceShamrock Broadca~ti~!Sheffield Steei Corpor,Shell Builder C~,Shell Chemical CarpShell Oil Co, (refiner~Ship Channel Compr,

(Sprunt OockslS;nclair Refining CoPetro-Tex Chemicoi ~"

Smith, A. O, CoSmlth, A. 0., CSmith, Win. ’Southern B,.Southern Co,Southern PSouthern

3I

SCALE IN MY

36HOUSTON PORT BOO

32 33 34 " 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 601

P,T.R.A. i!:b,LEXANDER

ISLAND

EEPWATER

DEER PARK

Q

R

S~

W

SPENGER HIGHWAY

BOOK, SPRING, 1957 37

Second Mate Richard C. Lieban on board the M.V. Adabelle Lykes isplatting a weather map.

WEATHER

REPORT

By TED SUMERLIN

SEA-GOING weather observers helpmake it possible for a man in

Wichita, Kansas, to plan ahead on howmuch coal to order for the furnace.

And, likewise, weather stations acrossthe United States help make it possiblefor ships at sea to avoid storm areas.

These seemingly unrelated incidentsare the normal, daily results of a world-wide weather reporting network.

All ocean-going ships are equipped tomake weather observations. Usually thesecond mate is designated for this duty.The accuracy of the reports determinesthe accuracy of the forecasts which willbe taken into consideration when theship’s course is plotted. Knowing this,most ship captains make certain that theweather observer is not only a capableman, but one who is interested inweather phenomena.

Ships of all maritime nations makesimilar observations four times each dayand radio their reports to the nearestshore station. More than 800 Americanmerchant ships plus all Navy and CoastGuard ships participate in this network.

In addition to the surface weather re-ports, certain ships make two rad:sonde observations daily. For thishave gas-filled balloons that cart,"er instruments and a radio ’into the upper air. reac!

38 HOUSTON PORT BOG

Second Mate Lieban goes to the flying bridge

to check the cloud formations.

from .10,000 to 100,000 feet before theyburst.

The weather equipment and the radiotransmitter together weigh only twopounds. The device is carried aloft bya balloon which is five to six feet indiameter when inflated.

In the Gulf of Mexico these radio-sonde observations are made by paidemployees of the United States WeatherBureau who are stationed on board theS.S. Salinas, a tanker that runs fromTampa to Tampico; the S.S. Leader, allAlcoa ship that goes from Mobile toTrinidad and the M.V.A..4. Jakkula,Texas A. & M.’s oceanography explora-tion ship.

In the Caribbean and the Gulf, wherehurricanes are spawned, it is customaryto receive reports from 130 ships. Dur-ing the hurricane season, reports are re-quested from 65 additional ships as wellas erm~s on board off-shore oil drillingrigs.

Should any ship unexpectedly runinto an uncharted storm, the captain is

required by international law to makean immediate report on its location andthe intensity of the weather. When asuspicious or stormy area is beingwatched, the Weather Bureau requestshourly reports on the weather fromships in the area. This is supplementedby hurricane hunter planes which areespecially equipped to fly into the eyeof a storm.

When the daily observations are re-corded, the reports must be transmittedfrom the ship and reeeixed in the fore-casting headquarters within an hour be-cause that is the time set up for the

Riley Beard transmits the Adabelle Lykes’weather report to "Observer Washington."

ueather map to be drawn. The pertinentinformation is entered on the map anda forecast is made within a half hourafter the deadline. Immediately this in-formation is sent to the radio stationx~here the combined data is transmittedback to the ships at sea along with theofficial forecast.

Weather reports originating from the

~rometer is used by Mr. McKinnle to check the Adabelle Lykes’ barograph or recording

Atlantic Ocean, west of -;5 west longi-tude, the Gulf of Mexico and the Carib-bean Sea are addressed to "ObserverWashington." There are 18 radio sta-tions in the United States and others inPuerto Rico, Newfoundland and theCanal Zone which will take messages forthis destination.

In the Pacific Ocean. east of the 180thmeridian, messages are sent to "Ob-server San Francisco." There are nineWest Coast stations accepting these mes-sages plus other stations in Hawaii.Alaska and the Canal Zones.

When the reports are received by oneof the shore stations in the United States.the information is immediately tele-graphed to Washington. D. C. Shipsplying other waters radio their reportsto the nearest one of the 25 otherweather forecasting headquarters for in-clusion on their maps.

This rapid reporting and equally rapidforecasting has saved countless lives andships, not to menSon millions of dollarsof cargo that could have been damagedin rough seas.

Should anyone tune in on the radiofrequencies being used. the weather re-port would simply be groups of numbers

M. E. McKinni.e, Gulf weather project super-visor, checks the wet and dry bulb thermometers.

without meaning. When de-coded, thesenumbers would indicate such things aswind direction and velocity, the heightand type of clouds, air and water tem-perature, barometer reading and every-thing else needed to make a segment foran accurate weather map.

This gathering and disseminating ofweather information is a job for whichno thanks are given, nor even expected,but it is a job which is essential to thecontinued efficient operation of theworld’s merchant marines.

"~OOK, SPRING, 1957 39

Photo A--Crates containingunits of a skld-mounted refineryproduced through Tifco Inter-America Corporation are symbolicof the vast amount of cargoshipped to Venezuela through thePort of Houston.

Photo B--Centro Simon Bolivarhouses government offices. It isbuilt above superhighways, busterminal and a large parking area.

Photo C--Lake Maracaibo inWestern Venezuela covers one ofthe world’s richest oil basins.Creole Petroleum Corporationalone has more than 2,000 wellshere.

Photo D--Search for new oilreserves is never-ending. Here asurveying crew maps areas inEastern Venezuela.

SALUTEto a good customer

VENEZUELA

40 HOUSTON PORT BO("

MODERN is the wordThe 13-story library towers above

the modern Central University

in Caracas, which is symbolic ofthe unfettered thinking of

Venezuelans.

for VENEZUELA~rou DON’T HEAR much about slum-

bering giants these da.xs, unless youstill read fairv tales--or follow currentevents in Soutil America.

In most fairy tales, the giant youwill recall- -is an enormously strong fel-low with nothing better to do than eatsmall boys. The hero--a lad about 12-inadvertently wakes this sleepy dwmmoand all sorts of things happen.

There’s a real life version of thisdrama--with a twist- that has beenplaying in Latin America for 20 years.The slumbering giant, now wide awake.is the sturdy republic of Venezuela. oneof the Port of Houston’s best customers.The hero is foreign investment capital.The results of the awakening have beenphenomenally good--for Venezuela andthe entire free world.

Thanks to an enlightened governmentthat sees the advantages of developingits resources, the Venezuelan people aretaking giant steps into the future. Their

economy has, alnmst literally, leapt fromthe burro to the airplane. ’ Busy Vene-zuelans speed along super highways inAmerican automobiles, live in modernhomes, send their children to newschools, buy food and clothing in spot-less stores and staff well-equipped hos-pitals with Venezuelan trained doctors.

Blessed by nature with tremendous re-server, of petroleum I only the U. S. ex-ceeds Venezuela in oil outputl, theSouth American republic has only re-cently begun to appreciate her mvn po-tential. Whereas in 1920 her daily oilproduction was just 1.254 barrels, todayit is 2,800,000 barrels daih- a twothousandfold increase! Venezuela hasbecome the largest exporter of oil onearth. In a tense world ~here oil canshift the balance of power, this is ofinestimable import to free nations ex cry-where.

Largely responsible for this is foreigninvestment capital. The Creole Petroleum

Corporation, biggest oil producer inVenezuela. has invested over one billiondollars in developing Venezuelan oil.This year alone Creole will pay a quar-ter of’a billion dollars in taxes and royal-ties to the Venezuelan governmenttwhieh in turn will spend it largely onpublic works). Add to this the fact thatCreole draws 90 percent of its employeesfrom the Venezuelan population and youcan understand the impacl U. S. capital-ism is having on the Venezuelan econ-omv.

Beyond this, Venezuela is now ven-turing into the refining of oil which itproduces. Tifeo Inter-America Corpora-tion, a Houston firm that specializes inindustrial development projects forother nations, sold the refinery to the]nstituto Venezolana de Petro Quimica.The entire refinery was pro-fabricated inplants in the Houston area and assem-bled on skids.

D. R. Neighbor, president of Tifco,said this refinery operates on the latestprinciples. Being mounted on skids, therefinery can be assembled in Venezuelaquickly and accurately.

¯ CONTINUED ON PAGE 52

HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957 41

Sam D. W. Low, gen-eral chairman of theInternational Trade Fairin 1956, turns over thereins to W. H. Avery.

The Houston International Trade Fair, ~hich in three yearsestablished itself as an important ex enl in the Southwest busi-ness development picture, is planning its biggest fail" for 1957.Besides adding ne~. foreign trade exhibitors, tile scope of theshow is being expanded to include travel exhibits.

This year’s show will be held at the Shamrock HiltonHotel’s Hall of Exhibits from September 14 to 22. Prizesx alued at approximately $5,000 will be gixen a~av to visitorsand buyers who attend.

Heading up the 1957 Houston International Trade andTravel Fair is one of this area’s best known retail merchants,W. H. I Bill ) Avery, long-time manager of Grant’s. Sam D. W.Lo~v. attornev and chairman of the board of Tifco Inter-Amer-

ica Corporation, turned oxer the job of general chairman toMr. Avery. Mr. Loxr will continue as advisor.

Other officials of the fair include P. P. Butler, vice chair-man; J. R. Aston. adxisor; William L. Brewster, chairman ofthe Hall of Exhibits committee; Lloyd Gregory, chairman ofthe publieity committee, and F. T. Baldwin, chairman of thespeakers burean.

WELL WISHERS--At the first planning meeting for the 1957 HoustonInternational Trade and Travel Fair were, left to right, Marvin Hurley,executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce; Ben C. Belt, presi-dent; Mr. Avery, and J. R. Aston, chairman of the World Trade Committee.

42 HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957

:i~ ,

HE PORT OF HOUSTON imported enough green coffee in1956 to brew 12 billion cups of coffee--this is almost a

pound and a half for every man. woman and child in theUnited States.

These astronomical figures seem almost impossible, but wemust confess that Americans are great coffee drinkers. Thisbecomes more emphatic when you stop to realize that coffeeaccounts for 37.2 per cent of the Port of Houston’s total im-ports in dollar volume.

Nationally, coffee accounted for 11.5 per cent of all UnitedStates imports in dollar volume. By weight this totaled 2,810,-000,000 pounds.

The modern brewing of coffee must meet certain standardsto satisfy the average taste. First of all. it is necessary to startwith a clean coffee maker. The smart homemaker buys coffeeonly in quantities that she can use within a week becausefresh coffee has a more xigorous taste.

Coffee can best be kept hot by placing the pot in hot wateror over low heat. If you must keep surplus coffee standing,keep it in the refrigerator to retain the flavor.

When it is considered how important a part coffee playsin our daily life, it is interesting to go back a few centuriesand study its early history. Coffee was first used as a solidfood, later as a wine, then as a medicine, and finally as abeverage.

One of the most widely known and often repeated legendsabout coffee is that of an Arab goat herder, w-ho noted thathis goats, after eating the leaves and fruit of a certain wild

shrub, became more animated than usual. He experimentedto see what effect the fruit would have upon himself and waspleased with the results. He related his experiences to a monki~ a nearby monastery and the monk, in turn, ate the frnitand experienced the same peculiar effects of stimulation assubsequently did other members of the religious order.

Coffee soon crossed the boundaries of monasteries to be-come the drink of the common man. It is generally recognizedas having been first known in Ethiopia as it is a native plantof that country and grows wild there even today.

The coffee tree was transplanted to Arabia in the fourteenthcentury where the drink made from its fruit was received withgreat success. From Arabia it spread to Egypt, then to Turkeywhere in 1553 the first public coffee house was opened. In1714 the Dutch introduced the plant in Dutch Guiana which isthe earliest record of its arrival in the Western Hemisphere.Coffee finally made its way to Brazil and was first grown inthe northern part, near the mouth of the Amazon, in 1727.

Cultivation began in Jamaica in 1730; in Cuba, 1748; inGuatemala, 1750; in Costa Rica, 1779; in Venezuela, 1784;in Mexico, 1790 and in Colombia in the latter half of theeighteenth century.

More than a hundred different kinds of green coffee arebrought into the United States. They are divided into twogeneral groups, Brazils and Milds. Brazils are those coffeesgrown principally in the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo, MinasGerais, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia and Parana. Milds are con-sidered as coffees grown elsewhere.

Houston, one of the natural gateways for trade to and fromthe many coffee producing nations of Latin America, shouldnaturally play the role of importance that it has in the past,and should continue to serve the vast midwest area withgreater prominence each year.

HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957 43

Texas Butadiene & Chemical Corpol’ation’s

INDUSTRIAL GIANT OPENS

FUTURISTIC--This is the heart of the butadiene process where hot gasesare reacted over the catalyst in the drums on the right. The product is thencooled in the oil quenching towers on the left before it is sent to isolationand purification towers.

By LLOYD GREGORYInformation DirectorThe Port of Houston

,~NOTHEI{_ industrial giant for the Houston Ship Channel,,"-It area--Texas Butadiene & Chemical Corporation--wasformally opened May 21. The plant cost around $30,000,000.

The plant is located on a :ll0-acre site, two miles south ofHigh,~ay U. S. 90 on the San Jacinto River, about 15 milesnortheast of Houston.

Supplies and finished products now are being handled bvpipelines to the Hess Terminal on the channel, and by railwax:.However, long range plans include the possibility of installingbarge-loading facilities on the San Jaeinto River.

The plant is the first in the synthetic rubber industry to befinanced totally from private capital. Godfrey L. Cabot, Inc..of Boston, and Carl M. Loeb, Rhoades 8, Co., of New York.are principal stockholders.

Texas Butadiene is the first plant able to make butadieneand aviation gasoline directly from butane hydro-carbon, sothat what is not used up for hutadiene is used in makingaviation gasoline, with flexibility in the choice of the endproduct ratio. T.B.&C. is the onlv butadiene plant with thisbuilt-in versatility.

One of the highlights of the formal opening was a reception-buffet held at the Shamrock Hilton, and attended by morethan 700 guesk many from Boston and New York.

Officers are: E. L. Green, Jr., president and treasurer;K. D. Bowem vice president and general manager; L. W.Cabot, vice president; C. A. Stokes, vice president and tech-nical director; M. J. Millar& vice president; O. H. Havens,secretary; J. R. Kerbv. Jr., comptroller.

44 HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957

HOUSTON HOSPITALITY ISEXTENDED TO MINNESOTA

Houston was the Port of the Hour atthe Second Annual Minnesota WorldTrade Conference in late May whenmore than 250 delegates attended a Portof Houston social hour at the HotelLeamington in Minneapolis following theclosing session of the day-long gather-ing.

A portable exhibit featuring constantlymoving colored slides of port operationscenes was a central attraction in thePort of Houston room which was ap-propriately decorated with Houston andport banners and staffed by executivesof the port, the Houston Port Bureauand the Houston Chamber of Commerceto greet visitors and guests.

Vernon Bailey, director of port opera-tions, and Mrs. Bailey headed the Portof Houston group, accompanied byVaughn M. Bryant, director of inter-national relations for the Port andNicholas Patton, manager of the Hous-ton Port Bureau. Also attending for Hous-ton were Edward J. Fay, head of theworld trade department of the HoustonChamber of Commerce, and Charles A.Barrows, mid-western representative ofthe Houston Port Bureau in Kansas City,Mo., and his assistant, Hume Henderson.

The Minnesota conference was spon-sored by the Northwest World TradeClub of Minneapolis and the Interna-tional Trade Association of St. Paul,with the participation of major manu-facturers, shippers and importers fromall over the Northwest. Wilbur E. Elstonof the Minneapolis Star and Tribunewas honorary chairman of the confer-ence and Robert A. Slenes of the Mar-quette Manufacturing Company was gen-eral chairman.

The Port of Houston, which tradition-ally has served and continues to servethe great northwest market so effective-ly, was especially invited to participatein this year’s conference and was theonly port so participating.

Hume Henderson, Mid-Western Office of theHouston Port Bureau, Kansas City; N. HerbertOlson of D. W. Onan & Sons, Minneapolis, aconference general committee member; M. C.Kavanagh of Chicago, a conference delegate,and Josep Pereira, Jr., President of the Inter-national Trade Association of St. Paul and amember of the organizing committee of the con-ference. Mr. Perelra is with Brown & Bigelow inSt. Paul, Minn.

i :ii!iiiiil ~iii~~~ i~

Lawrence A. Doherty of the First NationalBank of Minneapolis and a member of the gen-eral committee of the conference; Nicholas Pat-ton, Manager of the Houston Port Bureau; MarcosIrizarry of the Minneapolis World Trading Com-pany and A. B. Sparboe, Director of Exports forPillsbury Mills in Minneapolis.

Ray C. Fisher of Ray C. Fisher & Co., Combi-nation Export Managers, Minneapolis, with Mrs.George Larsen, Jr.; Miss Beatrice Sandbo, andMr. George Larsen, Jr. Mr. Larsen is with theJudson Division of National Carloading Com-pany in Chicago and was a delegate at theMinnesota Conference.

Attending the Port of Houston social hour atthe Minnesota World Trade Conference May 22in the Leamington Hotel in Minneapolis werethe above delegation from the Hypro Engineer-ing Company, Inc., of Minneapolis. Left to right:Mrs. Richard Sanchez, Mr. and Mrs. Con LeTour-neau, Mr. Richard Sanchez and Mr. and Mrs.Bert Klietz.

Shipping men, all familiar with the Port ofHouston, who were in attendance included inthe front row: Granville Bush, Lykes Bros. Steam-ship Co., Inc., of the Kansas City office; NormanA. Betzer of the Chicago office of the Grancol-ombiana Line; Rodney J. Peterson of the Chicagooffice of the Mississippi Steamship Co. (DeltaLine), and E. A. Kuecken of the Kuecken Steam-ship Services, Inc., Chicago, and in the backrow: Jack Roger of Kuecken Steamship Services,Inc.; Patrick F. Murray of the United States LinesCompany, and Irvin Lloyd of Kuecken SteamshipServices.

Chatting in front of the Port of Houston port-able exhibit at the conference are Paul Lemieux,left, and Don K. Johnston, right, both of Min-neapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, andEugene H. Harrison, second from left, Vice-Consul{Commercial) for Great Britain in St. Paul, withVaughn M. Bryant, director of international re-lations for the Port of Houston.

Edward J. Fay, World Trade Dept., HoustonC. of C.; Mrs. Vernon Bailey, Robert A. Slenes,Second Annual Minnesota World Trade Confer-ence General Chairman and Vernon Bailey, Di-rector Port Operations, Houston.

Mrs. Vernon Bailey; Mrs. Robert A. Slenes,wife of Ger~eral Chairman of the conference;Charles A. Barrows, Mid-Western Representative,Houston Port Bureau, Kansas City, and Mr. andMrs. C. William Esther. {Mr. Escher is assistantcashier of the foreign banking department of theNorthwestern National Bank of Minneapolis anda member of the organizing committee of theconference.)

A group from the International Milling Com-pany in Minneapolis, all familiar with the Portof Houston, were pictured together at the Port’ssocial hour during the conference. Here are leftto right, front row: Frank Llora, Mrs. J. H. Val-dez, Mrs. D. M. Leners and D. M. Leners, andback row: Julio H. Valdez, Ken Seaman and EdLeners, all with the company’s export depart-ment.

HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957 45

SHIPS and SHIPPING "7

Emig Is ElectedBy Propeller Club

G. Harris Emig, who was for manyyears secretary of the Propeller Club,i)ort of Houston, took over the job ofpresident at the gala Maritime Dav din-ner-dance.

Fred J. Drew, who holds tile nationalrecord for recruiting new members tothe Propeller Club. was elected first vicepresident. Norman B. Avenell was elect-ed second vice president.

The new secretary for the club isEdward D. Vickery and Carl C. Thriftis the treasurer.

Elected to the Board of Governorsare O. C. Webster, Nicholas Patton,Hardin Ellis and John F. Mann.

Channel WideningIs How Approved

The Port of Houston’s Port Commis-sioners have approved a tentative platafor widening and deepening the ShipChannel.

A huge map was prel)ared by theUnited States Corps of Engineers whichindicated where the Ship Channel wouldbe widened and how nine curves will beeased to simplify navigation.

The Army Engineers estimated that

TO PRESIDE--Rear Admiral Thomas P. Wyn-koop, Jr., U.S.N. (R.et.), vice president of Com-mercial Marine Distribution, Radio Corporationof America, is national president of the PropellerClub and presiding officer at the national con-vention which will be held in Houston in Octo-be,’. Hundreds of leaders of the maritime indus-try are expected to attend the convention. JosephE. Davies, general chairman, is predicting thatthe Houston convention will be the best in thehistory of the club.

the project would require 216 acres ofadditional right of way. Of this, 117acres are now occupied by the San Ja-cinto Ordnance Depot. The remaining99 acres would cost the Navigation Dis-trict approximately $600,000.

Members of the Port Commissionstudied the detailed map which calls for

widening the Ship Channel to 100 feetfrom a point 5.000 feet above Baytownto Boggy Bayou, which is uell up thechannel. The deepening would extendfrom Bolivar Roads to Brady Island.

The deepening project would extendthe channel from its present authorizeddepth of 36 feet to 10 feet. Also in-eluded in the project would be a secondTurning Basin at Clinton Island.

Trade Center WillBe Erected Here

The Port of Houston will erect a five-story World Trade Center on top of thepresent two-story Port CommissionBuilding.

Port Commissioner W. N. Blanton hasbeen a leader in the effort to get aWorld Trade Center for Houston be-cause he believes it will be a great boonto foreign trade.

After other members of the Commis-sion studied the project they xotedunaninmuslv in favor of a motion sub-mitted bv Commissioner John G. Turnerto go ahead with the project.

Alfred Finn. one of the South’s bestknown architects, was commissioned toprepare the plans for the building. Con-struction will start as soon as practical.

PUERTO RICANS VISIT--Six Puerto Rican business leaders visited thePort of Houston on a trade development trip recently. Looking over oneof the island’s important exports are, left to right, Nicholas Patton, gen-eral manager of the Houston Port Bureau; County Judge Bob Casey; JerryTurner, general manager of the Port of Houston, and Juan A. Wirshing

of the Puerto Rican Rum Institute.

DISCUSSING BUSINESS--Norman Parkhurst, left, Puerto Rican indus-trialist and leader of the trade delegation, talks over business conditionswith Sam D. W. Low, attorney and chairman of the board of TifcoInter-America Corporation, a firm which is concerned with exportingproducts of several American manufacturers and the development offoreign industries.

46 HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957

Foreign Trade ForFirst Quarter Is45~o Over 1956

World trade leaders at the Port ofHouston were optimistic for 1957 whenthe resuhs of the first quarter were tabu-lated.

A staggering 45 per cent gain in for-eign trade x~as registered for the firstthree months of 1957 as compared tothe previous )+eat.

The first quarter saw a total of 15<902.011 tons of commerce move acrossthe docks at the Port of Houston. Thiscargo was ~alued at $1.021,271.786.

These are both all-time records for the

Port of Houston in any quarter.

Percentage-wise. the 1957 tonnage is50.6 per cent over 1951. 41.3 per cent

o~er 1955 and 3 ’, 1.8 per cent o\er 1956.

Ship movemenls in the first quarter

also set a record as a total of 2.133 ~xere

recorded. This ~as an increase of 15.1

Iwr cent over 1956.

ROTARY CLUB PRESENTS MURAL--F. M. Law, civic leader and Rotarian who led the campaign

for passage of the Port bond issue, is presenting a huge photo mural of the Port of Houston’s Turn-

ing Basin to Mayor Pro-Tern George Marquette. The king-siz.e mural, made by Photographer Dick

Pervin, occupies a place of honor in the lobby of the Houston International Airport building.

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HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 195747

J. R. MICHELS, Jr.OCEAN FREIGHT BROKER

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AERIAL LAUNCHING~Thls is the floating home for Dutch novelist and playwright Jan de-Hartog which was unload.ed from the deck of the S.S. Witmarsum into the waters of the Turning

Basin at the Port of Houston. The writer will make a tour of the Gulf and Atlantic seacoasts whilehe is writing his next book. He is best known for his Broadway hit, "The Four Poster."

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48. HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957

Former Port Director AllinWrites Book of Experiences

Benjamin Casey Allin, III, adven-turer and former director of the Port ofHouston, has written a biography thatis interesting and illuminating, particu-larly for those who are in the transpor-tation field.

Entitled "Reaching For The Sea," Mr.Allin’s memoirs were published at $3 bythe Meador Publishing Company, 324Newbury Street, Boston 15, Mass. Wehaven’t had a report from the publisher,but it seems assured that this book willoutsell Mr. Allin’s first book, a Visayan-English dictionary (Visayan being a dia-lect spoken in a part of the Philippines).

This biography takes Mr. Allin fromCebu Island where "stark white, themoon of the tropics hung like a blackdisc in the bluegray velvet sky" througha series of high adventures and severaltrips around the world.

The biography spans a third of a cen-tury when "the country wasjust awakening to a conscious-ness of the value of its oceangateways, and the need oftheir proper development, tothe present, when the country,by reason of restrictionsplaced on new routes of trans-portation, is putting a damperon further growth."

But it has not always beenthus. Mr. Allin was directorof the Port of Houston from1919 to 1931. Houston hadbecome a deepwater port onlyfour years earlier by havingdredged out a bayou to suffi-cient depth to handle oceanfreighters.

During his tenure at thePort of Houston he improvedeverything except Houston’sweather by having "laid outand constructed the terminalfacilities, including thewharves, railroads, grain ele-vators, fireboats, etc., and op-erated the port from the be-ginning of the operation untilit reached position of fifthport in the United States involume of tonnage handled."

After leaving Houston, Mr.Allin moved to Stockton, Cali-fornia, where he was port di-rector and chief engineer.There he had charge of con-struction as well as developingthe legislative requirements.

Mr. Allin then moved northto become consulting engi-neer, Port of the Dalles, Ore-gon, where he designed and

constructed terminal facilities before thecompletion of Bonneville Dam on theColumbia River.

One of the major problems encoun-tered by Mr. Allin was the reconstruc-tion of Port Bhavnagar, India, where40-foot tides required some unique en-gineering treatment.

Back in the United States, Mr. Allintook on the responsibility of preparinga master plan for the Port of Miami,Florida, and for the Miami airport.

Currently Mr. Allin is consulting en-gineer at San Francisco, which has beenhis job since being released from themilitary service in 1945. He is also con-sultant for the Port of Redwood City,California.

Mr. Allin has led an interesting lifeand he has made it possible through thisbook for others to enjoy his experiences.

BEN ALLIN

If your business isFLUIDtalk fo MAl~ITIMEMaritime, in Houston, specializesin the custom drumming and can-ning of fluid products to yourspecifications.The economic advantages ofpackaging your product near yourmarkets are obvious. By shippingto us in bulk you reduce shippingcosts, to say nothing of payrolland capital outlay.Maritime’s packaging facilitiesare modern and high-capacity;they include: storage, blending,canning, drumming, labeling,boxing, crating and warehousing.And there’s 30 years of fluidpackaging experience behindthem.Talk to Maritime. It is quite pos-sible that all or part of yourpackaging can be contracted foradvantageously.

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HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957 49

Port Leaders-¯ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35

"We have such a bright future be-cause there were men of vision a halfcentury ago who saw that Huuston wasdestined to be great, but only when ithad brought the Gulf of Mexico to itsdoor and built a deepwater port. Youcan look at the charts and see a star-tling similarity in the growth of Hous-ton’s population and the tonnage han-dled by the port.

"As the port provided deepwater andfacilities for shipping, an enlarged trans-portation network soon centered onHouston and as this transportation hubgrew by land, sea and air, industryestablished itself along the Ship Chan-

nel. Industry would not have otherwiselocated here except that we offered anoutlet to deepwater.

"As industry came, more people came,more industry came and increased trans-portation facilities followed. And thusthe magic circle was started."

A. G. McNeese, chairman of theHouston Magazine Committee of theChamber of Commerce, presented boundvolumes of the magazine to Mr. Tellep-sen, Mr. Law, Mr. Turner and Mr.Aston, all of whom participated in atape recorded interview session whichwas transcribed as a feature in themagazine. Robert L. Horlander, presi-dent of the Houston World Trade Asso-ciation, who was not present, was givenhis bound copy later.

New York, N. Y,Boston, Mass.Ft~|| River, Mass.Ptovidetlce, R. 1.Tiverton,Chicago, If|.

Marcus Hook,P~alsboro, N. J.B~yo~ne, N. J.

Elizabeth, N, J.Baltimore, Md

NEW PORT AIDE--Vincent Williams has beenappointed administrative assistant for the Portof Houston, replacing Jim Martin, who resigned.Mr. Williams has been vice consul in the Repub-lic of Honduras, British Guiana and Mexicali,Mexico. After leaving the government service,Mr. Williams went into the securities business.

Beach Elecfed ByCaftan Exchange

R. O. Beach, Jr., has been electedpresident of the Houston Board of Tradeand Cotton Exchange.

L. R. C. Towles is vice president andJ. W. Evans is treasurer.

Directors elected are: L. W. Hom-burg, H. T. Witherspoon, E. C. Leutsch,Jr., Hans Bohlmann, Raymond H. Gas-ton, J. M. Locke, Waldo Pauls, NathanRosenfield and Dave Bangard.

John Wall LykesDies In Florida

John Wall Lykes, one of the sevenbrothers who founded vast business op-erations in shipping, cattle and Floridacitrus, died May 19 in St. Joseph’s Hos-pital in Tampa, Fla. He would have been70 years of age on June 17.

Mr. Lykes was President of LykesBros., Inc., and Lykes Brothers Insur-ance Agency, and a Director of LykesBros. Steamship Co., Inc. A member ofone of Florida’s most prominent fam-ilies, Mr. Lykes died following a briefillness, having been at his office in theLykes Building in Tampa less than aweek earlier.

Only one of the original seven Lykesbrothers now survives. He is Joseph T.Lykes, Sr., Chairman of the Lykes or-ganization, who was in London, Eng-land, when his brother died.

50 HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957

The Economy m¯ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31

employed in operating the Port facilities.The total annual payroll attributable

directly to the Port is thus estimated atapproximately $500 million. The expen-diture of this sum gives rise to innumer-able businesses--large and small--serv-ice occupations and professional groupswhose incomes are therefore largely theindirect effect of the Port.

The influence of the Port is also re-flected strikingly in population growthin Metropolitan Houston and in the com-parison with its sister metropolitan areas--Dallas and San Antonio. Put in tab-ular form, the figures for a series ofyears beginning with 1915, the year thePort opened, are as follows:

(Jan. 1)1956 1930 1920 1915

Dallas 792,000 326,000 211,000 170,000San Antonio 581,000 292,000 202,000 160,000Houston 1,076,000 359,000 187,000 150,000

Thus the population of Dallas in 1956was about 41/2 times that of 1915; ofSan Antonio, 31/2 times; and Houston,7 times. Were Houston still an inlandcity, it is probable that the upward trendof population growth in Houston wouldhave continued at a slower rate thanthat of Dallas and San Antonio, and thepopulation ranking of ~the three citiessimilar to what it was in 1915.

Finally, it should be pointed out thatthe favorable freight rates resulting fromavailability of water transportation maybe expected to stimulate the establish-ment of end product industries for thepurpose of upgrading a growing propor-tion of the mass produced products ofthe chemical and allied industries nowbeing shipped to the north and east forfurther processing, compounding, fabri-cating or manufacturing.

Such industries may ultimately be ex-pected to supply at least local markets,and in some cases national markets, as,for example, the oil refining industryalready does, as well as markets in for-eign countries, especially Latin America.

Such a development would contributesubstantially to the maintenance of theannual rate of population increase (ap-proximately 4.5 percent) which has pre-vailed in metropolitan Houston since1940 and as a consequence would resultin more than doubling the present popu-lation by 1975.

In conclusion, we should again be re-minded that the construction of theHouston ship channel was conceived andconsummated at a stage of Houston’sgrowth when the economic horizon ofthis region was much narrower than itis today. The knowledge of Texas’ nat-ural resources was quite limited and theapplication of science and technology tothese resources was in its infancy.

HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957

Yet, in spite of these limitations, thisvast project was undertaken and com-pleted on the basis of known facts andprojections thereof. The results morethan justified the fondest hopes of thebuilders. During the entire epochal pe-riod since 1915, the Port has been adominant factor in promoting the econ-omy of this region both in its peacetimegrowth and in meeting the crises engen-dered by two World Wars. The HoustonPort has thus contributed greatly inshaping the Metropolitan Houston oftoday. To contribute proportionally tothe Houston of Tomorrow will requirea careful reappraisal of the adequacy ofthe channel itself as well as the neces-sary growth in port facilities which willbe required to implement this waterway.

Although our economic horizons havebeen broadened spectacularly by the ex-perience of the past 40 years and thisfact enables us to see quite clearly theprobable economic trends for some dis-tance into the future, yet there are manyaspects of the economic potentials ofthis region which will require the bestthought that can be given to the subjectby the leadership of this community aswell as by that of the State and the Na-tion. It will then be incumbent upon thisleadership to find practical means ofkeeping the public accurately informedupon issues which may be presentedfrom time to time for public action andwhich may have far reaching conse-quences upon their present welfare aswell as that of the generations to come.

OUR FIRST

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51

Venezuela Is a NationWith a Bright Future

¯ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41The Venezuelan government will pro-

duce all types of motor gasoline andheating oils as well as various by-prod-ucts, including asphalt. Crude oil fromthe Boscan and Tia Juana fields will bebrought in by tankers from Lake Mara-caibo.

The last of the major Components ofthe refinery were shipped in May fromthe Port of Houston, according to Mr.Neighbor. The refinery is expected tobe in operation next fall.

But oil is not Venezuela’s only asset.Long and energetic, intelligent, freedom-loving people (Simon Bolivar, "The Lib-erator," was born in Venezuela), theVenezuelans have taken to free enter-prise with gusto. With the oil companiesleading the way, Venezuelan industry ispaying salaries matched by few coun-tries in the world, In a period of lessthan 20 years, per capita income hasmore than doubled. More money meansmore desires to be fulfilled-+-and indus-trial and agricultural activities are mush-rooming as Venezuela joins the indus-trializcd nations of the world.

Consequently, a new middle class hasarisen--one that is growing swiftly,symbolized by the opening of new shopsand stores, by all the opportunities aris-ing for the sale of goods and services.

A low income tax has encouraged thefounding and expansion of thousands ofsmall businesses. Their proprietors earnenough and keep enough of their incometo live in pleasant suburbs, to patronizegood restaurants, to buy new cars andappliances---thus providing one of thebest markets for U. S. goods.

Today, the U. S. is selling about onebillion dollars worth of goods and serv-ices to Venezuela, making this neighborour best customer in South America and,on a per capita basis, our second bestcustomer in the entire world. It has beenestimated that 170,000 American work-ers are dependent for their jobs on ex-port sales to Venezuela, and surveyshave shown that more than 1,300 firmsin 750 U. S. towns and cities in forty-five states participate in this exporttrade.

In the last decade, Venezuela has

SUPERHIGHWAYS, which speed heavy Caracastraffic, are being extended throughout the coun-try. The government spends close to 30 per centof income on public works.

placed considerable emphasis on educa-tional opportunities for the people. En-rollment in the primary grades has morethan doubled, while high school attend-ance has tripled. For specialized train-ing, there are 50 industrial and tradeschools, while higher education is sup-plied by three federal and two privateuniversities.

Today the average Venezuelan is notonly better educated thax~ his father heis also healthier. A rising birth rate anddeclining mortality rate--plus a forward-looking immigration policy have broughtthe population up to a sturdy 6,000,000.More doctors and hospitals than everbefore keep the population strong. In-formation about balanced diets andproper nutrition has been disseminatedthrough radio and TV stations, news-papers, booklets and motion pictures. Ill-nesses caused by vitamin deficienciesare well on their way to total defeat.

The result is a vigorous, high.spiritedpeople who know their land is rich andtheir tomorrow bright. The awakenedgiant is looking to the future with con-fidence !

52 HOUSTON PORT BOOK, SPRING, 1957