General Summary.
The total number of vessels on the registry books of the Dominion on December 31st, 1896, was 7,279, with a gross tonnage of 789,299 tons. Of that number 1,762 were steamboats, with a gross tonnage of 251,176 tons.[72] The steam tonnage of the Dominion is divided about as follows: Ontario, 41.1 per cent.; Quebec, 32.3 per cent.; British Columbia, 10 per cent.; Nova Scotia, 7.9 per cent.; New Brunswick, 3.8 per cent.; Manitoba, 2.6 per cent.; Prince Edward Island 2 per cent.
The total number of steamers registered and enrolled in the United States in 1896 (including steam yachts, barges, etc.), was 6,595 vessels, with a tonnage of 2,307,208 gross tons.[73]
The total number of steam vessels in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, over 100 tons gross, recorded in Lloyds Register for 1896-97, was 6,508; their gross tonnage was 9,968,573 and their net tonnage, 6,143,282. Including the British Colonies, the number of steam vessels is 7,373 and their gross tonnage, 10,508,443 tons.[74] Of these only about 420 are built of wood, 3,883 are built of iron and the rest of steel.