OF THE UNIVERSITY OF D*4 &ff" WHARF MANAGEMENT STEVEDORING AND STORAGE SHIPPING SERIES TRAINING FOR THE STEAM SH.TP BUSINESS EDITORS: EMORY R. JOHNSON PH.D., Sc.D. Dean of the Wharton School of Finance and Com- merce, University of Pennsylvania. ROY S. MACELWEE, PH.D. Director of the U. S. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. 1. Ocean Steamship Traffic Management. BY G. G. HUEBNER, PH.D. Training in the responsibilities of the broker, the freight agent and other traffic agencies, and in the forms used in the shipping business. 2. Marine Insurance. BY S. S. HUEBNER, PH.D. Training in the important responsibilities of the marine insurance agent and broker. 3. The Law of the Sea. BY' GEORGE L. CANFIELD, LL.B., AND GEORGE W. DALZELL. Legal relations, rights, duties, and obligations of ship- pers, steamship owners, operators, masters, and sea- men; the legal relations of the ship from construction contract to sale as salvage. 4. Merchant Vessels. BY ROBERT RIEGEL, PH.D. Their types, uses, tonnage, measurements, and con- struction ; some things the steamship man ashore should know about ships. 5. Wharf Management and Stevedoring and Storage. BY R. S. MACLWEE, PH.D., AND THOMAS R. TAYLOR, A.M. Duties of the pier superintendent, receiving clerks, tally men, and stevedore foreman. Includes wharf layout and construction, cargo-handling machinery, port charges and dues, stevedoring, longshoremen, labor problems, etc. 6. Steamship Operation. (Projected.) T-230D WHARF MANAGEMENT STEVEDORING AND STORAGE BY ROY s. MACELWEE DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF FOREIGN SERVICE, GEORGE- TOWN UNIVERSITY; FORMERLY DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF. FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE AND THOMAS R. TAYLOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMLUCli ILLUSTRATED D. APPLETON AND COMPANY NEW YORK LONDON 1921 COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 06 V PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERtr* TO THE HON. JOSHUA W. ALEXANDER sometime Secretary of Commerce of the United States and Chairman of the Com- mittee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries of the House of Representatives, in appre- ciation of his contribution to the upbuilding of American foreign trade, shipping, and safety at sea, and the friendship and cour- tesy shown to the authors while serving under him in the Department of Commerce and as his representatives to the conference for relief of congestion at the Port of Havana, Cuba, THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED M589760 EDITORS' PREFACE THIS is the fifth volume of a series dealing with the business of ocean shipping and transportation. The first volume, Ocean Steam- ship Traffic Management, by Professor G. G. Huebner, bore the following Editors' Preface: "This volume upon the management of ocean steamship traffic is the first of a series of manuals designed to assist young men in training for the shipping business. The necessity for such a series of manuals became evident when, as a result of the Great War, the tonnage of vessels und^r the American Flag was, within a brief period, increased many told. To carry on the war, and to meet the demands of ocean commerce after the war, the United States Gov- ernment, through the Shipping Board and private shipyards, brought into existence a large mercantile marine. If these ships are to con- tinue in profitable operation under the American Flag, the people of the United States must be trained to operate them. Steamship companies, ship brokers, and freight forwarders must all be able to secure men necessary to carry on the commercial and shipping activities that make use of the ships. A successful merchant marine requires ships, men to man the ships, and business organization to give employment to the vessels. "In its Bulletin upon 'Vocational Education for Foreign Trade and Shipping' (since republished as 'Training for Foreign Trade/ Miscellaneous Series No. 97, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Com- merce, for sale by the Superintendent of Documents), the Federal Board for Vocational Education includes among other courses sug- gested for foreign trade training two shipping courses upon subjects with which exporters should be familiar, namely, 'Principles of Ocean Transportation' and 'Ports and Terminals.' Although such general courses are helpful to the person engaging in the exporting business, a training for the steamship business as a profession re- quires much greater detail in the knowledge of concrete facts of a routine nature. An analysis was made of the various divisions of the steamship office organization and it was suggested to the United States Shipping Board that as no literature existed of sufficient vn viii EDITORS' PREFACE practicability and detail, several manuals covering the principal features of shore operations should be written. "The response of the Shipping Board was hearty. The Board appointed Mr. Emory R. Johnson of its staff, then conducting an investigation of ocean rates and terminal charges, as editor. The Federal Board for Vocational Education designated Mr. R. S. MacElwee, then engaged in the preparation of studies in foreign commerce. Before the project was completed Mr. Johnson severed his connection with the Shipping Board in 1919, and in January, 1919, Mr. MacElwee became Assistant Director of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce. The interest of the editors in the project did not terminate, however, and their close cooperation has been voluntarily continued out of con- viction that the works will be helpful. "The books have been written with a view to their being read by individual students conducting their studies without guidance, also with the expectation that they will be used as class text-books. Doubtless colleges, technical institutes, and high schools having courses in foreign trade, shipping business, and ocean transportation will desire to use these volumes as class texts in a manner outlined in the 'Training for the Steamship Business,' by R. S. MacElwee, Miscellaneous Series 98, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. It is expected that evening classes and part-time schools organized under the patronage of the Federal Board of Vocational Education, Chambers of Commerce, and other interested organizations will find the manuals useful. Should these volumes accomplish the desired purpose of giving the American people a somewhat greater proficiency in the business of operating ships, they will have proved successful." This volume upon Wharf Management, Stevedoring, and Storage is the first of its kind to be published. It deals comprehensively with the part of the shipping business that has not received adequate consideration in the past. The book shows that large economies can be brought about by the more expeditious and economical handling of freight at terminals and by the subsequent quicker turn-about of vessels. The book should be of value, not only to those having direct charge of wharf administration, stevedoring, and other terminal operations, but also to others who are desirous of knowing how the ocean commerce of the United States can be handled more economically. J THE EDITORS AUTHORS' PREFACE IN presenting a volume upon Wharf Management, Stevedoring, and Storage, the authors realize that a subject so complicated can be treated only suggestively rather than exhaustively. So far as is known, this is the first effort to put between covers the vocation of loading and dispatching ships from the administrative standpoint. We, therefore, trust that this volume will take its place in the series upon ship management and operation and will blaze the trail to a closer and more scientific study of this problem. We are firmly con- vinced that the principal economies in ship operation and the success- ful competition of the American merchant marine on the high seas depend upon these terminal operations. Only through the sys- tematic and painstaking study of all the elements involved in the efficient dispatch of vessels can these economies be accomplished. We trust that those who read these pages will gain interest in more efficient wharf management. ROY S. MACLWEE THOMAS ROTHWELL TAYLOR CONTENTS PAGE EDITORS' PREFACE vii AUTHORS' PREFACE ix CHAPTER I. WHARF EFFICIENJY AND SHIPPING PROFITS i The wharf superintendent i Problems of the directors i Good management of ship essential 2 Profits in a quick turn-around 2 Costs per day in ship operation 3 Interest and depreciation 3 Items of expense in ship operation 4 Cost of holding a vessel in the Port of New York .... 5 Port movements 5 Port charges 5 Stevedoring costs in relation to other charges .... 8 Economies that could have been effected 9 By more careful work 9 By faster work 9 Wharf charges and dues 10 Charges against the vessel n Major group n Minor group n Charges against the cargo 12 Definition of items in the account 12 Definitions vary at different ports 13 Difference between dockage and wharfage . . . . 13 Difference in application of charges 14 Pier rent 14 Cost of stevedoring 17 Stevedore rates at Philadelphia 17 Satisfactory statistics lacking 22 Shipping Board calculations 22 Methods of reducing terminal costs and time in port ... 24 Increased profits by skillful stowing 29 Loading to maximum capacity 29 Kinds of tonnage 29 Increased profits through prevention of damage .... 32 Prevention of damage to the ship or injury to crew ... 32 Prevention of damage to the cargo 33 Saving through reduced insurance rates and depreciation charges 33 II. FROM LAND TO WATER CARRIER . .34 Loading and unloading 34 Movement of cargo by lighters 34 Grain 35 Bunker coal 35 Heavy articles 35 Dangerous articles 35 River and canal barges 35 xi xii CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE II. FROM LAND TO WATER CARRIER Continued. Loading and unloading Continued. Direct connection by wharves 35 Wharf equipment 37 Kinds of cargo 37 Bulk cargo 38 Grain 38 Oil and coal 38 Liquid cargo 39 Ships' supplies , 39 Uniform package freight 39 General cargo 40 Dangerous cargo 41 Precious cargo 41 Types of carriers 42 Side-port vessels 42 Hatch vessels 42 All-hatch vessels 43 Ocean-going colliers 43 Tank vessels 43 Refrigerator ships . . .44 III. WHARF OFFICE ORGANIZATION 45 The general wharf superintendent 45 The pier superintendent 46 The stowage clerk 46 The store clerk 47 Baggage department 47 Baggage master 47 The receiving department 48 The chief receiving clerk 48 The assistant receiving clerk 48 Hours of work 49 The cargo-sheet clerk 49 The lighter clerk 49 The extension clerk 50 Tallymen or checkers 50 The stevedore 51 The chief or boss stevedore 51 Longshoremen 52 Timekeeper 52 The delivery department 53 The detective force 54 IV. THE LONGSHOREMEN 55 Longshoremen and the importance of their work .... 55 Nationality and skill 56 Classification according to skill 57 Classification according to trade 57 Classification according to actual work performed ... 58 Ways of building up a skilled personnel 58 Methods of hiring longshoremen 58 Gang work 59 Union 62 Wages 64 Working conditions and their betterment 67 National Adjustment Commission 68 CONTENTS xiii CHAPTER P AGE V. ACCOUNTING AND PAPER WORK .74 Steamship accounting 74 The voyage account 74 Papers for inbound freight 77 Tally slip 77 Lighter tally sheet 78 The discharging receipt book 79 Records of damaged cargo go Report of damaged cargo 82 Special damage report 82 Over and short landed 83 Monthly report of cargo in excess (over) of bill of lad- ing quantity 84 Notice to remove merchandise 85 Storage order 87 List of goods sent to general order store 88 Customs lien notice 89 Delivery order 90 Papers of the (outbound) receiving clerk's office ... 91 The delivery notice 92 Dock receipt 92 Record of measurements .94 The cargo list or sheet 97 The ship's freight manifest 97 Outward foreign manifest ' . . 97 Memorandum of merchandise for the wharf superintendent 97 The stowage plan 100 VI. CARGO TRANSFER: I. METHODS OF TRANSFER 101 Introductory statement 101 Transfer through side ports 106 Transfer by unassisted man power 106 Transfer by hand truck 106 Hand-truck transfer and loose-pulley fall 107 Transfer by mechanical conveyor 108 Transfer through all-over hatches 109 Prevailing American system no Brief description of three common methods . .... . in Single boom and up-and-down fall with skid . . . . in The burton-and-fall or yard-and-stay system . . . .112 The drum-end man 115 Cargo mast 117 VII. CARGO TRANSFER: II. CARGO WINCHES AND SIGNALING . . . 120 Standard practice 120 Rigging xao Control 122 Capacity 122 Kinds of winches 122 Right-hand and left-hand 122 The winch drum 124 The drum end 124 Special types of winches 124 Electric ship's winches 126 Dock winches 127 Care of electric winches 130 Starting the draft 132 xiv CONTENTS VII. CARGO TRANSFER: II. CARGO WINCHES AND SIGNALING Continued Signaling 132 Stop 133 Lower slowly 134 Up slowly 134 VIII. CARGO TRANSFER: III. DRAFTS 136 Slings 136 Transfer of freight 139 Loading a safe 139 Loading barrels and hogsheads 139 Loading bags of sugar, grain, coffee, etc 139 Loading beef 141 Loading eggs 142 Loading dried apples 142 Loading pigs and billets 142 Loading steel rails 143 Loading automobiles 144 Loading assembled locomotives 144 Most important types of containers 145 IX. TYPES OF CRANES AND DERRICKS 146 Transfer by crane 146 The stiff-leg derrick 147 A-frame derrick 148 Traveling stiff-leg derrick 149 Guy derrick 149 Locomotive crane 149 Tower crane 150 Traveling revolving tower crane 150 Hammerhead crane 151 The gantry 152 The full-arch gantry crane 153 Hinged-boom traveling semiportal gantry crane . . . 157 Shop crane 158 Heavy-duty cranes 160 Bridge crane 160 Straight-line crane 163 Relative advantages of ship's tackle and shore cranes . . . 164 Ship's tackle versus crane equipment 164 Cranes versus ship's tackle 165 Use of specialized equipment 166 Continuous-motion or belt-conveyor transfer equipment . . 168 The banana unloader 168 Vertical belt conveyors 170 The elevator conveyor 172 Free-flowing bulk freight 173 Bunkering or coaling of ships 174 X. STOWAGE AND THE STOWAGE PLAN 176 Difficulty of stowing 176 Planning the stowage 176 Planning by the booking agent 176 Planning by the stevedore 176 Methods of stowing 178 Preparation of the hold 178 Stowage of bulk freight 178 CONTENTS xv CHAPTER PAGE X. STOWAGE AND THE STOWAGE PLAN Continued. Methods of stowing Continued. Stowage of package freight 179 Mechanical aids 179 Dunnage 180 Size of hold gangs 181 Drawing up the stowage plan 182 Discussion of sample stowage plans 182 Saluda 182 Selected 23,ooo-ton steamer 182 Portsmouth 184 XI. STOWAGE AND STOWAGE FACTORS 187 Desirability of getting full cargo paying high rates . . . 187 Commodities paying high rates 187 Getting a full cargo 187 Explanation of stowage factors 188 The average stowage factor 191 Selecting cargo by lists of stowage factors .... 191 Lessened importance of obtaining full cargo .... 193 Stowing cargo with low stowage factors 194 Reducing stowage factors 195 Advantages of reduction 196 Reduction in war period . . 197 Reduction by eliminating broken stowage 197 Deck loads 200 XII. LAWS GOVERNING STOWAGE . . 201 Necessity of laws and regulations 201 Laws relative to seaworthiness of vessels ..... 202 Governmental laws applicable to all vessels .... 202 Governmental laws applicable to passenger vessels . . . 204 Rules of insurance underwriters 204 Rules of classification societies 205 Laws relative to the stowage of certain classes of goods . . 206 Grain 207 Live stock 207 Dangerous goods 208 XIII. STOWAGE FOR SECURITY 215 Damage to ship or crew 215 Improper position of the center of gravity 215 Shifting of cargo 219 Dangerous goods 221 Damage to cargo 222 Dangerous goods 223 Moisture 223 Extremes of temperature 224 Chafing and crushing 225 Lack of ventilation 226 Pilfering 226 Vermin . . * 227 Wear and tear in transfer 228 XIV. CLEARING THE WHARVES 230 Movement of merchandise on the wharves 230 Hand trucks 231 xvi CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XIV. CLEARING THE WHARVES Continued. Movement of merchandise on the wharves Continued. Electric trucks 232 Telphers 232 Time study of movement at New York 233 Sorting coffee on wharves at New Orleans 253 Wharf congestion at Havana, Cuba 263 Discussion of report of joint commission 268 Removal of goods from wharves at Philadelphia .... 272 XV. DELIVERY OF MERCHANDISE FROM THE WHARF 282 Delivery from wharf to drays 282 Cartage delays 282 Relief through a store-door delivery system 285 Delivery from wharf to railroad cars 287 Loading box cars 289 General instructions 289 Car loading 289 Delivery from transit shed to warehouse 296 XVI. WAREHOUSING AND STORAGE 299 Warehousing 299 Storage 302 Notes 302 Definitions 303 Fundamentals 308 Instructions . . , 313 Stowing 313 Warehousing of merchandise 321 Explanation of terms 322 Standard warehouse rules and regulations .... 323 Standard basis for classification of goods for storage . . 326 Average occupancy of warehouse space . . . . . 329 Handling 331 Uniform cost accounting 334 Classification of expenses in detail 335 System illustrated by a standard warehouse constructed in 1920 338 INDEX 347 ILLUSTRATIONS FIG. PAGE 1. Side ports. A Great Lakes package freight steamer ... 42 2. Plan of wharf-office organization 45 3. Voyage account 75 4. Expenses not apportioned to voyage accounts .... 76 5. Tally slip to delivery clerk 78 6. Tally slip to receiving clerk 78 7. Lighter tally sheet 79 8. Page from the discharging receipt book 80 9. Ship officer's report of damaged cargo 81 10. Dock superintendent's or receiving clerk's report of damaged cargo 81 11. Special report of unusual or extensive damage or in cases of excessive claims 82 12. "Over and short landed" form 83 13. Report of excess cargo . 85 14. Final removal notice 86 15. Storage order to trucking company to transfer merchandise from wharf to public warehouse 87 1 6. Record of cargo sent to general order stores .... 88 17. Lien notice to the collector of customs 89 1 8. Truckman's pass to permit him to remove goods from the wharf 91 19. Delivery notice 91 20. Dock receipt 93 21. Measurement record 94 22. Cargo list 95 23. Official manifest for the collector of customs .... 96 24. Notice of space sold 97 25. Stowage chart 99 26. Stowage chart 100 27. Stopping the swing when loading with single boom and skid . 112 28. Yard-and-stay or burton system 113 29. Mast booms and winches between two hatches . . . .114 30. Drum-end man at work 115 31. Ship boom and cargo mast system 118 32. Blocks and shackles attached to cargo mast equipment, Chelsea Piers, N. Y 119 33. Light duty rig 121 34. Blocks at the peak of a boom. Heavy duty rig . . . .121 35. Masthead view of right and left hand winches, winch runner, boom, draft, and hatch opening 123 36. Electric dock winch stationary 127 36a. Electric dock winch with portable control switch . . . 129 37. Portable electric dock winch (light duty) 130 xvii xviii ILLUSTRATIONS FIG. PAGE 38. Stop 133 39. Continue lowering . .134 40. Up slowly (short movements of the wrist) 134 41- Up . . . . . 134 42. Up slowly. Signaled by bringing fingers and thumb together in pinches 135 43. Single hook 136 44. Rope sling 137 45. Long rove and bite 137 46. A web sling for soft bags 137 47. Cant hooks, used to transfer barrels 138 48. A dangerous method of transfer 138 49. Platform sling or airplane 138 50. Slinging a safe 139 51. Barrels slung "married" 139 52. Slinging a hogshead 139 53. A web sling draft of bags 141 54. A net sling for beef 141 55. Platform sling with angle irons to protect fragile cases . . 142 56. Platform for loading iron and other metals in pigs . . . 142 57. Chain sling for steel rails 143 58. Double chain sling for large iron pipes 143 59. Slinging automobiles 144 60. Loading assembled locomotives 144 61. A timber stiff-leg derrick 146 62. Guy derrick 147 63. Masthead top irons of a guy derrick 148 64. Spider plate and shackles 148 65. Guy spider plate 148 66. Locomotive crane 149 67. A traveling revolving tower crane for shipyard work . . 151 68. Heavy duty revolving hammerhead tower crane . . .152 69. A gantry crane with traveling hoist . . . . . 153 70. A full-arch gantry revolving jib crane 154 71. Half-arch or semiportal gantry revolving jib crane with fixed jib 155 72. A light-duty full-arch (portal) gantry revolving jib crane with hinged boom 156 73. A heavy-duty full-arch gantry revolving crane with a hinged boom 157 74. Shop crane 158 75. A bridge crane. Capacity unloading coal, 400 tons per hour 159 76. A straight-line wharf crane 161 77- Revolving gantry cranes 162 78. Straight-line cranes 162 79. Banana unloader 169 80. A vertical belt conveyor 171 81. Loading ship by means of a vertical belt conveyor and gravity roller conveyors to the wings 172 82. Inboard profile chart 183 83. Storage plan of SS. Portsmouth making two ports of call . 185 84. Stability curves 216 ILLUSTRATIONS xix FIG. PAGE 85. Hand truck 231 86. Improper loading , . . .231 87. Proper loading 231 88. Illustrating cleats and chocking 290 89. Assorted loading 200 bags or sacks and 50 barrels in 36- foot car 292 90. Assorted loading 100 bags or sacks, 60 cases, and 60 bar- rels in 36-foot car 293 91. Assorted car loading 294 92. Typical bag or sack loading 295 93. Warehouse methods 300 94. Warehouse methods 301 WHARF MANAGEMENT STEVEDORING AND STORAGE CHAPTER I WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 1 Wharf Superintendent. The main consideration of the wharf superintendent is to help make a profit for the steamship company to which he is responsible. The merchant marine of any country is the sum total of all those privately owned and operated ships that rep- resent the capital investment of their owners and must be so operated as to earn a return on that investment. The company's freight agent may show great energy and considerable skill in securing cargo for the ship, but his abilities are checked by the prices fixed by supply and demand in the cargo-space market as reflected in the prices that we know as steamship rates. Of course, in abnormal times when demand far exceeds the supply, many companies may exist under various kinds of bad management and still make a profit ; in such times it is not very difficult for the freight agent to nil his ship at high prices for the space, even with poor service and extrava- gant costs. Problems of the Directors. Likewise, the gentlemen around the green table who lay out the voyage of the ship, the ports at which they are to call, the services inaugurated, etc., must show rare judgment and knowledge of the world's commerce, and they prosper in accordance with their ability to judge the world's markets for steamship transportation. However, skillful as they may be, their abilities are limited largely by the condition of the world shipping matters quite beyond their control. Fortunes were made 1 By R. S. MacElwee and Thomas R. Taylor. I 2 WHARF MANAGEMENT at the beginning of the World War not because of any particular ability on the part of those who made them, but because of the fortunate circumstance that they happened to have ships when ships were badly needed. Good Management of Ship Essential. Good management may be shown in the operation of the ship, as well as in its con- struction and design. The extent to which good management is shown is reflected in the company's success and profits. Efficient management ashore and afloat is essential to success in time of normal shipping conditions because of the peculiar intensity of inter- national maritime competition. Even if all forms of management afloat and ashore be good and efficient, in normal times of close competition and low freight rates the pier superintendent can make or break the steamship company by his ability or lack of ability to handle freight quickly and ex- peditiously over the wharves at the company's terminals and by the skill of his stevedores in stowing freight for the maximum yield for each voyage. There is no single point in the whole shipping business where efficiency of organization and management is so important in spelling loss or profit as at those points under the jurisdiction of the wharf superintendent. By a quick turn-around of the ship, shorten- ing her days in port, by loading her to her maximum earning capacity, and by prevention of claims for damage or loss, the wharf super- intendent can be the greatest single profit-maker of a steamship company. Profit in a Quick Turn-around. The earning power of a ship is measured largely by the percentage of idle days in port as com- pared with the active days steaming at sea. Recent statistics show that even under the pressure of war conditions many of the Shipping Board's fleet, and also many ships of private lines, spend more than half of the days in a year in port. One set of figures showed a relation of fifty-three days in port to forty-seven days at sea. When a ship is tied up for loading or discharging, or for repairs, or for other purposes, it represents simply a liability to the company owning her. She represents an asset only when she is carrying cargo from point to point. Freight rates are paid to have cargo transported this is the service to be rendered. The ship is earning only when it is rendering this service. It is, therefore, important to attain quick discharge and loading of the ship at port in order to make her pay by carrying cargo. WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 3 Costs Per Day in Ship Operation. The amount of the over- head costs in port are appalling to the layman not familiar with shipping. In fact, many of the deck and engine personnel of the new American merchant marine who received their training in the United States Navy or nautical schools have little knowledge of cargo matters in merchant shipping, and are lacking in appreciation of many matters, especially time. The overhead charges while in port of a large-sized cargo-carrier, at present-day ship values (1920), is from $2,000 to $4,000 per day. To be explicit as to the daily cost of operation we may take figures of a few small vessels, representative of the average small or middle-sized tramp. These are operating costs for complete voyages (1919): 1. The Mariners Harbor, 3,535 dead-weight tons, had the fol- lowing average daily operating costs for two voyages of 33 days each: First voyage, $855.34; second voyage, $678.40; average for the two voyages, $766.87 per day. To this may be added the over- head charges against depreciation and interest, $287.67 per day. This makes a total of $1,054.54 P er day f r tne two complete voyages. Even yet, the loss of earning power while held in port is not included in these figures. 2. The Mineola averages for a voyage of 37 days $1,080.36 per day. To this must be added depreciation and interest, $333 per day, making a total of $1,413.36 per day for the voyage, excluding loss of earning power while in port. 3. The Sacramento, 7,462 dead-weight tons, made a trip from San Francisco to the west coast of South America and up to Wilming- ton, N. C. (1918). The average daily expenses were $1,169 an< ^ the depreciation and interest $614, making a total of $1,783 per day, excluding loss of earning power while in port. 4. The Amacortes, 7,478 dead- weight tons, made a trip from Seattle to the west coast of South America and back to Baltimore (September and October, 1918), with an average of $1,317.75 per day for operating costs, and $577.85 for depreciation and interest, totaling $1,895.60 per day for the voyage. Interest and Depreciation. Mr. Rossiter, for some time Director of Operations of the United States Shipping Board, in a hearing before the Ways and Means Committee in October, 1919, stated that the interest, insurance, and depreciation amounted to about 16 per cent of the value of the ship. Therefore, when a ship 4 WHARF MANAGEMENT is in port this one item alone amounts to a large sum, quite aside from the wages and subsistence of officers and crew, the fuel that is necessary to keep the ship warm in winter, to operate the winches, electric dynamos, and other machinery on board, and such charges as berthage, watching, etc. Considering, therefore, operating cost, in- surance, depreciation, and interest on the investment, and then the loss in earning power for every day the ship is not moving goods from place to place, one will readily see that the amount of daily loss for a ship in port piles up. Items of Expense in Ship Operations. A list of items by which the expenses of operating a ship are calculated is given below ; an actual case is given as an illustration. DETAILS OF DIRECT OPERATING EXPENSE Type of ship Cargo Size of ship 8,700 dead-weight tons Speed of ship io l /2 knots per hour Fuel Coal Trade route Between New York and West African coast Total length of voyage 12,800 nautical miles Voyages per year 3 Total tons cargo carried per year (full cargo in each direction) : Outbound 20,136 Inbound 21,866 Total 42,002 Freight rates: Outbound $25 per ton Inbound . v 20 per ton Total revenue from freight charges $940,720 Direct operating expense: Fuel $165,167 Loading and discharging 147,007 Repairs and maintenance 69,600 Wages 65,750 Port charges 39,148 Agency fees 23,518 Subsistence 23,269 Stores and supplies 1 1,200 Husbandry (management) 4,800 Total $549459 Insurance, depreciation, and interest are not considered to be direct operating expense. WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS Account Cost per annum Cost per diem $38 525 oo $10^ 46 230 oo T 1U J-JJ 126 66 Reserve for maintenance and repairs per dead-weight ton per month. . Insurance: Hull and machinery at 6 per cent. . . Marine at 3^4 P er cent 65,790.00 46,230.00 28 8cn 7 180.02 126.66 *7Q ifi \Var Risk at 5 per cent *V:rj^j jft eo ^ OO /y.iu Tr\ c e Protective and indemnity 2 T 7 Cn 1U JO J 5 Qf Seamen's .yi T.Q8 Total.. $266,T>I.25 $7^.4.0 COST OF HOLDING A VESSEL IN THE PORT OF NEW YORK The excessive cost of a vessel in port is given in detail by Mr. T. W. Cleworth, of the Port Facilities Commission of the United States Shipping Board. 2 Port Movements. The vessel arrived in New York from Genoa, Italy, in August, 1918, with 2,713 tons of wines, hats, cherries, marble, and general cargo, and sailed the same month with 3,783.1 tons of sugar, cocoa, canned goods, and Red Cross supplies for Archangel, Russia. The total time spent in port was 14 days, 17 hours, and 24 minutes. TIME SPENT IN PORT BY A SELECTED STEAMER Hours Minutes At anchor, Brooklyn, off quarantine TO JA At Brooklyn pier waiting commencement of discharge Discharging and loading cargo at Brooklyn pier. .. . At loading berth awaiting completion of coaling. . . . Time between departure from loading berth and 17 251 42 2? 15 00 oo cc jj Total "3S3 24. Port Charges. The charges against the vessel during the period that it was in port were as shown in the following table : J T. W. Cleworth, "Economies Effected by the More Rapid Turn-around of Vessels in United States Ports." Mimeographed memorandum, 1919. WHARF MANAGEMENT PORT EXPENSES OF A SELECTED STEAMER INWARD CHARGES $78.47 117.50 15-00 3,ioo.oo 191.25 56.00 188.82 20.50 3-75 Charges against vessel Pilotage from sea to anchorage Towage from Red Hook to Brooklyn pier. , Taking Captain from Bay Ridge to Battery. Wharfage (dockage) , Shifting vessels by tugs Watching ship Tonnage tax (6 cents per net register ton 3,147 tons) Customs fees Boatmen running lines at berthing of vessel. Total inward charges against vessel. . . . Charges against cargo Stevedoring Discharging 2,713 payable tons at 62.5 cents per ton $1,695.1 Extra labor (overtime, lost time, tiering, etc.) 1,990.98 Winchmen 220.80 Clerking 503.00 Coopering 366.50 Watching cargo 240.00 Lights for ship and cargo 185.00 Miscellaneous charges extra service of cus- toms inspectors, etc 181.00 Total inward charges against cargo Total inward charges OUTWARD CHARGES Charges against vessel Pilotage at sea Towage from pier to stream 1 12.50 Wharfage (dockage) 2,400.00 Shifting vessel by tugs 1 15.00 Watching ship 144.00 Surveys (Board of Port Wardens) 15.00 Clearance fees (including $5 brokerage) 7.70 Boatmen running lines at unberthing of vessel 3.75 Additional expense incurred on account of re- turn of vessel to port after clearance to make repairs 681.82 Total outward charges against vessel. . . . $3,771.29 WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS Charges against cargo Stevedoring Loading 5,398 tons at 65 cents per ton .... Extra labor (overtime, lost time, tiering, etc.) $3,508.70 1,421.18 37140 647.76 53-00 136.00 172.00 258.38 125.00 617.68 IIO.OO 94.50 $7,515.60 $3,036.30 Winchmen Clerk hire Coopering Watching cargo ." Lights for ship and cargo Hire of hoister Building bulkheads and placing dunnage .... Removing wooden lining in between decks . . . Miscellaneous charges Total outward charges against cargo $2,925.20 57.50 53.60 Bunkering charges Loading and trimming i,539 tons of coal .... Hire of hoister Tallying coal Total bunkering charges $1,469.16 1,685.21 44-59 1,583.25 i ,899.90 2,700.30 4,818.90 Total outward charges $14,131.35 $14,201.31 $37,486.86 $2,499.12* CHARGES NOT CLASSED AS INWARD OR OUTWARD Port pay-roll (15 days) Supplies consumed in port 15 days Coal \Vater and oil Interest 5 per cent on $770,500 for 15 days. . Depreciation 6 per cent on $770,500 for 15 days Reserve for maintenance and repairs at 85 cents per dead-weight ton per month Insurance hull marine war risk etc . . Total charges not classed as Inward or Outward $ 9,154.20 I4,I3L35 14,201.31 Total charges Inward Outward ... . Others (above) Total daily expense (15 days) * Not $4,371.45 as given by Cleworth, who included charter hire in his calculation. 8 WHARF MANAGEMENT Stevedoring Costs in Relation to Other Charges. The cost of stevedoring cannot be measured alone by the amount of money expended in the handling and transfer of cargo. The time consumed in loading or discharging must be considered an important factor in determining cost because of its influence on wharf charges and overhead expenses. By using the labor of only a few men a cargo may possibly be discharged at a relatively low actual cost, but the operation may cover a period of several weeks, during which time the vessel is not earning money and the harbor and overhead costs continue to mount up. Another owner may, by the aid of a large number of men and a complete transfer equipment, unload his vessel in one day. The amount of money expended for stevedoring may be greater than in the first case, but there is a large saving iu overhead costs and wharf charges. A summary of the results of a study of the stevedoring costs for a number of vessels, showing time and pay-roll costs, is given in the table on page 23. The vessel selected was a steel cargo and passenger steamer of 6,450 dead-weight tons (summer), a total bale capacity of 290,955 cubic feet, and a total grain capacity of 320,840 cubic feet. Its permanent bunkers held 811 tons of coal and it had 4 holds, 5 hatches, and 6 winches. The total daily cost of holding this small vessel in port was $2,499.12, or in round numbers $2,500. This is the generally ac- cepted figure taken in making rough averages. But, obviously, much of this expense is unavoidable. The vessel must discharge its cargo and take on coal, supplies, and freight. There is little use in point- ing out how much it costs to hold a vessel in port if keeping it there is essential to its operation. What must be shown is why some of this cost is unnecessary and how it can be avoided. This will be done for this particular case and then the general principles of saving in port expenses will be pointed out. It will be seen from this that the total cost of loading vessels in 1918 averaged about $7,760. The average time in loading was 5.37 days. Probably the smallest value that could be placed on a day's time of one of these vessels was $2,000, so that at least $10,740 was consumed in overhead expense during the loading operation. That is, the cost of stevedoring was less than the value of the time lost. Speeding up would have increased the stevedoring charges in WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 9 all probability, but the total cost of loading undoubtedly would have been reduced. Economies That Could Have Been Effected. The follow- ing summary of the economies that could have been effected by more careful work on this selected steamer is taken largely from Mr. Cleworth's monograph: By More Careful Work 1. Wharfage (dockage) charged against inward voyage after discharging ceased $ 700.00 2. Extra labor for discharge No steam or insufficient steam at hatch 247.30 Detention to three gangs getting ready and re- rigging 126.50 Allowance for slow working of hoist 79- 2 Waiting for lights 16.23 Broken winch 8.40 3. Wharfage (dockage) charged against vessel after loading ceased 600.00 4. Direct expenses connected with return of vessel to port for repairs 681.82 * 5. Lack of steam in loading 33-3O 6. Waiting for steam in bunkering I73.2O 7. Loss of four days' time in returning to port (avoid- able by careful bunkering) * 1 1 ,925.24 * * These expenses are unusual, but are shown 'because they actually occurred in this case. By Faster Work In addition to the economies that could have been effected by more careful work, large savings could have been made by faster work. It is impossible to give these accurately, but an estimate can be made. Considering only the most important port expenses that would accrue, whether the vessel was being worked or not, we have the following as the daily expense of holding the vessel idle in port. Overhead charges $2,605.82 Wharfage (dockage) 366.67 Vessel supplies 1 15.32 Port pay-roll 97-94 Watching ship and cargo and lighting 62.21 Total $3,247.96 If, therefore, the stevedoring could have been speeded up by use of machinery and by other means so that five days were saved, the total saving would have been about $16,000. It is scarcely io WHARF MANAGEMENT probable that this faster work would have cost more, and it certainly would not have cost $16,000 more. This study is given in detail because it illustrates a number of factors that must be considered more fully. It will be seen that the most important charges are for wharfage, stevedoring, and over- head, and these costs demand more extended treatment. WHARF CHARGES AND DUES 3 Wharf charges are but a part of terminal charges which have been grouped and defined by Mr. C. O. Ruggles as follows : Port terminal charges are the charges levied at a port for the use of facilities and for various services incident to the movement of traffic through a port. In this report these charges have been divided into (l) charges against the vessel, (2) charges against the cargo. The charges against the vessel have been separated into (a) major charges, including pilotage, towage, dockage, loading and dis- charging, bunkering, and dunnage; (b) minor group, consisting of harbor master's fees, port warden's fees, and various miscellaneous charges. The charges against the cargo are divided into (a) those mainly connected with water operations, including -wharf age, lighter- age, and floatage, and (b) charges mainly connected with shore operations, comprising elevating, switching and belt-line charges, and storage. The division here made between charges against the vessel and charges against the cargo is, of course, not strictly accurate. In the last analysis all charges must be borne by the cargo. Stevedoring has been included in this report among the charges levied against the vessel ; it might as well have been included in charges against the cargo. This charge, like others actually paid by the vessel, must be included by it in the ocean freight rate imposed upon the cargo. Any division of port charges, therefore, is more for convenience in analysis than it is to indicate the incidence of charges. In attempting this study of port terminal charges, it has been necessary to define the terms to be used in the hope that the different practices in the various ports might not result in confusion in the information furnished. 3 Taken largely from C. O. Ruggles, "Terminal Charges at United States Ports." Report to United States Shipping Board. Government Printing Office, 1919. WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS n The following are the definitions which have been used in seeking information : Charges against the Vessel Major Group. "Pilotage" includes all charges for working a ship into and out of a harbor and through a channel or passage ; it is based on some unit, such as draft of vessel or tonnage. Pilotage is sometimes commuted into a term license. "Towage" includes all charges for employment of tugs or tow- boats for assisting vessels into and out of the harbor, for docking and undocking, and for moving vessels and lighters from pier to pier. "Dockage" includes all charges levied against vessels for the use of berthing space, whether for loading, discharging, repairs, or other reasons. Use of berth beyond an agreed time allowance is sometimes called "penalty dockage." There is included under this head any charge for the use of buoys. "Loading and discharging cargo" includes stevedoring and all forms of mechanical handling, such as cranage, and any miscella- neous charges that are incurred in connection with the transfer of cargo from ship to pier, or pier to ship, all sorting and stacking on the wharf, including charges for stowing and trimming on vessel. Stevedore labor rates also are included under this heading. "Bunkering" includes all charges for loading coal into a ship's bunkers for its own use, exclusive of the price of coal. "Dunnage" covers the expense of preparing a ship for the stow- age of cargo. It includes all material necessary for safe and efficient stowage, such as boards, coins (extra barrel heads), cordwood, braces, and ship-lap, and the cost of installation. Minor Group. "Harbor dues" or "harbor master's fees" in- clude all fees imposed by the port to cover expenses of administra- tion. They comprise such charges as those imposed for indicating anchorage, shifting vessels, clearing wharf, and the like. "Port warden's fees" include all charges for surveys held on board or on wharf or at any warehouse, storage of cargo, or dam- aged goods; for surveys of hull, sails, spars, and rigging of any damaged vessel; or for valuation or measurement of vessel. "Miscellaneous charges" include all fees and charges not other- wise classified. Illustration of such fees are those levied for the services of a watchman, or a tally clerk, weighing and measuring expenses, running lines for vessels, furnishing tarpaulins, charges for water furnished, lighthouse fees, brokerage fees for entering goods at the customs, inspection of cargo, fees for making out bills 12 WHARF MANAGEMENT of lading, and charges for various shipping documents, and ship brokerage fees when vessel is in the chartered freight service. Some- times these fees are commuted into annual payments. Charges against the Cargo Definition of Items in the Ac- count. "Wharfage" includes all charges against freight for the use of wharves for freight passing over the wharf. These charges are sometimes called "tolls." Preferential assignment of space on a term basis to shipping agents is included under wharfage, but this should be distinguished from lease of wharves to steamship companies, which should be included under dockage. "Lighterage" includes all charges for the transportation of goods by lighter in a harbor. This charge usually includes the loading into and discharging out of lighters. Charges made for car floats are included under this heading. "Elevating" includes charges for services of both land and floating elevators. "Switching and belt-line charges" include the charge made by switching or belt-line railways. "Storage" includes all charges for freight remaining on wharf beyond a specified time ; also all warehouse and other charges for temporary safe-keeping, including bulk storage of grain, cotton, and the like. These charges are to be distinguished from demurrage, which is a charge applied to the transportation vehicle rather than to the cargo. Some charges of importance, dry-dockage, demurrage, and dray- age have not been included in this report. Dry-dockage is made only when the ship is in a dry-dock for repairs. Demurrage is the charge made for the detention of a vessel beyond an agreed number of days allowed for its loading or discharging. Obviously this would vary according to the size of the ship, the demand for its service, and various other circumstances. From the characteriza- tion of these charges it will be seen that a vessel might enter and clear a port many times without occasion for either of them being paid. Although drayage is an important charge in some ports, it has not been possible to secure accurate information concerning it. The drayage charge of significance in this study is that which would obtain for cartage between piers, between piers and storage ware- houses, between piers and railway terminals and vice versa. In cases in which information has been furnished differentiation has not been made between the service connected with the coordination of rail and water carriers and that of local deliveries. In addition to the Federal regulation of quarantine, there are WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 13 certain local health or quarantine fees for sanitary inspection and fumigation services, but the information furnished on these charges was so unsatisfactory that in view of their minor importance they have been omitted. Definitions Vary at Different Ports. Examination of the data in Part II of this report will indicate that the definitions of port charges here given do not obtain at all ports. Indeed, the conspicu- ous lack of any standardization of terms in this field is one indication of the fact that port charges have not received the consideration to which they are entitled. A few concrete examples will indicate the variety of usage employed. At New York and Philadelphia the term "dockage" is rarely used. Although charges are made against the vessel at these ports, it is called "wharfage." As has been seen, wharfage has been defined in this report as a charge against the cargo. Therefore, what is usually referred to in New York and Philadelphia as wharfage is called dockage in this report. At San Francisco, until recently, wharfage was used to designate the charge made for cargo remaining on the wharf after a specified time. In an amendment to the harbor rules, regulations, and rates of that port, effective September l, 1917, the board of State harbor commissioners substituted the term "demurrage" for "wharfage." At Seattle the charge made for leaving cargo on the wharf beyond a prescribed time is called "wharf demurrage"; at New Orleans such a charge is in some instances called demurrage. This is confusing. The term demurrage properly applies to the detention of a ship or vehicle. In this report the charge for leaving cargo on a wharf after a prescribed time is called storage. Possibly a new term, such as "penalty wharfage," should be given to this charge, to distinguish it from storage in warehouses. Of these various terminal charges, those for wharf service are especially important because they are relatively large and because they "are used for purposes of what may be called traffic strategy or port strategy, being collected as a separate charge for a special service, or absorbed in the freight rate, or waived, as the exigencies of the port or the owners of the terminal facilities, especially of rail- road owners, may require." Difference between Dockage and Wharfage. The charges for wharf service consist of "dockage" and "wharfage," which Ruggles distinguishes from each other as follows : Dockage is a per diem charge proportioned to the space occupied i 4 WHARF MANAGEMENT by the ship alongside the pier or wharf; while wharfage is propor- tioned to the quantity of goods passing over the wharf to or from the vessel. Generally speaking, these are alternative modes of pay- ment, the owner relying on one form or the other for his revenue. It is not usual to charge the vessel for occupying a berth while load- ing or discharging cargo against which wharfage is charged. Dock- age may be charged against such a vessel for occupying the berth for an unreasonable length of time, or against a vessel at berth for any purpose other than receiving or discharging cargo. This is the common practice, but in some cases, especially in ports where termi- nals are publicly owned and publicly operated, both charges, and indeed some additional charges, are collected. Difference in Application of Charges. The difference in methods of applying these charges may be shown by comparing the practice at New Orleans with that at New York. At New Orleans the wharves owned and operated by the public are the ones chiefly used by vessels engaged in foreign and coastwise trade. The total gross tonnage of the ocean vessels docking at the public wharves in 1916 was 4,510,000 out of a total of 5,792,000 arriving at the port. The State secures its wharf revenue from five forms of charge: (l) from dockage, based on gross tonnage and the length of time the berth is occupied, imposed on all seagoing vessels ; (2) from wharfage, locally called tollage or tolls, imposed since November, 1915, but not before, on all foreign and coastwise traffic at a flat rate of 5 cents per ton of 2,OOO pounds; (3) from sheddage, a charge for the use of piers provided with sheds, at the rate of \y 2 cents per gross registered ton for the first 21 days and Y^ cent for the next 3 days. It will be seen, therefore, that this is essentially a dockage charge for the use of a particular kind of wharf. (4) A fourth form of charge is made for preferential assign- ments of wharves to water carriers for which "assignment rental" is collected at the rate of 3 cents per square foot per annum for wharf space occupied. As the charge indicates, it entitles the ship only to a preferential use, not to absolute control of the wharf or part thereof assigned. This charge is also of the nature of a dockage charge, but is not in lieu of it or of any other charge. (5) Still another form of charge is the license, levied against river craft of various kinds. It is graded according to the size and character of vessel and ranges from $36 to $120 per year. Pier Rent. At New York the revenue of the public wharves is derived from "rent" and from "wharfage" (properly "dockage"), WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 15 rent making up by far the larger amount. When the city rents a pier it surrenders all right to make any charges other than the rent itself, and thus there is a sharp contrast to the situation at New Orleans. The lessee may make any charges that he prefers, and in almost all cases the charge is a dockage charge proportioned to ton- nage and time at berth. It will be seen from this one illustration that it is difficult to com- pare wharf charges. The problem is further complicated by the practice at piers owned and operated by railroads. In general it may be said that the railroads do not make a dock- age charge against a vessel while it is loading or discharging cargo subject to wharfage. The railroad terminal tariffs have a much larger number of specific commodity rates than is usual at public piers, and what is more confusing, the wharfage charge is usually combined with a handling or a storage charge and often with both. But the greatest confusion is due to the fact that the charge is collected as against some traffic and is waived with respect to other traffic. This applies to wharfage, the charge against the cargo rather than to dockage. Without attempting to go into the history of the railroad practice of absorbing the wharfage charge it may be said that it has been adopted in part to protect the business of the port and in part to protect the traffic of the roads. The longer the haul a road has the better able it is to treat the terminal as part of the railroad and make no separate charge for its use, and the more likely it is, therefore, to absorb the wharfage. At Boston, the roads will absorb a rather high wharfage charge in a switching rate. At Baltimore the Pennsylvania absorbs it if it gets a line haul, while the Baltimore & Ohio does so only when it earns a line-haul revenue of a stipulated, though small, amount. At New York and Philadel- phia there is no wharfage charge at the railroad piers, though in the case of New York vessels rarely dock at the railroad piers. At New York vessels are subject to heavy dockage or rentals at the city piers on the Manhattan side. Competition between the rail carriers is another factor determin- ing whether a separate charge is made against traffic using a railroad water terminal. The method of absorption employed generally at the South Atlantic ports and at Mobile illustrates the effect on rail- road policy, both of competition and of distance. Traffic from be- yond a certain defined territory, roughly, south of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, pays no wharfage, while traffic originating at or 16 WHARF MANAGEMENT destined to points within that territory does pay it, unless such points are competitive. The Galveston Bay roads absorb wharfage at Galveston and Texas City on all commodities, with a few excep- tions of traffic originating at or destined to points outside of Texas, while Texas traffic pays the charge in addition to the rail rate. The rule at Seattle is constructed on the same general plan, but it in- troduces another condition the origin or destination of traffic at the water end of the movement. It should be pointed out that the railroads also absorb the wharfage charge against traffic passing over public piers as well as their own. When in 1915 New Orleans was in need of more revenue from its wharves it left untouched its old charges against the vessel and added a low flat rate on freight, fully expecting that the railroads would absorb it, and this the railroads promptly did. The transcontinental lines follow a general policy of absorbing the California State "tolls" or wharfage, though they do not absorb on all traffic. At the present time (December, 1918) the proposal is being discussed at San Francisco to reduce greatly, if not to elimi- nate, all charges against vessels in the hope of attracting more vessels to the port, and to make good the loss of revenue by increasing the wharfage charge with the expectation, no doubt, that the railroads will absorb it, thus giving San Francisco what would amount to a lower railroad rate. It will readily be seen that the outcome of this policy of absorbing the wharfage on some traffic and not on other is to introduce an element of discrimination in the interest of the carrier or of the port, and to render it well-nigh impossible accurately to compare the charge either as a measure of service or as a burden of commerce. Although it is impossible, therefore, to compare wharf charges, there are available several publications which can be used to obtain the charge made at any one port. The points that we want to make here are that these charges are relatively large and that they vary between wide limits. Since they vary, it is possible for the shipowner to make large economies by studying the situation carefully and using those wharves or ports at which he can obtain the most favorable rates. Since they are large and are generally based on time at berth, it is essential that the time of the vessel in port be reduced to the lowest possible minimum. Methods of reducing this time will be considered later. WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 17 COST OF STEVEDORING The actual cost of handling cargo varies with a great many factors, the most important being the harbor facilities, the kind of cargo, the type of vessel, and the wages and efficiency of the long- shoremen. The cost is relatively low if the harbor and transfer equipment is adequate, if the cargo can be handled in bulk, and if the wages are low ; and it is high if the cargo must be handled by many highly paid and inefficient laborers at a port not equipped with modern conveniences. Even under the most favorable conditions the cost of stevedoring is large as compared with other direct operating expenses of the vessel. From the few studies that have been made on this subject it would appear that stevedoring accounts for 25 to 35 per cent of the total direct operating expenses, which include wages, fuel, repairs and maintenance, port charges, agency fees, subsistence, stores and supplies, management, loading and discharging, but do not include insurance, interest, and depreciation. It is a common saying that it costs more to move a barrel of oil over a New York pier and place it in a vessel than it does to carry the barrel from New York to London, and yet some people argue that New York is one of the best equipped ports in the world. Under the most unfavorable conditions sometimes encoun- tered at the largest ports, such as at New York the cost of handling cargo becomes enormous. Conditions differ so greatly that it is imp ^ssible to make any general statement showing the costs to be expected. Nor are there available figures to show the cost of handling even one type of cargo at different ports of the world, although shipping and port guides give some indication of the stevedore rates. We can, how- ever, choose some illustrations to indicate the general trend of costs in Philadelphia and New York. Stevedore Rates at Philadelphia. The statement following gives the contract stevedore rates of Murphy, Cook & Company, one of the largest stevedoring firms in Philadelphia. Most of the important commodities handled by this firm, with the rate on each, are listed. It will be noted that the rate on general cargo is the same for both loading and discharging ($1.10 per ton, weight or measure- ment). It would seem perhaps that the cost of loading would be 18 WHARF MANAGEMENT undernoted rate rol. c3 ^H .2 O (28 v ^ - UOOOfe vocoooom I-H HH in * s OO > /S , O tJ rt 3- *i -I o, g ^ S3 V) V CJ O J 2^3 -88 w CU s I 8 WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 19 -Q- OOhH 1-1 v> m 3 G, " O>~ - - - o." OOOOO OOmmoOOOO 4 I K_ O o J S bD J . s S I 'S g" s s^ w^-g o "O O "-fH I &. !! g ^|^ap. 20 WHARF MANAGEMENT NOTE. The foregoing rates are based on the usual custom of Phil- adelphia delivery, and any expenses incurred for trucking, piling cargo, etc., on the dock to be paid for by the ship. (Over six (6) men to each gang on the dock.) In event of our discharging or loading any vessels at lower rates than those named, we agree to give you the benefit of such reduction, and in case of increased cost of labor, owners to pay such increase. We agree to give the ships the best possible dispatch and attention. Cargo in peaks, bridges, tanks, poops, lazarets, by day's work. We are covered by insurance against accidents which may occur to our men while employed by us to comply with the Workmen's Com- pensation Act, in the State of Pennsylvania, for which an additional five per cent will be charged. Steamships to furnish all necessary steam, winches, runners, and slings for working the cargo. The stevedores furnishing the men to work at the winches, the ship paying the prevailing rates for the com- modity handled for each man so furnished. Should steamers' winches not be available, owners to pay the cost of hoisting charges. Should men be employed by the ship to assist in any work, such men to be paid the prevailing rates for the commodities handled. LABOR RATES Day Work per hour Overtime per hour Meal Hour per hour Overtime per hour Meal Hour per hour General cargo . Foremen do . . Oil in city . . . Foremen do . . Grain $ .85 1-35 1. 00 1.50 .QS $1.30 2.05 1.50 2.25 1. 4.0 $1.70 2.70 2.OO 3-00 I.QO $ .50 .70 -55 75 .50 $ .85 1-35 1. 00 1.50 .QS Foremen do . . 145 2.15 2.90 .70 143 Oil Point Breeze and Gibson s Point $11.50 per day or one-half day. $15.50 per day or one-half day or night or one-half night overtime. $2.30 per hour meal hour. Foremen $15.00 per day or one-half day. $22.50 per day or one-half day or night or one-half night overtime. $3.00 per hour meal hour. Explosives $12.50 per day or one-half day. $16.00 per day or one-half day or night or one-half night overtime. $2.50 per hour meal hour. Overtime, $1.00 per hour; $2.50 per hour meal hour. Foremen $18.00 per day or one-half day. $25.00 per day or one-half day or night or one-half night overtime. $3.60 per hour meal hour. Overtime, $1.50 per hour; $3.50 per hour meal hour. WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 21 The basic day is from 8 A. M. till 5 P. M. (8 hours). All other time is OVERTIME, and the rate for all labor for overtime is governed by the National Adjustment Commission. This agreement to commence on , and to remain in force until , 19. MURPHY, COOK & Co. Witness: We hereby accept the above offer of Messrs. MURPHY, COOK & COMPANY, to do the stevedoring work (except when bound by charter) of all steamers under our management, and subject to all conditions named in this contract. Witness: Dated at , this day of , 19 . the larger because it involves stowing in the hold. Perhaps the stevedore does make a larger profit on the unloading, but it must be remembered that breaking out of cargo is almost as difficult as the stowing, particularly as the goods must be raised. The rates vary between wide limits, according to the character of the cargo. The lowest loading rate ($1.10 per ton) is given to those articles most easily handled because of their method of packing, including bagged materials, meats, oil cake, general cargo, and case oil. The highest rates are on those that are very dangerous (dyna- mite, $5.02 per ton) and those that require special machinery and a large number of men (locomotives $4.80 per ton). The lowest dis- charging rates are quoted on East Indian cargoes, ore, china clay, and chalk. The East Indian cargoes consist of goods that can be easily and roughly handled, while ore, china clay, and chalk can be discharged into lighters by use of clamshell buckets. The highest rate is on steel or iron scrap, the discharge of which requires many men and may require special equipment. In almost all cases these rates must be considerably increased to cover the "extras," or charges for extra labor and equipment, which may amount to a large percentage of the total bill. But. on the other hand, the rates include a profit for the stevedore and are higher than the actual cost. It is probable, therefore, that the cost of the same operations to a steamship company doing its own steve- doring is not greatly different. 22 WHARF MANAGEMENT Satisfactory Statistics Lacking. Satisfactory statistics on the subject of stevedoring costs are lacking, even for the port of New York, to which so much attention has been paid, although the New York and New Jersey Harbors Facilities Commission has made an investigation of this matter which became available in April, 1921. Shipping Board Calculations. Perhaps the best study is that made by the Ports Facilities Commission of the United States Ship- ping Board, shown in the table on the following page. The cost is made up of four items : stevedoring, tallying and clerking, watch- ing, and dunnage, and is shown for two periods the fall of 1913 and the fall of 1918. Most of the vessels carried general cargo. The striking disclo- sures made by this table are: (i) the high cost of loading in 1918, (2) the large increase in costs since 1913, and (3) the difference of 56.7 cents between the average costs of loading and unloading in 1918. If the figures show the true conditions, as they were designed to do, the cost of loading in New York in 1918 was more than $1 greater than the contract stevedore prices in Philadelphia a year later, after further increases in longshoremen's wages. The cost was less on the average for coastwise vessels than for deep-sea vessels, and there were large differences between the costs of different companies. The fact that the cost of unloading was considerably less than the loading cost in 1918, although the two were almost equal in 1913, is to be partly explained by the smaller percentage of general cargo vessels to be unloaded in 1918. But it is probably true that unloading costs at most modern ports and with most cargoes are less than loading costs. It will be seen from the table on page 65 that the wages of longshoremen in the period, August, 1918, to January l, 1919, at which time this study was made, were 50 cents and 65 cents an hour, whereas in January, 1920, they were 80 cents an hour. The investi- gation therefore falls far short of representing the cost of stevedoring in New York at the present time. The costs at other ports, even for 1918, are not available, but some hint of them is contained in the level of longshoremen's wages, shown in the table referred to above. WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 23 s-s ^ rf "c ^j ja . K ^ 4-J Q (7\O xot^tsenro* mri-HH O O c?0 S^ ^. g.2 U S fL ~ Q ^ H M cy ^ "115 ^ .Sw T3 j/T T3 s-S ro CO n OO ^i" t^ ro O ^rj J " C O en CO OJ M -< vN CO uu rlr.y ^.s^i C oo in o C in in mvO t^ '" -3 a or OO *n OO r^ H^ en fs| en ro M * C S ^. Q ^ H ro M ^0 '| .| | ex |f ||| O "QJ O en ro oo m oo oo r^. CO (S , bfl M ^5 5^ * .G a ^ o^ 8 i ^ -| ^ "G -2 tjo ^ o ^ S S 2 MH 1 S's 1 * s -M ^ "~" J c^S ^ S .S ^ T3 8 ^ ^ & S c .S rt c 1 bJD ^ *C 2 -T3 ?l |l| | * j *! PI I 1 3 el 2 fe'8 7) v^ on ^ a, CJCO^-i' 3 ^.^'^ -M C $ O qj _bJD 2 bflS)-^gfcJDbi)^fcJ3^ S) Q> c^J^ l-i O qjfljOqjCnOjO^O QJ i o - <<"<" < <^<" < < a, u 24 WHARF MANAGEMENT METHODS OF REDUCING TERMINAL COSTS AND TFME IN PORT It has been pointed out that a saving of several thousand dollars can be made in port overhead expenses for each day eliminated from the time spent in port and that wharf charges can be reduced several hundred dollars for each day eliminated. The economies resulting from faster stevedoring are not so apparent, but unques- tionably quicker stevedoring means cheaper stevedoring, except in those cases where speed is made by working overtime at higher costs. If greater speed is the result of mechanical appliances or more efficient work, the total cost is lowered. These three major items in port expense depend, therefore, upon the time in port, and it becomes necessary to inquire into the means that may be taken to reduce this time. Some of the means will be considered in more detail in future chapters, especially in those on transfer, but it is best to summarize them here. If the shipowner can secure from these suggestions a hint that will enable him to eliminate one day in port, this book will have served its purpose. The lowest freight rates in the world are those of the Great Lakes, where time in port has been reduced to such a point that the vessels can make large earnings in spite of high wages, low freight rates, and an eight months' operating season. If the deep-sea American merchant marine is to prosper in similar fashion, the turn-around of the individual vessels must de decreased. De- crease will not come immediately as a result of greater speed of the vessel, for that involves increased costs, but it must come as a result of the elimination of some of the time in port. In September, 1919, the average time spent by the United States Shipping Board vessels in London was 40.4 days, and this had been reduced to 29.6 days in November, partly as a result of the activity of the Board's agents. A reduction of over 10 days in port time cannot be expected in many instances, but smaller reductions can be made by the adoption on the part of the several interested agencies of one or more of the following suggestions : Quick dispatch is attained by maximum speed in loading and dis- charging. Obvious as this may sound, there is a great deal to it, because the actual loading or unloading of the vessel is concerned with processes very remote from the ship's side. There are many factors involved in addition to the mere speed of the hook between WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 25 hatch and wharf. Some of the factors of rapid loading and discharg- ing should be carefully considered. Formulation of the loading plan well in advance is the foundation for quick dispatch. If the larger part of the freight to go into the vessel has been booked and the distribution of the same in the ship carefully calculated well in advance of the time when the ship is to load, it is possible to feed the cargo into the ship in a steady stream in the order in which it should come. If cargo can move quickly without interference and without congestion on the pier or in the hold there will be saved all those vexatious delays due either to congestion or to the failure of the goods to arrive OH time. Prompt delivery is important in loading or unloading the vessel. Prompt delivery while loading is necessary to avoid delays. As the size of ships has grown much more rapidly than the wharf capaci- ties, it is essential that delivery be taken of cargo discharged from the ship as promptly as possible in order to remove the same from the wharves and not to congest the wharf area for the further discharge of freight from the vessel. Rapid transfer is dependent very largely upon the dispatch with which freight arrives or is taken away. Adequate machinery is of the greatest importance. Probably more attention is given to this subject than to any phase of port development. The contestants in favor of the ship winch and cargo masts as against the adherents of the electric crane are con- stantly before the public with their various arguments. The differ- ence between the two, so long as the movement is positive and rapid positive because it handles the draft with dispatch, and rapid be- cause of the maximum frequency of the cycles possible still leaves considerable room for discussion as to the relative merits. The question of transfer machinery undoubtedly is important. There is much room for improvement and for new designs, particularly special designs for the continuous motion of handling freight of a uniform size and weight. However, the main delays occur some distance away from the picking-up point. Nevertheless, in the case of large packages weighing more than a ton each, adequate derricks either on the wharf or afloat are absolutely essential to quick dispatch. For instance, at Baltimore at the beginning of the World War, it took more than an hour to load a crated army truck from the wharf side. After the institution of a lighterage and float- ing derrick system, with a derrick sufficiently powerful to lift easily 26 WHARF MANAGEMENT a crated 6-ton truck, the loading time for these trucks was reduced to less than fifteen minutes. Even such a large package as a loco- motive completely assembled can be handled with comparative ease with the proper machinery. Avoiding congestion is more important than the relative differ- ence in machinery, as various types of transfer machinery have been well developed to date. Congestion in and about our ports from the area immediately about the ship, both wharf and slip, and into the classification yards of the railroads is the main cause of delay, high cost of loading, and of slow turn-around. There are numerous points where this congestion can be avoided and must be avoided in our future port development if our merchant marine is to prosper. Avoiding congestion at the pic king-up point or deposit point oppo- site the ship's hatchway is important. If in discharging a vessel a draft must "hang" because the draft preceding it has not been re- moved from the point of deposit, this time is lost. One of the first rules in handling cargo is not to let the draft hang. In order to avoid this it is necessary to have as large a point of deposit as possi- ble. One advantage of the crane over the cargo mast and tackle is the greater area on which goods may be set down upon the wharf. The size of the wharf deck is of even greater importance. Much of the congestion at New York is due to the fact that the piers were built for small ships many years ago. The large ships of to-day can discharge upon the average old pier far more cargo than it can hold, even if the goods are tiered to its shed roof-stringers. Obviously, when the cargo is being worked and delivery is being made, either to the ship or to the consignee, it is quite impossible to pile to full height and to leave only a few aisles. There are so many different marks that the goods will become mixed unless there is a sufficient area to pile consignments separately and to leave large aisles between the piles. If the aisle space is encroached upon there is insufficient room for the longshoremen to work; every one inter- feres with every one else, and the piled goods and the goods on the hand trucks are constantly in collision. Future wharves must have a very much greater area several times the area of the average New York pier. In getting along with what limited wharf space we have, careful planning to secure prompt delivery of goods as wanted for stowing is necessary. Working all the hatches is essential to quick dispatch. This WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 27 again is dependent upon adequate machinery and adequate deck area of the wharf. With all four or five hatches being loaded simul- taneously the confusion on the wharf is increased. Unless there is plenty of room and, in addition, adequate machinery for handling, tiering, trucking, etc., it is an extremely difficult matter to keep all hatches busy, and costly delays constantly occur. Both sides of the ship should be worked, wherever possible, at the same time. In particular, the small packages should be coming aboard from the wharf side, while lighters should be loading the heavy packages and such consignments as grain in bulk and coal from the water side. If "breasted off," the ship can be bunkered from both sides at the same time. The design of the wharf and its proper relation to rails, drays, warehouses, lighters, etc., is necessary to the intensive working of the ship. From what has been said it is obvious that a modern wharf must be designed with a very much greater area than we have been accustomed to in the past. At the same time, with the growth of ships, particularly their increased beam, it is necessary to make the water area alongside the wharf more ample. This is especially true at New York, where the slips between the piers are as narrow in pro- portion as the piers themselves and similarly congested. This design at New York is due not to desirability of the plan, but to the fact that the city had riparian rights to land under water and to the water front at the ends of the streets. Therefore, the piers correspond in width to the width of the streets and the slips to the width of the city blocks. When people to-day declare that the New York piers are properly designed and new piers should be built like them it only goes to prove that man is far more a creature of habit than of imagination. New York piers never were designed for efficiency. They were built to fit certain legal and physical condi- tions. With the growth in the size of the steamer and the growth in the size of the lighter that is serving the steamer from the water side, the slips to-day are hopelessly congested. This congestion in many cases reduces the capacity of each slip from two vessels to one, it being impossible to load vessels at both sides of the slip. There- fore, ample room for the lighters in the slip is just as important as ample deck room on the wharf or pier. It has been estimated that the deck area, either single-floor or double-deck tier, should be-sequal to ten times the number of square feet of cargo capacity of the 28 WHARF MANAGEMENT largest vessel using that wharf. 4 Likewise, the width of the slip should be four times the beam of the largest vessel using the slip. Where these conditions are not found the wharf superintendent and his staff are hard put to overcome the difficulty. In addition to the wharf design as to area and to its ability to stand up and carry the load put upon it, there are other factors affecting the degree of congestion. Wherever there is a harbor-belt railway connecting with the main trunk lines using the wharf, pro- vision must be made for the freight cars to be brought within con- venient distance from the ship. At the port of New York no such lines exist, and railroad cars are not brought alongside the wharf to load the ship. Their contents are unloaded, put upon lighters, and towed to the pier or the ship. The narrow piers receive a lighter on one side to unload on to the wharf. In all cases where the freight is not loaded overside from lighters it is trucked across the pier and loaded into the ship. So, at least, is the theoretical system of lighters and narrow piers. It must be remembered also that only a portion of the freight can be loaded directly from lighters into the hold. Freight should be spread out and sorted in order to be loaded properly and, to a large measure, should also be assembled in advance of the loading of the vessel. Warehouses in their relation to the wharf have undergone an evolution in the United States in the last two or three years. A great deal of the congestion on the wharf can be avoided by plan- ning the warehouses within electric trailer-truck service distance. This has been well accomplished at the new quartermasters' supply bases at several of our ports. By being able to hold freight in ware- houses adjacent to the piers, it is possible to clear the piers almost immediately, or to marshal the cargo and bring it to the ship's side in a regular and steady flow according to the cargo plan. Skilled personnel is of the greatest possible importance in all of this work. This includes skilled personnel from the pier superin- tendent to the longshoremen. The skill of all of these persons requires practice and experience ; it also requires close study. Unless an individual has great ability and a type of mind that will cause him to work things out for himself, experience and practice alone will not make of him a chief stevedore or a wharf superintendent. *R. S. MacElwee, Ports and Terminal Facilities. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1918. WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 29 The successful man is the one who knows more than the mere rou- tine of his vocation. He must know the reasons for his duties and their relation to the whole. Then, with imagination he can make constructive suggestions and direct others. It is a very difficult task with which we are confronted in this volume. The prime object is to bring between two covers the best experience of many others in such a form that the years of apprenticeship necessary to acquire skill and experience may be shortened and methods of thought upon the prime reasons for doing things may be developed in the ambitious young wharfinger. Only through training a personnel, skilled in understanding the problems involved and in ability to carry on, can we hope to make our American merchant marine a financially profitable business enterprise. Unless it is, its failure is unavoidable. INCREASED PROFITS BY SKILLFUL STOWING Loading to Maximum Capacity. To make the greatest profits during a voyage a ship must be loaded "full and down to her marks." The vessel must carry both her maximum dead-weight capacity and her maximum cubic capacity. If a ship is loaded entirely with pig iron it will be lowered to its marks and still will be partly empty. If it be loaded with cotton, it will be full, but will be high out of the water. As most freight contracts read that freight is paid "by weight or measure at ship's option," one will see that the company is charging a certain price per ton by weight if the goods are heavy, and a certain amount per 40 cubic feet, that is, by meas- urement, if the goods are light. Loading to maximum weight and volume, therefore, is an important factor. Of course, the chief stevedore must take his freight as it comes. It is much easier for him to load four vessels at one time than to load one, because he has a greater choice in the shifting of his cargo according to its nature. However, through cooperation between the men on the wharf and the freight agent who books the cargo, and through planning the enfreightment in advance, a great deal may be done "to have her full and down to her marks." Kinds of Tonnage. The various types of tonnage must be clearly in mind, and they may be reviewed here as an aid to further progress in this volume. The measurement cargo ton of 40 cubic 30 WHARF MANAGEMENT M S !_ I o v *- O .H i! ft. C x " ^ 1 21 G x ^ <" S oT " O S 5, H s. s! H VIH S O c C/0 O U qui EQ K I 3 S, 2 s CO ctf U II Noot^toioioioOoo vopiOrJOt^vo r.00 T v f vooov f ^^ Mvo-voto^ vn l^ N ffs vn vi i/i 4j- O^Ml 1 Wlt^MVO^VOVO *O IH VO TJ- O O o" G n ^ 3 ^ Jfe ^3 .... "Ea j : j j i ! : H - : : : : ! i>$ : : : : : : : : fft : : : : c: u ^n H g reU ^0 | 11 ^P T3"T3 5 c jc rt m ' ' ' I s a (3 . ri 5< :J SM-. : : : 6 : : 00 bo ,b 5 o T3 0, ^ If |J ^W o U "S * ^ " g S J3 3 w X) O .S w w H -M *-' "s 2 ^ u ^ * tn 5 B ^- y P3 flJ "o>i3 2 w^t'bo^.c! rt^w o ^* S 3 , 5 OOPMPMP^C/D C/DH> *S^5 vO i . 03 ^^ U . .a tc u Ii vooo to o rj- o *ovo ^ to t^ o t^ ^ ^ 00 W^ c.8 . ^^ ^cS >,0 2 %^ * &* .M . o^ o : : : : : : : : g s : : : c ,2 'Crt a r P O i^ CJ *s : : : : : :-g : : : ures are taken s," by Thoma ashington, D. 3 o u ; | i : t ^ w " ii 3 oT c "c rt '.5 ^ '^ ts J3 *6 f S .S ^ w5"^S - M o-^'^'rt^rt "5 i<-g S S 1 u |^o|pq PQUU UUUfa HJ S NOTE. The above fig "Stowage of Ship Cargoe tendent of Documents, W WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 31 feet is probably based upon wheat, as a ton of this commodity occu- pies and requires 40 cubic feet of space. The accompanying table shows the stowage factors of some important commodities, that is, the space occupied by a long ton of the commodities as they stow in a ship. There are five kinds of tonnage in use in the shipping business. They are dead-weight tonnage, cargo tonnage, gross, net, and dis- placement tonnages. 1. Dead-weight tonnage expresses the number of tons of 2,240 pounds that a vessel can transport of cargo, stores, and bunker fuel. It is the difference between the number of tons of water a vessel displaces "light" and the number of tons it displaces when sub- merged to the "load water line." Dead-weight tonnage is used interchangeably with dead-weight carrying capacity. A vessel's capacity for weight cargo is less than its total dead-weight tonnage. 2. Cargo tonnage is either "weight" or "measurement." The weight ton in the United States and in British countries is the English long or gross ton of 2,240 pounds. In France and other countries using the metric system a weight ton is 2,204.6 pounds. A "measurement" ton is usually 40 cubic feet or 1.133 cu bic meters, but in some instances a larger number of cubic feet is taken for a ton. Most ocean package freight is taken at weight or measurement (W/M), ship's option. 3. Gross tonnage applies to vessels, not to cargo. It is deter- mined by dividing by 1OO the contents, in cubic feet, of the vessel's closed-in spaces. A vessel ton is 100 cubic feet. The register of a vessel states both gross and net tonnage. 4. Net tonnage is a vessel's gross tonnage minus deductions of space occupied by accommodations for crew, by machinery for navigation, by the engine room and fuel. A vessel's net tonnage expresses the space available for the accommodation of passengers and the stowage of cargo. A ton of cargo, in most instances, occu- pies less than 100 cubic feet; hence, the vessel's cargo tonnage may exceed its net tonnage and, indeed, the tonnage of cargo carried is usually greater than the gross tonnage. 5. Displacement of a vessel is the weight, in tons of 2,240 pounds, of the vessel and its contents. Displacement "light" is the weight of the vessel without stores, bunker fuel, or cargo. Displace- ment "loaded" is the weight of the vessel, plus cargo, fuel, and stores. 32 WHARF MANAGEMENT For a modern freight steamer the following relative tonnage figures would ordinarily be approximately correct : Net tonnage (B. R. T. net) 4,000 Gross tonnage (B. R. T. gr.) 6,000 Dead-weight carrying capacity (D. W. T.) 10,000 Displacement loade'd, about (T. D.) I3>35O A vessel's registered tonnage, whether gross or net, is practi- cally the same under the American rules and the British rules. When measured according to the Panama or Suez tonnage rules most vessels have larger gross and net tonnages than when measured by British or American national rules. 5 INCREASED PROFITS THROUGH PREVENTION OF DAMAGE Increased profits are possible through the prevention of damage. Not alone will profits be increased by economy through skillful stowing, or through quick dispatch in port, but also through skillful loading of the vessel to prevent loss by damage to the ship, by damage to the cargo, by injuries to the crew, and by realizing a minimum insurance rate. Carelessness or lack of skill in loading may lead to claims for damages on the part of the shipper, or may even endanger the very existence of the ship itself. Prevention of Damage to the Ship or Injury to Crew. Failure to place the cargo properly may result in strain or injury to the vessel, or perhaps in total loss. If the weight is too low the ship will roll badly ; if too high it may capsize ; if distributed unevenly along the keel the vessel will be out of trim ; and if there is excessive weight on one side a list will be given. Unless the cargo is well secured, shifting will occur, with resultant strain and break- age. Moreover, some cargo, because of its very character, will injure the vessel. Acids will corrode metal parts, oils will discolor wood- work and make it inflammable, fertilizers will leave obnoxious odors, and other kinds of goods will have equally serious effects. A large number of vessels are wrecked each year because of poor stowage and dangerous cargoes. Members of the crew are injured or lost for the same reasons. More careful work would result in the saving of many lives and thousands of dollars. 5 Prepared for the United States Shipping Board by Dr. Emory R. Johnson. WHARF EFFICIENCY AND SHIPPING PROFITS 33 Prevention of Damage to the Cargo. Cargo should be pro- tected against various sources of damage, such as moisture, heat, vermin, chafe, and theft. The profits of a voyage may be absorbed by damage claims, unless stowage is carefully carried out. Losses most frequently fall upon the insurance underwriters, but the ship- owner is liable if negligence is shown. It is probable that a larger percentage of cargo has been damaged in transit during the last few years than ever before. Shipowners have grown careless and long- shoremen doubly careless. Remedial measures require concerted and forceful action. Saving through Reduced Insurance Rates and Deprecia- tion Charges. The shipowner does not have to bear the high in- surance rates against damage or theft of cargo, but a large portion of his gross income is paid for insurance and depreciation on his vessel. The insurance charges will be reduced for him if he can place his vessel in a higher class or if the whole level of rates is lowered. The level will be lowered only as losses become less frequent. Each shipowner therefore plays a part in fixing his own rate, even though he often feels that he has no hand in the matter. There is a closer relation between his action and the depreciation rate. Of course, depreciation depends upon other factors than stowage, but it is evident that careless stowage leads to rapid depreciation and therefore to high depreciation charges. Care in stowage will, in the long run, result in great economy. This introductory summary of factors entering into the respon- sibility of the wharf superintendent and his staff in making a steam- ship company a losing or a profitable business enterprise should be kept firmly in mind throughout the following pages. CHAPTER II FROM LAND TO WATER CARRIER 1 LOADING AND UNLOADING The wharf superintendent, his staff, and his equipment exist to the end that ships may be loaded and unloaded ; they must be loaded from the land and must discharge cargo to the land. Before passing to the details of the problem it will be well to review in a general way the various types of cargo and carrier which the wharf must accommodate. Movement of Cargo by Lighters. In ports where there is insufficient depth of water at the wharves or along the shore the freight must be moved between ship and shore by means of other vessels. At many of the ports in the world the larger vessels cannot come up to the shore at all and must remain anchored "in stream" if the port is a river port, or in the open roadstead of the bay. This is true at Shanghai, for instance, where the chests of tea are loaded from the shore into a small junk that can come up to the shallow- water wharves. The junk goes out to the ship, which is anchored down the river, and the tea is loaded from the junk overside into the seagoing ship in the open roadstead. A notable example of lighterage service in loading and unloading ships and bringing the cargo to and from the ship and the shore is to be found on the west coast of South America. In most of the west- coast ports the ships anchor in the open roadstead and discharge their freight onto lighters. The difficulties of building permanent wharves are very great and would cost more than the volume of the traffic could bear. It is more economical to lighter a small volume of freight per annum than to expend large sums in permanent works. Where there is a sufficient volume of freight to justify the capital investment in constructing permanent and solid landing places this is done. Therefore, by necessity, lighters may be used to "lighten" 1 By R. S. MacElwee. 34 FROM LAND TO WATER CARRIER 35 a ship or, in the case of a small movement of cargo which will not make it pay to build expensive facilities, the lighter is used by choice. Grain. The smaller vessels or lighters may be used by preference in well-equipped harbors. For instance, it is usually more economical to move a part of a cargo of grain to a ship taking on or discharging miscellaneous freight at a wharf than it is to move the ship to the grain elevator. Therefore, in all great harbors where there is a considerable movement of grain, there are to be found high-power pneumatic or other mechanical floating grain elevators that come alongside the ship to discharge or load grain from lighters or barges. Bunker Coal. Where a collier is loading a full cargo of coal, it is more economical to bring the coal to the ship for bunkering purposes than it is to have the ship go to the coal pile. Heavy Articles. Very heavy articles are loaded overside from lighters by preference. Usually the wharves are too congested with small articles to give maneuvering space and are not equipped with cranes to handle goods in cases or packages that are too heavy to be handled by the ship's booms and deck winches. In such cases it is more economical to pick up the heavy packages at the point of origin in the harbor and place them on a lighter by means of a floating derrick with large lifting capacity. One derrick remains alongside the hatch to put the heavy packages from the lighter into the ship. The lighters are loaded by either stationary or floating derricks at the point of origin in the harbor. In the best-equipped ports articles of two or more tons are loaded from lighters and floating derricks. Dangerous Cargo. Dangerous cargo is usually loaded from lighters to a ship anchored some distance from the shore. During the World War most of the ammunition, TNT, cartridges, shells, etc., for the A.E.F., was loaded into ships lying at anchor at Gravesend Bay. River and Canal Barges. When a ship discharges or takes most of its cargo to or from river and canal barges, there is no need of expensive wharf construction, because the ship can discharge directly overside into these canal barges or take its cargo from them. In fact, certain great ports, in particular the port of Rotterdam, have long rows of mooring posts or dolphins to which ships tie and lade or unlade directly overside from river and canal barges. Direct Connection by Wharves. In all the important ports of the world and many of the small ones ocean-going ships tie up to 36 WHARF MANAGEMENT a permanent structure. In our American vernacular we call it a "dock." However, a dock is an artificial basin of water usually separated from fluctuations in the water level by means of water gates. A dry-dock is such a basin that is capable of being pumped out and made dry. Unless it is perfectly obvious what is meant, it is confusing to call the wharf structure a dock. The technical name for the permanent structure to which a ship ties to discharge or take on cargo is a wharf. This wharf may be either of pile construction or masonry and fill, or a combination of the two. Piers are wharves that extend into the roadstead or fairway from the shore line. At New York the piers are of pile construction, but at other ports, particularly the new piers at Philadelphia, Norfolk, and Seattle, they are a combination of pile and solid-fill construction. Quay is the European term for wharf and generally means a solid masonry wharf, the masonry wall usually mounted on piling cut off at low water and tied back by stringers into solid ground so that the weight of the shore will not push the wall out into the water. The quay structure is usually understood to be a long bulk- head parallel to the shore, in contradistinction to the pier that extends out into the water more or less at right angles to the shore line. The wharves that border the artificially excavated basins in the great European ports are almost always called quays. Therefore, the word quay has come to be associated in the mind with this type of structure and will be used hereafter to denote a wharf along the bank or shore line or, more correctly, the bulkhead line. A quay system in wharf-planning means something more than a masonry bulkhead wall. The characteristic of the water-front plan behind a quay wall is the arrangement of railroad car tracks, transit shed, marginal street, and warehouses parallel with the quay wall and with the ship at its berth. This enables cargo to move away from each hatch at right angles to the ship without interfering with work going on at other hatches. A huge solid-fill quay pier of considerable length, 2,000 to 5,000 feet, with a width of 500 to 700 feet, yet exhibiting the characteristic of freight contact with the ship at right angles, is a quay system. For all purposes such a pier is two quays back to back. Authorities are in agreement that the quay system is more efficient than the New York pier system wherever physical conditions permit its operation. FROM LAND TO WATER CARRIER 37 For consideration here it is immaterial whether the structure is a wharf, a pier, or a quay, so long as it is a well-constructed and well- equipped place for the lading and unlading of ships. The structure of the wharf from the engineering standpoint 2 and the efficient layout and design 3 of the same to insure the greatest facility of loading and unloading and the handling of the freight across it are too complicated to be entered into here. However, the questions of wharf structure, design, and equipment are of the greatest importance and are not to be treated casually in connection with the other problems in this study. Wharf Equipment. Under "wharf equipment" may be under- stood the transit sheds, the presence or absence of railway tracks on the wharf, the usual cargo-handling machinery, such as cargo masts, winches, cranes of various kinds, telphers, or overhead trolleys, electric trailer trucks, horizontal and elevating conveyors, both elec- tric and gravity, stacking and tiering machinery, specialized equip- ment, and all of the many other devices that have been developed in recent years and are being perfected and added to from time to time. Therefore, a ship entering a harbor may by necessity or by choice establish indirect connections with the land by means of lighter or river barges, or if the facilities are afforded may proceed to a wharf for direct loading or discharging of cargo. The manner of this loading or discharging, either "in stream" or at the wharf is largely dependent upon the nature and construction of the carrier itself, as well as upon the nature of the cargo. The nature of the cargo often determines the type of ship and wharf. KINDS OF CARGO The kind of cargo is most important in determining the type of cargo carrier and the machinery for loading and unloading the same. The type of cargo is the main consideration in determining the methods of storing it at various points in its movement. There is bulk cargo, both solid and liquid ; there are uniform packages, such as bags, bales, bananas, etc. ; and there is general cargo, made up of all kinds of freight in packages, boxes, cases, and containers of *See Carlton Green, Wharves and Piers. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1915. *See R. S. MacElwee, Ports and Terminal Facilities.. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1918, 38 WHARF MANAGEMENT irregular size and weight. These three distinct classes of cargo are determined according to the nature of container or lack of container for the merchandise. Also, there is cargo of extremely high value, such as gold and silver bullion. These different classes must be kept in mind, as both carriers and port facilities should be designed according to the nature of the cargo handled. In addition, there may be considered other characteristics of the cargo, such as the danger of fire and explosion. Bulk Cargo. Bulk cargo in general means all commodities not shipped in containers. Grain. Hard grain, such as wheat, rye, barley, rice, and some- times oats, are usually shipped in bulk. Grain lends itself to han- dling and transfer by gravity flow or pumping by pneumatic ele- vators, and also by mechanical conveyors of the chain-bucket and even the grab-bucket variety. It is moved horizontally by belt conveyors. Grain in bulk requires special equipment for economic handling. Wheat in bulk can be handled very cheaply, but if con- verted into flour and shipped in barrels or sacks it becomes package freight and is handled by manual labor a pinch at a time. The holds of most ocean vessels are made tight so that they can carry grain pumped into the holds in bulk. Grain shipping has its own peculiar considerations, such as conditioning, elevating, stowing for safety to itself and to the vessel, and other considerations that will come out from time to time in the discussion of stowage. Grain is an important cargo for passenger liners, particularly to fill "distress room" when other cargo has not been booked in sufficient quantity. When grain is shipped in bags it ceases to be a bulk commodity and is handled as any similar package freight. Ore and Coal. Ore and coal constitute a large percentage of bulk cargoes. These commodities are usually loaded by gravity chutes from pockets and unloaded by clam-shell grab buckets or chain-bucket conveyors. Equipment for handling coal, ore, lime, sand, and gravel, is of special construction in each case. The load- ing and discharging of ore and coal has reached a high state of development in the United States, particularly on the Great Lakes. The movement of these commodities in bulk has become so spe- cialized that distinctive types of vessels and wharves have been designed for this service. Wherever these bulk commodities are handled by regular ocean-going vessels, either as part or all of their FROM LAND TO WATER CARRIER 39 cargo, their loading and discharge become a part of the duties of the wharf superintendent or chief stevedore. Liquid Cargo. To this group primarily belong petroleum and petroleum products, from crude oil to naphtha, lubricating oil to some extent, although this is usually shipped in containers, and vegetable oils to an increasing extent. Prerequisites in the handling of liquids in bulk are tank vessels, tank cars, pipe lines, and the pumping machinery to load and to unload at equipped wharves or by means of tank lighters. The growth in the use of fuel oil under boilers and for internal-combustion engines of the Diesel type is increasing oil shipments to various tank stations throughout the world. One interesting development may be cited. It is usual for trans-Pacific ships from the United States to carry sufficient fuel oil for the round trip. Oil-burning ships going to the Orient utilize the tanks made empty on the outward voyage to carry bean oil in bulk as cargo on the homeward voyage. The carrying of liquids in bulk is increasing. Even molasses may be carried in this way. The stevedoring problems involved are very simple, as the entire transfer from ship to shore is by means of pumping machinery and special equipment. Ships' Supplies. Bunkering of a ship with coal or fuel oil and putting on board the necessary supplies of lubricating oil and water are of particular interest to the wharf superintendent. Unless a ship is carrying these articles as cargo, it is usually much cheaper to bring them to the ship at her wharf than to move the ship to the supply station. She is usually breasted off from the wharf a sufficient distance to enable coal, oil, or water lighters to come along both sides and to go about their work without interfering with cargo loading. Supplying the ship is bulk-commodity handling en detail rather than en gros, although large quantities are sometimes required. Unifoitn Package Freight. Analysis of the containers used will disclose that large amounts of freight are shipped in "uniform containers." By this we mean barrels, kegs, boxes, bags, and crates of a uniform size, such as crates of oranges, lemons, apples, and other fruit, crates of canned goods, bananas in bunches, and many other commodities in packages running fairly uniform as to size and weight. Bales of cotton are another example of uniform freight. Distinction is drawn between the uniform container and the package that may be of a size to hold anything from a phono- 40 WHARF MANAGEMENT graph to a locomotive. Wherever there is a large percentage of uniform freight it may be worth while to put in special machinery for handling it. This has been done at the cotton warehouses in Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile, and Manchester, England. Banana ships are unloaded by specially constructed banana conveyors and unloaders at New Orleans. The problem in recent years has been attacked with full energy, and new developments in specialized machinery are now appearing on the market. General Cargo. Although general cargo does not comprise the greatest tonnage of all the commodities carried in the world, it is by far the more valuable. For instance, although the great ore, grain, and coal movements through the Soo Canal are almost as large in a single month as the general-cargo movements through the Suez Canal in a year, the value per ton is obviously far greater at Suez. General cargo makes up the large amount of the commerce of the world as we understand it. It is with general cargo primarily that the steamship lines, and to a large extent the tramp ship, are concerned. General cargo may include some bulk shipments ; it includes a large portion of uniform packages and, in addition, all those various crates and boxes that are familiar to our sight along the wharves of the world's ports. General cargo may also include dangerous and precious cargo. It is the lading and unlading, the handling, the warehousing, the stowing of general cargo that is the principal object of the study and concern of marine ship- ping- General cargo, so far as handling in our American ports is concerned, is divided roughly into two classes according to the weight of the package to be handled. Shipping companies agree to load, as part of their duties as carriers, all pacakages of more than 2,000 pounds weight, that are brought alongside. When packages are of a greater weight than 2,OOO pounds each, in many cases it becomes necessary to have special equipment, and the steamship companies are not inclined to consider the handling of these large packages as in- cluded in the freight rate. Although the modern cargo masts of newer ocean ships are capable of lifting packages of more than 10,000 pounds in weight, in most cases it is expedient to use special facili- ties. Under most favorable conditions the large package requires more time and labor to load and stow. Where it is possible to set a railroad car on tracks within reach of the ship's tackle, such large FROM LAND TO WATER CARRIER 41 packages may be lifted aboard from a gondola or flat car on the wharf side. However, whenever there are many packages of much above two tons each it is more economical and more expedient to float them alongside the vessel from the water side and to use a floating derrick to put them aboard. This equipment for handling heavy freight is in a sense analogous to the equipment for handling grain or cbal, since it is special equipment and gives water-side delivery. All such miscellaneous parcels, large and small, go to make up the cargo of a modern steamship and tax the ingenuity of the stevedore. From the outset it is well to remember that general cargo is divided roughly into light packages and heavy packages. Dangerous Cargo. Dangerous cargo belongs either to the general or to bulk-cargo categories. The determining feature is not the container or the size of the package, but the inherent quality of the commodity. The question of shipping dangerous cargo was peculiarly important during the World War when the United States was making delivery to the Allies of TNT, gunpowder, car- tridges, shells and other explosives. The terrific blow-up at the Longtown Pier in New Jersey that wrecked all the window glass in lower Manhattan Island is one example of how dangerous cargo may act on certain occasions. Petroleum, cargo coal, cotton, acids, rags, and many other commodities are considered dangerous cargo. Precautions must be taken to safeguard the ship, its burden, and its crew. The quality of the cargo, therefore, in this study will receive considerable attention, as the wharf superintendent and his chief stevedore must be constantly on the alert as regards the nature of the cargo in its relation to all the factors of stowage. Precious Cargo. Precious cargo is a subdivision of general cargo. In precious cargo we have shipments of goods of very high value, in particular shipments of gold and silver and other precious metals and precious stones. The mails are precious cargo. The transmarine shipment of precious metals takes a very important place in international commerce. Before international exchange and credits were entirely upset by the World War, gold shipments were made by the principal commercial nations to balance payment. It required particular handling and safeguarding on the wharf, while being loaded, and aboard the ship, adding much to the care and respon- sibility of the pier superintendent and his force. WHARF MANAGEMENT TYPES OF CARRIERS The nature of the cargo exerts the dominating influence on the types of carrier and the cargo transfer, handling, and stowage facilities. The tendency toward special designs for special cargoes and trades is marked, and specialization of equipment afloat and ashore should be increased. At present there are two main groupings of carriers from the cargo transfer and handling standpoint: (i) side port, and (2) deck-hatch the horizontal and the vertical transfer systems. Side-port Vessels. Side ports for loading and unloading characterizes one class of vessels. This class is composed principally of coastwise, lake and river vessels, and covered lighters ; also some types of river barges. Coastwise, river, and lake passenger vessels have passenger accommodations almost the entire length of the ship, and the only point of entrance for cargo is through the side ports. Side-port transfer ne- cessitates a horizontal movement for all deck loads. If goods are loaded from the decks into the holds it must be done within the ship. Even if lake and coastwise vessels are not constructed for pas- senger accommodation, the main deck of the vessel is covered from stem and stern and they are loaded through side ports just the same as their more luxurious sisters, the passenger liners. The transit movement is by necessity a horizontal one. Side-port vessels are usually loaded by longshoremen trucking the cargo across a gang- plank from the wharf to the main deck of the vessel. Hatch Vessels. Deck hatches characterize ocean-going vessels which are loaded vertically. The usual cargo carrier has four or five hatches. Cargo is hoisted vertically, swung sidewise across the deck, and lowered vertically. Instead of the longshoremen walking from the ship to the shore with their load and back again empty, there are three gangs : one in the hold, one on the deck working the winches, and one on the wharf. The entire operation of hatch loading and stowing is fundamentally different from that of side-port loading. FIG. i. SIDE PORTS. A Great Lakes package freight steamer. FROM LAND TO WATER CARRIER 43 All-hatch Vessels. Vessels are built for particular kinds of service. One of the most important types of cargo-carrying vessels is that developed on the Great Lakes, in which the entire hull of the vessel, except a small section aft, reserved for the boilers and engine is one continuous hold divided by a few bulkheads. The hatches extend almost entirely across the vessel from rail to rail. There are sometimes as many as thirty-eight hatches over the cargo space of a single vessel. The hold is unobstructed by stanchions, as there is only one deck to support. These vessels are built to carry all materials in bulk that can be handled by gravity chutes into the ship and by grab buckets or suction elevators out of the ship, such as small, hard grain, coal, limestone, etc. Vessels of this type require special equipment for loading and unloading, and the equipment and the vessels are built to conform to a definite system. The question of stevedoring is, therefore, one almost entirely of mechani- cal appliances, the ideal toward which all water-front operation strives. Ocean-going Colliers. Ocean-going colliers and ore-carry- ing vessels have been developed that are somewhat similar to the lake carrier, but they have more lateral and longitudinal rigidity to be able to withstand the strain of the greater wave lengths of the high seas. This has led to the building of bulk-freight carriers specially designed for the ocean. The typical collier or the ore- carrying vessel for instance, in the Swedish-Rotterdam ore trade is easily distinguishable by the double rows of hoisting masts corre- sponding in number to at least twice the number of hatches. In principle, the typical collier, or ore-carrying sea vessel, is the same as the very efficient lake carrier, except that it carries its own han- dling machinery in order to discharge at any point directly overside into lighters, canal boats, or river barges. Tank Vessels. The tanker is another development of the specially designed bulk-cargo vessels. Tankers are similar to the all-hatch lake vessel in principle, that is, they have the large mid- ship structure unobstructed and the machinery and the navigating bridges as near stern and stem as possible. Tankers carry their own pumping machinery in order to handle their cargoes. The principal cargo carried by tankers in bulk is crude and refined petroleum, gasoline, etc. Tankers sometimes carry molasses, bean oil, and other similar liquids in bulk. 44 WHARF MANAGEMENT Refrigerator Ships. Refrigerator ships may be especially built for the purpose from keel up, or they may be ordinary tramp or liner vessels fitted with refrigeration to carry meats, fresh veg- etables, fruits, and other perishable commodities. Refrigerated car- goes require special handling. The refrigerator ship in outward appearance does not differ materially from the ordinary cargo vessel. These, then, are the principal materials with which we have to deal cargoes, wharves, and ships. CHAPTER III WHARF OFFICE ORGANIZATION 1 The General Wharf Superintendent. The general wharf su- perintendent is in charge of all the piers and has every pier activity, even to the smallest detail, always at his command. His experience must be such that whenever he walks through the piers, which he does once or twice a day, he can tell at a glance whether all the activities are moving along as smoothly as they should. He is supplied with a clerical assistant, who is a stenographer and attends to the office routine work, which is practically the same as the work in any commercial office. The Pier Superintendent. The general superintendent has under him a pier superintendent for each pier, whose duty it is to superintend everything pertaining to the handling of cargo from the time it is accepted by the delivery clerk from the owner or shipper until it is properly stowed in the ship, or from the time the cargo is taken from the ship and delivered to the owner or consignee, baggage included. The pier superintendent must at all times keep in close touch with each progressive step, in order to give any information at any time when called upon by the general wharf superintendent or the head office. It is his duty to adjust all minor misunderstandings that may occur on his pier, unless he feels the trouble is beyond his jurisdiction. The Stowage Clerk. The stowage clerk, usually located in the office of the pier superintendent, sees that the cargo is stowed in accordance with the stowage plan, which has been previously pre- pared by the general manager after consulting the ship's captain. The stowage clerk copies this stowage plan on a profile chart and makes two additional copies, one to go with the ship and one to be sent to the clearance office of the customhouse. The first chart made out is retained by the general wharf superintendent. a This chapter is taken largely from MacElwee, "Training for the Steamship Business." Miscellaneous Series No. 98, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Washington. (Sold by the Superintendent of Documents.) 45 46 WHARF MANAGEMENT The stowage clerk has another duty to perform. Some captains, by reason of their own experience in navigating the ship, want the ship loaded so that she will ride on an even keel ; others may want the ship to have a drag, and still others may want her slightly down at the head. The figures on the bow and stern which indicate the ship's load draft are exactly 6 inches high and are spaced 6 inches apart. For instance, from the bottom of figure 12 to the bottom of I Manager of Operations [ General Wharf Supt | I LomjsKoremer.*! I Detective Force! j Ttme K , ee -jJ Hired from or |AsstT.meK* P T| thru Stevedores to Handle Baggage. FlG. 2. PLAN OF WHARF-OFFICE ORGANIZATION. figure 11 is just 12 inches. Consequently, if the captain wishes his ship to have a 6-inch drag, the stowage clerk, when the ship is loaded, will see that the water line coincides with the top of a figure on the stern and is even with the bottom of the same figure on the bow. If a ship is to ride on an even keel, the water line must coincide either with the top or bottom of corresponding figures on the bow and stern. The stowage clerk, toward the end of loading, watches the marks closely and indicates to the chief stevedore that the vessel is not receiving the required trim by so and so much. In fact, the WHARF OFFICE ORGANIZATION 47 stowage clerk frequently checks the fore-and-aft drafts during load- ing in order to keep the ship on an even keel until nearly loaded, when he proceeds carefully in order to have the ship ride as the cap- tain wishes. The Store Clerk. The store clerk, also directly under the pier superintendent, is in charge of supplies, such as ropes, slings, falls, etc., which belong to the piers and are used in connection with the ship's gear when handling cargo. It is his duty to see that every- thing under his care is kept in its proper place, to keep a record of all material in his charge, order new material when needed, and dispose of all worn-out rope and slings. He gives out rope, slings, etc., to the longshoremen on checks or receipts, and is held responsible for all material not returned to him. He cuts all new rope to the proper lengths; his helpers (longshoremen as a rule) make up slings from the best part of worn rope, also splice new slings, and in general keep everything required in good shape, including the repairing of blocks, etc. BAGGAGE DEPARTMENT Operation of this department comes under the general wharf superintendent. It consists of a baggage master, an assistant bag- gage master, and baggage clerks, according to the amount of pas- senger travel. All rules or instructions governing the handling of baggage are issued by the passenger department. Baggage Master. The baggage master is responsible for this department. It is his duty to see that the rules issued by the pas- senger department are carried out. On outward sailings it is the duty of the baggage master to record all baggage and see that it is properly laden aboard steamer as the passenger desires in the stateroom, in the baggage room where passenger may have access on the voyage, or in the hold where it is not accessible until the steamer arrives at destination. On inbound steamers it is the duty of this department to see that all passengers' baggage discharged from the steamer is placed under the proper letter of the alphabet on the pier for customs examination. The labor for handling trunks on the wharf is furnished by the chief stevedore. Longshoremen are glad to get this sort of work because of the tips in addition to wages. Hand baggage and steamer trunks are handled by the ship's stewards. 48 WHARF MANAGEMENT The baggage department employees must be careful and courteous at all times. A passenger's comfort depends in many ways on the efficiency of this staff. It is important for the baggage department officials, especially in handling third-class and steerage passengers' baggage, to have a speaking knowledge of foreign languages, such as French, Italian, Spanish, the Scandinavian languages, German, Polish, and Russian, as well as familiarity with the value of foreign money. There is a separate baggage room for cabin passengers and for steerage passengers. THE RECEIVING DEPARTMENT There is a head receiving clerk for each pier (at Atlantic ports this is for eastbound freight received for loading on to the ship), with a clerical staff of from two to six assistants, according to the size of the pier and the amount of cargo handled. On the larger piers the staff includes an assistant clerk, a cargo-sheet clerk, a lighter clerk, an extension clerk, and checkers or tally clerks. The Chief Receiving Clerk. This employee is in charge of the receipt of all goods on the pier. He hires his assistants, who are permanent employees (not day workers), and assigns them to their regular work and is responsible for the records and reports of his office. He also indicates the number of tallymen required, who are hired and assigned to him, or he may hire them himself. At the end of each loading of a ship he turns the records over to the pier superintendent. He is in line of promotion to take the position of pier superintendent, but, of course, has competition from other members of the wharf staff who are heads of other departments. The Assistant Receiving Clerk. The assistant receiving clerk occupies a permanent position ; that is, he is not hired by the hour for the job as are tallymen and longshoremen. Usually he is not a union man and is on a straight salary basis. He is responsible for the signing of the dock receipts when goods are delivered at the pier. The dock receipt is a very important ad interim document. The receiving clerk must come up through the other ranks in order to receive that training in routine detail which will enable him easily to detect mistakes and serious errors when they come over his desk. Through experience as tallyman and clerk he acquires a knowledge WHARF OFFICE ORGANIZATION 49 of packages and freight as to size, weight, and many other details, that enables him to recognize a mistake at a glance. He is in charge of the detail work of the receiving office. He directs the activities of the lighter, stowage, and tally clerks, changing them from point to point in accordance with the demands of loading and unloading the cargo, or when handling cargo on the pier. He checks all records and reports. Hours of Work. The receiving clerks, delivery clerks and their assistants, time keepers and assistants, baggage masters and assis- tants, all work eight hours a day, 8 A.M. to 5 P.M., with one hour for lunch. They get time and a half for all overtime, and double time for Sundays and holidays. In May, 1919, according to the president of the Steamship Clerks' Association, there was no stand- ard pay for these clerks, the salary ranging from $36 per week as a minimum to $50 maximum. The Cargo-sheet Clerk. The position of a cargo-sheet clerk is an advancement over the extension and lighterage clerks. He is responsible for making up the dock list or cargo sheet from the stubs of the dock receipts that are given to the truckmen who deliver the goods and from the tally sheets handed to him by the extension clerk and the lighterage clerk. The cargo-sheet clerk is responsible for the correct entering on the cargo sheets of all necessary information required before the vessel leaves the pier. It should be borne in mind that this work must be absolutely accurate and also done with dispatch, because the ship, when loading, receives its cargo rapidly and must not be delayed because of the lack of data that cargo clerks get together to make the manifest. The manifest must be sworn to and delivered at the customhouse as a true account of amount, kind, and destination of articles of cargo before the ship can be cleared. ("Dock sheets" of receiving clerks' returns should not be confused with "cargo books," which are made for use of ship's officer only.) The Lighter Clerk. Another tallyman promoted to full time and permanent pay in the receiving office is the lighterage clerk. He receives the lighterage manifest and from it makes up the data that goes into the ship's manifest. He makes a dock sheet for this pur- pose. Through tallymen he keeps tally of all cargo loaded into the ship from a lighter. He keeps a record of the number of pieces of cargo, the number and mark on each piece, the weight and measure- ment, the number of the hold, and the deck in the hold in which it 50 WHARF MANAGEMENT is stowed. Some companies require him to get this data from the lighter and others from the deck of the ship. The Extension Clerk. The tally sheets from the tallymen go to the extension clerk in the receiving office on the pier. The duty of the extension clerk is to convert all straight measurements of the various pieces of cargo into cubic measurements. The position of extension clerk is a promotion from that of tallyman. He is a union man and to all intents and purposes a tallyman, but works full time. Although receiving the same wage, he is not laid off on slack days at the pier. The extension clerk, by means of conversion or cubical measurement tables, converts the weights and measure- ments on the tally slips to weight tons or 40 cubic feet, and consoli- dates the report ready for the calculation of freight in the prepara- tion of the dock sheets from which is made the ship's manifest in the main office. A case may measure 4 by 4 by 10 feet. This is 160 cubic feet or 4 measurement tons. The case may weigh only 2^/2 tons, but the extension clerk marks down the "tonnage" on which the ship receives the greatest return. Freight charges are based on these records. Tallymen or Checkers. At the bottom of the list of clerks are tallymen, sometimes called "tally clerks" or "checkers," who con- stitute the foundation of the clerical force on the pier. A large pier will employ from ten to thirty tallymen in each department for incoming and for outgoing freight. They count and measure packages delivered to the wharf for shipment, and note any damaged or unusual condition of the package. They also check or tally the cargo discharged from vessels. Their reports are made on tally sheets. Tallymen are usually union men. They are paid by the hour on an eight-hour day basis, but in the interest of efficiency as many as possible are kept in steady employment on the piers. The working hours for checkers (May, 1919), or tally clerks, are from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M., with an hour for lunch, six days a week, for which they receive $5 a day. If they work before 8 A.M., or after 5 P.M., they receive $1 an hour for such service. For Sundays and holidays they receive $8, whether they work one or eight hours. 2 Tallymen may be advanced to more responsible and permanent positions, but they are always paid on the time basis until they 2 The above figures were obtained from the business agent and secre- tary of the Checkers' Union, Local 874, New York, N. Y. WHARF OFFICE ORGANIZATION 51 become assistant chiefs or chiefs of a department. Tallymen should have a good common-school education or preferably a high-school education. They are usually taken on when about eighteen years old, but there is no reason why a college graduate should not begin as a tallyman in the shipping business. A young man taking this position should have a good handwriting and be good in arithmetic, as much of the work is measuring dimensions of cargo. The position is one of the best openings for a man to learn the shipping business from the ground up. The vice president of a great company, who himself, at sixteen, started as an apprentice in a shipping office, stated that there is no place in the shipping business where a man can learn as much about it in the same length of time as in the position of tallyman. THE STEVEDORE The stevedore is the man who is directly responsible for the loading and stowing of a ship or for discharging its cargo. The stevedore's gang for each hatch unloading usually consists of 23 longshoremen, 6 "in the hold," 5 sailormen on deck and 12 men on the pier. These three groups or gangs are under one stevedore fore- man, or sometimes there is one foreman for the forward hatches and another foreman for the after hatches. Longshoreman work is pri- marily manual labor, although much skill is developed, particularly by those who handle the deck winches that run the fall ropes. The stevedore is the executive. It is much the same relation as that existing between masons and carpenters and the contractor. Stowing in the hold requires experience and skill. 3 The Chief or Boss Stevedore. The chief or boss stevedore of a pier is an important person. He usually rises from the ranks of the longshoremen. He learns by experience how a ship can be loaded and in time acquires knowledge of the various ships of the line and their peculiarities. Ships have their own individuality and do not carry their loads alike. He is assisted by the ship's officers, who also acquire an intimate knowledge of how a cargo can best be stowed on their own particular vessel. The ship must be loaded to capacity so as to avoid waste of carrying space, and yet it must not be loaded below the safe-load line or in such manner as to strain 3 See Chapter IV, page 55; also Barnes, The Longshoremen, pp. 51-54. 52 WHARF MANAGEMENT hull or expose cargo to damage. Furthermore, certain kinds of cargo are prohibited by law and certain other kinds may be carried only in a manner specified by law. A thoroughly competent chief stevedore is of such importance that he is seldom promoted to be pier superintendent, it being more advantageous to keep him on the job and increase his pay. A longshoreman or a boss stevedore may save some capital and become a contracting stevedore, but this has lately become more difficult, as an increased number of steam- ship lines do their stevedoring under their own salaried chief steve- dore instead of letting it out on contracts. Longshoremen. Longshoremen 4 are usually union men. They work by the hour. Formerly a gang could load 250 tons a day, but now the efficiency of the longshoremen has decreased until a gang will load less than half this amount. Wages have about doubled, making a 400 per cent increase in the cost per ton of loading and discharging vessels. As in other industries, the only remedy is to increase the output of the worker by mechanical inventions. "Labor- saving machinery" is simply an expression for mechanical devices that will enable one longshoreman to handle many more tons of freight in eight hours. The Timekeeper. Each pier has a timekeeper and an assistant timekeeper. Sometimes a tallyman is assigned as a third member of this force. On some piers the timekeeper force is a large one ; on others two or three on each pier are considered sufficient. The qualification for this position is primarily a memory for faces and names. The timekeeper checks the time that the men enter and leave the pier. Some lines use a time clock, but on some large piers full reliance is placed on the timekeeper's quick eye and memory. It requires a clear head to be a timekeeper, as he has to charge labor time against forty-eight different items (in the cost accounting of the company here cited). The timekeeper also makes reports on accidents. The performance of the duties of this position involves considerable exposure at drafty pier entrances, summer and winter, but as it is almost entirely an open-air job, it offers this advantage to those who do not like to work inside. The timekeeper makes up the pay envelopes for the men and is responsible for the pay of the pier force. A tallyman is often assigned to full-time duty as assist- ant timekeeper and is in line for promotion to timekeeper. * See Chapter IV, page 55; also Barnes, The Longshoremen, WHARF OFFICE ORGANIZATION 53 THE DELIVERY DEPARTMENT The delivery department has charge of incoming freight. (At Atlantic ports this is westbound freight.) For each group of piers there is a chief delivery clerk, who has under him a delivery clerk on each pier. Beginning at the bottom are tallymen, who belong to the same union as those of the receiving department. The force of tallymen is the same and may be employed by either department. The tallymen check the goods as they come from the ship on to the pier and make out checking slips in such a manner that it is possible at the office to see what cargo on the manifest has been received. Errors of excess or deficiency are detected in this way and brought to the attention of the delivery clerk, who is responsible for the notation of any pilfering or damaged packages. Aside from the tallymen, the office force of the inbound freight department consists of a delivery clerk, one or two assistant delivery clerks, clearance clerk, and customhouse clerks, who handle the several operations of inbound freight routine. While the ship is at sea the cargo-discharging receipt book is made up by the purser from the ship's manifest. When the goods are landed from the vessel and made ready for deliveiy they are checked by the tallymen according to marks and numbers on tally slips and stamped by the customs inspector to show that the necessary request for landing permit has been lodged. The tally slips are sent to the delivery office and if everything is in order, freight paid, etc., receipts are taken and delivery effected. The cargo book goes to the receiving office on the pier; the bills of lading go to the customhouse and are entered there ; and a permit to take the goods from the pier is issued. When the goods are taken from the pier an entry to that effect is made in the cargo book. When 10 per cent of the goods go to the customs appraisers' stores for valuation, they must be accounted for and the necessary entry made and papers issued to cover this merchandise. The clearance clerk is entrusted with the issuing of the proper notices and the checking of delivery of shipments to the consignee. In addition, the members of his force must make out lien notices on the freight, and after five days prepare removal notices directing removal of goods within forty- eight hours. If they are not removed they go to warehouses "at the cost of the merchandise," for which the proper papers and receipts 54 WHARF MANAGEMENT must be made out. There are also general order store notices, damaged cargo special reports, claim reports, and many other forms that must be rapidly and carefully handled by this force and checked by the chief clerk in charge. The inbound or delivery department on the pier is complicated because of the customs formalities. Damage or loss is usually detected at the time of landing and delivery of the merchandise to the consignee rather than when it is loaded. This puts most of the work for claims and adjustments on the receiving staff. THE DETECTIVE FORCE Under the wharf superintendent on every pier is a private detec- tive force maintained by the company or furnished by an agency under contract. The paper work in connection with service will be discussed in a later chapter. These detectives, like those in depart- ment stores, are primarily interested in preventing pilfering; they become expert in noticing any package that has been tampered with and in diagnosing other causes of damage to cargo. The judgment of an experienced pier detective is valuable in the adjustment of all kinds of insurance claims as well as in the protection of the cargo. There is a chief detective with several assistants on each pier. They are private detectives a part of the wharf force. When a ship is being loaded an assistant detective is placed in each hold, while others are stationed at advantageous points on the pier to keep a watchful eye on all activities. This survey of the wharf organization is given here to serve in orienting the newcomer, as was the purpose of the preceding chap- ters. Details of the various duties and departments are discussed in succeeding chapters. CHAPTER IV THE LONGSHOREMEN * Longshoremen and the Importance of Their Work. The general public has only within the last year or two become aware of the meaning of the term "longshoremen" and the importance of the longshoreman's work. The aid given by the longshoremen in dis- patching supplies to France, the competition between the different stevedore units at the base ports abroad, and the succession of longshore labor troubles and strikes in this and other countries have all helped us to recognize that a longshoreman is one who loads or unloads ships. This, however, is not an exact definition. He must be distinguished from the stevedore, who is his superintendent or employer ; from members of the crew who no longer assist in the loading operations; and from the dock workers and other laborers along the water front. The National Adjustment Commission has defined a longshoreman as "one who carries cargo to the hatch or to the ship's side," but this definition is not broad enough, for long- shoremen also work on the deck and in the hold of the vessel. Any laborer who is employed for the purpose of loading or discharging ship's cargo is a longshoreman. There are perhaps 90,000 men in the United States who may properly be classed as longshoremen, and there are many more who occasionally engage in longshore work. These few men handle millions of tons of domestic freight and over 90,000,000 tons of foreign freight every year; they are responsible for the safety of more than ten billion dollars' worth of exports and imports ; and yet they are an isolated and unknown group of our society. There is only one book about them and the author of that states that "the most conspicuous fact concerning the longshoreman is his incon- spicuousness. Libraries, statistical reports, labor histories almost without exception ignore him or misstate his case." 2 1 By Thomas R. Taylor. 2 Barnes, The Longshoremen. 55 56 WHARF MANAGEMENT Nationality and Skill. The group is made up very largely at the present time, and especially along the Atlantic seaboard, of Irish, Negroes, and southern Europeans. Negro longshoremen are com- mon from Galveston to Baltimore, and they flocked to Philadelphia and New York in large numbers when the World War cut off the immigration of unskilled labor. At New York, the Irish were employed almost exclusively until about 1887, when there was a great influx of Italians. Since then, men of other races, especially Jews and Slavs, have entered the industry and the average gang at present is a mixture of almost all races. Negroes are ordinarily placed in groups by themselves, but it is not uncommon to see them in holds working with Germans, Greeks, Jews, Italians, Austrians, Syrians, and others. Irish or Americans are still preferred, for they are stronger on the average, are less subject to disease, and keep their head in emergencies and in the flood of Bolshevist litera- ture which has recently swept its flotsam of trash into the ears of the gullible Negroes and southern Europeans. It will be seen that, with the exception of the Irish, the longshore group is composed largely of the cheap, unskilled type of labor. The reason for this is the casual nature of the work rather than the scale of wages or the degree of skill required. The longshoreman can never be sure of steady employment, because the amount of available work depends altogether upon the number of ships in port and this is subject to great fluctuations from day to day or from season to season. The individual longshoreman who is familiar perhaps with the opportunities for work in only one part of the port, in which part there may be much greater variation than shown for the port as a whole, feels these fluctuations greatly. This is well illustrated in New York where there are great distances between different sections of the port. The longshoreman, working in the Chelsea section, is not in touch with the opportunities for work in Hoboken or Brooklyn, and the steadiness of his employment depends almost altogether on the number of ships loading and discharging at the Chelsea piers. Under conditions such as these it is difficult to attract the better class of laborers who prefer permanent employ- ment even if the daily wage is less. Consequently the longshore- men's trade has been left largely to the casual, unskilled type. This condition will undoubtedly continue as long as there is lack of permanency about the work, and as long as other factors, such as THE LONGSHOREMEN 57 the dangerous nature of the occupation, emphasize the relative undesirability of the trade. Classification according to Skill. The building up of a skilled personnel is made difficult also by the variation in the char- acter of the work of the individual longshoremen. Manual skill is developed by constant repetition of one movement or one set of movements, and the average longshoreman does not have the oppor- tunity for such repetition. He works on different piers and ships, with different commodities, and at different operations. Almost every day, or even every hour, his work changes. He is forced to be a Jack-of-all-trades. There are, however, certain chances for spe- cialization, and these have afforded several bases of classification of longshoremen according to their skill. There is first the classifica- tion of skill according to the class of trade of the ship being worked. The "deep-sea" longshoremen, who load and discharge the cargoes of ships in the foreign trade, must do their work more carefully than those working on a coastwise vessel, and they stand on a higher plane and receive higher wages than the coastwise worker. The coastwise worker in turn ranks higher than the man who handles the cargoes of harbor craft and to whom the term "shenanago" is deri- sively applied. Classification according to Trade. There can be made a sec- ond classification based on the commodity handled. No skill or dexterity is required in the handling of some commodities, and any man picked up off the streets can learn his duties in a few minutes. The unloading of bananas is an excellent illustration of this, for this work consists simply of passing bunches of bananas along a chain of men. These men are considered professionally and socially inferior to those who work on commodities that are more difficult to transfer or stow. The loading or discharging of lumber, grain, coal, explosives, oil, barreled materials, and of some other com- modities requires the exercise of qualities not possessed or developed by the "banana fiend," and it is in the handling of these commodi- ties that we find longshoremen who may be properly considered skilled specialists. A grain trimmer, for example, may become so adept that he is in great demand and will refuse to work on any- thing but grain. The great mass of longshoremen, however, handle general cargo or bulk cargo indiscriminately and make no effort to specialize. 58 WHARF MANAGEMENT Classification according to Actual Work Performed. Some truck goods on the pier, others make up the slings, give signals, run the winches or falls, or stow goods in the hold. In some places there are well-defined lines between these classes. A pier man will stay a pier man until he is promoted to a higher grade, and a winch- man will operate winches day after day. In such places there is opportunity for specialization. At other ports, however, there is little or no distinction, and a man shifts from one work to another. Ways of Building Up a Skilled Personnel. It would be advantageous to the shipowner if skilled workmen could be attracted to, or developed in, the trade, for inefficient and careless work causes delays in port and damages to cargo and ship. There are two possible ways of building up such a skilled force. One is to attract the better type of man by regularizing employment in paying the men on the monthly or weekly basis instead of by the hour or day, and this course has been taken by several steamship companies. The other method is to develop skill under the present daily wage system by hiring specialists only for all work that requires any training. A central employment agency could keep all longshoremen listed as barrel men, coal trimmers, winchmen, etc., and the stevedore or pier superintendent could call for those needed. This system has been adopted at several foreign ports but is rather consistently opposed by stevedores in this country. Methods of Hiring Longshoremen. The methods of hiring generally used in the United States are quite primitive. At New York the expected arrival of a vessel is heralded by the hoisting of a flag at the pier at which it will dock, and by a notice in the news- papers. Longshoremen out of work gather outside the entrance to the pier shortly before the vessel arrives or in the morning following arrival. It is customary for them to form or "shape" in a semicircle at the pier entrance. When the ship is ready to work, the stevedore or foreman takes a place within the "shape" and begins picking out men with whom he is familiar or to whom he is attracted. As each man is called out he passes by the timekeeper, gives his name and receives a numbered check. Several men are then combined into a gang, put in charge of a foreman, and sent to work. A gang may be held together only for a few hours, or it may be kept as long as there is work on that one ship or on several ships. When a man is released THE LONGSHOREMEN 59 he gives his check number to the timekeeper, but he does not sur- render his check until he is paid at the end of the week. This method has several modifications. At Philadelphia, for example, the men gather "at the corner" of Front and Christian Streets in the evening, and are employed for the following day. At some piers in New York men have been hired by the hundred instead of by individuals or gangs. Men are given checks of the first hundred, second hundred, or third hundred, according to their ability, and if there is a shortage of work, the men holding checks of the lowered hundreds will not be hired. Whenever men are hired in this way employment is by the hour only. If there is a delay in the receipt of freight and therefore in the loading operations, part or all of the men will be released. Nor can the foreman always tell them when to return. They may go home for the rest of the day, seek work elsewhere, or stay near the pier entrance in the hope that they will be wanted. To overcome this undesirable situation some companies with regular sailings have tried the method of employing men by the week or month. In some cases this has worked very satisfactorily, and it is to be hoped that more companies will find it a plan convenient to adopt. Gang Work. It would also be beneficial to hold the gangs intact as much as possible. A gang is a group of longshoremen working as a unit in handling cargo through one hatch. If the same men work together constantly, they will grow accustomed to one another and there will be a development of teamwork. The size of the gang and the distribution of its members depend upon many factors, the most important of which are the kind of cargo, and whether the cargo is being loaded or discharged. In the loading of general cargo the average size of the gang is from 18 to 24 men. Approximately one-half of these will be in the hold stow- ing the goods ; three to five will be on deck running the winches, handling the falls, and giving signals; and the remainder will be on the pier, trucking the freight to the picking-up place and making up the drafts. In the discharge of general cargo the gang is about the same size, but more men (approximately one-half of the total) are placed on the pier, trucking, sorting, and filling the consign- ments. In either case, however, the size will vary with the progress of the work, with the character of the ship and its transfer equip- 60 WHARF MANAGEMENT ment, with the nature of the cargo, and with other factors. When loading has just begun, the distances in the hold are relatively great and more men can be accommodated and are required to move and stow the goods than when the hold is nearly full. If the holds and hatches are large and the transfer equipment is adequate, more men can be placed in a gang, or two or three gangs can be worked at one hatch. Machinery to handle the goods on the pier or between the pier and the vessel will allow for a decrease in the number of men on the pier and deck. The kind of cargo, of course, has a great influence. Bulk cargo is handled so largely by machinery that the size of the loading gang may be reduced to two or three men, this being particularly true of those commodities that do not have to be trimmed or moved in any way after they are put in the hold. Other kinds of cargo, such as railroad rails, may require a large amount of labor on the pier and deck and relatively little in the hold. Still others, such as cotton which is compressed in the hold by screwing, require an exceptionally large number of men in the hold. For these reasons it is impossible to state what is the proper size of a gang or how its members should be distributed. But it seems clear that there should be greater standardization than is found at present. Standards have been established only by those piers where the work varies but little, as where uniform package freight, such as sugar or case oil, is handled day after day. At other places there is almost no approach to standardization, and it will be found that the loading gangs of general cargo at different ports or even at adjacent piers differ greatly. It is also noticeable that few gangs work at top efficiency; there is almost always a congestion at one point and a slackening up of effort at others. If the stevedore would seriously attack the problem by keeping time study records of the speed of loading and discharging with gangs of different sizes and make-up, he would undoubtedly be surprised at the savings that could be made by standardization. Barnes gives the following concerning the hatch gangs. In loading, the number of men in the hold is greater than on the pier. In discharging, more men are needed on the pier. On the White Star piers, for instance, in discharging, 6 men of each hatch gang are worked in the hold, 5 to 6 on deck, and 12 on the pier. In loading, 6 of the pier men are transferred to the hold. THE LONGSHOREMEN 61 But from pier to pier the numbers vary. On the Brooklyn piers 14 men often constitute a hatch gang. Speaking generally, however, one can say that there are usually from 18 to 23 men to a hatch gang. There are usually from 9 to 12 men on the pier 2 or 3 "slingers," who fasten the slings around ORGANIZATION OF HATCH GANGS 3 DISTRIBUTION OF MEN IN GANGS AT NINE CHELSEA PIERS Line Piers Men in gang Men working On the pier On deck In the hold Un- load- ing Load- ing Un- load- ing Load- ing White Star Line 2 3 i i i i 23-24 25-27 23-24 20-21 23 21-23 12 IO-I2 12 11-12 12 10-12 6 8-10 6 7-8 6 6-8 5-6 5-6 4 5 5 6 8 6 4-6 6 6 12 IO-I2 12 8-10 12 IO Cunard Line Red Star Line Atlantic Transport Line.. French Line American Line DISTRIBUTION OF MEN IN GANGS AT NINE HOBOKEN PIERS Piers Men in gang Men working On the pier On deck In the hold Un- load- ing Load- ing Un- load- ing 6-7 6-7 4-6 4-6 Load- ing 8-10 8-12 4-8 6-8 6-1 o Hamburg-American Line . North German Lloyd Line Holland America Line Phoenix Line 3 3 i i i 18-24 20-25 1 6-1 8 15-20 18-22 8-12 10-14 8-10 6-1 o 8-10 6-1 o 6-1 o 4-6 4-8 6-8 3-5 3-5 3-4 3-5 4-5 Scandinavian Line the drafts, and the rest for trucking and tiering up ; from 4 to 6 on deck including the gangway man, winchman, drum-end man, and "hooker-on" ; and, including the headers or hold foremen, 6 or 8 men in the hold. Where the character of the cargo or restricted space on the piei necessitates high stacking often 18 feet or even higher additional men for tiering up are employed. In the old days when piers were small the stacks were frequently carried to the roof. But there is 3 Barnes, The Longshoremen, 32, 33. 62 WHARF MANAGEMENT not so much need for high tiering on the large modern piers, such as those of the Chelsea Improvement. The congestion on some of the piers is often relieved by storing cargo on the "farm." 4 One of the sights of the water front is this space thickly covered with heavy casks, bales, or logs, and with streets and narrow lanes giving access to the piers between the piles of freight. Considerations of economy often cause the number of men em- ployed on a particular job to be reduced below the point of safety. This is most often the case when the work is done by contracting stevedores. For instance, when only four men are employed on deck, the gangway man may have to act as hooker-on. Sometimes the same man is required to turn on the steam for a winch and to act as drum-end man. Another practice even more dangerous, is due to the effort to economize time. When a ship is being rushed, two or even three gangs are sometimes worked in the same hatch. How inevitably either of these forms of economy invites accidents will appear as the description of the work proceeds. There is throughout longshore work a swing and rhythm, as well as a shared responsibility. The gangs must work as a unit if the maximum amount is to be accomplished. Rhythm is attained as soon as the gangs are settled at the work. Unions. The irregularity of employment in the longshore industry not only has brought a relatively poor type of workman into the trade but has caused an interchange of unskilled and semi- skilled laborers with other industries. In slack periods longshore- men would go into other work, and in busy periods, men engaged in other trades, or unemployed, would drift into the ranks of the longshoremen. All of this has made it difficult for the longshore- men to establish and maintain a strong union, especially in New York, where the history of attempts to unionize shows an almost continuous succession of failures. The situation at Roston has 4 According to tradition on the water front, the origin of this term is as follows: Walsh Brothers, once the most important stevedores of the port, had at one time a foreman named Morris Walsh, who had been a farmer in Ireland. Among the men he became known as the "farmer." His particular work was to supervise the storing of goods on the open space in front of the piers. Men used to say: "I'm going out to work with the farmer," or "on the farm." Gradually the open space in front of any pier became known as the "farm." THE LONGSHOREMEN 63 always been more favorabk to the longshoremen and a relatively strong local union was built up early. During the last few years, maintenance of locals at all ports, including New York, and of the national union has been rendered easier by the affiliation with the American Federation of Labor and by the scarcity of labor. Large initiation fees to the union are charged and must be paid by men who enter the trade, so that the members are now protected from the floating laborer. The present situation is described by the Director of the Marine and Dock Industrial Relations Division, United States Shipping Board, as follows: The International Longshoremen's Association was started on the Great Lakes some thirty years ago. It was at first restricted to men handling lumber. At the present fime the association has grown to a point where it includes in its locals every type of labor connected with the loading and unloading of ships, and extends geographically over almost the entire country. Besides the men who actually load and unload vessels, it represents marine warehouse freight handlers, grain-elevator employees, dock and marine engineers, stationary dock hoisters, marine repair men and firemen, licensed tug men, tug fire- men and linemen, marine divers, helpers, tenders, and steam-pump operators, dredge engineers and cranemen, drill-boat workers, dredge firemen and laborers on dredge scows, marine pile drivers, lumber inspectors, tallymen and lumber handlers, top-deck men, cotton and tobacco screw men, general cargo deck laborers, and pool-deck hands and fishermen. MEMBERSHIP BY DISTRICTS OF INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION District Number of Locals Number of Members Atlantic Coast QJ. 41 ooo South Atlantic and Gulf 62 1 8 600 Great Lakes 1 66 14 ooo Pacific Coast e.4 22 OOO I * Total 377 QC 6OO * Not given. 64 WHARF MANAGEMENT The foregoing table shows an association membership of 95,600, distributed among 377 local unions. The association includes Canada, as well as the United States, and is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. As indi- cated above, it includes among its affiliated locals various unions of dock and even marine employees, which because of their large num- ber are not listed in this report. The president is T. V. O'Connor, of Buffalo. The secretary is John J. Joyce, also of Buffalo. Wages. During the period of weakness of the union the at- tempts that were made to increase wages were unsuccessful. The hourly base rate for general cargo work on foreign vessels at New York dropped from 40 cents in 1865 to 3 cents in 1875 and to 25 cents in 1890. From that point there were two increases to 33 cents in 1915, and within the last few years there have been several large increases to 80 cents. This wage enables unskilled, as well as skilled laborers, to earn $8 a day and, since employment is more regular than formerly, the longshoreman need not be greatly concerned over the high cost of living. All disputes over wages and other matters have, since 1917, been settled under the auspices of the National Adjustment Commission, which was formed in that year by representatives of the United States Shipping Board, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Labor, the American Federation of Labor, the International Longshoremen's Association, and the principal shipping operators on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The operators on the Pacific Coast and the Great Lakes later adopted the agreement with some modifications. This commission not only made local awards but successfully sought to establish wage uniformity between the different sections. Tables that follow show the present wage rate for deep-sea and coastwise workers in the different sections. For the North Atlantic ports this rate is paid pier men and, in most instances, hold men; but at Norfolk and the South Atlantic ports the rate applies only to hold men and the late for pier men is lower. The Pacific Coast rates have been regulated very largely by independent action of the shipping operators and the longshore union, and are undergoing change at the present time. At all ports there are differentials for overtime ; for work on 5 "Marine and Dock Labor," 85, 86. The membership figures shown should be accepted with caution. THE LONGSHOREMEN I! H ^ Is P) P Ix O O 00 NO 4 ioo Tf NO' lA. ,0 NO O 10 vo tx 10 ON HI 3 |s O O O O 10 s 3S 10 ro <3 o 10 0000 oooooooo 00 8 SN u i- w POO N P) PO $ ff o' PO X S NO * 3-pT 01 ? t 3 Ss O O O 10 10 oo JJ , 100 00 10 NO' "a "^ NO ON 5 M N PO " CN) B ~ N ' 3 ll t<.0 ;" Oio 10 000 NO' O 10 10 O IO '*" I 0\ PQ s PO PO O 10 10 1 10 10 (N 000 1 O >0 10 IO 10 10 10 * n 5 g . . . V u s averag In 5 o 4j!S"rt o c C3 u o ^ Charleston . . . Savannah .... C "5 o w c jf 3 o San Diego . . . San Francisco Portland Seattle I 66 WHARF MANAGEMENT 2 ^ w II B ^ it ** g s .3 P- 9 PerCent increase IxtxO; ro c 000 6 ~ o SO 00 I 000 6 o' 6 000 c : : : : y co , o m <^^.2 J g f & 2 C C C m * *** -r J J r ^ .... I-SJ5 m"a c c 00 0- Per Cent increase txrxO;0 in o' o" 06 in in ~:: c COO -' ooo o o> 060 m\c "~. ~~ * o o o ^s "o=5 Ss' ? u & m m in m m C C C C C c' 000 c -r moo m , LgoSoS^ i tx tx =l"l -11 2 l**l ^ / c y 000 000 T}- O OO -izz u c "Q *- 00 0* ^S -S C O tx in NO O tx txOO ? 0- m O m tx 1 000 4 SvgvSS 5 * 05-.SS &_"" - "5 |S 0000 "10 1 ^5?^' c 999 -r o o o o XXX tx in tx illl II? rll US mil IX 5s \o' 0* in o c ^ li VC C ^ o o c o g -< 5 -".5 3 ?| n till * u xl^a VO PerCent. increase tx Ix IH O O \C\o -' 3 000 c O O C C tx !Fl 1^^ s<^ "5 !> 2 m m m N (^ ^ m N O j ri 000 c txO j,:i SKs > liP 0. 00000 c o o o o o o O O O o s & =s H lc"l! c oc - - "5 Is m O N r* 5 m N o -- 000 ~ m ixc m 7 J^ u l 5? s . - = 2 W 'rt W ** III* V 5? ? ujs b u . . . m : . : . be CO ?l|s ~ y : : : u g CO lg 3 E 5 OS o Ic"c3 o x2-=:2; E r: j: T^ ^ Charleston . . . Savannah .... Jacksonville . . "5 Cfl Mobile New Orleans . Galveston . . . . "5 c'C C C. rt CO eg O V r. x :_ -y. ~ 3 O u Hill ls THE LONGSHOREMEN 67 holidays, during meal hours, and at night ; and for handling certain commodities. These differentials are indicated in the stevedore rates shown on page 20. Working Conditions and Their Betterment. Now that wages have been advanced to such a point that the longshoreman can live comfortably or more than comfortably, it is noted that the members of the union are making more determined efforts to improve their working conditions. This is but natural and proper, consider- ing the conditions under which they have worked in the past. Unquestionably the life of the average longshoreman is hard. He is never sure of work for more than a few days in advance. He must lift and carry weights of from 100 to 300 pounds. He is exposed to the cold winter storms, the burning summer sun, and the suffo- cating heat of the holds. He is more subject than workmen in most industries to such diseases as pneumonia, tuberculosis, bronchitis, and rheumatism, and is frequently laid up by sickness. His is a particularly hazardous trade as shown by the insurance rates charged in this and other countries. Accidents are common because of defec- tive gear, lack of adequate safeguards, lack of supervision over the methods of work, and the necessity for handling dangerous articles. He may have to work continuously for long periods, or he may have to stand in rain or snow near the pier entrance waiting for work. Rest rooms, lunch rooms, and sanitary lavatories are almost unknown. It will be difficult to correct all these conditions ; but there should be no delay in making a start. The most necessary reform is that of regularizing the work. The creation of a central employment and paying bureau, modeled somewhat after the systems used at Liverpool, London, and elsewhere, is not impossible, though it is not feasible at present, owing to general opposition to the plan. Such a bureau would be of benefit to shipping operators and long- shoremen alike because the methods of hiring, paying off, and collec- tion of insurance would be greatly simplified. Beneficial results would also follow from the wider adoption of the weekly wage system, although it must be recognized that most stevedores must continue to pay their men on the hourly basis. The longshoremen are taking the matter of overwork into their own hands and are refusing to carry heavy weights or to work continuously for long stretches. Moreover, there is a greater installation of machinery to 68 WHARF MANAGEMENT assist in the movement and transfer of freight. Protection against exposure to the elements and against accidents should be afforded in every possible way. The pier superintendent and stevedore must recognize that a system of work which permits the breakdown in youth of strong men and the crippling of others by accident and disease is wasteful, as well as criminal. It is as much to the advan- tage of the stevedore as to the factory owner to install safety appli- ances and to provide decent working conditions. The cost of sun shades and wind breaks for deck men, strong ropes for the falls, lighting of the hold, brakes on the winches, and similar protective measures are small in comparison with the value of the hundreds of lives annually sacrificed^ because of that conservatism in the shipping work which does not permit the adoption of modern methods. National Adjustment Commission Award. In conclusion of this chapter the National Adjustment Commission's award of October 3, 1918, is here added as an example of the nature of agree- ments between longshoremen and steamship companies. It is under- stood, of course, that this agreement has since been modified, par- ticularly as to rates of pay and some details. The object in introducing it here is to show the general terms of this and similar agreements with the admonition to look up the last agreement for any working information. NATIONAL ADJUSTMENT COMMISSION New York, N. Y., October 3, 1918. The International Longshoremen's Association and Affiliated Locals PETITIONING PARTIES: at ports of New York; Boston; Baltimore ; Norfolk and New- port News. Deep-water Steamship Companies OTHER PARTIES INTERESTED : and Stevedores representing the above ports. Readjustment of wages and work- ing conditions of longshore labor at the above mentioned ports, SUBJECT: submitted under the National Adjustment Commission agree- ment. THE LONGSHOREMEN 69 AWARD The question of readjustment of wages and working conditions of longshore labor in connection with deep-water vessels at the ports of New York, Boston, Baltimore, Norfolk, and Newport News was considered by the National Adjustment Commission at meetings convening at New York City, September 30, 1918, and reconvening Tuesday, October i, 1918, and October 2, 1918, and after hearing the parties ancftheir testimony the Commission awards, as follows : First. The basic working day of eight (8) hours with Satur- day half holiday, is hereby established. Second. On general cargo from 8 A. M. to 12 o'clock noon, of all week days, and from i to 5 p. M. on all week days, exclusive of Saturday, men shall receive sixty-five cents (65c) an hour. Third. All other time shall be counted and paid for at the rate of one dollar ($1) per hour. Fourth. When men are ordered out for work beginning Sunday morning, they shall be hired in regular gangs before 5 p. M. on the Saturday preceding. Fifth. When men are ordered out to work and do not start, EXCEPT when the men refuse to start owing to weather conditions, the men shall be paid for two (2) hours at the prevailing rate. Sixth. All differentials in rates of pay shall be maintained according to the agreements now in force or expiring in the various ports. Seventh. Except as herein otherwise provided, all other terms and conditions at the several ports mentioned shall remain as pro- vided by the several agreements now in force or expiring at each port. Eighth. This award shall become effective for the ports of New York, Boston, Baltimore, Norfolk, and Newport News, as of October l, 1918, and shall remain in effect until and including September 30, 1919, unless the National Adjustment Commission of its own motion, upon grounds of National policy, shall sooner reopen and modify the terms thereof. (Signed) JOHN G. PALFREY, representing Shipping Board, Acting Chairman, EDWARD J. BARBER, representing Deepwater S. S. Employers, T. V. O'CONNOR, representing I. L. A. JOHN R. McLANE, representing War Department. 7 o WHARF MANAGEMENT MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT THIS AGREEMENT, made and entered into by and between the undersigned DEEP-WATER STEAMSHIP LINES and CONTRACTING STEVEDORES of the Port of Greater New York and vicinity, as party of the first part, and THE INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSO- CIATION and ITS AFFILIATED LOCALS, as party of the second part is meant to cover the loading and unloading of ships and the bunkering of same in the Port of Greater New York and vicinity, in accordance with the award of the National Adjustment Com- mission, dated New York, October 3, 1918, copy of which is attached hereto. 1. Members of the party of the second part to have the prefer- ence of all work pertaining to the rigging up of the ships and coaling of same as is done at the present time, and the discharging and load- ing of all cargoes under the following terms and conditions : WAGE SCALE 2. (a) The basic working day of eight (8) hours with Satur- day half holiday, is hereby established. (b) On general cargo from 8 A. M. to 12 o'clock noon, of all week days, and from l to 5 p. M. on all week days, exclusive of Saturday, men shall receive sixty-five cents (65c) an hour. (c) All other time shall be counted and paid for at the rate of one dollar ($1) per hour. (d) Legal Holidays are : New Year's Day, Lincoln's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Good Friday on the Jersey Shore, Decora- tion Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Election Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and such other National or State holidays as may be appointed by Executive Authority. (e) Men employed on bulk cargo, ballast, and all coal cargoes, including loading and trimming coal for a steamer's own bunker pur- poses, to receive seventy cents (yoc) per hour between the hours of 8 A. M. and 12 o'clock noon, and from l to 5 p. M., except Saturday, when the workday shall be from 8 A. M. to 12 o'clock noon. All other time to be considered as overtime and paid for at one dollar and five cents ($1.05) per hour. (f) Men are to work any night of the week or Sunday when required. Work performed on Saturday night only to finish ship for sailing Sunday, or to handle mail or baggage. THE LONGSHOREMEN 71 (g) Only baggage and mail to be handled on Labor Day, at one dollar ($i) per hour. 3. (a) When men are handling explosives down the Bay the following scale to apply: Day Work Per hour Holidays, Sunday and Afternoon Saturday per hour 8 A. M. to 12 noon ) $1.30 . $2 OO I P. M. tO 5 P. M. } I A. M. tO 6 A. M. 1 7 A. M. tO 8 A. M. 1 $2.00 $2.OO 5 P. M. tO 6 P. M. 1 7 p. M. to 12 midn't J 6 A. M. tO 7 A. M. 1 Noon to i p. M I $2.60 $2.60 6 P. M. to 7 P. M. 1 12 midn't to i A. M. J Time to start from the time of leaving pier until the time of re- turn to pier. Men to supply their own meals, but fifty cents (50c) per meal to be allowed by the employers. (b) Explosives such as are customarily handled down the Bay when handled at any pier, shall be paid for double time. If dis- pute arises as to what explosives are, it shall be settled by the Bureau of Explosives, whose decision shall be final and accepted by both sides. (c) That the rates in Class 2 are to apply on general cargo of every description, including barrel oil when part of general cargo. Kerosene, gasoline and naphtha in cases, when loaded by case oil gangs, or with a fly, to pay eighty-five cents (85c) per hour. All other time to be one dollar and twenty-five cents ($1.25) per hour. 4. Every effort will be made to arrange for the men to receive their wages at a locality as convenient as possible to the place at which they have performed the work. 5. (a) When men are ordered out for work beginning Sunday morning, they shall be hired in regular gangs before 5 p. M. on the Saturday preceding. (b) When men are ordered out to work and do not start, EXCEPT when the men refuse to start owing to weather conditions, the men shall be paid for two (2) hours at the prevailing rate. 6. The stevedore is to hire the men. No hiring to be done by hatch bosses, but the stevedore may authorize the under foreman to do so. 72 WHARF MANAGEMENT 7. When men are knocked off work fifteen minutes after the hour or later they are to be paid for one-half hour. If they knock off forty-five minutes after the hour they are to be paid for one hour. 8. When it would take more than ten minutes to replace the hatch covers the gangs are to be knocked off ten minutes before quitting time. 9. No chemicals improperly packed or in any but first-class shipping condition are to be accepted or loaded on board ship. If any question arises regarding the condition of this class of cargo, the matter to be left to the proper authority, whose decision will be final. 10. If a ship has been on fire or ashore, all cargo damaged by either fire or water is to be handled at the rates under clause 3, but sound cargo in a separate compartment is to be handled at the rates under clause 2. When rubbers are required for handling wet cargo or explosives, or leather hand pads or gloves for barb wire, they shall be provided by the stevedore or company. 11. The steamer is to supply suitable protection for men work- ing on deck in bad weather. 12. It is expressly understood and agreed that in case of dispute, no stoppage of work shall occur under any circumstances, and that any dispute arising under this agreement which cannot be imme- diately settled by arbitration shall be referred to the Local Adjust- ment Commission, appointed by the authorities in Washington, and if the matter cannot be adjusted by said Commission, it shall be re- ferred to the National Adjustment Commission in Washington, whose decision shall be final. 13. There shall be no beer or other intoxicating liquor brought upon the property of the party of x the first part. For a violation of this clause the guilty party may be discharged and given no further employment by the party of the first part. It is clearly agreed that no men are to be allowed to leave the pier during working hours for the purpose of obtaining drink, or for any purpose whatever except with the express permission of the foreman stevedore in charge. The steamship companies agree to supply proper drinking water on pier, also adequate and cleanly toilet facilities. 14. The party of the second part will not try to uphold incom- petency, shirking of work, pilfering or poaching of cargo; any man guilty of the above offenses shall be dealt with as the party of the first part sees fit, or as the circumstances may require. If any man is convicted of theft, he shall be expelled from the union. , THE LONGSHOREMEN 73 15. There shall be no discrimination by the party of the first part against any member of the party of the second part, nor shall the party of the second part discriminate against the party of the first part. 16. All conditions of labor, including the number of men in holds for loading and discharging, not herein mentioned, to remain as at present. 17. When the party of the second part cannot furnish a suffi- cient number of men to perform the work in a satisfactory manner, then the party of the first part may employ such other men as are available. 18. Men working on piers on the North and East Rivers above Seventy-fifth Street, or on piers at Weehawken, West New York, Yonkers, Long Island City, Staten Island, and Bayonne to receive not more than sixty-five cents (65c) per day to cover time and ex- penses going to and from place of employment, it being understood that the discretion as to the actual traveling time required by the man in each instance shall be left in the hands of the employer. 19. A copy of this agreement to be filed with the War Depart- ment, United States Shipping Board, and National Adjustment Commission, at Washington, D. C. 20. THIS AGREEMENT will go into effect October l, 1918, and will remain in full force and effect until September 30, 1919, unless the National Adjustment Commission of its own motion, upon grounds of National policy, shall sooner reopen and modify the terms thereon. Signed for Employers. Signed for International Longshoremen's Association. REFERENCES BARNES, C. B., The Longshoremen. The Survey Association, New York, 1915. "Report of the Chairman of the National Adjustment Commission for 1917." Government Printing Office. "Marine and Dock Labor." Report of the Director of the Marine and Dock Industrial Relations Division, United States Shipping Board. Government Printing Office, 1919. TAYLOR, THOMAS R. "Stowage of Ship Cargoes. 1 Miscellaneous Series No. 92, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Com- merce. Government Printing Office, 1920. CHAPTER V ACCOUNTING AND PAPER WORK 1 Nearly every one of our four million officers and men in the World War learned what the army term "paper work" (P.W.) means. It is a terse expression in any organization for all the slips, reports, forms, receipts, and other papers that are necessary to keep an orderly record and account of the business. The paper work on a wharf handling millions of dollars of merchandise is very impor- tant, To do it justice would require at least a volume of the size of this one. Such a work has yet to be written. This chapter will endeavor to show the chief forms and the reasons for them. STEAMSHIP ACCOUNTING The wharf paper work must be in harmony with the accounting system of the line and, therefore, a knowledge of the outstanding features of that system is necessary on the wharf. Steamship accounting is based upon "the voyage account" and the "general expense account." The former is similar to the con- tract or job account in constructing companies such as elevator builders, engineering contractors, etc. The general expense account contains those items that cannot be assigned as part of the expense of carrying out a particular contract. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the divisions without very much explanation. The Voyage Account. The accounting begins with the voyage, as this adventure, with others, is the reason for being in business. The receipts from each voyage, less the expenses for that voyage, determine if the voyage was a profitable venture. Every item of receipt or expense that can be logically assigned to a particular voyage is put into the voyage account. There are many expenses, however, that go on just the same regardless of whether this par- *By R. S. MacElwee. 74 VOYAGE ACCOUNT * y 5. 5 ..... Voy. _ y 7.^ 101 ~rofn \rrived- >/ . __ 191..-. 191 Receipts WEST EAST TOTAL PASSENGER FREIGHT VINE. ETC. ^inynRrpe. Gaoss VOVAOI EAjuroros Disbursements WEST BOUND EAST BOUND Europe America America Europe PASSENGER * 2. WAGES 3. AGENT'S COMMISSIONS 4. HEAD TAX 8. TRANSFER CHARGES 10. SUPPLIES 10 It 12. INSURANCE ON PASSAG8 MONEY 12 13. INCIDENTALS 13 14. 14 Total 19. SUB-AGENT'SCOMM'S(1VU*.WI,r,, 19 FREIGHT LOADING AND DISCHARGING CARGO 31. Graia Overtime Included 31 32. Cattle W ti t. E.st. 32 33. Fresb Meat Eur. 33 34. Labor ' Am. 34 35. Moving Cargo on Pier 35 36. Cooperage L 36 37. Customs and Harbor Dnes 37 ~ 33. Alterations and Repairs 38 39. Towage and Lighterage 39 | 40. Wharf Employees 40 41. Incidentals 4| 42. 42 43. COMMISSIONS 43 44. INSURANCE ON FREIGHT MONEY 44 / 45. LOSS AND DAMAGE CLAIMS 4S I 46. BALLAST EXPENSES 46 47 Total Freight Expenses 49. INLAND FREIGHT (T. ta Msdal fno pvi isnism) 49 SO. Sl'B-AGENT'S COMMISSIONS SO 61. PORT CHARGES: Pilotage and Towage 61 62. Wharfage and Dock Dues 62 63. Customs and Harbor Dues 63 64. Incidentals 64 65. DECK DEPT Wages 65 66. Provisions 66 67. Supplies 67 68. _- Repairs 68 (.1. Incidentals 69 Total Deck Dept 70. ENGINE TIBPT.: Wages 70 71. Provisions 71 72. Coal 72 73. Supplies 73 74 Repairs 74 75. Incidentals 75 Total EnKine Dept. 76. PROTECTION AND MARINE INSURANCE 76 77. EXPENSES AT PORT OF CALC 77 Total Steamship Eipense! 79. MAIL EXPENSES 79 80. WINB, TOBACCO, ETC. SO G*ND TOTAI VOYACB ROO(.T f Number of days on round voyage CSTABUttUUWT CHAftOEJ FlG. 3. VOYAGE ACCOUNT. 75 76 WHARF MANAGEMENT ticular voyage took place or not. At the end of the year the other- than-voyage expense must be deducted from total voyage profits to show the net earnings of the steamship enterprise. It will be noted : 1. A "voyage" is out and back, a "round voyage." 2. Receipts are fairly simple: passenger, freight, mail, wine (smoking room, etc.), sundries. 3. Disbursements are subdivided into many items, and each item is given a number that is shown in both margins. The main headings for expenses are Passenger, Freight, and Steamship. 4. Under "Freight" are several important accounts that come under the wharf superintendent, while the steamship charges are under the marine superintendent. Items 31 to 36 are in connection with "Loading and discharging cargo"; also Nos. 37, 38, 39, 40, 45 and 46. These items are all quite obvious, yet it is sometimes difficult to debit the correct account with some unusual item of expense. Under "Expenses not apportioned to voyage accounts" (Fig. 4), the items are assigned numbers above 100. The groups are: Salaries of officers and clerks, Office expenses, Advertising, Wharf expenses, and Lay-up expenses. Common office expenses are prorated among the various branch offices according to an agreed schedule ; that is, in proportion to the amount of business done by each office. Papers for Inbound Freight. As the ship must first dis- charge its freight before loading, it is logical to begin with inbound (at Atlantic ports of the United States, westbound) freight. Forms of the International Mercantile Marine Company from both the Philadelphia and New York offices are used as fairly representative examples. Tally Slip. Goods landed from the ship for eventual delivery to consignees or received at the wharf must be measured and counted. There are two tally slips for this purpose : one for the delivery clerk's office (Fig. 5), and one for the receiving clerk's office (Fig. 6). The checkers or tally clerks measure the packages, enter marks, and tally the packages of shipments. In the case of large shipments in bags, barrels, etc., there may be several hundred pieces in one shipment. The tally clerk marks up the score by making four vertical strokes and one across, forming groups of five. / Expenses Not Apportioned to Voyage Accounts DURING MONTH OF 191 Total 101 Salaries of Officers and Clerks $ * * * * * 101 OFPICB FXPENSES 104 Rent and Taxes 104 105 Office Supplies 05 06 106 07 1 el-crams. Cables & Phone. 107' 08 108 09 Light and Fuel TTF 1 Legal kxpenses 12 Traveling Expenses 2 13 Contributions 3 14 Dues to Asoc,.t,rns 4 15 r.nteitaining Hspentes S 16 Incidentals 6 18 Erectors' Fee, 8 Total Office Expense. / z Pictures and Frames 20 121 Fancy Ads , Posters, etc. 21 122 Regular Newspapers 22 123 Special Nepspe,s 23 124 Special Announcements 24 I2S Postage and K.pre-sage 25 126 20 Total Advertising Expenses * 151 WHARF EXPENSES Salariej.and Wages 51 152 Rents and Taies 52 153 General Repiirs 53 154 Telrcramt. Cables & Phones 34 155 Insurance 55 156 Water and Supplies 56 157 Incidental. 57 158 Power & Wharf Machinery ! 58 160 Supplies 60 161 Repairs 61 162 Stevedore Gear : Supplies 62 163 Repairs 63 i,- Total Wharf Rxpentes 170 Lay-up Expenses 170 Proportion from other lines Total COMMON OFFICE EXPENSES (Proportion) Boston Steams ip !W,n er Freigh * s X Chelsea Piers. OScers CInb tnd Passenger Office Chicago M nneapolis Montreal New Orleans New York New York Operating Department Phi .delphia Pittsburgh San Fraucisco Seat le St. Louis Toronto Washington Winning London, Cockspur Street Leadenhall Street Queenstown Southampton Comptroller's Department Grand Total FlG. 4. GENERAL EXPENSE, OTHER THAN VOYAGE. 77 WHARF MANAGEMENT In the sase of mixed shipments, or when two or three packages are landed together, figures are entered on the slip. The general arrange- ment of this important piece of paper is seen from the illustrations. ' 1. M. M. CO. WHARF New York To DELIVERY CLER1 Steamer Lighter _ 19 t: Com'ncd Finished MARKS PACKAGES ^N^ ^ _ * T-. - - ' *" ^. .,, -' FIG. 5. 07468 1. M. 1 VI. CO. WHARF New Yorl c. 19 To -RECEIVING CLE1 Steamer IK: C*'nc -**~- ** FlG. 6. TALLY SLIPS. Lighter Tally Sheet. Goods discharged from ship to lighter are tallied on a more elaborate sheet (Fig. 7). This sheet shows from what steamer discharged, the date, the marks, tallies and totals, to what lighter delivered, and by whom tallied. ACCOUNTING AND PAPER WORK 79 The Discharging Receipt Book. While at sea the pursers make up the discharging receipt book from the manifest and bills of lading. This is a book of two hundred numbered pages of legal cap One book is necessary for each port at which cargo is dis- size. INTERN. Ex. VTIONAL MERCANTILE MARINE LINES. New York, _ 191/ MARK Total \ 55 Jl 2 i-.^ 1 s! z "J c s= 0. ?2 I 5 <5 c > I D T-s Lighter Tallied by When 2 or more packages are taken at a time, Enter the Quantity in Figures. Score only Single Packages. When Bales of Hides. &c., or Cases, are taken, Enter Numbers of each Package. FlG. 7. LIGHTER TALLY SHEET. charged, for the guidance of the delivery clerk. The cover bears the serial number of the book, the name of the steamship, the port of loading, and the date of arrival. Each sheet (Fig. 8) should carry one entry only. Small consignments are entered two and sometimes three to the page. The page shows the line, the steamer, the consignee, the marks, and the bill-of-lading number. The body of the sheet has the number of 8o WHARF MANAGEMENT packages in words and in figures filled in when it reaches the delivery clerk. When delivery is accomplished, the date and the cart or lighter to which delivery is made are entered, and the truckman or other authorized person taking delivery signs for the goods in the last column. All additional remarks, such as short shipment, damages, goods sent to appraiser's stores, consignment sent to gen- eral order stores, etc., are noted on the page under the entry as they 200 RECEIV by Mess M ED in good o rs rrlpr from Line Ex. S. S thp fXllo wing goods: \RKS Bill Lading No.. Date Cart or Lighter Number of packages in words No. Pigs, in figures Signature ' _^_ ^ _^-~_ --___*- ^___ _- ^___ -^ L --s FlG. 8. PAGE 200 FROM THE DISCHARGING RECEIPT BOOK. occur. It should be possible to look at the discharging receipt book at any time and know the status of every consignment from a given steamer. The discharging receipt book record, however, is not sufficient. There are many forms in connection with it that cover many things that may occur in connection with a shipment. Records of Damaged Cargo. One of the first irregularities to be noted are damages to cargo. Careful record of this is impor- tant because of claims. Damages are usually detected upon landing by the tallyman, whereupon a certificate of goods landed in dam- aged or "ullaged" condition is made out and signed by the master or chief mate. Figure 9 is a sample from the Saluda, properly filled out. This form gives the port, date, and the statement: "This is to certify that the following packages were landed from on board the Saluda in ullaged condition." Then follows the statement noting B/L number, marks, and a statement of the nature of the damage. This form is executed in triplicate, of which two copies are retained at the office and one sent to the claims department of the head office. Philadelphia, . .19 This is to certify that the following packages were landed from on board s ls &?-iM in ullaged condition. ^. 4. 19. EB quantity of loose root landed in bulk, 1 case mustard, 6 bottles broken, Signed G. Kegeleers, F IG< 9 . SHIP OFFICER'S REPORT OF DAMAGED CARGO. REPORT OF DAMAGED CARGO. Steamship **"*> . Voy. Arrived PMlariiripHki. .Ae/w . 19 Itl/L tw.- IU* I-b. r-^n. . lu^-fr*..^ n.n Bund UMUI 1,2 11 Various Various Number hole 9 wool Wrappers torn S bales landed ir. bulk (K) 5,4,1 9 ES H/W 481 toi 8 s lngr root of loose root 1 nded In 6 H. Kellogg fc So l HKS 1 Cl s.n usturd 6 bottle* broVen a^ned S. A. Sehall, Dock Supt. ^. ^ ^__^-l V__--J . J ^^-^ ^ J^ ^-^ FIG. 10. DOCK SUPERINTENDENT'S OR RECEIVING CLERK'S REPORT OF DAMAGED CARGO. 81 82 WHARF MANAGEMENT Report of Damaged Cargo. The receiving clerk's office on a special form (Fig. 10) makes out its own report of the damages to cargo ; usually the entries include the same information as that given by the ship's officer. This report is signed by the receiving clerk INTERNATIONAL MERCANTILE MARINE LINES American Line Red Star Line Atlantic Transport Line White Star Line Panama Pacific Line JQ SPECIAL DAMAGE REPORT Voy B/L Armed 1 ..... Mark. - What wa. the exact Stowage? W. Compartment under Lock? Wat Merchandise Referred to Immediately Available on Opening of Hatchet? What Cargo wa* .towed around it, and wai any Cargo stowed on top of it? At what Time were Hatches Opened? At what Time did Discharging Begin? At what Time was Damage Discovered? Was Hatch Left Open at any time Unprotected, if so, explain why ? Name of Man who Discovered Damage Name of Foreman in Charge of Hatch Names of Men Working in Hatch Name of Officer on Watch Name of Official to whom Damage was Reported In your opinion did Loss or Damage occur during the loading on voyage or after arrival of steamer? Remarks and Particular, of Lou or Damage? Chief Clerk. No. ChelseaPier*. Sup't. New York, 191 Officer. FlG. II. SPECIAL REPORT OF UNUSUAL OR EXTENSIVE DAMAGE OR IN CASE OF EXCESSIVE CLAIMS. and by the wharf superintendent. It is executed in triplicate: one copy to Liverpool, or port of departure of merchandise, one to the office file, and one to the admiralty surveyor (insurance adjuster). Special Damage Report. In cases of unusual and extensive damage, or excessive claims, a special report (Fig. 11) is required from the ship's officers and wharf superintendent. It also is signed ACCOUNTING AND PAPER WORK 83 by the clerk making the investigation. The question sheet covers pertinent contributory evidence. It includes the name of the ship, the voyage, the B/L number, marks, date arrived in port, the nature of the merchandise, the consignee, then the questions : What was the exact stowage? Was the compartment under lock (for pilferage) ? Was merchandise referred to immediately available on opening of FILE S. S. INTERNATIONAL MERCANTILE MARINE LINES C DOMINION LINE LCYUANO LINE WHITE 1TAK UNE WHITC STAR-DOMINION LINE REPORT OF CARGO SHORT AND IN EXCESS INSTRUCTIONS TO DELIVERY CLERKS. I u pomblr *flet dcBrrry .-'SJ Wl Report ex Steatners from _ and Including all Me /f^. / 9 ESTBOUND FREIGHT DEPARTMENT of Cargo in excess Bill of 1 for Month enc uad ing dispc ing quai itity ....191 e. rchandise on Dock or in Warehouse not sed of to da I .STEAMER vov. IKIIIL M. n. MERCHANDISE IMT MARKS FWl D.SPOS.T10M ^ * ~. L "- ~~- ~-^_ ' FlG. 13. REPORT OF EXCESS CARGO. Jt will be noted that the monthly report will require a separate sheet for each foreign port. The original goes to the westbound freight department, one copy to foreign port, and one is retained. This report serves two purposes : it indicates at a glance the amount of the accumulation of merchandise and acts as a check on previous reports that may be easily scanned. Notice to Remove Merchandise. One of the foundation principles of any well-managed wharf is that merchandise must be kept moving and must not be permitted to remain on the wharf longer than is necessary to assemble it for customs inspection and delivery to consignee. If goods are permitted to remain on the wharf they add to the congestion and confusion that is already too costly. One of the principal causes of the complete breakdown of the 86 WHARF MANAGEMENT Port of Havana, Cuba, in 1920, was the fact that on all privately owned wharves the storage rates were very low and calculated monthly. It was much cheaper for a merchant to use the wharves for the storage of his merchandise than to provide his own warehouse. rtis // W B. Form 11 INTERNATIONAL MERCANTILE MARINE LINES AMERICAN LINE LEYLAND LINE ATLANTIC TRANSPORT LINE RED STAR LINE DOMINION LINE . WHITE STAR LINE WHITE STAR-DOMINION LINE 11 BROADWAY PILE . S New York, 191 FINAL NOTICE Dear Sirs : Please note that the following Merchandise for your ac- _j count, ex S. S arrived " 191. . still remains on pier No North River (Chelsea Piers.) . B/L No. Marks No. Packages Merchandise 5- In accordance with custom and to make room for incoming cargo, we must ask that you remove same before TEN A. M. 191... .otherwise we shall be obliged to store same at your risk and expense, and this without further notice. Your prompt attention to the above will greatly oblige, Yours truly, TELETHON OOWLINO OHtE :'oo INWARD FREIGHT DEPARTMENT Per .. FlG. 14. FINAL REMOVAL NOTICE. Even if a punitive wharfage rate after forty-eight hours should be assessed, in order to force the consignee to take delivery of his goods, there are always odds and ends of in-excess and unclaimed shipments that must be removed to some warehouse to clear the wharves for working the ships. Therefore it is a better policy, now fairly general, for the wharf superintendent to remove from the ACCOUNTING AND PAPER WORK 87 wharf to warehouses all merchandise remaining after forty-eight hours. The expense of cartage, etc., is charged to the merchandise and is paid by the consignee before receiving the goods. The delivery clerk sends to the consignee a notice as indicated by Figure 14. S? MS. / 2. INTERNATIONAL MERCANTILE MARINE LINES AMERICAN LINE PANAMA PACIFIC LINE RED STAR LINE ATLANTIC TRANSPORT LINE WHITE STAR LINE LEVLAND LINE WHITE STAR-DOMINION LINE STORAGE ORDER Pier .North River, N. Y. ...._ 191 File: S. S. _ Truckmen Warehouse At the risk and expense of owners please Warehouse at _ merchandise as follows Marks and Numbers ex S.S...._ _ Voy. B/L_ _ ; Arrived Said merchandise to be stored in name as shown on Custom House permit as follows: __ _ and Warehouse receipt sent to party named immediately. INWARD FREIGHT DEPARTMENT Copy 10 Truckra FlG. IS- STORAGE ORDER TO TRUCKING COMPANY TO TRANSFER MERCHANDISE FROM WHARF TO PUBLIC WAREHOUSE. Storage Order. At the expiration of the stated period, in fact sometimes in advance of the exact hour, to save time, a storage order (Fig. 15) is issued to a trucking company, naming the warehouse wit'h the statement : 88 WHARF MANAGEMENT At the risk and expense of owners please transfer to and store in warehouse at , merchandise as follows: ; marks and numbers, ; ex S. S ; voyage ; B. L ; Arrived Said merchandise to be stored in name as shown on customhouse permit as follows : and warehouse receipt sent to party named immediately. INWARD FREIGHT DEPARTMENT. PierIN o. N. R. New ' York r 19 Goo dssenttoG eneral Order Store S.S. Voy. A Arrived 19 B/L MARKS Af (0 NUMBERS PKOS. AND CONTENTS REMARKS A FIG. 1 6. /?**** /I* A-1-14-IM, CARGO SENT ON GENERAL ORDER. Q/P 1Q Steamship Saluda Voy Arrived Philadelphia, .6/12/19 , 9 No. BILL. CONSIGNEE. MARK3. NUMBERS. I'ACKAUEb. MOSt. WNUH STORED. LIEN FILED. 8 (S* (P) 15 c asks >alm oil 8/25/19 Itlantlc S tores. S A Char 63 Tlttor 1, Roc eivln > Clerk. _-~- ___^. ' ' . - ^_______ B FlG. 1 6. RECORD OF CARGO SENT TO GENERAL ORDER STORES. Four copies are made : one to truckman, one to warehouse, one to office, one retained at pier. Entry is made in the discharging receipt book that the merchandise has been sent to general-order warehouse so and so. List of Goods Sent to General Order Store. In addition to the ACCOUNTING AND PAPER WORK 89 entry in the discharging receipt book and the brief mention of the marks and numbers in the storage order, a list of the merchandise in some detail is necessary as a full record of their disposition. This list is made out in triplicate : one copy to Liverpool, one to claims department, and one to office file (Figs. i6a and i6b). NOTICE OF CLAIM FOR FREIGHT PHILADELPHIA, ..................................... . .......... ____ ..... 191. Collector of Customs. PhiUdelphi., ft. HON Sir: You will please take notice that the undersigned have a lien for freight and charges on the following described goods and merchandise, now in your possession, viz 5 The packages are as follows : The marks, numbers, and brands are as follows : The said goods and merchandise were imported per Steamship from They arrived: were entered and consigned to _.... They are now at The amount claimed for freight and charges is d.im Oclob.r Jd. 1890 Atlantic Transport Co. 1 - agent > ATLANTIC TRANSPORT Co., claimant in tins case, do solemnly affirm that the matter and things set forth in the annexed notice are true, and that the sum claimed therein is due, aud unpaid, and wa> subsisting lien upon the goods described at the time the same passed into the custody of the custom officers. Affirmed to and subscribed to before me this day of -19 FlG. 17. LIEN NOTICE TO THE COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS. Customs Lien Notice. When the line has not been paid freight or other expenses, such as cartage to general stores and warehouse charges, and the goods have not been cleared through the customs, the delivery clerk notifies the customs not to release the merchandise to the consignee until such charges have been paid. Under the bill- 90 WHARF MANAGEMENT of-lading contract the steamship company reserves the right of hold- ing the merchandise until its claims have been paid. The lien notice (Fig. 17) reads as follows: SIR: You will please take notice that the undersigned have a lien for freight and charges on the following described goods and merchandise, now in your possession, viz. : The packages are as follows : The marks, numbers, and brands are as follows : The said goods and merchandise were imported per Steamship from They arrived , were entered , and consigned to They are now at The amount claimed for freight and charges is This notice is served in pursuance of Act of Congress approved May 21, 1896, and Treas. Reg., dated October 2, 1896. Signed, ATLANTIC TRANSPORT COMPANY. I, , agent of ATLANTIC TRANSPORT COMPANY, claimant in this case, do solemnly affirm that the matter and things set forth in the annexed notice are true, and that the sum claimed therein is due and unpaid, and was a subsisting lien upon the goods described, at the time the same passed into the custody of the custom officers. Affirmed to and subscribed to before me this day of 192 Signed, Deputy Collector Note that this document must be sworn to before a deputy collector. The form is executed in duplicate : one copy to the custom- house and one retained. These, then, are the most important papers connected with in- bound freight and handled by the delivery clerk's office. Delivery Order. When all freight charges and formalities have been taken care of the truckman is given a delivery order adcjressed to the delivery clerk saying: "Deliver to order of the following merchandise from above-named steamer at Pier No (marks and numbers) " This form (Fig. 18) is a pass for the truckman with the merchandise to go past the wharf gates. Only one copy is necessary, as the form is made up in a stub book and the stub constitutes the record. The merchandise has now been delivered to the consignee's agent and removed from the wharf. ACCOUNTING AND PAPER WORK Papers of the (Outbound) Receiving Clerk's Office. The cargo from the Saluda, from Liverpool to Philadelphia, has now been discharged and delivered or otherwise disposed of. The Saluda INTERNATIONAL MERCANTILE MARINE LINES 405-40*/feoyRSE BUILDING ^ifc^^ No. AMERICAN LINE. ATLANTIC TRANSPORT LINE. RED STAR LINE. ^ ./ Philadelphia, Detiverji Clerk: Deliver to order oJ^^'..L..f^.:^..: the following merchandise from above-named Steamertat Pier \ ~JV0r7n 1 J"^ South INTERNATIONA Pe LE MARINE CO. FIG. 1 8. TRUCKMAN'S PASS TO PERMIT HIM TO REMOVE GOODS FROM THE WHARF. must be enfreighted for the return trip. The outbound or east- bound freight department has been soliciting freight. Various records and forms are necessary at the main office and at the wharf rw.w-iiw Ptr*>~ AMERICAN LINE RED STAR LINE ATLANTIC TRANSPORT LINE HOLLAND-AMERICA LINE PHIL. Messrs Caldwell & Company, ADELPHIA .AU*....2.,._..._ .1019. PHILADEUP Dear Sirs:- Please deliver to S /s Saluda HIA. at Pier 55 South > - Wharves on Tuesday, Aup.. 26th u 1919 the following cargo under contract. Yours truly, WALTER T. ROACH. Manag.r. PBOPBITT DBBTISATIOH feitrut KEMABKS 6 boxes Iron car trucks Liverpool _ -^ ^ ..^- ~*~- ^^ ^~ ~~" - *- ^_^>v ^^ _ FlG. 19. DELIVERY NOTICE. to keep track of this business. These papers pass through the office of the receiving clerk, to keep track of the freight and proper charges, and to the office of the pier superintendent, who is more directly con- cerned v/ith the loading and stowing. 92 WHARF MANAGEMENT The Delivery Notice. A patron of the line, let us say Caldwell & Company, has secured space for the shipment of six boxes of iron car trucks on the Saluda, sailing on or about August 28. When the outbound freight department learns from the wharf superintendent that the Saluda is light and will be loading on August 26, 27, 28, and 29, and will probably want to load these car trucks August 26 late or early August 27, there is then sent to the consignor (Caldwell & Company) a notice (Fig. 19) that reads: Philadelphia, August 25. MESSRS. CALDWELL & COMPANY, Philadelphia. DEAR SIRS : Please deliver to Saluda at pier 55, South , on Tuesday, August 26, 19191 the following cargo under contract. Yours truly, WALTER T. ROACH, Manager. There then follows a description of the goods. This form is made out in duplicate, the carbon copy being retained for the files. With piers crowded it is very important that the time of delivery as indicated by advices from the wharves be observed accurately in order not to encumber the wharves by having the goods arrive too soon or delay loading by having them arrive too late. Dock Receipt. After the merchandise has arrived on the wharf the tallyman checks it, weighs and measures it, and enters the results on a tally list or slip (Fig. 6), addressed "to the receiving clerk," which he signs. This slip with the delivery order (Fig. 18) goes to the office of the receiving clerk, where the dock receipt clerk writes out the dock receipt (Fig. 20). The dock receipt is made out in duplicate, or check and stub, as in the sample. The original is given to the truckman or clerk accompanying the delivery and the duplicate is retained as a record. The dock receipt is an important paper, as it gives title to the goods until exchanged for the bill of lading, which must be done twenty-four hours before sailing date. Particular attention is called to the paragraph in fine print. The words "Received the following goods in apparent good order" are also important. The receiving clerk will refuse to accept any merchandise that is not in good order so far as can be seen, because once loaded the line faces the question of claims for damage S3.1Si!! Biv?S ?S:aSslSs '(6061 qi jo po3 |.U|tu 'o""^l?jfi I /J|a|Si"?l3fj"di"r'a.!'* t > wy) jjs p>in jz" ^1 O j DC < | 5 HI H JI I i I J3 2 O la 05 a 93 94 WHARF MANAGEMENT and for insurance, the responsibility of the steamship company, and many vexing and troublesome questions that may mean loss and delay. Record of Measurements. The tally slip and delivery order go to the extension clerk in the receiving clerk's office, who converts the tallyman's long measurements of the cases into cubic measurement. Various forms are used to record the results and to forward them to the outbound freight department for exact calculation of the freight rate. The form illustrated in Figure 21 is used at New York but not used at Philadelphia. It shows, in the heading, the steamer, voyage, dock receipt number, date and shipper, and in columns it gives marks and numbers, number of packages in figures, MEASUREMENTS. S.S. _ - - jv Y i9i si Voy . Re upper.... _ C*UI ceipt JVb Marks and Nos. P'k'gs Measurements Cube of One P'k'g Cubic Contents Weight Remarks k . , _J FlG. 21. MEASUREMENT RECORD. measurements, cube of one package, cubic contents of shipment, weight and remarks, where is stated the number of cargo tons by weight or measurement as the case may be. The sheet should bear the name of the tallyman who measured and weighed the goods and be signed by the extension clerk. There may be two copies, one for the wharf and one for the outbound freight department, or the receiving clerk's record may be entered in a book. The Cargo List or Sheet (Fig. 22). As rapidly as merchandise is accepted for shipment and tonnage calculations are made, the cargo sheet clerk enters the items on a large form called "East Bound Cargo List, S. S , Voyage , Sailed 19" The sheets are numbered consecutively. The forms differ even ?w ir < INTERNATIONAL MERCANTILE MARINE LINES AMERICAN IJNK PHILADELPHIA "VERPOOL SERVICE !h^, NP FA*T POUND TApr.n UST s s Saluda Vn j, SAU Rri ,9 9 s 1 s i I 2 i! 1 '" J d s ! 1 1 1 I -=j 1 I I s i i a S 2 1 s a i s ^! 1 H E 8 1 | i | 1 as i s ; 1 t S ? i j 0. B, F, Houghton & Co- E. E. Delp Grain Co. P. R. Mitchell Company Si 10 95 9 6 WHARF MANAGEMENT between offices of the same company, but the list must show all the details of all the shipments made on the vessel. There are columns in which are entered, across the page : the shipper, the consignee, OUTWARI (To , r S^nTblp^SIl<*.pc"of pro form. RAU dectatfc.abereto^bed.) ,| ] onds i 571 bags wire nails 784 " " ** 526 " " " I 216 " " 310 " 591 " " " 1450 480 cases candy . _._ . _ R..A...Q_77 r n .l.J?.ale. J>aper..hang.ings -| I ' In lien of above particulars, copies of bilk ojtadin ; stamped "For clearance purposes only" will be accepted if attache,! to thij form. H-MI FlG. 23. OFFICIAL MANIFEST FOR THE COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS. marks and numbers, initial (that is, how received, by team, lighter, rail, etc.), number of through bill of lading or car number, kind of container, quantity and nature of the merchandise, weight, measure- ment, U. S. license number, U. S. Customs declaration number 2 and 2 See "Paper Work in Export Trade," Miscellaneous Series No. 85 (sold by the Superintendent of Documents for $i), for a full description of the commercial papers connected with the shipment, including steamship bill of lading, etc. ACCOUNTING AND PAPER WORK 97 remarks. The information is received from the dock receipt stubs and the calculations of the extension clerk, with delivery notice and other papers that may have accumulated. Two copies are made, one is retained, the other goes to the main office. From it and the bills of lading is made out the ship's manifest. The Ship's Freight Manifest. Every ship by law must carry a complete and accurate list of all passengers and of all freight on the vessel on a particular voyage. It is necessary to have the mani- AMERICAN UNC. ATLANTIC TRANSPORT UNC. MCO STAN LINK. . Aug. Hth, 1919, HOLLA' Mr. STEPHEN A. SCHELL, DMfSlr, IO-AMCRICA UNC. PI ., e. Saluda 2 Ming August, , a ,9. ... Liverpool. ^ V ur* tr P. F. YOUNG, Manager. .. L. S. HAMILTON MIPPtH UAMTITV mm. r: MM ,.. ."0 L. 8r Moore Ct. 286 20,000 ocal Armour k Company 4000 s cks rolled oats 198 15,940 62 P.R.Ri Emlenton Refc.Co. 100 3 .eel bbls. lub. c 11 D.O.C. 1/100 20 1,200 p.a.R. 14-7 DO P,R.R. E.E. Delp Grain Co. 16666 usho Is barley 357 20,700 Looal *~ *-^. . -^ ^- ' - J ^x ~^ 1 .^ 1 U-^ _ . 1 1 1 . \_ FlG. 24. NOTICE OF SPACE SOLD. fest complete and ready to be carried by the master as part of his ship's papers when the ship sails. Modern manifests are large sheets, made out on a wide-carriage typewriter. As many carbons as possible are made, as copies of the manifest go to numerous offices and files. The headings of the sheets and columns cover various entries, among which we find many old friends and some new items. (See folded insert.) Outward Foreign Manifest. The official form of manifest, which must be filed with the Collector of Customs by the Master of the Ship, for the customs (clearance office) is shown in Figure 23, to which may be attached copies of the ship's freight manifest. This form is made in triplicate: original and copies to the customhouse, which retains one, gives one to the master for his ship's papers, and one is retained by the line. The document must be sworn to. Memorandum oj Merchandise for the Wharf Superintendent. As rapidly as space is sold for a certain steamer the wharf superin- 2 ! o: o $ o fc I UJ ^ sa i O o: a 5 o ca C3 CL a. CO CO UJ 5 g Mil' f .*i -4 W t. Ml im 9 The photographs taken by the author of actual operations are re- printed here only as sketches. 134 WHARF MANAGEMENT FlG. 39. CONTINUE LOWERING. Lower Slowly. The draft is being lowered on to a lighter. The signal "stop" has held the draft a few feet above the deck of the lighter; from this position it is lowered slowly to the deck by the signal man moving his hand or the fingers of his hand downward in a short, quick motion, until the draft has reached the deck. See Figure 39- Continue Lowering. Continue lowering is indicated by holding the position of Figure 39. Lower Away. To lower away continuously until halted, the forearm or the entire arm is pulled downward until it hangs by the side. This motion is made decisive. It is intended that the draft should be lowered considerably and at a rapid speed. Up Slowly. The hand is ex- tended with the palm up and the fingers closed or the hands raised repeatedly from the wrist with a sharp movement. See Figure 40. In pulling up on the hook until it engages the rope, and until the sling is taut in order to have the bite driven down on the rove, the motion of hauling up, or holding ready to lift, is indicated by the palm extended in rest, or moving the fingers up. See Figure 41. The curve of the wrist in Figure 40 shows the changed position for the short movement. The signal man in Figure 42 is indicating to "hoist slowly" by moving his first two fingers and thumb, or bringing them together in a series of pinches. He is look- ing into the hold at this particular point. Sometimes the signal men hold a short stick or a broken piece of pineboard that is easy to see, and FIG. 40. UP SLOWLY (SHORT MOVE- MENTS OF THE WRIST). FIG. 41. UP. CARGO TRANSFER: II. CARGO WINCHES 135 move this stick in small oscillations in the same manner as indicated in the other signals. It behooves every one working around a ship transferring cargo to keep an eye on the signal man, and any person responsible at all for the loading and discharging of the vessel should take great care that the winch runner and the sig- nal man are in complete accord as to the signals. There is consider- able danger connected with the longshoremen's trade in loading and discharging ships, and attention to these matters will save much loss of property, and more than that, loss of life. FIG. 42. UP SLOWLY. Signaled by bringing fingers and thumb together in pinches. CHAPTER VIII CARGO TRANSFER: III. DRAFTS 1 In practically all cases of transfer of cargo between ship and shore, except in those few cases where continuous motion machinery, such as belt conveyors, banana unloaders, etc., is used, cargo is transferred by drafts. A "draft" is a sin- gle lift of merchandise, often a collection of small packages, such as barrels, bags, crates, bound together in a sling and hooked on to the end of the cable that is being operated by the winch or crane. The arrangement of the draft so as not to break the merchandise or cause other damage re- quires considerable attention to details. Drafts are similar in composition regard- less of whether the transfer equipment be cranes or ship's tackle. Drafts are usually about 1,000 to 2,000 pounds in weight. It SlNGLf. HoOK\ \ ^ as ^ een f un d that faster work is possible if less is taken at a time. The modern cargo booms will lift 5 tons. The hook requires no particular ex- FIG. 43. \ ^ planation. It is well curved so that it is not easy to slip the sling out of the hook by accident. It is spliced securely to the end of the wire or manila rope cable (Fig. 43). SLINGS The draft is lifted by "hooking on" to a sling that may be of various types. The simple rope sling (Fig. 44) is most generally used for boxes, bales, crates, bags, etc. It is a length of hemp rope between 12 and 24 feet long, with the ends spliced together to make it endless. These slings are made by the longshoremen from ends 1 By R. S. MacElwee and T. R. Taylor. Some field work and the analy- sis of movements with tables and sketches, by L. H. H. Haight and M. M. Grass for the United States Shipping Board, Emergency Fleet Corporation. 136 CARGO TRANSFER: III. DRAFTS 137 of manila rope whips which have become worn in spots doing duty as burton or fall. Although the rope when spliced is "endless," the sling itself, when laid out on the floor to receive its load, has two S/ing* FIG. 44. ends and two sides. To load the sling a plank is laid on the pier vdeck and the sides of the sling are made parallel with the plank. The boxes or bags are piled on the plank and the two ends of the sling brought together above and around the merchandise. As soon as a sling is put around the draft each end is used for a different purpose and is given a different name. Care is taken to have one end of the sling considerably longer than the other. Before the draft is raised the long end of the sling is passed through the short end. The long end is called the "long rove," or simply "the rove," while the short end through which the rove is passed is called the "bite" (Fig. 45). The rove or long end is put on the burton hook and when the draft is raised so that the sling is taut the longshoreman drives the bite down tight on the rove with a short length of pipe or piece of wood. A web sling is the usual rope sling with the central portion, per- haps one-half or two-thirds of the length, "webbed" or fastened to- gether by sacking or canvas duck webbing similar to a hammock. The ends are left free to act as FlG. 46. A WEB SLING FOR SOFT BAGS. bite and long rove. This type of FIG. 45. 138 WHARF MANAGEMENT sling is used primarily in lifting bags of sugar and such merchandise in bags that might be cut open or burst by the pressure of the rope of the sling alone (Fig. 46). Cant hooks are used to transfer barrels (Fig. 47). For han- dling barrels, unless the same are handled by the ordinary rope sling, very often the single large hook at the end of the burton fall is replaced by four hooks in pairs ; each pair to lift the end of two barrels, that is, one hook at each end of each barrel. This form of hitch for the draft is some- times used on cases, or boxes, but is a dangerous method of transfer (Fig. 48). The net sling is used in transferring small packages of miscellaneous size and shapes that are of sufficient strength in packing to resist the pressure of their neighbors in the net when the four corners are drawn together. Pas- sengers' trunks are usually transferred in slings. The net sling is usually constructed during slack hours by longshoremen familiar and skillful in splicing. When the cor- ners are brought together the long loop (rove) is passed through the short loops and a hook passed through the rove. Slings are also used between the ship and the shore under a draft to catch any FIG. 47. FIG. 48. packages in case a draft should slip and drop some of its load. The platform sling or airplane is a heavy timber skid with ropes spliced to the four corners and ending in an iron ring or rope loop through which the hook of the fall may be passed (Fig. 49). In order to arrive at a knowledge of a more or less uniform method of handling drafts at the various piers along the At- lantic seaboard, L. H. Haight, and FlG. 49. PLATFORM SLING OR <.---',, T-I AIRPLANE M. M. Grass, of the Emergency Fleet CARGO TRANSFER: III. DRAFTS 139 FlG. 50. SLINGING A SAFE. Corporation, made a close study of the transfer of cargo on seventeen different piers. As a result of their investigation, made especially in the preparation of this work, the following analysis of movements and diagrams are submitted. The sketches and tables of movement were prepared by these gentlemen especially for this volume. TRANSFER OF FREIGHT Loading a Safe. As an ex- ample of a heavy draft in a single package, the introductory analysis will be that of the transfer of a safe (Fig. 50). As these movements are characteristic of many other drafts and transfers, the sub- sequent drafts will refer back to the case of the safe. It is, therefore, de- sirable to understand the various movements in the loading of this safe preliminary to the study of other drafts. (See next page.) Loading Barrels and Hogs- heads. ' Various methods of sling- ing barrels and hogsheads are shown in the accompanying diagrams. Barrels are easy to handle on the pier or in the hold because they roll, but they are difficult to sling properly. The method used depends largely on the form, weight, and strength of the barrel. Per- haps the most common practice is to sling two at a time ("married") by use of cant hooks, but this cannot be done if the chimes of the barrel will not support its weight. The Ameri- can Sugar Refining Company rec- ommends that barrels of sugar be transferred by nets, but their rec- ommendation is not adopted by most stevedores. Loading Bags of Sugar, Grain, Coffee, etc. The sling (a web sling, Figs. 46 and 53) is laid flat on the deck of the pier and FlG. 51. BARRELS SLUNG "MARRIED." FlG. 52. SLINGING A HOGSHEAD. 140 WHARF MANAGEMENT the bags are placed across it. The ends of the sling are then brought together, and the rove is placed through the bite and attached to the hook of the fall. LOADING A SAFE Classes of Work Done Men Required Individual Duties Jobs Done One superintend- ent Superintends entire work of loading and unloading ships Loads the ship on paper, sees that the ship is loaded evenly on both wings and with a drag after One stevedore Supervises the stowing through hatch ; su- pervises the discharg- ing from hold i^orms the shape (gets the men in line) ; calls the gangs; places the gangs; keeps the gangs filled; sees that the ship is loaded as the superintendent has planned on paper Two deck foremen Supervises loading his end of ship; super- vises discharging his end of ship Gets required number of gangs for the hatch; places the gangs on the job; looks after each detail of loading and unloading; keeps gangs filled One checker Counts all men and drafts Two slingers Work on pier helping prepare drafts for loading and unload- ing Handles slings, trucks, etc.; rolls or places drafts to nearest loading point One gangway man Supervises signaling Signals to raise draft from pier or hold ; signals to stop draft on pier or in hold; signals to raise fall from pier or hold One winch runner Starts winch ; stops winch Drum-end man (burton fall) Handles fall on drums Puts two turns of fall on drum ; waits for signal ; at signal, puts enough turns on drum to lift draft; at signal, tightens fall enough to lift draft; keeps fall tight by coiling; to lower draft loosens fall on drum Drum-end man (up-and-down fall) Handles fall on drum Waits for signal ; at signal, puts two or three turns of fall on drum to take up slack; puts two or three more turns of fall on drum to lift draft; puts two or three more turns of fall to take full draft; lowers draft through hatch. CARGO TRANSFER: III. DRAFTS 141 FlG. 53. A WEB SLING DRAFT OF BAGS. The number of bags to the draft varies with the commodity and with other factors. Six or seven bags of raw sugar will make a draft of about 2,000 pounds and this is a convenient weight on the customs scales. In handling refined sugar the common draft is twelve bags. Loading Beef. Perhaps the load- ing of beef requires the least skill in handling of any freight making up the cargo for a ship. It is generally loaded directly from the truck to the ship in order to get it into the refrigerators as soon as possible. It is handled in a "net sling" which is about 6 by 8 feet, with 8-inch mesh. The sling has a rope around the edge, with a loop in the cen- ter of each side and each end. The loops on one side and one end are longer than the loops in the opposite side and end. The long loops are called "roves," and the short loops are called "bites." When the truck is backed to the nearest loading point and the net sling laid flat on the floor of the pier, about ten quarters of beef are tossed into the net sling; the edges are folded over; the roves are passed through the bites and on to the burton hook; and, when the signal is given to hoist away, the sling is drawn taut and the beef is held securely until lowered into the hold. At New York in handling frozen or chilled meat arriving in refrigerator cars, the cars are floated alongside the ship and the cargo loaded overside from off- shore. This is slow and expen- sive for ordinary cargo but of ob- vious advantage in the movement FIG. 54-A NET SLING FOR BEEF. Q ^ refrigerator groups from car to ship with little loss of temperature. Discharging frozen mutton and other meat at London has become almost entirely a mechanical, continuous motion ; belt conveyors with steel baskets operating similar to a banana unloader are lowered into the hold. Once out of the hold, the halves or quarters are 142 WHARF MANAGEMENT hooked on to a meat hook on wheels that travel by gravity or chain propulsion along the wharf to waiting cars (goods wagons) or drays. Loading Eggs. Eggs are packed in rather flimsy crates and therefore must be handled carefully. In order to eliminate han- dlings the crates should be stored on the transit shed as near as possible to the picking-up place, or should be moved direct from the car or truck to the sling. If the truck can be backed up to the loading point, one man on the truck can F IG . 55 . PLATFORM SLING WITH pass the crates to a second on the ANGLE IRONS TO PROTECT p i er floor, who places them cross- FRAGILE CASES. . , f wise on a platform, carrier, or "airplane" (Fig. 55). Twelve cases make a draft. In order to protect the cases from being crushed by the carrier ropes, angle irons are placed at the outside edges of the upper tier. These angle irons, or "bosses," have holes through which the ropes pass. The lifting pressure is thus distributed along the crates. In swinging the draft care must be exercised to avoid bumping it against the sides of the vessel, the hatch coamings, or the decks. This method is used for all flimsy containers of a regular shape, such as crated fruit. Loading Dried Apples. Dried or evaporated apples in cases are generally loaded on a special platform, or airplane. Since the boxes are light in weight, about twenty are put in each draft, mak- ing a total weight of between 1,500 and 2,OOO pounds. The ordinary form of airplane is shown in the accompanying diagram (Fig. 55). To keep the carrier ropes from crushing the boxes, angle irons are Fi& s6 ^ t ^T^ R LOADING sometimes used as described in the IRON AND OTHER METALS discussion of loading eggs. Oranges, grapefruit, and similar commodities are handled in about the same way. Loading Pigs and Billets. Billets and pigs of metals were at one time generally transferred by use of chain slings, and some of CARGO TRANSFER: III. DRAFTS 143 the smaller steamship companies still use this method, but modern practice is to use a special airplane (Fig. 56). This is a platform, 2 to 6 feet square, with a ribbed floor and with boards 4 to 6 inches high around three sides. Ropes attached as shown in the diagram balance the load when it is raised, although there is danger that some of the pigs will fall out of the open side if the airplane is tilted in that direction. Loading the airplane simply con- sists in throwing on the pigs until the proper weight is obtained. To unload, one rope or sling is detached Flc - 57- CHAIN SLING FOR STEEL RAILS. irom the hook, so that hoisting away on the other rope will dump the pigs or bars in the hold. This is a quick way of handling small pieces that are not damaged by rough treatment. Loading Steel Rails. An exceptionally high degree of skill is required to sling steel rails, pipe, iron lamp-posts, and similarly constructed objects, in order that the work may be done quickly and that the bars may be carried securely and at the proper angle. A different type of sling is used in this case. It consists of one or two chains forged to a ring at one end and terminating in a hook at the other, quite similar to cant hooks just described but removable from the fall (Figs. 57 and 58). When handling rails, the hook of the chain is passed around the end of a bundle of four or five rails and hooked on to the chain with the point directed toward the long part of the draft. The ring is then FIG. 58- DOUBLE CHAIN SLING placed on the hook of the fall, and the FOR LARGE IRON PIPES. .... . , , ., draft is raised far enough to allow a block of wood to be set under the end. The draft is lowered on this block and the chain is slid along the rails for a distance of about one-third their length. It is now in a position that allows the draft when elevated to hang securely and almost perpendicularly. The rails can thus be lowered into the hold and can swing toward the stowing point more easily than if they were in a horizontal posi- WHARF MANAGEMENT FlG. 59- SLINGING AUTOMOBILES. tion. Care must be taken that the chain sling is tight and that it exerts sufficient pressure on all the rails or pipes in the draft to prevent any one from slipping out and going through the bottom of the ship or the lighter. All such long, heavy articles are troublesome to load. Loading Automobiles. Auto- mobiles for overseas shipments are usually partially demounted and packed in large, strong boxes, about 4 by 6 by 12 feet in dimensions. The large cases for the army trucks during the World War were about 3 by 4 by 23 feet. These boxes, after being landed on the pier, are rolled on iron pipes to the nearest picking-up point, and the sling is placed around them. The sling is placed just to one side of the center of the box. A line is made fast to the sling, passed around the long end of the box, and fastened to the sling on the opposite side. This permits the box to tip at an angle which makes it easy to lower through the hatch, and yet prevents it from slipping out of the sling. It is best to have the farside winch take the slack of the sling before tying on the line. Loading Assembled Locomotives, The accompanying dia- gram (Fig. 60) illustrates the method of loading locomotives, used in forwarding shipments to the American Expeditionary Forces. The locomotives were run upon car floats, which were towed to the side of the floating derrick stationed alongside the receiving vessel. Only a few vessels having exceptionally large hatches could be used to carry these assembled locomotives. In the frontispiece the locomotive has been raised from the car float and swung over the crane barge. When the guy line is changed it will be raised, swung over the hatch of the vessel to the left, and lowered into the hold. The transfer of the locomotive, weighing 150,500 pounds, can be accomplished in twenty minutes. It is necessary to keep the locomotive "head up" in spite of the tendency to revolve with the crane. This is accomplished by means of guy ropes. FlG. 60. LOADING LOCOMOTIVE. CARGO TRANSFER: III. DRAFTS MOST IMPORTANT TYPES OF CONTAINERS The twelve or fourteen pieces of cargo listed and described above do not include all of the package freight a stevedore has to handle, but were selected because they cover every operation in loading and discharging. To list more would simply mean a useless repetition. Of the various kinds of merchandise carried by ships to-day, we have been able to list 4,761 items, and this number is approximately correct. It is interesting to note that this great variety of material is carried in only forty different kinds of containers ; many of these containers differ only slightly. While the number of packages will probably increase, the number of different containers will undoubt- edly decrease because of improvements in packing. Below is tabulated alphabetically the different kinds of con- tainers, and the number of different kinds of articles usually packed in such a container. 2 Bags 371 Bales 445 Barrels 438 Bars 8 Baskets 170 Boxes 395 Bulk 50 Bunch 8 Bundles 160 Butts 4 Cakes 29 Cans 6 Carboys 10 Cases 1749 Casks 115 Chests 8 Coils 8 Crates 160 Cylinders 19 Demijohns 3 Drums 80 Firkins 2 Hampers 6 Hogsheads 38 Kegs 1 66 Packages 91 Pails 4 Pieces 31 Pipes 2 Puncheons 2 Reels 22 Rolls 48 Sacks 60 Scroom 3 Slabs 4 Spools 4 Straps 4 Tierces 38 Tubs 8 Trunks 2 Total . , . 4,761 2 Stowage of Ship Cargoes, by Thomas R. Taylor. Misc. Series No. 92, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Government Printing Office, 1920. CHAPTER IX TYPES OF CRANES AND DERRICKS 1 TRANSFER BY CRANE The question of transfer by crane deserves the most careful consideration. In the first place, most of the great foreign ports are equipped with cranes for transfer instead of the usual deck equip- FIG. 61. A TIMBER STIFF-LEG DERRICK. (Courtesy of Edward F. Terry Manu- facturing Co., New York.) ment and rigging or cargo masts of the type that have been dis- cussed in connection with American ports. In addition, there is the very animated controversy between the old school of American port engineers and the new school, particularly the members of the So- ciety of Terminal Engineers, as to the relative merits of cargo masts, ship's tackle, and cranes for the transfer movement. By all means, persons connected with the steamship business, whether ashore or afloat, must be sufficiently familiar with the various types of cranes 1 By R. S. MacElwee. 146 TYPES OF CRANES AND DERRICKS 147 to recognize them on sight and know their outstanding features, their names, and the services that they are meant to perform. In this discussion it must be borne in mind that the usual wharf crane, as developed abroad and here, has not a very much greater capacity than the cargo winch and mast for the usual transfer of package freight. The heavy draft, such as locomotives, automobiles, large pieces of machinery, castings, heavy ordnance, and other heavy FIG. 62. GUY DERRICK. (Courtesy Terry.) objects are handled by specially constructed heavy-duty cranes. Wharf cranes are, therefore, divided into two large groups, light duty and heavy duty. The drafts are handled much the same by a crane as by any other transfer equipment. After the draft is made up the hook of the fall pendent from the crane is attached to the long rove and the draft is lifted and lowered just as it would be by a burton-and-fall rig. Stiff-leg Derrick. The simplest form of a hoisting machine of the crane or derrick type is the stiff -leg derrick, or stiff -leg (Fig. 148 WHARF MANAGEMENT 61). This is the form usually found in building construction, but can be used to advantage at any temporary wharf or for handling bulk material in small quantities from scows. The boom from which the block and hook hang to lift the draft is stepped at the base of the vertical "stiff-leg." It is raised or lowered by cables from the masthead and can be slued about through from 2OO to 260 degrees. FlG. 63. MASTHEAD TOP IRONS OF A GUY DERRICK. FlG 64. SPIDER PLATE AND SHACKLES. FlG. 65. GUY SPIDER PLATE. The vertical mast or leg is held in place by two bracing timbers from the masthead to the ground, or to the end of a sill, ground beam or base beam. The three timbers form a right-angle triangle. In fact, there are two timber triangles with one side the vertical leg common to both. The length of the boom is usually one and one- half times the length of the stiff-leg, or mast. With the horizontal leg securely anchored to the ground at each end it will be seen that this frame is capable of great stability against the tendency to tip over. A-Frame Derrick. A modification of the stiff-leg is the A- frame derrick. The "mast" in this case consists of a three-timber tower or pyramid with a hinged boom similar to that of a stiff-leg derrick, stepped in a socket set in a sill or horizontal timber connect- ing the feet of two of the timbers, thus forming a letter "A," crossed at the bottom. This form is used largely for heavy-duty or con- fined areas, such as barges, lighters, etc. These simple derricks may be operated by hand or rigged with steam, gas, or electric TYPES OF CRANES AND DERRICKS 149 winches. They are capable of construction from small to very large capacities. Stiff- leg derricks may be built either of timber or steel. The Sheer Leg Derrick is quite similar to the "A" frame. Traveling Stiff-leg Derrick. A stiff-leg or A-frame derrick may be placed on a platform and this platform mounted on wheels that run on tracks. In this form the stiff-leg derrick becomes a "traveling" derrick because it is possible for it to be moved along a track from one point to another. FIG. 66. LOCOMOTIVE CRANE. (Courtesy Brown Hoisting Machine Co.) The terminology of derricks and cranes is very simple, as it is built up descriptively as are the formulas in organic chemistry. Guy Derrick. The guy derrick is used much like an A-frame on the stiff-leg derrick. In the place of the A-frame, however, the vertical leg or mast is kept in an upright position and given resist- ance against the tendency to tip over in lifting a load by running guy ropes from a guy spider, with shackles, in four or five directions from the masthead to anchors at some distance from the mast. Locomotive Crane. The locomotive crane, as its name im- plies, is a steam crane mounted on trucks and capable of moving along a standard gauge railroad track like a locomotive. It is a very useful instrument, particularly in terminals where the traffic is not sufficiently heavy to warrant extensive installations of heavy- duty cranes. Where the locomotive crane is of high lifting capacity, 150 WHARF MANAGEMENT and therefore needed only occasionally at various points along an extended water front, its mobility is of great value, as it can be directed to that part of the water front where heavy transfer work may happen to be desired. Until traffic over a wharf becomes of sufficient volume to support the overhead of a complete gantry- crane equipment, one or two locomotive cranes will take care of the situation in conjunction with ship's winches and cargo masts for the lighter work. As a rule, the boom of the locomotive crane is hinged and can be lowered and raised. When the locomotive crane is traveling the boom is usually lowered to a horizontal position along tracks. The boom may be slued as well as raised and lowered. A revolving or full-circle locomotive crane is the usual type. The drums and winding apparatus are mounted on a small turn- table that is capable of revolving through a full circle. This is much more positive and rapid than sluing. Locomotive cranes are self-contained units, that is, being steam cranes they are independent of other sources of power. The termi- nals of the New York State Barge Canal are fitted with self-contained locomotive steam A-frame cranes mounted on wide-rimmed wheels. Tower Crane. A tower crane is a crane mounted on a tower. The crane itself may be constructed on the principle of a stiff-leg derrick, a guy derrick, or any other type, and with a fixed or a hinged boom. Electric power is generally used, as it is not an advantageous installation to have a steam crane on a tower. This crane may be of the full-circle type, in which case the rig would be called a revolving tower crane. Traveling Revolving Tower Crane. A traveling revolving tower crane is simply a revolving tower crane placed on a tower that is capable of being moved along tracks, that is, a tower that can be made to travel. . In this nomenclature it will be noted that, like the nomenclature of organic chemistry, it is possible to string the names of the compo- nent parts together until the full name of an installation describes it completely. For instance, a crane may be described as a hinged- boom electrical revolving traveling tower crane. To this may be added the capacity or "heavy duty." The hinged-boom traveling and revolving electric tower cranes are the type used so largely in shipyards (see Fig. 67). TYPES OF CRANES AND DERRICKS 151 Hammerhead Crane. The cantilever crane is usually a heavy- duty rig and is found in the fitting-out basins of shipbuilding plants. It is usually a fixed-tower revolving crane, but smaller types may be mounted on traveling towers (Fig. 68). "Cantilever" refers to the characteristic of the arm of the crane that extends out over the object to be lifted. In this case, instead of being a boom at an angle and supported by cables from the top of the boom, the arm extends horizontally and is of cantilever construction, that is, it is FlG. 67. A TRAVELING REVOLVING TOWER CRANE FOR SHIPYARD WORK. At the port of London many are used for wharf work. (Courtesy of Terry.} supported by one end only. The weight or load being carried by the crane, including its own weight, is transferred to the chassis of the main supporting column or tower. If not counterbalanced, such a tower, with a cantilever arm projecting from the top, would tip over. The counter weight is made up partly by the electrical winding machinery. The counter weights and machinery being placed at the opposite side of the tower from the lifting arm give the crane the appearance of a hammer, from which the name "hammerhead" crane is derived. In cantilever cranes, particularly for heavy duty, the horizontal movement of the load is performed by a running gear or traveling carriage that is suspended from rails underneath the cantilever arm 152 WHARF MANAGEMENT and is drawn back and forth along the track by cables or operated by its own motors. Some of the very large cranes have several of these carriages traveling horizontally along the cantilever arm and also may have small cranes traveling along the top of this boom. The ^ ko.ooo* A>ACIT i9 'O " Jcf* FlG. 68. HEAVY DUTY REVOLVING HAMMERHEAD TOWER CRANE. (Courtesy of W ellman-Se aw er-M organ Co.) complete name for one of these heavy-duty cranes would be "revolv- ing hammerhead tower crane." However, in order not to confuse the cantilever hammerhead with the movable-boom crane, one is called simply a hammerhead crane, and the other a tower crane. The Gantry. In the discussion of water-front equipment the word "gantry" is used probably more than any other single name of a crane. A gantry crane is a crane mounted on a gantry. "To TYPES OF CRANES AND DERRICKS 153 gant" means to overhang or to span. A gantry, therefore, is any framework that spans. For instance, in railroading, the signal blocks above the tracks are mounted on a gantry a framework that spans the tracks. In a wharf gantry crane, the framework spans the wharf apron or the outer part of the wharf toward the water, and usually this spanning is in order to leave the space clear the full length of the wharf apron for the railroad sidings that are laid upon it. A wharf gantry crane has to span from one to three tracks and sometimes, in addition, a landing platform of 5 to 10 feet in width. Gantry cranes, and particularly wharf gantry cranes, in which FIG. 69. A GANTRY CRANE WITH TRAVELING HOIST. (Courtesy of Terry.) the interest of this study centers, are of several varieties. There are two sets of names, those applying to or modifying the word "gantry" and those modifying the word "crane." There are two principal types of gantries: (i) portal or full-arch, and (2) semiportal or half-arch. Both types are usually "traveling" and run on tracks along the wharf front. The Full-arch Gantry Crane. The full-arch gantry revolving jib crane shown in Figure 70 (Shepard Electric Crane & Hoist Company) may be analyzed as follows : The gantry itself is a full-arch, as it has both feet on the ground, and it is called also a "portal" because it looks like a gateway. Mounted upon this gantry is a revolving crane. The hoisting machinery and the revolving and locomotion mechanism are con- tained in the cab. This cab is mounted on trucks that revolve on a '54 WHARF MANAGEMENT small circular track. The jib of the crane is fixed, that is, it cannot be moved up or down. The crane is a traveling crane, as may be seen by the drawing, that is, the gantry is mounted on wheels and the crane is capable of moving itself along the rails on the wharf apron. Figure 71 shows a traveling semiportal gantry revolving jib crane. The only difference as to type between this crane and the one FlG. 70. A FULL-ARCH GANTRY REVOLVING JIB CRANE. (Courtesy Shepard Electric Crane & Hoist Co.] just described is in the shape of the gantry. In this case the gantry has one vertical leg and one horizontal leg. The inshore end of the horizontal leg with its traveling wheel rests upon a rail that extends along the face of the wharf shed. This rail is mounted on brackets attached to the vertical columns, as in the case of shop crane rails. The full-arch gantry crane is usually on wharves that have no sheds. Compared with a locomotive crane, its advantage is that it occupies less space on the wharf. By putting the hoisting machinery up on a gantry there need be kept open only the two crane rails, leaving < O a ^ 155 *V>:t J Jq^O;Si' ^''t | N t dlttf*? -'^^*rt "** 135 !86 WHARF MANAGEMENT seaworthy after the removal of cargo at the first port. In addition, the distribution of goods in the different holds must be such that dis- charge is facilitated. All of the cargo for Montevideo cannot be placed in one hold, because it would take a long time to discharge it through one hatch and because the vessel would probably be unsea- worthy after the discharge. For these reasons, the consignments for Montevideo are placed in holds l, 2, and 3, and those for La Plata in holds l, 2, and 4. At each port, therefore, discharge can be con- ducted through three hatches at the same time. In no case is it necessary to move La Plata cargo in order to get at Montevideo cargo, or to move Buenos Aires cargo to reach La Plata cargo. Cargo for the first two ports is so evenly divided between the holds that the vessel continues to be seaworthy on the different "legs" of its voyage. On this stowage plan, as well as on the others considered, the use of lumber in flooring off and in separating consignments is noticeable. As will be shown in Chapter XI it is desirable to have a large part of the weight of the cargo low in the vessel in order to insure stability, but too little weight near the top causes the vessel to roll heavily. Therefore, some of the dead-weight cargo should be placed high in the hold or in the 'tween decks. This principle has been followed on the Portsmouth by putting steel and other heavy mate- rials in the 'tween decks. CHAPTER XI STOWAGE AND STOWAGE FACTORS 1 Desirability of Getting Full Cargo Paying High Rates. The larger the cargo carried, the higher will be the earnings of the voyage. The overhead cost of the vessel goes on continuously ; earn- ings are made only according to the amount of freight, passengers, and mail carried. The freight agent therefore tries to secure a full cargo paying the highest freight rates. Two questions immediately arise from this statement: What is a full cargo? What freight pays the highest rates ? Commodities Paying High Rates. The complete answer to the second question is considered in another volume of this series. It is sufficient to point out here that ocean freight rates are determined by many factors, such as competitive conditions, cost of service, value of service, value of the commodity, and nature of the commodity. The factor that is of particular interest here is the nature of the commodity. A dangerous article will ordinarily be charged a higher rate than one which is perfectly safe, and, in the long run, articles that do not fit the requirements of the vessel must pay more than those which do. This presents a question as to what sort of com- modity does fulfill the requirements of the vessel, and the answer to that also shows us what a full cargo is. Getting a Full Cargo. The ideal commodity is one that fills all the cargo space and lowers the vessel to its "marks." The amount of cargo space is measured according to well-defined rules and is expressed in cubic feet. Two capacities at least are given for each vessel the bale capacity and the grain capacity. In measuring the grain capacity no deductions are made for loss of space around small obstructions, for it is assumed that the grain will flow into all corners and completely fill the holds. Bales and boxes, however, will not fit snugly into all parts of the hold, and deductions must therefore be made. A vessel of 7,000 tons dead weight may have a grain capacity of 370,000 cubic feet and a bale capacity of 340,000 cubic feet. 1 By Thomas R. Taylor. 187 188 WHARF MANAGEMENT The owner of this vessel would endeavor to secure a grain cargo measuring 370,000 cubic feet or a general cargo measuring 340,000 cubic feet. He cannot take a greater amount without placing some of it on deck, and he does not want to take a smaller amount, for space would then be left empty. Empty space means lost revenue, and it also means danger. If the holds are not completely filled there is a possibility that the cargo will shift and toss about, and this shift- ing damages the goods and may lead to loss of the ship. But the owner must also consider the weight of the cargo, for he is anxious that the freight taken be heavy enough to lower the vessel to its "deep-load line." The laws of most countries require that each vessel be marked on its sides with circles and lines to repre- sent the maximum draft of the ship at different seasons of the year and on different routes. No cargo shall be put on after the vessel has been lowered to its marks. This requirement is made because it has been found that many owners will, if left to their own initiative, place their vessels in an unseaworthy condition by overloading. The draft thus marked represents not only the maximum, but also the most economical loading, for the vessel is carrying the maximum amount of weight and also sails better than if it were standing high in the water. It is therefore to the interest of the shipowner to find a cargo that will lower this vessel to its marks. In the case of the vessel of 7,000 dead-weight tons the total weight put on board should be 7,000 tons. All of this weight, however, is not cargo, for fuel, stores, dunnage, etc., are included. If all items other than cargo weigh 1,000 tons, the weight of the cargo should be 6,000 tons. Explanation of Stowage Factor. Therefore, the problem of the owner of this vessel is to find a general cargo that will weigh 6,000 tons and measure 340,000 cubic feet. This means that each ton must measure approximately 57 cubic feet. This figure, expressing the measurement of a long ton (2,240 pounds) of a commodity, is called the "stowage factor" of the commodity. Stowage factors vary from about 9 for pig lead to over 1,000 for unnested wicker baskets. Those commodities having a stowage factor less than 40 are termed "dead- weight cargo," and those with stowage factors of 40 or more are called "measurement freight." This distinction has arisen because the shipowner has found it desirable to charge by space if the com- modity stows at more than 40 and by weight if it stows at less than 40. Many rates contain the provision that the charge will be made STOWAGE AND STOWAGE FACTORS STOWAGE FACTORS FOR SHIP CARGOES i8 9 Commodity Type of packing Gross weight (pounds) Measure- ment, in cu. ft. anc twelfths of cu. ft. Stow- age Number of cu. ft. occupied by long ton Remarks Case 178 8-Q For optical Barrel 2-18 8- 1 1 83 use; carborun- dum stone and drilling diamond. See also Carbo- rundum, Em- ery, Grind- stones, etc. Acetone Acid: Drum Barrel. . . . 845 475 24-3 I2-O 70 60 no gallons Barrel Barrel. . . 500 350 13-8 IO-O 60 Carbolic Barrel Barrel. . . . 275 500 8-0 I2-O 65 60 Case 237 I, IOO 8-0 65 Carbolic crystals Case 84 315 2-8 7i Hydrochloric Barrel. . . . 344 I I-I I Carboy Carboy. . . . 190 235 6-0 8-0 80 83 See Acid, Hy- Nitric Barrel. . . . 213 9-0 94 drochloric Oxalic Carboy.. . . Carboy Barrel. . . . 190 2IO 254 8-0 6-0 7-0 94 70 67 Barrel Barrel Barrel Demijohn. 375 401 374 1 20 10-3 10-6 10-6 6-0 67 63 67 I 12 5 gallons Barrel. . . . 1 20 7-8 157 Barrel Barrel Bag 120 119 223 P 5-O ISO 1 44 5 Bag 2O2 4-8 Carboy. . . . 229 8-0 59 Carboy. . . Drum 250 I,62O 6-0 22-O 55 33 Tartaric . . . Drum Barrel. . . . QOO 260 n-7 7-O 11 55 gallons Advertising matter Barrel Bale Case 250 1 06 7-2 3-0 64 6 | Co Import Case 224 8-0 80 6 Case 72 2-O 62 Aeroplane parts Case Case 351 280 5-o 3-0 32 24 A " 1 11 r\ t Case . . . 759 61-6 182 Agar-agar Bale Bale 230 284 7-3 9-8 11 Import Agricultural implements .... Box Box 520 685 9-0 1 1-5 38 37 Box 433 8-s 68 Box 402 5-6 3 * Crate Package. . . 236 301 9-n I 1-2 94 83 NOTE. Measurements are given in conformity with shipping practice, in cubic feet and twelfths of a cubic foot. Thus, "8-9" signifies eight and nine-twelfths cubic feet. Stowage represents the number of cubic feet of cargo space in which a long ton (2,240 pounds) may be shipped. Thus, no cubic feet is the cargo space required for a ton of abrasives packed in cases averaging 178 pounds gross and measuring 8-9 cubic feet. WHARF MANAGEMENT STOWAGE FACTORS FOR SHIP CARGOES Continued Commodity Type of packing Gross weight (pounds) Measure- ment, in cu. ft. anc twelfths of cu. ft. Stow- age- Number of cu. ft. occupied by long ton Remarks See Machinery See Machinery See Machinery Import Import. T i n container in a wooden case Bottled Bottled 1 1 dozen pints Bulk Shelled Shelled Two 5 - gallon oil cans in wooden case covered with gunny cloth Import Lump Powdered Powdered See Ore, Alu- minium Lump Powdered Powdered Powdere3 Powdered Cooking uten- sils Standard Large Small no gallons Alabastine Albumen: Blood KP-O- Case Case Case I 12 263 250 249 251 244 2-0 8-0 5-8 & 5-i i 36 67 51 57 54 54 60 78 62 61 7i 64 59 60 56 54 45 21 96 68 65 93 1 08 32 33 35 P 61 52 54 55 40 45 40 Case Case Case Cask Alcohol : Barrel 336 848 400 380 850 1 60 180 140 11-8 23-4 10-0 12-0 24-4 4-3 4-9 3-6 Methyl Wood Barrel Barrel Drum.. . . Case Ale Alkali Case Case Cask Barrel.. . Drum 325 823 140 6-6 8-0 6-0 Aloes Bag Bag 223 no i3i 135 127 118 220 375 426 425 1,300 275 350 130 9-3 5-4 i-n 2-O 2-0 1-9 8-9 10-3 IO-0 10-3 28-6 5-0 7-0 2-4 Bag cafe:::::: Case Case Case Bag Alum earth Aluminium: Barrel Barrel Barrel Cask Barrel Box Ore Sulphate Barrel Barrel. . . . Barrel Barrel Barrel. .. Box 375 425 426 320 425 227 45 251 I2O 10-3 10-3 IO-0 6-9 IO-O 9-3 26-8 10-3 65 54 52 47 52 9i 282 256 191 50 41 42 45 42 56 If Ware Box Box Box Ammonia: Cylinder.. . Cylinder.. . Cylinder.. . Cylinder.. . Drum Drum Barrel 268 287 393 197 970 943 611 5-o 5-o 7-3 2-IO 2 4 -3 23-4 18-0 Aqua Dry STOWAGE AND STOWAGE FACTORS 191 on the weight or measurement basis "at ship's option." The dividing line was established at 40 apparently because the older type of vessel would be filled without being lowered to its marks by freight that stowed at more than 40. The Average Stowage Factor. The vessel that we have been considering would pay best and sail easiest if it carried freight with a stowage factor of about 57. But vessels differ widely in their cargo-carrying capacity. Some are filled and lowered by cargo stowing at 40 ; others by cargo stowing at 90 or more. It is difficult to say what the average would be. Perhaps the ordinary cargo steamer should take freight stowing at from 52 to 55, and the aver- age sailing vessel freight that stows at from 65 to 70. The sailing vessel has greater cubic capacity because of its construction and because no space is taken up by boilers and machinery. Selecting Cargo by Lists of Stowage Factors. The stowage factors of most commodities are known to the booking agent or he can easily find the factor of a given article by consulting some list of factors. Almost all steamship companies have their own lists, but the most complete and satisfactory one is that originally pub- lished by the War Trade Board. An extract from this is shown on pages 189 and 190 in order to illustrate the proper make-up of such a list. Knowing the stowage factors of different commodities and the capacity and dead-weight tonnage of his vessel, the agent can easily determine what sort of cargo will best suit his needs. But his problem is complicated by other considerations, unless he has the choice of bulk cargoes of different character. He may not have a choice at all, or he may have to accept commodities that vary greatly in their stowage factors. If he rfas no choice, he will in most cases, of course, take whatever is offered rather than allow the vessel to sail empty. If he is offered part cargoes of several different com- modities, as would be the case if he were securing freight for a liner or for many tramps, he would try to accept a combination that would provide the necessary weight and volume. The problem of combining two commodities is relatively easy, and can be worked out by using the formula given on page 192.* 3 Formula applies only in cases where the stowage factor of the lighter commodity is greater than the stowage factor of the vessel: that is, when V b is greater than 192 WHARF MANAGEMENT b-a in which X = number of tons taken of the commodity having the higher stowage factor. V = bale capacity in cubic feet. T = total number of tons of cargo that can be carried = dead- weight tonnage of vessel less tonnage of fuel, stores, etc. a the lower of the two stowage factors. b =. the higher of the two stowage factors. If we use again the illustration of the vessel with a bale capacity of 340,000 cubic feet and a dead-weight tonnage of 7,000, of which 6,OOO tons can be made up of cargo, and if we assume that the agent is offered steel billets stowing at 10 cubic feet and cotton stowing at 90 cubic feet, the problem would be worked out as follows : /340,ooo _\ V 6,000 / 6, 90-10 6,000 __ (56.7-10) 6,000 80 3,500 tons, approximately number of tons of cotton that should be accepted. The number of tons of steel would then be 6,000 3,500, or 2,500. To prove that this cargo would provide the proper volume it is only necessary to multiply the number of tons of the two commodi- ties by their respective stowage factors and add the results, as follows : Volume of cotton = 3,500 x 90 = 315,000 cubic feet Volume of steel = 2^500 x 10 = 25,000 cubic feet Total volume of cargo = 340,000 cubic feet If there are a number of commodities instead of only two the problem becomes more difficult, and is worked out empirically. As- sume that the "cargo list" of the freight accepted for the 7,000-ton vessel shows the articles in the table on the opposite page. The booking clerk, upon reaching this point, knows that he should now secure 3,500 tons with a measurement of 90,000 cubic feet. The automobiles have taken up so much room that, to balance the cargo, dead-weight stowing at about 25 must be obtained if possible. He therefore tries to book rails, steel plates, or other heavy materials, STOWAGE AND STOWAGE FACTORS 193 Articles Weight in tons Measurement in cubic feet I OOO 90,000 SOO tons steel billets oo S.ooo i ,000 cases patent leather IQO 19,000 i ,000 cases gloves 80 16,000 2,ooo cases dried fruit I IO $ CQO 300 crates automobiles 620 115 ,000 2,500 250,500 and he may offer a reduction in freight rates in order to get such freight. It is a common practice to quote "berth-cargo" rates on com- modities that are usually available and can be used to round off a cargo satisfactorily, the berth-cargo rate being lower than the ordi- nary rate. In many cases, however, the agent can secure the desired freight at the full rate. There may be a large supply of steel in port waiting for transportation over the route taken by that vessel and the needed amount can be easily obtained. If light measure- ment cargo is wanted, it is possible that there will be a supply of tobacco, cotton, or other measurement freight from which to draw. In some cases the required class of freight is not to be had even at berth-cargo rates, and the vessel must sail with a poorly balanced cargo or must proceed to a near-by port where such freight is avail- able. Liners, sailing on schedule, cannot be held to collect a well- balanced cargo, nor can they be sent to adjacent ports, so it is common for them to sail in a partially laden condition. The owner or char- terer of a tramp, however, may find it advisable to send his ship to another port. This is a very common practice in some trades, as in the cork-carrying trade of Portugal and Spain. Cork has a very high stowage factor, .so that a vessel laden with cork alone will ride high in the water and will be in an unseaworthy condition. Therefore, many vessels, before loading their cork, will sail to an adjacent port for a part cargo of iron ore or other dead-weight. Lessened Importance of Obtaining Full Cargo. The whole prob- lem of securing an ideally balanced cargo is not so important as it formerly was, because the time factor is now of greater consideration and because the modern vessel is larger and can adjust its draft to some extent by filling or emptying its water tanks. The master of the old sailing vessel felt compelled to get a cargo that satisfied the 194 WHARF MANAGEMENT requirements of his ship. The loss of a few days in port did not mean much when compared with the loss of revenue or with the danger of the long voyage. Plenty of dead weight was required in order to make the vessel stable at sea ; the hold had to be completely filled or the tossing of the small craft by the waves would cause a shifting of the cargo; and a full cargo was necessary to show profits for the long period of the voyage. The owner of a modern steamer, however, can increase profits best by decreasing his "turn-around." He depends more on speed and less on full cargoes than does the owner of the sailing vessel. He can make speed best by spending fewer days in port, and therefore he loads quickly the freight that is available, even though it does not give a well-balanced cargo. If it is too light, water can be taken into the tanks ; if it is so heavy that it does not fill the space, some compartments can be left empty, or it can be secured against shifting easily as compared with the difficulty of securing the cargo of a sailing vessel. But even now the matter of properly adjusting the accepted freight to the vessel demands a great deal of consideration. As already suggested, there are two problems. One is that of safely securing against shifting dead-weight cargo that does not fill the space allotted to it. The second problem, which is more serious, is that of compressing measurement freight into the smallest possible volume in order to get the maximum amount into the space. Stowing Cargo with Low Stowage Factors. There are a number of commodities that will lower a vessel to its marks before the space is filled, and some of these are very important commercial products. Iron ore is perhaps the best example of such a commodity. It is of such commercial importance and fits the ordinary vessel so poorly that special fleets of steamers have been designed to carry it. If heavy ore is put in the hold of a vessel designed to carry general cargo, the deep-load line will be reached before the space is filled, and it then becomes necessary to take precautions against the shifting of the ore. It was seen that the logical thing to do would be to contract the hold space, and this plan has been carried into effect. The style of steamer adopted by the Bethlehem Steel Company to bring iron ore from Chile has a double bottom raised 17 feet above the keel to contract the hold space and raise the center of gravity of the ore, and its hold breadth is only one-half the beam of the ves- STOWAGE AND STOWAGE FACTORS 195 sel. 3 Such vessels can carry ore, coal, and other heavy bulk cargoes more economically and safely than can the ordinary steamer. However, the movement of heavy freight is not confined to spe- cially designed vessels. Much of it is carried by the common types of steamer in cargo lots or less than full cargo lots. If combined with other freight having a higher stowage factor, the cargo can be properly balanced in all probability ; but if it makes up a large part, or all, of the cargo, special stowage measures must be adopted to insure safety. The mass cannot be permitted to lie loose in the hold, nor should all the weight be concentrated. The stevedore must "blow it up" to raise the center of gravity in order that the vessel will not roll excessively. The method of doing this for rails is described as follows by Hillcoat (p. 148) : Railway iron should be stowed fore-and-aft until level with the keelson, then diagonally, that is, grating fashion, keeping the rails well apart so that the weight will be raised to make the ship easy in a seaway. Protect the ship's side with bars laid fore-and-aft on top of each other where the stowing is diagonal. Use rough sawn battens be- tween the tiers when necessary. Finish by stowing fore-and-aft, locking the two top tiers or so by inverting the upper rail ; then lay 3-inch planks across the cargo under the beams and tomb them well down, placing the tombs about 5 feet apart; also wedge the upper tiers at the sides by driving large wedges down on planks put up and down before stowing for the purpose. The 'tween-deck cargo is stowed fore-and-aft and is well tombed down like the lower hold. The end tiers have also to be lashed with chain to keep them from fetching away when the ship is pitching heavily, a space being left about a third of the distance from the midship stanchions, between them and the side, for the purpose. Bars are laid across the top and the lashing passed around them and the 'tween-deck beam. With a laid 'tween-deck, rails will have to be laid across the first tier on the deck to lash down to. The lashings are wedged up tight and will require attending to at sea. Reducing Stowage Factors. Most of the articles that are carried by liner services, and even by tramps, on the more important 3 Discussion of H. P. Frear on address of H. C. Sadler, "Bulk Freight Vessels of the Great Lakes," Trans. Intern. Eng. Cong., Vol. X (1915), 123. 196 WHARF MANAGEMENT trade routes of the world have such high stowage factors that they fill the holds before bringing the vessel to their marks. The greater saving in shipping space, therefore, can be made by reducing the stowage factors, or by adopting stowage measures that will permit a greater number of packages to be stowed in a given space. In some instances saving can be made by changing the design of vessels. Advantages of Reduction. As previously stated, the average cargo steamer is completely filled and weighted by articles stowing at from about 52 to 55. It is not recommended that all articles be packed so that each ton will occupy 52 to 55 cubic feet, for this would be impossible of realization and would be uneconomical for those articles with a low stowage factor; but it would be desirable if the stowage factors of many commodities could be reduced to approxi- mately this figure. This is a problem for the manufacturing ex- porter or other shipper of the goods. His backwardness in attacking the problem may be explained partly on the ground that he is un- aware of its existence and partly by other packing complexities that demand his consideration. As far as known, the manufacturer has never yet been told what the stowage factor of his goods should be, and it is doubtful whether he even knows what "stowage factor" means. He has been given much advice concerning packing to avoid damage, packing to avoid excessive custom charges, allowable maxi- mum weights and measurements, and other matters, but he has never been told that the average vessel will carry the maximum amount if its cargo occupies about 55 cubic feet to the ton. Perhaps he would 'not be interested in such a statement, for he would not see that it had any direct bearing on his freight charges. In most cases there would be no direct immediate effect, but a general reduction in freight rates. Ocean freight rates are fixed largely by competitive conditions. If the world tonnage could be handled by fewer vessels, there would be greater competition and rates would inevitably be lowered. The probable effect in one trade alone can be illustrated by considering the case of cotton. The American standard bale of cotton stows at about 125 cubic feet. The average annual export of cotton for the period of 1914- 1918 was about 7,000,000 bales, or 1,400,000 tons, since the average bale weighs 500 pounds. The total shipping space annually neces- sary to carry our cotton to foreign markets was, therefore, 195,000,- OOO cubic feet. This would require 551 steamers of 350,000 cubic STOWAGE AND STOWAGE FACTORS 197 feet bale capacity and a dead weight of 7,500 tons. Assume now that our export bales could be compressed to the density of the bales from India and China, giving a stowage factor of 50. Only 70,000,- ooo cubic feet of space would then be required and this would be provided by 200 vessels of the size considered. If each steamer engaged was employed continuously in this service and made 8 round trips a year, 69 vessels would be required to carry the cotton as now baled and only 25 if the bales were packed according to Chinese custom. Forty-four vessels would thus be made available for other service, and if other service were not readily available, their owners would cut the freight rates on cotton in order to get a share of that business. The Shipping Board has recognized the great saving in space that could be made by better packing of cotton, and, for some time, refused to allow the operators of its vessels to accept the standard bale, thus forcing the shippers to put up high density bales having a stowage factor of about 85. Reduction in War Period. The shortage of shipping during the World War accomplished wonders in the general reduction of stow- age factors. This was noticeable to those compiling the list of factors for the War Trade Board. More compact packing of a given com- modity would decrease its stowage factor by 5 or more. Perhaps the most important work done along this line in the United States was that of the Packing Service Branch of the Army. In order to econo- mize space in supply ships, radical changes in packing were adopted. Clothing, blankets, etc., were baled instead of cased, and this alone caused a saving of over $49,000,000 in freight rates during I9i8. 4 The space occupied by a 5-ton Packard truck was decreased from 1,000 cubic feet to 268 cubic feet, and similar reductions were made with other cased goods. Reduction by Eliminating Broken Stowage. It was easy for the Army authorities to specify the kind of packing acceptable, but the shipowner cannot do this. He must take the 1 goods as they are delivered, unless the packing is unsafe, and he must stow them in the least possible space. He cannot repack the articles, but he can economize space by eliminating "broken stowage." The first step toward this end is taken by the booking clerk, who should secure some 4 Capt. H. R. Moody, "Packing for Export." Official Proceedings of the Sixth National Foreign Trade Convention, 557-563. 198 WHARF MANAGEMENT small package freight to be used to fill in the broken stowage around the larger units. The next step is taken by the pier superintendent or stevedore in planning the stowage so that packages will fit snugly in the space allotted to them. And the final steps are taken by the foreman, whose duty it is to see that the packages are compactly stowed. The work of the booking agent, although important, requires little further explanation. If he has booked a large number of bulky packages of different shapes and sizes, he should also secure, even at a reduction in rates, a number of small boxes, bags, and articles to fill the spaces left between the larger packages. In some cases the clerk does his work correctly, but it goes to naught because the smaller articles are not delivered to the hold in time to be of any use. This might be the fault of the shipper, the transportation medium, or the stevedore, who does not have transfer from the pier made at the proper time. Planning the distribution of the cargo to economize space is difficult to describe because it varies with each cargo. One or two illustrations will best indicate the gain that can be made by careful planning. If the cargo consists of lumber and barrel oil, it would obviously be unwise to place the oil at the bottom of the hold. The beam there is contracted and the number of "longers" that could be placed would be limited. If the lumber is placed on the ceiling it conforms well to the shape of the lower hold and the great breadth of beam above is reserved for the barrels. This expedites the stow- age of the barrels and reduces the broken stowage considerably. Another shipment may consist of a number of boxed automobiles, each measuring 6 feet by 6 feet by 10 feet, and the stevedore wishes to place the maximum number in a between space measuring 6 feet in height by 45 feet fore-and-aft by 64 feet beam. If he puts the boxes so that their lengths are fore-and-aft he can get in 6 rows of 7 boxes each, or a total of 42 boxes. If the lengths of the boxes are athwartship, there will be 10 rows with 4 boxes in each row, or a total of 40 boxes. By figuring this out on paper beforehand, the stevedore may avoid loss of time and loss of space. The foreman and the individual longshoreman must exercise discretion in eliminating broken stowage between units of cargo. They must place the larger units compactly and fill in, if possible, any vacancies that unavoidably occur. Compact stowing requires the STOWAGE AND STOWAGE FACTORS 199 use of both muscle and brain. Muscle is needed to force the units together. In stowing sacks of sugar, flour, etc., the longshoremen should throw the sacks forcefully into place, thus subjecting the contents to pressure and gaining a little space with each sack. On some classes of cargo pressure is applied mechanically. It was formerly the practice to spend a great deal of time in compression of cargoes of raw fibers, seeds, tobacco, and other products, but this is no longer done to any large extent except with cotton cargoes. In stowing cotton at most of the southern ports of the United States, hand screws are used to press the bales tightly together in order that a larger number of bales may be placed in the hold. "Screwing" of standard bales results in a saving of about 2 cubic feet to the bale, so that, for a large cargo of cotton, it is an economical operation in spite of the time consumed. Skill is displayed in securing compact stowage of packages of irregular shape, and in properly arranging the stowage of two or more differently shaped packages in one space. In stowing car wheels, for example, the flanges of one pair must be set against the axles of the next, and the space above and below the axles should be filled with cases of the proper size and strength. An illustration of the thought and care necessary is afforded by the method of stowing completely assembled locomotives on the Feltore. Two thicknesses of oak planks (3" by 12" by 38') were first laid on the "ceiling," and into these the wheel flanges were buried to their depth by the weight of the locomotives. Each locomotive was lowered by a 10O- ton barge crane into the exact spot it was to occupy or as near thereto as possible. They were placed as close as their cow-catchers would allow, with the pilots toward the after bulkheads. In this way two athwartship rows of 5 locomotives each were placed. The space left against the forward bulkhead was partially filled with a locomotive placed athwartship. Wedges were put under the springs to distribute the weight and all brakes were set. Six blocks of wood of the proper shape were then placed on each boiler, and large timbers were laid on these, lengthwise of the engines. Baled hay was placed in all vacancies around the locomotives and five thicknesses of bales were placed on top of the timbers over the boilers. This provided a solid, secure floor upon which tenders were stowed, blocked, and dunnaged. There was still 10 feet of space left above the tier of ten- ders and this was filled with hay, oats, and motor trucks. The 200 WHARF MANAGEMENT whole cargo consisted of 33 complete locomotives and tenders, 2,400 tons of rails and splices, 2,300 tons of hay, 600 tons of oats, 53 motor trucks, and i thirty-foot steam launch. Deck Loads. With goods having exceptionally high stowage factors, the vessel cannot be lowered to its marks by below-deck cargo, even with the most careful stowage. Nonperishable goods can be stowed on deck, however, and this is a common practice with ship loads of lumber, cork, and other commodities. For the carriage of lumber, the most important commercial commodity of this class, especially designed vessels have been built, having a wide beam to compensate for the high center of gravity, a high freeboard and a great forward sheer to prevent wash of the deck cargo, and a bridge far aft to provide a long unobstructed deck space for the deck cargo. 5 5 Johnson and Huebner, Principles of Ocean Transportation, 44-46. REFERENCES Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans, Analysis of Pres- ent Operation of the Port of New Orleans, Vol. I, 1915. Prefaced by Ford, Bacon, and Davis, Engineers. HILLCOAT, CHAS. W., Notes on the Stowage of Ships. Imray, Lowrie, Norie & Wilson, London, 1918. JOHNSON, E. R., AND HUEBNER, G. G., Principles of Ocean Trans- portation. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1918. JOHNSON, P. W., Encyclopedia of Transportation. The Wheeler & Wheeler Co., Chicago, 1892. STEVENS, ROBERT W., On the Stowage of Ships and Their Cargoes. Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1894. U. S. Bureau of Standards: "Table of Unit Displacement of Com- modities," Circular No. 77. Government Printing Office, Wash- ington, 1919. CHAPTER XII LAWS GOVERNING STOWAGE 1 Necessity of Laws and Regulations. The large number of cases of total or partial loss of ships and of cargoes of goods indicates that vessels are not properly constructed to withstand the dangers of ocean navigation or that they are not properly stowed or operated. The seriousness of these losses has long occupied the minds of those men who are primarily interested in the safe transportation of goods and passengers by water. Early in the history of maritime affairs it was seen that the individual shipowner, who looked for profits only and whose desire for large profits often overcame his better judgment, could not be depended upon to develop the safety and comfort of transport essential to the successful growth of a large and prosper- ous merchant marine, carrying passengers and freight to all parts of the world under all sorts of conditions. It was necessary to curb the spirit of daring that accompanies sea life, and to regulate the construction and operation of vessels in order that international commerce and intercourse might grow naturally and without inter- ruption. Gradually, therefore, a set of regulations has been developed to insure maximum safety at sea. These regulations are unsatisfac- tory in many ways. They are unnecessarily restrictive in some mat- ters and too lenient in others, and they have been issued and enforced by so many different agencies and bodies that it is difficult for a man new to maritime affairs to understand them. Yet it is absolutely necessary that they be understood in order that they may be obeyed and that suggestions may be offered for their improvement. If our laws and regulations are to satisfy the men of the shipping world, these men not only must be thoroughly acquainted with the present laws but must be prepared to plan changes in their wording and in their administration. The time is not far distant when the United *By Thomas R. Taylor. 201 202 WHARF MANAGEMENT States will be the leading maritime nation and its growth in equip- ment must be accompanied by an expansion and simplification of maritime law. For purposes of discussion the present laws and regulations affecting the stowage of vessels may be grouped as follows : I. Laws and regulations relative to the general seaworthi- ness of vessels. 1. Governmental laws applicable to all vessels. 2. Governmental laws applicable to passenger vessels. 3. Rules of insurance underwriters. 4. Rules of classification societies. II. Laws and regulations relative to the stowage and car- riage of certain classes of goods. 1. Grain. 2. Live stock. 3. Dangerous goods. LAWS RELATIVE TO SEAWORTHINESS OF VESSELS Governmental Laws Applicable to All Vessels. The laws of most nations make it a crime for a shipowner to send his vessel to sea unless it is fit to carry cargo and is in a seaworthy condition. The Harter Act, passed by the United States in 1893, * s typical in its provisions. It provides that if the shipowner has not showed negligence, fault or failure in proper loading, stowage, custody, care, or proper delivery, and if he has used diligence in equipping, man- ning, provisioning, and outfitting the vessel, he shall not be respon- sible for loss or damage to goods due to (a) faults and errors in navigation and management ; (b) dangers of the sea or other navi- gable water ; (c) acts of God ; (d) acts of public enemies ; (e) inherent defects, quality or vice of the goods carried; (f) insuffi- ciency of package containing the goods; (g) seizure under legal process; (h) act or omission of the shipper or owner of the goods; (i) the saving or attempt to save life or property at sea, and (j) deviation from course to save or to attempt to save life or property at sea. In interpreting this law and similar laws of other nations, the LAWS GOVERNING STOWAGE 203 courts have decided that the shipowner is responsible for loss or damage occasioned in any of the following ways : (a) Failure to put the vessel in a condition to receive cargo with- out damage to the cargo. The holds must be clean and fit in every way to contain goods without damage. (b) Failure to fit the vessel in design, structure, condition, and equipment to encounter the ordinary perils of the voyage : . The shipowner is responsible for defects in the ship or its equipment, but he is assisted in his efforts to disclose the defects. The vessel is built and outfitted under the supervision of trained inspectors of the classification societies, and certain regulations are laid down for the owner to follow in deciding what the condition and equip- ment should be. Thus, the laws of many maritime nations (not including the United States) specify the draft to which the vessel may be lowered, and the owner must be guided by the load lines marked on the sides of his ship. A vessel that is unfit may be de- tained at British ports, and the inspectors of the United States Steamboat Inspection Service may refuse permission to operate an unfit steam vessel. The vessel must not only be fit to encounter ordinary sea perils but it must also be fit to carry safely to their destination goods of any particular kind that it guarantees to transport. If it under- takes to carry chilled meat it must be capable of keeping that meat at the proper temperature throughout the voyage. (c) Failure to provide a competent master and a competent and sufficient crew. (d) Failure to provide a pilot at a port where one may be secured and the nature of navigation requires one, unless the master himself has a competent knowledge of navigation. (e) Loading a cargo which is not a safe one for such a voyage as might be reasonably expected. (f) Failure to stow the cargo in such a way that it will be kept safe and intact until delivery. It will be seen from the above that the owner of a freight vessel is limited in his control of that vessel. He must build it in a speci- fied manner, he must provide competent officers and crew, he must make it fit to receive cargo, he must not load cargo that is unsafe, and he must stow the cargo safely. If he does not do these things he must suffer the consequences ; and the chief fault to find with the 204 WHARF MANAGEMENT laws is the fact that it is "consequences" rather than prevention of movement that he must face. In other words, there is no representa- tive of the United States who has the authority to examine a vessel before its sailing and to prohibit, if necessary, its departure. The owner of a freight vessel still has the power of sending his vessel to sea in an unseaworthy condition, and he will do so if the chances of reward seem greater than the chances of loss. The work of the super- vising inspectors of the United States Steamboat Inspection Service should be enlarged to include the inspection of each vessel before it sails. Such inspection is now provided by the insurance under- writers, .but their decisions are not mandatory. Governmental Laws Applicable to Passenger Vessels. Regulation of the equipment and operation of passenger vessels is more strict than the regulation of freight vessels because of the greater risk to human life in the case of passenger vessels. The Passenger Act of 1882 and other acts passed by the United States define the shipowner's responsibility and specify the conditions under which the vessel may proceed. Most of these specifications, how- ever, do not deal with the question of stowage of cargo, and there- fore cannot be considered here. As in the case of freight vessels, the laws of the United States are faulty in that they provide only for yearly inspection, rather than for inspection prior to sailing. A vessel carrying a thousand passengers may be so loaded that it is in imminent danger of catastrophe, yet it may sail unmolested. As with freight steamers, the supervising inspectors of the United States Steamboat Inspection Service of the Department of Commerce make the required annual inspection of hull, machinery and equipment, but they do not have the authority to inspect before each sailing. Rules of Insurance Underwriters. Owing to the necessity of protecting their own interests, men who underwrote insurance on hulls, cargo, and freight felt compelled to lay down certain rules and regulations to be followed by the shipowner. The first underwriters of marine insurance were those who gathered at Lloyd's coffee house in London in the eighteenth century, and out of this group arose an underwriters' association and a classification society, both of which are still internationally known as Lloyd's. The purpose of the underwriters' association was to facilitate the distribution of insur- ance risks among the members and to form a rate system the basis of which would be the risk factor. In determining the degree LAWS GOVERNING STOWAGE 205 of risk a primary consideration was the stowage of cargo, and there- fore this and similar organizations have always played an important part in determining the method and place of stowing goods. In this country we have a number of such associations, well represented in New York by the Board of Underwriters of New York and the National Board of Marine Underwriters. In addition there are a large number of individual marine insurance companies with capital enough to carry alone the insurance on a ship or on several ships. The associations or companies have representatives in the different ports to act as inspectors of risks, and these men have the power to refuse insurance altogether or to fix the rate. If the shipowner desires insurance on a cargo he applies to an underwriter, who, in order to fix the rate, looks up the record of the ship and its officers, and sends his representative to watch the loading process and to prescribe, if necessary, how the stowage shall be carried out. If the stevedore, the master, and the insurance repre- sentative work in harmony, there is no difficulty, but in many cases it is to the advantage of the stevedore and master to conceal matters from the inspector, and this places the inspector at a disadvantage, for it makes his inspection more difficult, and he cannot well refuse insurance unless he can prove before a court that the vessel is unsea- worthy. His is the only check on the stowage of the vessel, and it is fortunate that the average intelligence and loyalty of the inspec- tors are so high that few faults escape their attention and condemna- tion. In addition to providing this inspection system, the underwriters have in some instances issued instructions for the guidance of their representatives and of others. Most, if not all, of these instructions refer to dangerous cargo and will be mentioned more fully later. Rules of Classification Societies. The men who gathered at Lloyd's coffee house in London were responsible for the organization of the first classification society. As its name implies, the society was formed to classify vessels with respect to their seaworthiness. In order to give them an initial classification it was necessary to inspect the vessels during their construction, and changes in classification could be determined only by periodic inspection thereafter. Vessels that are assigned a high classification and are maintained there have low insurance rates, and it is, therefore, to the advantage of the shipowner to have his vessel in a class as high as possible. It is the 2o6 WHARF MANAGEMENT general practice to have classified all vessels, and the details of con struction and equipment are therefore submitted to the representa- tives of the classification society in order that suggestions may be followed. The classification of all vessels and the essential informa- tion concerning them is published in large books that are familiar sights in any marine insurance office. Lloyd's is still the most influential classification society and its annual Register of British and Foreign Shipping is the standard source of information on vessels. But there are similar societies in other maritime countries. The United States is represented by the rapidly growing Bureau of American and Foreign Shipping, which publishes the American Record of Shipping. Some of these societies are semi-governmental in nature and are delegated to enforce certain maritime laws. Thus, Lloyd's has been given the authority to regulate the marking of load lines on British vessels. It will be seen, therefore, that these societies exert a powerful influence in determining the seaworthiness of vessels, and that their inspections have been of immense public benefit. It is largely because their work has proved so satisfactory that the need of inspection by government officials has been overlooked. And yet they are not en- tirely free of fault, for they must make concessions in order to get business, and it would seem, therefore, that some central public agency could perform the same service even more satisfactorily. LAWS RELATIVE TO THE STOWAGE OF CERTAIN CLASSES OF GOODS Laws and regulations for the stowage and carriage of certain classes of goods have been issued by so many different agencies that it is almost impossible for one man to be familiar with all the instructions. Port authorities, city departments, insurance under- writers and boards, surveyors of vessels, steamship companies, and various governmental bureaus and departments all have the author- ity to prescribe regulations pertaining to stowage of cargo, and the result is duplication, contradiction, and omission. Duplication and contradiction are to be noted most in the regulations relative to the stowage of dangerous goods. Port and city authorities, pier owners, and governmental bureaus give instructions as to the time, place, and method of loading dangerous goods; underwriters, steamship companies, and governmental bureaus prescribe the stowage. The LAWS GOVERNING STOWAGE 207 master of the vessel is therefore often at a loss as to whose instruc- tions to follow, and especially so if he is proceeding to a country where even different regulations are in force. Because it is so easy to be confused, it is very desirable that we point out here the principal agencies that have published regulations on this subject. Grain. The stowage of grain has been subject to much regula- tion because of the relatively large number of casualties that have befallen members of the grain fleet of the world. Casualties are numerous because of the seasonal and dangerous character of the trade. Soon after the crop is gathered large numbers of tramp vessels gather at the exporting ports, at most of which the facilities are inade- quate and the supervision is very incomplete. Many of these vessels are unfit to carry a commodity of this sort. Grain cargoes shift very easily and are damaged by water and vermin. Moreover, they are subject to spontaneous combustion, and many vessels have been totally destroyed by fire starting in the cargo of bulk grain. The boards of insurance underwriters are the only agencies in this country that have issued instructions regarding the stowage of grain. The regulations of the Board of Underwriters of New York and of the Board of Underwriters of New Orleans apply to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The regulations of the Board of Under- writers of San Francisco have been superseded by the instructions of the San Francisco office of the United States Shipping Board. All of these regulations prescribe the erection of shifting boards to pre- vent shifting of the grain, the construction of feeders in the between- decks or hatchway to feed grain into the hold as the cargo there settles on the voyage, and other matters of similar character. Perhaps the best known regulations are those of the Great Britain Board of Trade. Its "Memorandum Relating to Grain Cargoes" is procurable at Wyman & Sons, London, for one shilling, and its additional memoranda on the same subject may be followed in the columns of Lloyd's List, which is published daily in London. Live Stock. Regulation of the carriage of live stock from the United States is delegated to the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Animal Industry, of the Department of Agriculture, issued in 1919 a little pamphlet on "Regulations Governing the In- spection, Humane Handling, and Safe Transport of Export Ani- mals." This describes in detail the accommodations that must be provided for animals and the methods of handling them, and it 208 WHARF MANAGEMENT should be in the hands of every one who is interested in this phase of the stowage question. Other countries that are important in the export trade in live stock have also issued regulations, with which the master of a vessel engaged in that trade must become familiar. Dangerous Goods. One of the great dangers of ocean trans- port is from cargo that is capable of destroying the vessel, damaging other cargo, or endangering the health or lives of the crew. The kinds of goods that may do these things are indicated on page 221. In efforts to minimize the danger from such cargo various bodies have published information and instructions concerning them and their proper stowage. The first set of regulations demanding consideration is that found in the laws of the United States. These laws may be divided into seven parts on the basis of their application. The first part consists of Section 8 of Passenger Act of 1882, which prohibits the carriage on vessels carrying steerage passengers of any nitroglycerin, dynamite, or any other explosive article or compound, or any vitriol (sulphuric acid) or like acids, or gunpowder, except for the ship's use, or any other articles which may endanger the health or lives of the passengers or the safety of the vessel. The second part applies to steam vessels carrying passengers and consists of Sections 4422, 4424, 4472, and 4473 of the Revised Statutes. It prohibits the carriage on steamers carrying passengers of loose hay, loose cotton, loose hemp, camphene, nitroglycerin, naphtha, benzine, benzol, coal oil, crude or refined petroleum, or other like explosive burning fluid, or like dangerous articles. It also speci- fies that baled cotton or hemp shall be carried on such vessels only when packed as prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors ; that gunpowder shall be carried only under special license; that acids must be carried on the decks or the guards thereof ; that refined petroleum, which will not ignite at a temperature less than 11O F., may be carried under regulations on such steamers upon routes where there is no other practical mode of transporting it, and that turpen- tine and matches may be carried if packed in certain ways. The third part of the law consists of Section 232 of the Act of March 4, 1909, and applies to all common carriers carrying passen- gers. It prohibits, except under certain conditions, the transportation of dynamite, gunpowder, or other explosives on such vessels. The fourth part is made up of Section 4278, Revised Statutes, LAWS GOVERNING STOWAGE 209 and is applicable to all vessels carrying passengers. It prohibits the transportation on all such vessels of nitroglycerin, nitroleum, nitrated oil, or powder or fiber mixed or saturated with same. The fifth part applies, with one or two exceptions, to all steam vessels carrying either passengers or freight. Section 4474, Revised Statutes, states the conditions under which oil may be used as fuel, and Sections 4475 and 4476 prescribe that gunpowder, nitroglyc- erin, camphene, naphtha, benzine, benzol, coal oil, crude or refined petroleum, acids, oil or spirits of turpentine, friction matches, and all other articles of like character shall be securely packed and put up separately from each other and from all other articles, and that the container of such an article must be distinctly marked on the outside with the name or description of the article therein. The sixth part consists of Sections 234, 235, and 236 of the Act of March 4, 1909, and applies to all common carriers. It prohibits the transport of liquid nitroglycerin, fulminate in bulk in dry condi- tion, or other like explosive ; and prescribes that all packages con- taining explosives or like dangerous articles shall be plainly marked on the outside. The seventh part applies to all vessels and is made up of Sec- tions 4279 and 4288, Revised Statutes. It prescribes how nitro- glycerin, nitroleum, and nitrated oil and powders, fibers mixed or saturated with same, must be packed and marked when put up for shipment, and that written notice must be given by the shipper to the ship's officer of the shipment of oil of vitriol, unslaked lime, in- flammable matches, or gunpowder. It will be readily apparent that the confusion of these laws must be Reflected in their administration. The power of prohibiting the transportation of articles and of prescribing the mode of packing and stowing commodities is given to the Supervising Inspector Gen- eral of the Steamboat Inspection Service. He and his supervising inspectors have performed admirable service in view of the faulty laws with which they have had to work. Whenever there is any question about the dangerous character of an article a sample is taken by the inspector and sent to Washington, where it is examined by the Bureau of Standards. This Bureau makes recommendations to the Supervising Inspector General, who thereupon publishes a ruling on the article. There are hundreds of such rulings that have been published in the circulars, the monthly bulletins, or the corre- 210 WHARF MANAGEMENT spondence of the Steamboat Inspection Service. Almost all of the rulings refer only to the transportation of dangerous articles by passenger steamers, and it is perhaps true that the jurisdiction of the Steamboat Inspection Service does not extend to the transportation of goods by freight vessels or sailing vessels carrying passengers. A number of articles are prohibited altogether from carriage by pas- senger steamers, and the methods of packing and stowing many others are outlined. These rulings are gathered together in "Stowage of Ship Cargoes," sold by the Superintendent of Documents, Wash- ington, for 35 cents. Just as the Steamboat Inspection Service is given authority in the matter of transportation of goods by vessel, the Interstate Commerce Commission is given authority over the transportation of goods by land vehicles. Its regulations are available to all in its publications, "Regulations for the Transportation of Explosives and Other Dan- gerous Articles by Freight and Express, and Specifications for Ship- ping Containers" (about 250 pages) and "Supplement No. i" to same, procurable from the Superintendent of Documents, Washing- ton, or from the Bureau of Explosives, New York City. This infor- mation is of great value to steamship officials because the methods of packing and marking prescribed for railway shipment are extended automatically to shipment by sea, and because the regulations have been applied to the coastwise lines. Division is made between explosives and other dangerous articles, and for each class and each article the methods of packing and marking are prescribed. There are also detailed specifications for the manufacture of con- tainers for shipping various dangerous articles. The coastwise lines are governed by the regulations of the Inter- state Commerce Commission and of the Steamboat Inspection Service, and the manner in which they observe these rules is shown in the publications of the Bureau of Explosives, 30 Vesey Street, New York, especially in B. E. Pamphlet No. 5-6, "Regulations for the Transportation of Explosives and Dangerous Articles Other than Explosives" (1919). The pamphlet consists largely of a table which shows the way in which the different coastwise lines handle various dangerous articles. It gives about the same information that is found in the lists of dangerous cargoes that are privately kept by many steamship companies. Such a list should be maintained by every company. This is conveniently done by a card file, in which LAWS GOVERNING STOWAGE 211 are shown the names, dangerous characteristics and methods of stowage of the different commodities. Another source of information which should be in the hands of every one interested in the loading of explosives is in the publications of the Treasury Department on anchorage grounds. The Secretary of War establishes anchorage grounds at different ports, especially anchorage grounds for the loading of explosives, and prescribes regulations relating thereto. These regulations are enforced by the Secretary of the Treasury through the Port Captains of the Coast Guard at New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, and along the St. Mary's River; at other ports the regulations are enforced by the Chief of Engineers of the War Department. The rules laid down for the loading of explosives at New York, Philadelphia, or Norfolk may be had by applying to the Port Captain or to the U. S. Coast Guard, Washington. The insurance underwriters have a great deal of information on dangerous cargo, only some of which is published. Boards of under- writers have lists of dangerous articles which are open to the inspec- tion of members, but are not published, largely because they are sub- ject to constant change. On the other hand, some of the boards have publicly issued advices on the loading and stowing of certain com- modities. The Board of Underwriters of New York has printed in- structions on the loading of calcium carbide, iron and coal, explosives, refined oils, and deck cargoes of coal. The National Board of Marine Underwriters has published a set of rules governing the loading of turpentine, rosin, cottonseed oil, and petroleum oil or its products in barrels from Gulf and Southern Atlantic ports. It is rather unfortunate that these boards are not more active in the dis- tribution of information of this kind. The Board of Trade in Great Britain has published a large amount of valuable information concerning dangerous cargoes, and its advice is more generally followed in the marine world than that of any other body. Its "Memorandum Relating to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Other than Explosives) in Ships" (1915) may be obtained from Wyman & Sons, London, for threepence. The suggestion has been made that all of these regulations on dangerous articles should be coordinated and administered by some national or international body. It is doubtful whether an interna- tional tribunal is practical at present, but it would be a comparatively 212 WHARF MANAGEMENT simple matter to form a national clearing house of information and regulation by simply broadening the scope of the work of the Steamboat Inspection Service. It seems ridiculous that a steamer loading explosives is governed by regulations laid down by the Sec- retary of War and enforced by the Secretary of the Treasury, and that infractions of the regulations are punished by the Department of Commerce. Centralization of authority must be had, and this centralized authority must be given complete power. The old laws which permit the unrestricted shipment of alcohol and prohibit the shipment of camphene and petroleum on steamers carrying passengers should be repealed, and the Supervising Inspector General should be given the power of framing a com- plete set of regulations and of administering these regulations as he sees fit. Any law must be elastic to allow for the wide differences in ships, commodities, routes, etc., and an administrative body, such as the Steamboat Inspection Service, unhampered by old laws, could take these differences into consideration. This one body, with proper authority and increased personnel, could perform invaluable service in securing greater safety at sea and in relieving the American merchant marine of the needless restrictions now imposed upon it. REFERENCES AEBY, JULIUS, Dangerous Goods. Privately published, Antwerp, 1910. BARR, HARRY K., Stowage and Dangerous Cargo. Wycie & Co., New York, 1918. Board of Underwriters of New Orleans (Marine). "Rules for Load- ing Grain." New Orleans, 1913. Board of Underwriters of New York (Marine): "Regulations for the Loading of Calcium Carbide." New York, 1913. "Rules for Loading Grain." New York, 1917. "Rules for Loading Vessels with Iron and/or Coal." New York, 1898. "Regulations for the Stowage of High and Low Explosives." New York, 1916. "Regulations regarding the Loading of Gasoline, Naphtha and Ben- zine." New York, 1910. "Rules and Regulations Regarding the Carrying of Coals on Deck for Use as Bunker Coal, from Ports North of Hatteras to Ports South of that Latitude." New York, 1900. LAWS GOVERNING STOWAGE 213 Bureau of Explosives: "General Information Respecting Explosives and Other Dangerous Articles." B. E. Pamphlet No. 7. 30 Vesey St., New York, 1914. "Regulations for the Transportation of Explosives and Dangerous Articles other than Explosives." B. E. Pamphlet No. 5-6. 30 Vesey Street, New York, 1919. CARVER, THOS. G., A Treatise of the Law Relating to the Carriage of Goods by Sea. 6th Edition by James S. Henderson. Stevens & Sons, London, 1918. Great Britain Board of Trade: "List of Principal Acts of Parliament, Regulations, Orders, Instruc- tions and Notices Relating to Merchant Shipping Which Are Now in Force." London, August, 1917. "Memorandum Relating to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Explosives in Ships." London, 1907. "Memorandum Relating to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Other than Explosives) in Ships." London, 1915. "Memorandum Relating to Grain Cargoes." Darling & Son, Lon- don, 1919. "Report of Committee on Load Lines of Merchant Ships and Car- riage of Deck Cargoes of Wood Goods." London, 1916. National Board of Marine Underwriters: "Rules Governing the Load- ing of Turpentine, Rosin, Cottonseed Oil, and Petroleum Oil or Its Products in Barrels from Gulf and Southern Atlantic Ports." New York, 1907. Port Warden of the Harbor of Montreal. "Revised Rules and By- Laws." Montreal. SAMUELS, WM. S. (Marine Surveyor and Appraiser), "Rules for Load- ing Case Oil." Philadelphia, 1911. TAYLOR, T. R., Stowage of Ship Cargoes. Government Printing Office, 1920. U. S. Bureau of Navigation: "Navigation Laws of the United States." Government Printing Office, 1921. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry: "Regu- lations Governing the Inspection, Humane Handling, and Safe Transport of Export Animals." Washington, 1919. U. S. Interstate Commerce Commission: "Regulations for the Trans- portation of Explosives and Other Dangerous Articles by Freight and Express and Specifications for Shipping Containers." Also Supplement No. i to same. Government Printing Office, 1918 and 1919. U. S. Treasury Department: "Anchorage Grounds for the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Newcastle and Rules and Regulations Relating Thereto." Government Printing Office, August, 1918. "Anchorage Grounds for the Port of New York and Rules and Regu- lations Relating Thereto." Government Printing Office, February, 1919. 214 WHARF MANAGEMENT "Rules for the St. Mary's River." Government Printing Office, February, 1919. "Rules and Regulations Governing Anchorage Grounds in Hampton Roads and the Harbors of Norfolk and Newport News." Govern- ment Printing Office, June, 1918. U. S. Shipping Board, Emergency Fleet Corporation, San Francisco Branch: "Loading Instructions" (For grain.) San Francisco, 1919. VON SCHWARTZ, DR., Fire and Explosion Risks, translated by Charles T. C. Salter. Charles Griffin & Co., London, 1904. CHAPTER XIII STOWAGE FOR SECURITY 1 Stowage must be carefully done if danger and damage are to be eliminated. Many vessels are lost by improper stowage 2 and thou- sands of dollars' worth of claims for damage to cargo are annually paid by steamship operators. This phase of the stowage question is of such human and financial interest that it has been rather exten- sively discussed and there are several good books on the subject (see references at end of chapter). It will only be necessary, therefore, to state the general principles involved. DAMAGE TO SHIP OR CREW Stowage will result in danger of loss of the vessel if (a) the center of gravity of the cargo is not put in the proper place, (b) the work is so carelessly done that the cargo will shift, and (c) proper safe- guards are not thrown about dangerous cargo. Improper Position of the Center of Gravity. The proper point for the center of gravity varies with the vessel and the cargo. No general rule can be laid down; in each case the shipowner or master must follow his own knowledge and judgment. However, it is possible to point out some ways in which the master may go wrong. If the center of gravity of the cargo is too high, the vessel will be liable to capsize. The beam and the freeboard help to determine the stability of the vessel, but the position of the center of gravity 1 By Thomas R. Taylor. 2 News dispatches to-day (January 19, 1920) state that the British steamer Yarmouth (725 tons) is sinking off the New Jersey coast, with the forward ballast tank leaking into the engine room. It left New York on January 17, with a heavy list to starboard, owing to the haste with which longshoremen loaded the cargo of $2,000,000 worth of liquors in an effort to get it out of the country before the law forbidding transportation of liquor went into effect. There is little doubt but that careless stowage was re- sponsible for the loss. 215 216 WHARF MANAGEMENT is the most important factor. If the center of gravity is low there will be a strong force tending to return the ship to a vertical position after it has been inclined by wave action. If it is high, the force will be weaker; and if it is too high there will be no return movement and the vessel will roll over. Figure 84 shows stability curves for a vessel under three conditions of load. The length of the "righting arm" expresses the power of the ship to right itself. It will be noted L 0/)Q FIG. 84. that this vessel will be stable at all angles to which it probably will be inclined. If, however, the vessel in its "coal burned" condition were thrown to an angle of about 75 degrees there would be no righting arm, and capsizing would immediately take place. Such curves are supplied to the shipowner by the architect or builder, and should be placed in the possession of the master. This officer should be able to interpret the curves and to construct new ones for each different load condition. If the center of gravity is very low the righting force will be so great that the vessel will be brought up with a jerk, carried beyond the vertical position, and will then oscillate or "roll'' until equilibrium is established. There is absolutely no danger of capsiz- ing, but there is danger that the excessive rolling will cause sea- sickness of passengers and crew, chafing and shifting of cargo, strain of the vessel, and perhaps the breakage of parts and the tearing out of the masts. A ship in that condition is said to be "stiff," as con- trasted to "crank," which is the term used to express an unstable con- dition. "Stiffness" is to be avoided on passenger steamers and sail- ing vessels especially. The great passenger liners are so constructed that it is almost impossible to make them "stiff," and with such vessels the master must use especial precaution to avoid raising the center of gravity to a danger point. The master of the smaller STOWAGE FOR SECURITY 217 vessel should place a part of the "dead-weight," or heavy, cargo high in the hold or in the between-decks in order to raise the center of gravity. In loading steel or iron, for example, about one-third of the total weight should be placed between decks. Rolling may also be reduced somewhat by the movement of weight into the wings, but this method is in most cases more difficult of application than the first. In the future, the master will probably have but little cause to worry over the matter of excessive rolling, because it seems quite probable that there will be a wide adoption of the "gyro-stabilizer," which keeps the vessel on an even keel. If the center of gravity is to one side of the longitudinal axis of flotation, the vessel will be given a "list." Some vessels have a list when empty because of faulty construction ; many more are given a list by loading more weight on one side of the keel than on the other. A small list is not dangerous, although it results in retardation or speed. In fact, some vessels, having more bunker space on one side, are started off with a list purposely, with the understanding that the stokers will use the coal out of the low side first and thus bring it to an even keel quickly. A heavy list, however, is very dangerous, for it sets up serious strains that may cause leakage, and it alters stability so greatly that the vessel may capsize at small angles of inclination. It is not difficult to avoid list at the start of the voyage. The cargo spaces on opposite sides of the keel are almost equal, and if goods having approximately the same stowage factor are loaded on each side there is little danger. Any list that does develop during loading is easily discovered and should be corrected at once. A list may develop at sea owing to use of fuel or stores, shifting of cargo or leakage. This is also easily detected, but is not so readily recti- fied. It may be necessary to send the crew into the hold to move the cargo or even to throw some of it overboard. Some step should be taken in each case where the list is over 4 degrees. The longitudinal position of the center of gravity is also of great importance. If it is too far forward the bow will be sub- merged so deeply that it will not ride the waves easily, while the stern will perhaps be elevated to such a point that the propeller and rudder will not perform properly. At the bow and stern of each vessel there are marks to show the "draft" or the depth to which the hull is sunk in the water. "Trim" is the difference between the fore 218 WHARF MANAGEMENT and the aft drafts, and a vessel is said to be "in trim" when the two drafts are the same. A vessel sails most efficiently when it is in trim or when it has a slight "drag," that is, when the stern is a little lower than the bow. The raised quarter-deck vessel was designed to provide a greater cargo capacity aft than forward, in order that a "drag" might easily be obtained. While in port the trim can be gauged by reading the drafts, and any necessary correction should be made at once to prevent damage by strain. On the voyage, trim may be altered by use of fuel and provisions, by shifting of cargo, or through some other cause, and it is sometimes difficult to tell what the alteration is. For this reason, vessels should be fitted with "pneumercators" or some other instru- ment that will permit the master to read the trim at any time. The ship may be in trim and yet be liable to serious damage because of the improper longitudinal distribution of the load. If all the weight is placed at the two ends and none in the center, the vessel will "hog" or take a permanent shape in which its ends are lower than its midship section. If all the weight is concentrated amidships, "buckling" may result, and the vessel will become "sway-backed." Either result is to be avoided because of the unde- sirable effect on the sailing efficiency, strength, and beauty of the vessel. Yet it is not uncommon to see ships that have been "hogged" or "buckled." In many cases these results have followed from strains set up during the loading process. Because of the longitu- dinal division of the cargo space by bulkheads into holds, it is easy to acquire the erroneous idea that each hold is a unit in itself, and that the loading of one hold while others are empty can have no effect on the ship as a whole. Many vessels, especially those loading bulk dead-weight, are seriously strained and deformed by stowage of this kind. It must always be remembered that the weight must be uniformly distributed in the holds at all times. One of the most puzzling problems is that of maintaining the center of gravity at the proper place when the vessel is loading and discharging cargo at several ports. It is almost impossible to dis- tribute cargo for the different ports in such a way that all of it can be easily removed and that the vessel is not out of trim or instable on at least one of the "legs" of its voyage. The best judgment of the stevedore and master is required to plan a stowage that will approach the ideal. In some cases it will be necessary to rearrange the stowage STOWAGE FOR SECURITY 219 after discharge at one port. This, however, is a costly operation and should be followed only as a last resort. Figure 83, showing the stowage plan of a vessel discharging at three ports, illustrates some of the principles involved. Shifting of Cargo. Besides the damage caused to its constitu- ent units, shifting of cargo may result in strain and breakage of parts and in a new and dangerous position of the center of gravity of the cargo. If the cargo moves downward, decks, stanchions, tank tops, and shell are in danger, and the new position of the weights may cause excessive rolling. If the cargo moves forward or aft, the bulkheads may be broken and the vessel will be put out of trim. If the cargo moves athwartship, the sides may be crushed and, in almost any event, a list will be developed. Perhaps the most common type of shifting on a large scale is transverse or athwartship shifting, caused by rolling of the vessel from side to side. The resultant list may be so "heavy" that the vessel becomes instable and may capsize. Losses at sea due to shifting have been so excessive 3 that many especial precautionary measures have been adopted. This is best illustrated in the grain-carrying trade. No economical way of com- pressing grain into the hold is known. During the voyage the un- compressed grain settles, and a hold that was completely full at the loading port becomes partially empty. This empty space permits the grain to shift, and grain movements begin at a relatively low angle of inclination. To avoid danger from this source, two pre- cautions are taken : In the first place, the holds are subdivided by the erection of "shifting boards" in order to confine the shift to a small amount of grain and to a small area. These "shifting boards" are of different construction and their number varies with the size of the hold. A common construction on small cargo steamers is a 2 or 3 inch plank partition placed fore-and-aft over the keelson, and braced with heavy timbers set against the beams in the wings. The second precaution taken is designed to keep the holds full of grain af all times. This is accomplished by stowing some of the bulk graii, above the hold in such a way that it will feed into the hold as the grain there settles. In many cases special receptacles or "feeders,/' 'The British Load-Line Committee reported in 1916 that definite cause* of loss were discoverable in 57 of the 92 losses of vessels since the revision of the Tables of Freeboard, and that of the 57 losses, 12, were caused by shifting ot cargo. 220 WHARF MANAGEMENT are constructed for this purpose, and these are placed either in the hatch or over the wings in the between decks, or in both places. The Board of Trade of Great Britain, the boards of insurance under- writers in the United States, and other bodies in other countries have issued regulations prescribing exactly how the shifting boards and feeders are to be constructed (see Chapter XII). If neither shifting boards nor feeders are used, a certain percentage of the grain must be bagged, according to these regulations. Subdivision of the cargo space is necessary if fluids are to be carried safely. "For the transportation of petroleum and some- times other oils in bulk, special 'tank steamers' have been con- structed. The portions of the vessel used for the stowage of the oil are subdivided into small tanks by a strong longitudinal bulkhead extending the entire length of the ship above the center line of the vessel and rising to the uppermost deck, and by transverse bulkheads spaced about 24 feet apart. When these tanks are filled with oil the fore-and-aft and side-to-side movement of the oil caused by the pitching and rolling of the vessel at sea is reduced to a minimum." 4 In some cases the principle of the shifting board is adapted to the stowage of other bulk cargo and of general cargo, but this is rare. General cargo, if stowed at all compactly, is not liable to shift seri- ously except in a few special cases. The breaking of barrels, due to pressure above, may permit the sudden movement of a large number of barrels with disastrous effect to the cargo and vessel. This is prevented only by careful stowage. If the barrels are tiered to a great height planks should be laid over one or more tiers to distribute the pressure brought by the tiers above. In several cases, general cargo has been known to break through a partition into a space that was left vacant for some reason. Such partitions must be strongly constructed. Various measures are adopted to prevent shifting of dead-weight cargo that does not fill the space allotted to it. Railway iron, heavy logs, etc., are bound with chains, which are then fastened to parts of the vessel. Similar methods can be used for any cargo whose units are large. If the units are small, they can be covered by boards, tarpaulins or matting, and roped down. Large and heavy pieces can be "tombed" down or secured by shores set against the beams. 4 Johnson and Huebner, Principles of Ocean Transportation. D. Apple- ton & Co., New York, 1918, 43, 44. STOWAGE FOR SECURITY 221 Dangerous Goods. Almost any cargo is dangerous to some degree, but there are only a few commodities that are so destructive as to be ordinarily classed as "dangerous goods." The following classification is adopted from that given by Aeby, a Belgian chemist. CLASSIFICATION OF DANGEROUS GOODS I. Inflammable Goods : 1. Spontaneously inflammable. 2. Inflammable when heated, without the presence of flame. 3. Inflammable in the presence of flame. 4. Not ordinarily inflammable, but which under cer- tain conditions may give off combustible or ex- plosive gas. 5. Producing inflammable dust. 6. Generating heat when impregnating organic prod- ucts. 7. Taking fire by sparks. II. Explosive Goods : 1. Spontaneously explosive. 2. Explosive by fire, friction, shocks, blows. 3. Explosive when mixed with other bodies. 4. Explosive by decomposition and discoloring. III. Corrosive and Discoloring Goods : 1. Corrosive solids (little danger unless moistened). 2. Corrosive liquids. 3. Producing corrosive or discoloring vapors. IV, Evil Smelling and Asphyxiating Goods : 1. Having a troublesome smell. 2. Producing asphyxiating or anesthetic vapors. V. Poisonous Goods : 1. Poisonous solids and liquids. 2. Producing poisonous gases. VI. Miscellaneous Dangerous Goods : 1. Tainting. 2. Hydroscopic, or water attracting. 3. Deliquescent, or giving off moisture. 4. Having a low freezing or melting point. 5. Acting to feed flames. 6. Dusty. 222 WHARF MANAGEMENT Any of these classes of goods may cause damage to the vessel, endanger the health or life of members of the crew or passengers, or destroy other cargo. The inflammable and explosive goods are of the greatest danger to the vessel itself. Many marine losses are due to fire starting in the cargo. Special precaution must be used in handling goods that are spontaneously inflammable or explosive, and this class includes almost all animal and vegetable products in bulk, as well as many other organic compounds. Coal, grain, fibers, manures, lampblack, clothing, and varnishes are some of the more common commercial products liable to spontaneous combustion. The proper prevention is in most cases sufficient ventilation, for com- bustion is in almost all cases preceded by heating and the removal of the heat will probably keep the product at a temperature below the combustion point. The ship operator should become familiar with the available information on the subject. 5 Although inflammable and explosive cargo is of the greatest danger to the vessel in causing total destruction, the other classes of dangerous cargo will damage the vessel in many cases. Corrosive goods have an especially deleterious effect on metal parts, and have been known to cause leakage. Evil smelling and asphyxiating goods leave odors in the hold which must be removed, sometimes at great expense, before other cargo can be loaded. Poisonous goods are of especial danger to the crew, and there are other goods, which, although not poisonous themselves, may produce a condition favor- able to the growth and spread of germs of disease. The trim and stability of the vessel are affected by articles that gain or lose weight, by adding or losing water, on the voyage. Dust from coal, iron ore, and other products, discolors the timbers and destroys the beauty of the fittings in many cases. DAMAGE TO CARGO Damages to cargo may be caused by: 1. Dangerous goods of the classes described above. 2. Moisture. 3. Extremes of temperature. 4. Chafing and crushing. 5 See Von Schwartz, Fire and Explosion Risks. See also Taylor, Stowage of Ship Cargoes. STOWAGE FOR SECURITY 223 5. Lack of ventilation. 6. Pilfering. 7. Vermin. 8. Wear and tear in transfer. Dangerous Goods. The kinds of goods that may cause injury to other goods are almost innumerable. Inflammable and explo- sive articles may destroy the entire cargo and the vessel, or may damage a part of the cargo by fire. Corrosive and discoloring goods, such as acids and chloride of lime, have serious effects on metals, colored cloths, and other commodities with which they are in close contact. Odors from fertilizers, vegetable and animal products, oils, barks, chemicals, scents, spices, soaps, and many other commodities will injure foodstuffs particularly; and the mas- ter must learn to stow malodorous goods apart from foodstuffs and in a dry and well-ventilated place. Foodstuffs and live cargo are also injured by poisonous goods, and these should not be accepted for transportation unless they are well packed. Dust damage is far more serious than is generally supposed. If it does not actually ruin the articles upon which it falls, it at least gives these an un- sightly appearance which leads the consignee to file damage claims. In the scope of this book it is impossible to make an adequate presentation of the way in which damage from dangerous goods may be avoided, for the method differs in almost every case. The master is guided to a large extent by the laws regulating the carriage of such commodities (see Chapter XII), and by his knowledge and ex- perience. Stowage of Ship Cargoes should be consulted by any one handling a variety of cargoes, and each operator should maintain a list of dangerous goods, showing their characteristics and the best methods of stowing them. Moisture. Even a slight amount of moisture may cause dis- coloring, decay, rust, fermenting, chemical change, or odorization. It aids spontaneous combustion, and directly or indirectly damages almost every class of goods. Moreover, moisture damage is particu- larly difficult to avoid because water in various forms is found at almost every point of the voyage. Here again the action of the mas- ter and stevedore must be governed by common sense and sound judgment. Precautions must be taken first at the time of loading. The vessel's holds must be carefully prepared for the cargo. Leaks 224 WHARF MANAGEMENT should be repaired, the steam pipes must be looked over, rivet holes filled, decks cleaned, water passageways, scuppers, and limbers cleaned, and the pumps must be tried out and repaired if necessary. In almost all cases dunnage must be laid on the ceiling to protect the cargo from bilge water and leakage from the tank tops. If the goods to be stowed are especially susceptible of damage other pre- cautions must be taken. Thus, a hold properly prepared for flour should have the beams and pillars muffled with canvas or matting to decrease the probability of condensation of moisture on these metal parts and the falling of the drops upon the cargo. After the hold is made as dry and as water-tight as possible, loading may begin, unless the weather is stormy. Goods in bales and sacks, machinery, stationery, steel and iron, and other commodities that may be damaged by rain should not be transferred during wet weather. Some classes of goods should not be taken out of the transit shed if there is a heavy fog. These principles, of course, apply also to discharge. All wet goods should be stowed underneath or apart from dry goods. Wet goods include liquids, some solids, such as butter that may become liquid, and any product that contains a relatively large amount of moisture. They should be stowed in holds to them- selves or should be separated from the dry goods by dunnage. After the cargo is stowed the hatches should be battened down tightly and covered with tarpaulin, unless ventilation is necessary. Good circulation of dry air through the cargo will help to prevent "sweating" and the accumulation of moisture. "Sweating" is caused by high temperature in the hold, and it may damage many kinds of commodities. During the voyage no water must be allowed to leak through the hatches or decks, and the bilge water must be removed by pumping. If possible, the cargo should be inspected to see that moisture is not entering and that any present is being removed by the pumps. Extremes of Temperature. There is very little danger from excessive cold on the voyage, for shipments that will carry safely by land are not liable to freeze at sea. Ocean temperatures and espe- cially hold temperatures are relatively high, and for this reason many coastwise shipments are routed by water instead of railroad during the winter months. Occasionally very low temperatures are encountered at sea and damage may be done to alcohol solutions, STOWAGE FOR SECURITY 225 liquors, or other articles containing a high percentage of water. The only precaution that can be taken against such loss is to stow the goods in the warmest part of the hold, preferably near the boiler rooms. The danger from high temperatures is much greater, because tropical voyages are more frequent than voyages in high latitudes and because the heat from the fires and from steaming cargo adds to the air temperature. High temperature may cause ullage of casks ; melting of tallow, wax, and similar articles ; spontaneous combus- tion ; decay of many vegetable and animal products ; chemical changes, and increased fire hazards, especially if the articles carried give off inflammable or explosive gases. Rum is almost the only commodity that is improved by heat, while there are many that are totally destroyed by excessive temperature. There are a number of precautions that may be adopted. The first is to refuse to accept for transportation anything which may be damaged by temperatures that can be reasonably expected, unless it can be carried in refrigerat- ing space. The second precaution is to stow goods that may be dam- aged by heat in the coolest parts of the vessel away from the boiler room, engines and steam pipes, near the bow, and in well-ventilated places, such as the between-decks and the hatchways. The third precaution is to provide ventilation throughout the cargo, and the fourth is to keep dry. those goods that may decay, ferment, or heat spontaneously. Heat alone may not cause spontaneous heating of vegetable or animal products, but a combination of heat and moisture probably will. This spontaneous heating will damage the goods so heated and perhaps other products in the vicinity. Chafing and Crushing. Chafing and crushing, if excessive, will damage almost every commodity. Chafe injures fruits, cloths, glassware, machinery, and rope particularly. Crushing may result in the loss of liquids or of small articles from their containers, and will expose other commodities to the weather, moisture, dirt and theft. Both chafing and crushing are caused largely by movements of the cargo; therefore they cannot be eliminated altogether if rough weather is encountered, but they can be reduced to a minimum by careful stowage. The stowage must be compact. Units of cargo must be placed as closely as possible and any "broken stowage" should be filled with smaller units or with dunnage. If it is impos- sible to fill in all the interstices the units should be wedged, blocked, 226 WHARF MANAGEMENT or tombed so as to prevent their movement. In some cases it is advisable to nail or otherwise fasten together a number of units. In other cases, especially where there is a deep hold, there should be some divisions made between the different parts of the cargo, the divisions being complete enough to keep the cargo of one section from moving into any space left vacant in another section. This may be done by laying down a floor of boards. Movements on a large scale can also be prevented by constructing additional bulk- heads or other partitions, as is done in the case of grain. The bedding of locomotives in bales of hay, described on page 199, is a good illustration of the methods employed. A great deal of attention must be given to choosing the safest place for stowage of goods particularly susceptible to damage by crushing or chafing. The bow is to be avoided because the pitching is felt more there. The lower parts of the hold must also be avoided, for the great weight of the upper tiers will cause crushing. Fragile cases, barrels, etc., should not be stowed against the sharp edges of beams, stanchions, and other parts of the ship. One of the most important precautions is to refuse to stow any goods that are not properly packed. Transportation should be re- fused altogether, or the fragile packages should be repaired at the pier. Lack of Ventilation. Lack of ventilation causes the accumula- tion of moisture and heat and the strengthening of odors as pointed out in previous paragraphs. A capable officer should be placed in charge of ventilation of cargo, fuel, and crew quarters during the voyage. Hatches should be kept open in clear weather if the cargo gives off obnoxious odors or is liable to spontaneous combus- tion. The ventilators should be so adjusted in height and direction that a good circulation of air is provided at all times. Pilfering. Upon delivery many consignments are discovered to be short, and the shipowner may have to pay the damage claim. The fact that he has pilferage insurance should not prevent him from doing everything possible to stop thievery. Pilfering begins at the pier and perhaps most of it occurs there ; therefore, the first essential is a good watching system on the pier. It is not enough to station a kind old loafer at the entrance. There should be a check on each in- dividual who enters the pier and upon his actions while he is there. Any one who has visited piers in this country knows how easy it is to STOWAGE FOR SECURITY 227 steal things if one has the desire. In many foreign countries the danger of pilferage is even greater because the people are poorer. The longshoremen must be carefully watched by their foremen. It is easy to open a package that has been weakened by rough han- dling, or that was not securely packed in the first place, and to slip into a pocket a bar of soap, a piece of jewelry, a tool, or some other small and desirable article. The best preventive is to keep the men busy at all times and to impress on the foremen the necessity of being alert. In foreign countries, one of the ship's officers should be on watch. Pilfering by the crew is relatively unimportant, but this also should be guarded against. Valuable goods should be stowed in a locker or strong room, the key to which is held by an officer. Liquors and other attractive products must be stowed in a place difficult of access. Frequent inspections should be made of the crew's quarters and of the cargo that can be reached. Vermin. There is always some damage from vermin during the course of the voyage. Conditions on shipboard favor vermin, because of the heat and moisture in the hold and the dirt that it is impossible to eradicate altogether. Even if the vessel is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after the discharge of cargo, the new cargo may introduce another crop of vermin. The master therefore encoun- ters several perplexing problems. He must, if possible, kill all vermin before cargo is loaded; he must not accept infested cargo or allow vermin to enter in any other way; and he must prevent the increase in number and the spread of vermin during the voyage. If, in spite of these precautions, there is an increase, he must endeavor to confine their ravages to a small part of the cargo. The actual methods to be used on rats can be given to illustrate the principles involved. Rats are the most destructive vermin encountered in the shipping world. All ships should be disinfected with sulphur dioxide or cyanide gas, preferably the latter, periodi- cally. Other rats should be denied access by fending the ship from the wharf by floating fenders, by placing rat funnels on all lines to the shore, by raising the gangplank at night, and by inspecting all cargo before it is placed on board. The ravages of any rats that remain or are admitted can be reduced somewhat by placing stores and valuable cargo in rat-proof compartments or by surrounding 228 WHARF MANAGEMENT them with cargo that is obnoxious to rats; by keeping a cat or rat terrier ; by using poison or traps, and by providing the rats with food and water so that they will not attack the cargo. In destroying all sorts of vermin, the best measures are those that are preventive. Cleanliness is the first prerequisite. Careful inspections will disclose the appearance of vermin, and measures should be taken at once to stamp it out. Wear and Tear in Transfer. The damage that may be done to cargo by tearing of hooks, cutting and crushing of the sling, smash- ing of the carelessly handled draft, transfer in wet weather, rough treatment on the pier and in the hold, and by other causes have been sufficiently discussed in the chapters on transfer. The ship- owner is, of course, liable to damage incurred in transfer and should exercise every precaution to avoid it. There is little excuse for dam- age of this sort at modern ports, but some is unavoidable at ports lacking proper harbor facilities. REFERENCES AEBY, JULIUS, Dangerous Goods. Privately published, Antwerp, 1910. CARVER, THOS. G., A Treatise of the Law Relating to the Carriage of Goods by Sea. (6th ed. by James S. Henderson.) Stevens & Sons, Ltd., London, 1918. Great Britain Board of Trade: "Report of Committee on Load Lines of Merchant Ships and Carriage of Deck Cargoes of Wood Goods." London, 1916. HILLCOAT, CHAS. H., Notes on the Stowage of Ships. Imray, Lowrie, Norie & Wilson, London, 1918. HUGHES, CHAS. H., Handbook of Ship Calculations, Construction, and Operation. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1918. Institute of Naval Architects: "Transactions." International Engineering Congress: "Transactions." JOHNSON, E. R., AND HUEBNER, G. G., Principles, of Ocean Trans- portation. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1918. MURPHY, JOHN McL., AND JEFFERS, W. N., Nautical Routine and Stowage. Henry Spear, New York, 1849. STEVENS, ROBT. W., On the Stowage of Ships and Their Cargoes. Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1894. TAYLOR, THOS. R., Stowage of Ship Cargoes. Government Printing Office, 1920. U. S. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce: "Packing for Ex- port." Miscellaneous Series No. 5. Government Printing Office, 1919. STOWAGE FOR SECURITY 229 U. S. Standardization Branch, Purchase, Storage and Traffic Division, General Staff, U. S. Army: Manual for Packing Army Supplies. Manuscript. Public Health Reports, "Rodent Destruction on Ships," by R. H. Creel and F. Simpson. Government Printing Office, 1917- U. S. Treasury Department Public Health and Marine Hospital Serv- ice of the United States: The Rat and Its Relation to the Public Health. (Various authors.) Government Printing Office, 1910. VON SCHWARTZ, DR., Fire and Explosion Risks, translated by Charles T. C. Salter. Charles Griffin & Co., London, 1904. WALTON, THOMAS, Know Your Own Ship. Charles Griffin & Co., London, 1901. WINTER, WM. D., Marine Insuranc., Its Principles and Practice. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1919. For additional references on stowage of dangerous goods see list at end of Chapter XII. CHAPTER XIV CLEARING THE WHARVES 1 MOVEMENT OF MERCHANDISE ON THE WHARF Merchandise on a wharf must be handled many times. The problem confronting the wharf superintendent is to reduce the number of handlings to a minimum and to make each handling as inexpensive and as rapid as possible. Some of these movements may be enumerated as follows : In the first place, there is the movement to and from the pick- ing-up point opposite the ship's hatch while transferring cargo into the ship or taking away cargo that has been discharged from the ship. Beginning with discharged cargo, the first movement is to the piles on the wharf in which the goods are sorted according to marks and consignees. If adequate wharf space is available, piling and tiering is reduced to a minimum. Each consignee's shipment should be piled in a separate pile, all packages together ready for further movement. If errors are made or if space is not available, and one consignment is piled on top of another, it is necessary later to break out these piles and move them about the wharf. This is all waste that should be eliminated through proper organization and proper wharf design. The principal movements that follow sorting are ( i ) the delivery of goods to railroad cars; (2) to dray; (3) to lighters, and (4) to a warehouse adjacent to the transit shed. For short movement and odd jobs, within a small radius of travel, the hand truck will always be the most flexible and efficient tool. For longer distances, and for certain classes of goods, there are con- veyors and tractors of various kinds. For distances of more than 150 or 200 feet other mechanical means are necessary, as both the hand truck and the conveyor, except in a few instances, become un- profitable. The advantages of the hand truck for short distances are the rapidity with which it can be loaded and unloaded and the 1 By R. S. MacElwee. 230 CLEARING THE WHARVES 231 FlG. 85. HAND TRUCK. small amount of space that is required for moving material by this means. It is the old relation of the terminal expense to the line haul reduced to small proportion. For short movements of a few feet, the "terminal expense" of more compli- cated instruments eats up any ad- vantage of a more rapid movement horizontally. Hand Trucks. Freight is han- dled several times in loading and discharging it to and from the ship. One of the first instruments used is the hand truck. Usually three men are required to operate this truck, one to wheel it, and two to load it. Wheeling a hand truck seems a simple operation, but really it is quite a knack, acquired only after considerable practice. There are two positions in which a hand truck should repose when not in use : Standing on its wheels and legs with handles parallel to the floor, or standing on its wheels and nose with the handles in the air. The latter position is the most conven- ient, as the stevedore can grab it by the legs, wheel it to the load, tip it FlG. 86. IMPROPER LOADING. up Qn ^ nose? and his hands will be protected by the handles while it is being loaded. After it is loaded, he shifts his hands to the handles, pulls it toward him to a proper balance, and wheels it to the destination. It is not so simple without practice. To load a hand truck with bags grab the bags, one at each end, and throw them on to the truck. The first bag must land on its side on the nose of the truck (Fig. 85), otherwise it will hang over, and the sharp edge of the nose will cut through the bag. All other bags must lie on their small side in order that a greater number may be placed on the truck. sugar, coffee, etc., two men FlG. 87. PROPER LOADING. 23 2 WHARF MANAGEMENT To load a barrel, tierce, or hogshead, tip it slightly, push the nose of the truck under the edges, reach over with the left hand, and pull it with the truck toward you to a proper balance, then wheel it away. If the load is heavy, another stevedore helps to push it over. Flour or other small barrels are loaded with one standing on its end, and another lying crosswise on top. When loading boxes, the strongest and heaviest are put on the truck first with the frail ones on top. In all cases, except with bales of cotton and tierces of tobacco, care must be exercised when un- loading. The truck must be allowed to come up slowly, permitting the load to strike the floor gently, after which the load is tipped slightly, and the truck removed. Cotton and tobacco may be rolled off the truck without damage. Electric Trucks. There are two schools of electric truck en- thusiasts : Those who advocate a tractor and trailer system, and those who advocate a platform lift. The conclusion that may be drawn is that both systems are practical and applicable through different conditions. The platform-lift system has the advantage of greater flexibility and quicker starting and stopping, that is, a re- duced terminal time, and this advantage is decidedly in favor of the platform-lift truck for short hauls. However, the tractors with trailer platform, although they require a little longer time to hook up and unhook at the end of the haul, cover a greater number of ton- miles per man. There is no reason why a terminal should not be equipped with both kinds, provided the platforms or the trailer trucks are constructed in such a manner that the platform-lift truck and the trailer truck can both operate. In delivery of small con- signments to drays, the platform-lift truck has a distinct advantage, while in a longer haul with larger consignments of goods the tractor- trailer system has the advantage. Some figures concerning the sav- ing of time and expense by using the electric trailer truck or other similar devices are shown in the following tables made by L. H. Haight. These stop-watch studies should be a guide to improve- ment in cutting time at various points along the line of operation. Telphers. There are two principal kinds of telphers: The monorail man trolley that travels hanging from an overhead rail, and the chain conveyors that are used in handling cotton in Mobile and Texas City, and elsewhere, or for handling frozen meats in Lon- don. The chain conveyor is adapted only to certain classified special- CLEARING THE WHARVES 233 ized packages, such as those mentioned, for which they are specially constructed. It is necessary to use the hand truck to bring the arti- cles from the point of deposit on the wharf to the trolley. The telpher that operates on an overhead track has been developed to greater flexibility by the introduction of a shop-crane crossover track or adjustable loop. The telpher will run along the tracks at the side of the shed until it comes to the point opposite the place where it desires to pick up or deposit merchandise, when the cross- over or loop track will be run down to this point and by means of a switch the telpher or trolley will be able to cross over the bay on the loop. This makes it possible to cover every portion of the floor space. However, this equipment is expensive. It has been used to very great advantage in several sugar refineries and in the municipal cotton warehouses in New Orleans and also in those at Manchester. The cost of installation is great; it is not so flexible as it should be, but it has the advantage of traveling through unoccupied space, making high tiering possible, and thus saving floor space. Considerable development is still to be made in the transfer of cargo through un- occupied space, where the hand truck and electric storage battery truck are now in general use and deserve considerable attention. TIME STUDY OF MOVEMENT AT NEW YORK These tables would show, first, what was actually being done by machinery now in use ; second, they would show the many variations under which cargo is being handled; and, third, they might show dow the work could be speeded up. \ One point the tables bring out very clearly, and that is the unsteadiness of men in this work. The tables show that in very few instances are the same operations performed twice in exactly the same time. For instance, take the operation of loading 32 cases of condensed milk on an "airplane" platform. As noted in the table, the time varies from l minute 48 seconds, to l minute 56 seconds. It was plain that, in every instance, the time could just as well have been l minute flat, and if it were possible to use machines in this operation, the time would have been less, and each figure registered would have been the same. The tables also show that, by employing fewer men and more machinery, cargo can be handled with greater speed and at less 234 WHARF MANAGEMENT lO OO O fO I"** CO d OO *-< O^ ro CO O "*^" C/3 o *-" C/D 8^- f O OvO^OOOOrS C/3 C* o 8 2 2 If? CLEARING THE WHARVES 235 NOTE. Mr. Haight states the following: In this case it was possible to record the operations 20 times, and it seems proper at this point to explain the method and difficulty under which these tables were obtained. In the first place, it is impossible for one person to see every activity in connection with the loading and unloading of any one commodity. For instance, in handling the goods enumerated in the above table, there were four hand trucks wheeling cases to one "airplane," and, of course, it was possible to operate the stop-watch on only one truck at a time, so I timed one truck a certain number of times, another truck the same number of times and so on until all four trucks were timed. The same method was used in loading these trucks. It will be noted that while the total "airplane" loading time is 37 minutes 22 seconds, the total wheeling time is 40 minutes 30 seconds and the total hand-truck loading time is only 25 minutes 12 seconds. This shows that there was some waiting, and that three, instead of four, hand trucks should have been used. The figure 2 M. under "Wheel across pier," represents the time for four trucks, while the actual time is 30 seconds. The total column is used to show the time of all activities, while the actual time of getting the goods into the ship, is shown under the column "Stow." cost. Commissioner Hulbert says, "The steamship companies are satisfied with the present equipment, and do not desire more machinery installed." By employing a tractor and four trailers, with an "airplane" on each trailer, we can back up to where the goods are stored, load all four "planes" in the same time that it would take to load one plane, and drive across the pier in less time than it would take with four hand trucks, which are now being used, and as the planes are already loaded, there will be no reloading at the ship's side. While the trailers are traveling across the pier, a stevedore can adjust the slings, making it necessary simply to "hook on" at the ship's side, thus, practically doing away with the time it now takes to sling the goods. The plan condensed, is simply this. The ship will have two cranes to a hatch. There will be a tractor and eight trailers on the pier for this particular hatch. There will be 12 platforms, 4 in the hold, 4 on the trailers loaded, and 4 being loaded where the goods are stored. The procedure will be as follows. On the pier: Load 4 plat- forms, wheel across pier, unhook tractor, return for another set of trailers that have been loaded in the meantime, wheel across pier, 236 WHARF MANAGEMENT <73 en I w a. O t73 bJO CO 888888^S,28 ioOO O xnvO ^o vooo 10 O> Mi-iolM>- | >- < - | '- || - | - 1 moo 8 8 ^^8^8^88 8888888888 1 o.5 M ***3 OJ ~bb ' p^ rt I.s "^ 0> (U U - CLEARING THE WHARVES 237 238 WHARF MAJNAt rJiJVJ LJMN M oC o . CO >< 'rt ^^ ^8^0^00 2 s w S * s 2 ^^csro^wrofocoro ^ n3 < a ororr) J < ^ P z 1 < 1 CLEARING THE WHARVES 239 tf -G | 'g r* CO CO g "e3 M 5 ^ i o a 1 f" MH ^ o o M c 3 CO CO "*-* ^ J'o ^^^^S'S^S^^ Tj- u c i Q> M O s ^' O a w 2 PO "c ? CO 1 H ti CO CO CO u J2 4-1 w cq x J i g CO O |_ CO tJO fc 4-1 4-1 Qpq NH coo fOQtors O ^2 ^c "C 1 'S^ g s X) w -J to M ^ M J3 K U to ^ O w , S J H Q 4-1 > _ H 1) CO 3 ON O t^ (S to t>-OO O to CO Jd v fa 3 Bfl s s " .S S W ro Jl O H g 4) to (A . c 1 s'i 4- ^fi V) S PQ |i g *^ s (U <3 C 2 4 WHARF MANAGEMENT CO O H h Q CO CO OJ 4-1 a H ^ ^ 1 o 4-1 t_ IM CO CO 2 la 1 CO CO fe ro^ro&)roforof3ro M o CO ^ s - 1 I "tf! 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I 1 ! ! ! i I , . . . . . . . . . : ! ! ', ', '. '. ! '. ' I s :I J = :: :; ;: o ON ON ON ON ON ON "^ ^> >^p fe^> ^ ^> ^ 3 3 33 33 ^ 06 oN ^06 d\ .. o\ ^ONON J^ONON Q'ONON ^ CO ON pi?CO ON .. OO ON !_!!_! C w , _ ^ONON^ONON Q'ONON ^" 06 o\ >-o6 ^ < H Z < h < CLEARING THE WHARVES 251 1 s ** ^* ON ON in ro in ro ^ ON *$ "I ! ffiH Eh ffih Eh Eh Eh 1 s s i 5 IH E h .\ h IH D, 8 (A O ~ : : : : : : h : : : : : : vdvo ro ro ro ro ro ro cT d" o o o o 3 3 .. CO* ON ^ ON ON r M (N M CS in 000*0 H M ro \O q oo >-j 86 6 o o OO ON\O I i N ^sSp h|& JZz% {^ CS ^ ^-H OJ T3 g; a; .ST 8S i ^3 bfl .l e 8 fe OJ OJ OJ 4-1 11 C C 1 s^ >.bp CLEARING THE WHARVES 253 hook on empty trailers, return for another load, and so on. On the ship : Hook on draft, hoist and lower to hold, stow, return platform to trailer, and so on. The return of the tractor with empty trailers has no business in the table, because it does not lose any time. The time, using the figures in the table, will be as follows: Loading 4 platforms (128 cases), i minute 54 seconds. Wheel across pier this time is cut in half as tractors travel' faster than hand trucks i minute. Hook on this time is reduced because the sling is adjusted while crossing the pier 8 seconds. Hoist and lower to hold (128 cases), 3 minutes 20 seconds. Unload, 3 minutes 20 seconds. Return platform to trailer, 3 minutes 50 seconds. If this is repeated 20 times, 2,560 cases will be handled in approxi- mately 353 minutes and 54 seconds, as against 640 cases in 251 minutes and 43 seconds by hand trucks. SORTING COFFEE ON WHARVES AT NEW ORLEANS Efficient Methods of Handling Discharged Goods on Pier. In other parts of this book the discussion is limited altogether to load- ing operations with the implication that discharge is not essentially different. However, there is one vital problem met in discharging that is not found in loading, namely, that of sorting and piling the discharged goods. The shipowner must not only put the goods on the lighter or pier, but he must separate the different consignments. How onerous a task this may become under some circumstances is shown in the following quotation from the report of the subcom- mittee appointed through the Chamber of Commerce of New Orleans to investigate the handling of coffee cargoes. 2 The undersigned subcommittee, appointed to investigate the dis- charge of the cargo of coffee ex-S,S. Manchurian Prince is glad to report the results of their investigation, but before entering into the details, wish to express their appreciation for the kindness and valu- able assistance rendered by Messrs. Warriner, agents of the above- mentioned steamer, as well as by Superintendent Wren and officials of the Dock Board, who assisted in every possible way and gave all information requested. 2 Manuscript loaned by the Chamber of Commerce, New Orleans. 254 WHARF MANAGEMENT As the object of this investigation is not to pass criticism on the present methods, but to make suggestions to improve actual condi- tions, we will abstain from making such comments and merely state facts and offer for the consideration of the committee suggestions, which, in the opinion of this subcommittee, may relieve the situation to a certain extent. The steamship, Manchurian Prince, arrived on July 7 and was given a berth at the Poydras Street shed from section num- bers i to 23 (the balance of this shed is being used by the Barge Line). Discharge of the cargo of this steamer was somewhat hampered by the fact that part of the wharf was still being occupied by the coffee unloaded from the steamship Maud M. Morey, which, although she finished her discharge on June 27, when the Man- churian Prince arrived, on the morning of July 7, there were still on hand 14,620 sacks scattered in small piles in sections 1 1 to 23, on the river side, and 16 to 23 on the street side. Most of this coffee had been already weighed, but to the best of the information of this committee, through its changing hands from one owner to the other, delivery had not been taken from the wharf. The stevedores of the Manchurian Prince were compelled to move the coffee of the Maud M. Morey at different times on July 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. The expense in moving this coffee was for account of the said Manchurian Prince. The Maud M. Morey arrived June 21, with 26,583 bags of coffee, and notwithstanding she completed her discharge on June 27, as stated above, on the morning of July 7, there were still on hand 14,620 bags, which prevented the Manchurian Prince beginning unloading from hold No. 5 until July 11. The 14,620 bags were taken delivery of, as follows: July 7, 1919 4,718 bags July 8, 1919 4,890 " July 9, 1919 1,981 " July 10, 1919 1,990 " July 11, 1919 1,041 " 14,620 bags In order to obtain prompt relief at the wharf it was necessary for the Dock Board to use all persuasive means to induce the consignees of the cargo of the Maud M. Morey to take delivery of the balance of same. CLEARING THE WHARVES 255 This subcommittee has prepared the attached schedule No. l, from which you will see in detail the work performed on the Manchurian Prince, and you will please note that the discharge of hatch No. 5 only began on the nth, due, as stated above, to the coffee ex-S. S. Maud M. Morey occupying space at the shed which had been allocated to the Manchurian Prince. This steamer should have completed her discharge on the after- noon of the 15th when hatch No. 2 was finished. This being on practically all ships the largest hold, the discharge should be so arranged that when the unloading of this hold is completed the balance of the cargo should be all out. Therefore, outside of the expense incurred in shifting the coffee from the Maud M. Morey from one place to another, there was an actual loss of time of one day to the Manchurian Prince, which loss Messrs. Warriner estimate to be about $4,000, and due to the above-mentioned conditions. In the course of previous meetings it had been stated that one of the many reasons why there is a delay in taking delivery of the coffee immediately after the arrival of the ship, is the absence of shipping documents, but in the present case this feature does not enter into consideration, as entries were made at the customhouse, as follows: On July 9 99,220 bags On July 10 9,800 " On July 14 2,000 " 1 1 1,020 bags Owing to conditions at the port of loading, it is very difficult to separate the cargo in the holds of the ship in order to be able to know on arrival of the steamer in which hold each individual mark has been loaded. While these can be known on coffees loaded at Rio and Victoria, at Santos, where the largest percentage of coffee is loaded, it is sent alongside the ship in trucks and loaded indiscrimi- nately, therefore making it impossible to effect a separation by marks in the holds. Due to these circumstances, no plan is prepared as to how the cargo is to be stored in the shed, but as the coffee is being unloaded spaces are allocated for the different marks, with the result that at the time half of the cargo is out, there are different piles of the same mark in different sections of the shed, which hampers the delivery to the consignees and consequently the delay in clearing the coffee as it 256 WHARF MANAGEMENT is unloaded from the ship. Furthermore, a great deal of space is wasted in unnecessary gangways that, under the present method, have to be left unused in order to enable the men handling the coffee to get to the different piles. During the course of the discharge there is always a certain percentage of bags which are landed torn or damaged and all these are stacked in one lot, which is called the "slack pile," and until the ship has completed discharge this coffee is separated by the different marks. This hampers the discharge, as some of the consignees delay taking delivery of their lots until the said separation has been performed, especially lots going to the interior, where they naturally wish to send the complete number of bags as covered by the S. S. bill of lading; or if they take delivery, there are always left small piles which occupy large spaces. For instance, on the nth of July bill of lading No. 7, from Victoria, consigned to Messrs. Hard & Rand, covering 250 bags marked H.R. 34, and 230 bags marked H.R. 80, of this latter lot only 235 were delivered on that date, leaving 15 bags pending which, to all intents and purposes, are in the slack pile. It has been customary for the different coffee importers to assort their lots by the different numbers of each mark covered by one bill of lading. This assortment not only requires a much larger area to effect this handling, but unnecessarily delays the clearing of the coffee. The coffee is usually piled on the wharf from 12 to 15 bags high, and at the time this reassortment and reweigh- ing is performed the weighers, for the convenience of their work, only stack the coffee six bags high, which, you will readily ap- preciate, at least duplicates the space used in the handling of the coffee. Furthermore, the importers do not take delivery of the coffee as promptly as it is discharged, as several sales of the same lot of coffee are carried out during the time the coffee is being unloaded on the wharf. These sales are not always made of the total num- ber of bags covered by the steamship bill of lading, but this amount is divided into one, two, or three lots, which necessitates extra handling in each instance, thus further delaying the de- livery from the wharf, which becomes practically a private ware- house, thus increasing the area required for the storage of the coffee. The following will confirm the above statement: CLEARING THE WHARVES 257 Bill of lading No. 5, from Rio, covered 1,OOO bags marked J.A.A. 1/14, consigned to J. Aron & Company, who sold them to Messrs. Seago & Company, who in turn sold them to Messrs. Levy & Company. In order that Messrs. Levy & Company could take delivery, Messrs. Seago & Company requested the following separations : i 20 8112 223 9 75 3 20 10 248 443 1142 5 64 12 40 <^-57 13 33 759 H !53 Bill of lading No. 6, from Rio, covered 1,000 bags marked J.B.A. 15/28, consigned to J. Aron & Company, who sold to Messrs. Seago Company 750 bags and 250 bags to be shipped to the interior, therefore, making it necessary to separate by the different numbers. Bill of lading No. 65, from Santos, covered 2,500 bags marked G. C/A. 1/19, consigned to Messrs. G. Amsinck & Company. The said firm, instead of taking delivery of the whole lot as called for by the bill of lading, requested on July 16 that they be allowed to take delivery of only 1,000 bags, made up as follows: 132 8 13 271 9277 335 10 50 418 17 25 5 80 18 100 19299 Messrs. Warriner declined to allow this assortment and the matter was taken up with the Dock Board, who authorized on July 18 that the said lot should all be taken delivery of at once, divided in the following three lots : To Messrs. G. Amsinck & Co 500 bags Ruffner, McDowell Burch 1,000 " G. Amsinck & Co 1,000 " as follows: WHARF MANAGEMENT AMSINCK & Co. RUFFNER MCDOWELL & BURCH AMSINCK TO WAREHOUSE 1-2 1 53 32 2-47 218 7i 3-23 58 35 4-12 - 24 18 5-40 80 6-24 96 7-3i 122 8-4 13 9-70 277 10-43 84 50 11-42 151 I2-IO 41 13-12 57 I4-IO 42 15-10 40 16-4 H 17-6 25 18-25 . . IOO 19-75 299 500 1,000 1,000 Bill of lading No. 15, from Rio, covered 500 bags marked H.R. 1/3, consigned to Messrs. Hard & Rand. This firm wrote on the yth of July to Mr. G. A. Peyrefitte, as follows : Please weigh ex-dock S. S. Manchurian Prince coffee to the fol- lowing. Submark each lot as shown below. Charge all to our ac- count. Henry Lochte Co. Ltd. H.R. 20) 25 Saturday J.R. 3) -25 50 Submark: H. L. C. L. C. Fallen & Co. H.R.) 1-54 Saturday J.R.) 2-27 3169 Albert Mackie Co., Ltd., H.R.) 1-- 25 J.R.) 225 3 125 Monday 250 Submark : L. C. F. A. Wahking & Sons. H.R.) 325 Saturday J.R.) Submark: A.M. C. Submark : A. W. S. CLEARING THE WHARVES 259 Bill of lading No. 10, from Rio, covered i,OOO bags marked S. C./C. 34/58, consigned to Messrs. Stewart Camel Company, Ltd., had to be separated as follows : 3478 47 92 3572 4842 3690 4975 3729 503 3820 51 58 39 2 5 5 2 33 4019 5334 4127 5413 4261 5527 4311 5611 4467 5723 45 12 58 6 4645 To effect the above or similar separations at the wharf at the time of discharge, considerably increases the necessary area to store the coffee, and if no separation is made at the time of discharge it delays the deliveries until there is sufficient sp.ice to perform the work. Bill of lading No. 15, from Victoria, covered 2,000 bags marked V & L/Brazil 13/16, consigned to J. Aron & Company. Of No. 13 there were 650, and of these 500 were sold to Messrs. K. Seago & Company, thus leaving for account of Aron & Company 1,500 bags. Bill of lading No. 15, from Victoria, covering 2,000 bags. Out of these there were 366 of chop No. 3. Messrs. Aron & Company, as per their order 2010, registered 4656, sold three bags to Messrs. L. C. Fallen & Company, who in turn disposed of them to Nicholas Burke & Company, and were sold by this firm to Bloom's Sons Com- pany, who finally sold them again to Messrs. T. J. Henderson, and this firm took delivery of same on the i8th of July. Bill of lading No. 5, from Victoria, covered 500 bags ; 250 bags marked HR 35 and 250 marked HR 77, consigned to Messrs. M. Levy & Son, who sold them to Messrs. Bloom's Sons Company, who again sold them to Messrs. J. Aron & Company, and finally taken delivery of by L. C. Fallon & Company. Several other cases under the same conditions as above could be cited, but this subcommittee feels that those already quoted will be sufficient to enlighten you as to the practice at present followed. This practice is not permitted at New York, where the coffee must be taken delivery of immediately after discharge, although item for 2 6o WHARF MANAGEMENT item the cost of handling at the said port is greater than the cost of this port. You will find attached herewith statement No. 2, showing in detail the number of bags daily hauled by each consignee, and your particular attention is called to the fact that on the 3 1st of July, or 15 days after the steamer had completed discharge, there were still on hand 774 bags. The delay in taking delivery of the coffee not only works a hardship on the Dock Board by occupying space which is so badly needed for other coffee cargoes, but represents an expense to the agent of the line, as, according to the customs of the port, they are responsible to the consignees for the coffee until delivered, and consequently have to employ a sufficient number of watchmen to take care of the coffee. By glancing over statement No. 2, you will please note that the firm of Israel Brothers took prompt delivery of their lots ; this being due to the fact that this firm assorted their different lots and weighed them at a private warehouse. We unhesitatingly recommend that every influence be brought upon the Dock Board to build two-story warehouses, the lower floor to be used for the receiving of the import coffee and the upper floor for the assortment and reweighing, for which operation a charge could be made to the importer, which will not result in an additional burden, as, we repeat, the charges through New Orleans are much lower than through other ports. 3 As previously mentioned, no plan is prepared by the steamship agents on arrival of the coffee cargoes as to how these are to be stowed in the shed, but the subcommittee has prepared for the consideration of all interested parties the attached tentative plan, from which you will note that in the available space 111,020 bags manifested per the Manchurian Prince were distributed, leaving necessary space for the different gangways of three feet in width, from which you will please note that the whole cargo could have been stored in Poydras Shed, even assuming that no coffee was taken delivery of until after completion of the discharge. 3 The two-story shed recommended here is an attempt to supply support- ing warehouse or storage space (see Bulletin, American Association of Port Authorities, Dec., 1920, article by R. S. MacElwee). The three-story Cressen, Jr., type, such as at the Army Supply Base, Philadelphia, would fill this need. It is the writer's opinion that this sorting, weighing, reselling, and other merchandising processes should be carried on in warehouses across the marginal street from the transit shed, reached by bridge and trailer trucks or conveyors. CLEARING THE WHARVES 261 However, as per statement No. 2, the committee will note that the unloading having commenced on the yth, deliveries were made on the Qth ; therefore, the space is sufficient to take care of one of the average monthly cargoes coming to this port, as outside of the Glenative and the Chinese Prince, which had 114,000 and 115,000 bags, respectively, all the other cargoes were around 100,000 and the majority under 100,000 bags. As an explanation of this plan we took as a basis lots of 250 bags, 500 bags, and l,ooo bags, as in the majority of cases these are the numbers covered by each bill of lading. The wharf was divided into four sections, Section A, on which the piles can be built up to 15 bags high, and Sections B, C, and D, on which piles can be built only up to 12 bags high. While the piles can be stored higher, owing to the lack of machinery and in order to facilitate the separation of the different lots as per bill of lading in the attached plan, the lots are piled only up to 12 and 15 bags high. In Section A, on which you will see only lots of 100 bags are stacked, the piles have been made of 10 bags in length and 7 in width, occupying 30 by 14 feet, or 420 square feet, which gives room enough for 1,005 bags. On the lot 12 bags high the following sized piles have been planned : Of 250 bags: Square occupying 18x12 feet, or 216 square feet, with sufficient room to store 288 bags. Of 500 bags: Square occupying 21 x 12 feet, or 252 square feet, with sufficient room to store 504 bags. Of l,OOO bags: Square occupying 36x14 feet, or 504 square feet, with sufficient room to store 1,004 bags. We would suggest that on arrival of each steamer the Dock Board be furnished with a copy of the manifest, when a similar plan can be prepared showing the space in which each individual lot is to be unloaded. While this may require a larger number of men properly to stack the coffee in its specific lots, as it may be that the spaces allocated to one mark are on the opposite side of the ship to the hold in which it has been loaded, yet the number of men used in effecting this separation would compensate the interested parties for the time saved to the ship and help in clearing the coffee from the wharf. 2 62 WHARF MANAGEMENT By following the above method the coffee that is daily landed from the ship in a damaged condition and at present stacked in the slack pile could be daily reconditioned and redistributed to its spe- cific lots, thereby enabling the consignee to take delivery of complete lots. By following the above plan it would not be possible to separate the different lots as they are landed by chop numbers, but this sub- committee would suggest that on arrival of the steamer each con- signee should deliver to the Dock Board his request as to how he desires his lots to be subdivided, and as space is being vacated by deliveries made, each consignee could be allowed to shift the coffee from the original piles to the space so vacated and use same for reweighing and separating the marks by the different chop numbers. In order to avoid confusion at the wharf, a consignee should not be allowed to reweigh or separate more than one lot at a time ; that is to say, until one lot as per bill of lading has been cleared out of the wharf, the consignees could not commence to separate or reweigh the next lot. This subcommittee has also prepared an index by marks, which is attached herewith and which completes the plan of distribution, so that each consignee could know where his coffee was going to be stored and therefore be able to ascertain when the complete lot as per bill of lading had been unloaded and therefore proceed to take delivery without delay. It is evident that if all three interested parties, the Dock Board, the steamship agent, and the coffee importer, would cooperate, especially the latter by hauling his coffee as soon as the piles are completed, the present difficult situation could be greatly relieved. This subcommittee begs leave to submit the above report, inspired in their sincere desire to assist, although in a very modest way, in the improvement of conditions which in a way may hamper the develop- ment of the port which we all have at heart. (Sgd. HEGOWISCH.) Fortunately these conditions are not representative of all dis- charging operations. In comparison, the steps ordinarily necessary to deliver the different consignments seem comparatively simple. There are, however, in almost all cases, some difficulties to be overcome. There is lack of room on many one-story piers and the goods have to be piled "on the farm," that is, on the pavement or street at the end of the pier; there are the problems of piling; and there must always be a slack pile for damaged goods to be recoopered, resewn, renailed or adjusted. The best methods of carrying the freight from CLEARING THE WHARVES 263 the point of discharge to the storage space have been indicated in the preceding section; there remain the questions of separation and stacking. Separation is accomplished in part in the hold and in part on the pier. If it can be done without undue delay, drafts should be made up of goods of one consignment only. Since the different consign- ments are generally easily distinguishable by mark or character, and since many consignments are of one character throughout, separa- tion in the hold is not as difficult as one might imagine. The one- consignment draft can be lowered to a truck and rolled directly to the place of storage. In order that the separations may be clearly made and that the longshoremen may not become confused, the transit shed of the pier should be marked off into divisions. The most common and perhaps the best method of doing this is to hang prominent signs down the middle of the length of the transit shed. These are always visible from almost any point in the shed and accomplish their main purpose without being in the way Most American piers have a driveway down their center, and it would seem desirable that the truckman keep out of this space by using a passageway along the wall, for this would be more direct and would enable him to avoid the teams. However, he is forced to use the longer congested path, because all the storage space near the wall is needed and because he would cut across the places of discharge of other hatches if he went along the wall. The traveling crane has some advantage here, for it takes the direct path. 4 WHARF CONGESTION AT HAVANA, CUBA The sure and inevitable retribution of wharf congestion that follows the violation of sound wharfinger principles is illustrated by the complete collapse of the Port of Havana, Cuba, during 1920. The original fault, as in all world ports, is the failure of new construction and equipment to keep pace with increased commerce. The last straw that broke the camel's back was a series of longshore- men strikes, yet it would have been possible to carry on and to prevent complete congestion if certain principles had not been vio- lated. These are briefly stated in the following report of the Joint 4 Taylor, Stowage of Ship Cargoes. 264 WHARF MANAGEMENT Cuban-American Commission and the comments of the writer (R. S. MacElwee) to Joshua W. Alexander, United States Secretary of Commerce, who appointed the American Commission. The Executive Committee of the American Commission and the Cuban Commission, which have met to consider and recommend measures for relieving the congestion in the Port of Havana, having made a thorough study of the situation, at a number of sessions, unanimously agree to recommend that, in order to relieve the existing congestion in the Port of Havana and to enable importers and merchants to take prompt delivery of their cargo from the piers, wharves, and warehouses in the littoral, the following emergency measures, none of which is contrary to the customs regulations in force, be adopted : First : Extension of quedan 5 to all classes of merchandise, per- mitting dispatch upon request of the importers in either partial lots or total shipment. Second : The privilege of partial dispatch be granted, permitting the withdrawal of part of the shipment and basing the duties upon the assessment or appraisal of sample packages, to the extent of about 10 per cent. Third: That the Customs eliminate minor restrictions, as far as possible, so as to facilitate the granting of quedan to all classes of merchandise. Fourth : That partial clearance and delivery of shipments be allowed at the request of consignee as soon as such merchandise is reported ready for delivery, not subjecting such cases to the pro- cedure of Article 172 of the Customs Regulations, but only to provisional procedure, in order that the goods so requested may be immediately dispatched. Fifth : That merchandise, other than dry goods, notions, etc., not requiring special examination by the Customs, be cleared and dis- patched in the place in which same is discharged from vessel or other water craft, and that such merchandise be duly classified at that place. Sixth : That the Government authorize the discharge to and place under Customs supervision any and all piers, wharves, or *A certificate of pro forma entry at the Customs. CLEARING THE WHARVES 265 warehouses in the harbor which may be used for the discharge of merchandise in accordance with Customs Regulations. Seventh : That the collector of customs be directed to dispose immediately of all merchandise now held in store pending sale in accordance with Articles 107, 108, and 109 of the Customs Regulations. Eighth: (a) That the Government allow the establishment of bonded warehouses of any of the classes mentioned in the existing Customs Regulations, so as to make available additional room for storage of goods now on piers, wharves, and warehouses in the littoral 6 ; and (b) that it authorize and designate private warehouses, stores, etc., as bonded warehouses, to permit the deposit therein of merchandise subject to duty, according to the provisions of Articles 185 and 186 of the Customs Regulations. Ninth : That the Government commandeer any public property that may be available for the purpose of storing merchandise and have any such property bonded under the Customs Regulations. Tenth : That in cases where merchandise dispatched by quedan is not removed by the owner within the 48-hour period, as prescribed in the Customs Regulations, same shall be subject to the provisions contained in Article 1 16 of the Customs Regulations. Eleventh: (a) That the Government issue a call to all importers, brokers and others to cooperate with the Government in its efforts to relieve the actual congestion of the port and wharves, by removing immediately from the piers, wharves, and warehouses located in the littoral, whether public or belonging to private corporations, into which direct discharge of freight from vessels is made, all merchan- dise that should be removed under the customhouse regulations ; and (b) that when issuing such call, the Government notify im- porters, brokers, and others that, after a period of fifteen days from date, Articles 116 and 107, 108, and 109 of the Customs Regulations will be strictly applied to all merchandise on all Government and private wharves and piers at the Port of Havana. The following recommendations designed to bring relief to con- gested shipping conditions at Havana Harbor were proposed by the American Committee but were not adopted by the joint action of the Cuban and American Commission : 8 The "littoral" is the water front where vessels are loaded and dis- charged. 266 WHARF MANAGEMENT Paragraph 11. (a) That the Government shall issue a call to all importers, brokers, merchants, and others to remove imme- diately all merchandise from piers, wharves, and warehouses located within the littoral into which discharge of merchandise from vessels or other water craft is made. (b) That the Government in issuing such a call shall advise owners that if such merchandise is not removed by them from the littoral within fifteen (15) days from date of this call, that the collector of customs shall take possession thereof as unclaimed. (c) That if such merchandise is not removed by the owners within this 1 5-day period, the collector of customs shall, at the expense of the merchandise, cause it to be removed to warehouses or other places of storage, designated by the Government as available and suitable for such storage. (d) Merchandise designated in subparagraph (c) shall, upon the expiration of the 15-day period provided in notice, immediately become subject to storage charges to be collected by the Government in accordance with Treasury Department Circular No. ll, February 1, 1908. (e) In case merchandise is not removed from designated ware- houses within statutory period, coFlector of customs shall take steps to dispose of same in the manner prescribed in Chapter VIII, Article 116, of the Customs Regulations. Paragraph 12. Merchandise discharged to pie^s, wharves, or warehouses within the littoral, subsequent to this notice, and not withdrawn within the usual free time period granted by established dock regulations, shall immediately become subject to provisions of subparagraphs (c), (d), and (e) in paragraph ll. Paragraph 13. Until such time as the lighters in the harbor have discharged their present cargoes, there shall be set aside, for their exclusive use for discharge of cargo, wharves additional to those already so used. This will facilitate their discharge and prevent destruction of property that might occur in case of severe storms. Paragraph 14. That in order to carry out the emergency meas- ures recommended herein, a highly competent port director or port commission be appointed by the Government with full authority to coordinate port activities and to employ and enforce such other lawful CLEARING THE WHARVES 267 and practical measures as will result in relieving existing port congestion, thereby insuring an early restoration of an uninterrupted flow of traffic in and out of the port. 7 The Joint Commission further considers that the present capacity of the public docks of Havana is not in proportion to the increasing traffic of the port, and that, for this reason, any circumstance that produces an interruption in the movement of cargo will bring about a congestion of the wharves. It likewise considers that the lack of spacious public warehouses for merchandise classed under "general order," is one of the princi- pal causes of the existing congestion, since it is evident that the moderate rates charged by the private wharves induce many importers to leave their merchandise there until they are able to effect its sale. In consequence, the Commission considers that it is absolutely indispensable that the Government undertake the construction of additional wharves or the enlargement of those now existing, and that it proceed to build, in the business district, large warehouses for the storage of merchandise classed under "general order." Done in Havana, on the eleventh of August, nineteen hundred and twenty, in the English and Spanish languages. The Cuban financial situation was adversely affected because of the "frozen credits" in the harbor. This harbor congestion was a powerful contributory cause of the financial panic that followed in October, 1920, the chief cause of which was the decline in the world's market price of sugar. \There are many points involved in the Havana port congestion that every wharf superintendent and port director should take to heart. The full recounting of these reports in this book at this time will show more emphatically than any academic discussion ever can the necessity for keeping wharves clear of merchandise. Transit sheds are for working ships, not for storing merchandise, and the merchandise must be kept moving. 7 Col. Manuel Despaigne, a member of the Joint Commission, was ap- pointed by Pres. Menocal to this position in December, 1920. 268 WHARF MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION OF REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMISSION 8 The nature of the conditions as we found them can be best covered by explaining in detail the meaning and reasons for the report as submitted, a copy of which is attached. The paragraph numbers correspond to those of the report of the Joint Commission. First : A quedan is a certificate of pro forma entry, which permits the merchant to withdraw perishable goods by paying 125 per cent of the duty as estimated on the consular invoice. After the duties have been properly calculated, the difference is refunded to the merchant. By interpreting all goods left on lighters or exposed places, and also in the damp climate on the covered wharves them- selves, as "perishable," it is possible to extend this pro forma entry privilege to all merchandise. It is a matter of interpretation of the word "perishable." This enables the merchant to withdraw his goods immediately and to take care of the customs formalities, which are rather involved, at a future time; the result would be to clear the wharves. Therefore, the extension of the right of quedan to all merchandise was the first step in loosening up the customs formali- ties and clearing the wharves. This was proposed as desirable at the first meeting in your office at Washington. The privilege of dispatch in partial lots as well as total ship- ment was extremely important, because the Cuban customs regula- tions required that a shipment of goods in its entirety be complete at one point and each package separately inspected there, or at spe- cialized customs rooms, by the customs officials before the goods could be dispatched. Due to the congestion and the resulting confu- sion, particularly the discharge of merchandise upon different lighters scattered about the harbor, it became impossible to gather the goods together at one point. Therefore, by permitting the withdrawal of partial lots, which again was a matter of interpretation of the customs law and not a change in the law, it will be possible for merchants to take whatever goods they can find where they find them and remove them. Second: The privilege of partial dispatch is reiterated and also it is added that the duty of the goods may be assessed upon sample 8 Report to the United States Secretary of Commerce, Joshua W. Alexander. CLEARING THE WHARVES 269 packages, it having been the customs practice to investigate each individual package of a shipment, even though fifty or a hundred packages might be identical. There is nothing in the customs regulation to require this. By using the American method of holding 10 per cent of a consignment for the appraisers, it will be possible for the importer to leave the samples for inspection and appraisal and withdraw the 90 per cent of his goods immediately on a quedan. Fourth : This paragraph is a further summary of the more specific statements of the preceding three paragraphs. Fifth : It has been the custom at Havana to send merchandise to certain classified customs wharves to be appraised there. The fre- quent removal of goods and handling to the various commodity wharves was expensive, even when movement was free and easy, but under present congested conditions it became impossible to do so. Therefore, by permitting or authorizing the inspection of the goods as they lie this handling would be eliminated and goods could be inspected and removed at once. Dry goods are excepted because they would be subject to damage and pilferage if opened on a general wharf. Sixth : By declaring all wharves "customs wharves" the customs officials and the appraisers could go to any wharf and there inspect the merchandise and thereby avoid the necessity of removing the goods to regular customs wharves. "Customs wharves," therefore, was extended to mean every point where goods could be discharged. This relieves congestion of the established customs wharves. . . . Seventh : It is estimated that about one-seventh of the space of bulkhead warehouses of the Port of Havana Docks Company is occupied by "unclaimed goods" that have been there from six months to four years. Goods unclaimed and left in the hands of the cus- toms may be taken by the customs at the end of five days, and if not claimed at the expiration of six months are to be sold at auction to cover customs duties and expenses for storage. When the customs auctioneer put these goods up for auction at the end of six months and the bid fell below a sum to cover the customs revenue and the cost of storage, he declared "no sale" and put the goods back in storage for another six months or until some future auction. The customs auctioneer often maintained that there was collusion among 270 WHARF MANAGEMENT the buyers to keep the price down to an insignificant amount, by which the Government would be the loser. On the contrary, although this may be the case in some instances, it is perfectly obvious that cheese, condensed milk, Mexican beans, which the weavel is sure to get, and many other articles, were worthless at the end of six months and even so repugnant that it would be necessary to hire some one to cart them away. . . . Eighth : Not only should there be additional Government bonded warehouses, but to oblige the merchants to withdraw their goods, regardless of their convenience, would force many of them into bankruptcy, inasmuch as they were doing business on compara- tively small capital and could not afford to pay the customs duties on their goods until such time as the goods had been sold. It is, therefore, proposed that in addition to the creation of more Govern- ment bonded warehouses, under Section A, under Section B the existing law be put in force permitting merchants to set aside, under proper restrictions, bonded warehouse space in their own warehouses. This will make it possible for merchants to remove goods in bond to their own bonded storerooms to be "sealed" there. They could, then, carry the goods in bond until such time as they were sold and withdrawn for consumption. In conversation with various mer- chants this revision was made a special appeal. Ninth : One of the principal arguments made repeatedly was that the merchant could not move anything anyway because of strikes. The other persistent argument was that there was no place to put the goods, if removed. . . . However, our investigation showed that if the merchants were forced to take the goods they could find a great deal more space than they claimed, but, of course, at a higher expense to themselves than existing private wharf rates. . . . Tenth: Article 116 of the Customs Regulations provides that, if goods are not removed at the end of a certain time, usually 5 days, they may be seized by the customs officers and put in general stores. In order to force the merchants to make use of the quedan once granted, it is agreed that, if they do not exercise the privilege granted in the quedan, at the end of 48-hour period, Article 116 would apply and the goods would be seized and put in general stores. Paragraphs 11 and 12 were the chief bones of contention. Dating from the days when the facilities of a port were in excess CLEARING THE WHARVES 271 of its commerce, it has been the custom to permit merchants to allow their goods to remain on the wharves at the exceedingly low storage rate of about 9 cents per 100 kilos per month. (The Government wharves have a charge of 3 to 7 cents per 100 kilos per day to force removal.) At the low rate it was cheaper to use the wharves as storage warehouses than to take the merchandise to warehouses. It was necessary, under the circumstances, to devise a punitive charge on goods and store them in some other place in order to leave the wharf free for the transit handling of goods to be loaded or dis- charged. Paragraph 11. The point is the same, namely, that at the expiration of the free time, under the customs regulations, the customs authorities will seize the goods and remove the same to a Government warehouse, the expense being charged to the merchan- dise. This charge, in the Government warehouse, and also the charge against the goods for removing them, will be a punitive rate that will force the merchants to remove their goods from the wharves at once. . . . The hope was expressed, however, first, that the merchant would not leave very much to be removed, which is the end desired and not the collection of revenue ; and, second, that the Government would succeed in finding sufficient warehouse space to which goods could be removed, thus relieving the wharves. Natu- rally there is an outcry from the merchants that their privilege of leaving the goods on the wharves at low rates is being interfered with. The entire approach to this subject by the committee was: First, that it should be made very easy for a merchant to get his goods ; and, second, that if he did not get them and take them away he should bear heavy consequences. It is believed that if the mer- chants find it is to their great disadvantage to leave goods on the wharves they will find places where their merchandise may be stored. In my opinion, the entire functioning of any port revolves around these two points : First, make it absolutely necessary for a merchant to remove his goods from the transit wharves within a brief period by placing heavy punitive charges against him if he does not do it ; and, second, make it as easy as possible to get his goods over the wharves and through the customhouse. Port efficiency, the attain- ment of a maximum tonnage movement for every linear foot of developed water front, depends upon the proper equipment and regulations. 272 WHARF MANAGEMENT REMOVAL OF GOODS FROM WHARVES AT PHILADELPHIA With further reference to the necessity of keeping freight moving on the wharves in order to prevent congestion, a contribution is made by the Hon. George S. Webster, while Director of Wharves, Docks, and Ferries of the Port of Philadelphia. Again, it seems more perti- nent to quote from actual examples than to discuss the question from the academic standpoint. The particular point to note in this report is the fact that comparatively little freight can be removed from the piers or wharves during the working of the vessel ; also the iclatively small amount of pier space that can actually be used for the storage of freight. The writer, in Ports and Terminal Facilities, calculated an average required floor space for wharf transit sheds to be 10 square feet for each cargo ton of the largest vessel using the wharf. It will be noted that the average floor space actually used at the wharves investigated by Mr. Webster was over 13 square feet. This can easily be explained. In the academic study, based, as it was, on European wide quays and transit sheds, it was found that with these transit sheds constructed 150 to 200 feet wide, only 10 square feet were necessary. In the cases reported by Mr. Webster the wharf space is entirely too small to accommodate all the cargo. The amount of trucking space, aisles, etc., in relation to the total capacity of the pier is larger than in an adequate shed. Almost as many aisles are required on a pier 75 feet wide as on a pier 150 feet wide the increased floor area being a clear gain to the storage space of the cargo. With this in mind, the report of Mr. Webster assumes particular interest. It must be borne in mind, however, that conditions vary from port to port and from wharf to wharf at each port as to the percentage of cargo removed from or delivered to the wharf by railroads, lighters, drays, electric trucks, and other devices. Mr. Webster's report 9 follows : I hereby submit the following report of investigation of the freight handled on Piers 19, 24, 25, and 27 North, from steamships Carthaginian, Ancona, Snow den Range, Sloderdijk, and America. 9 Report of investigation of freight handled on piers 19, 24, 25, and 27 North, as submitted by Assistant Engineer of Department of Wharves, Docks, and Ferries under date of June 19, 1912. CLEARING THE WHARVES 273 The freight is handled at the above piers to and from the ship by stevedores, on a price per ton basis, which probably accounts for the fact that the freight is, in general, loosely piled on the pier, also that the driveways for teams are restricted, in some cases to 8 feet in width, and generally there are no turn-outs except the openings kept open for the purpose of working the ship's hatches. Where the freight is of a nonperishable character, few teams, and, in general, none are allowed on the pier for the purpose of removing freight while discharging or loading a vessel, as they interfere with that work. Weight of a ton taken is 2,240 pounds. This, I am informed, is the weight used by the steamship companies. The following is a record of freight handled during the period of investigation : Steamship Carthaginian from Glasgow arrived at the north side of Pier 19 North on April 26, 1912. Gross tonnage, 6,096; capacity, 6,OOO tons. Length, 386 feet; beam, 45 feet; draft loaded, 25 feet 6 inches; hatches, 4. Reported cargo, 1,800 tons; by calculation, 1,612 tons. The regular berth for this ship is the south side of Pier 24 North, but as the greater part of that pier was occupied by outbound freight the remaining available space would not accommodate all of the inbound freight, and a portion of it was discharged on the north side of Pier 19 North. The inbound freight discharged at Pier 19 was burlap, furniture^ hides, spiegeleisen, wool waste, potatoes, and potash. That discharged on Pier 24 was fish, beef, fertilizer, and potatoes. The outbound freight on Pier 24 was mainly flour in sacks. \ The inbound freight was loosely piled on both piers. A drive- way, average width 10 ft., entire length of both piers; truck way along car pits (on Pier No. 19, 5 ft. 6 in. wide) on both sides of Pier No. 24, 7 ft. 6 in. wide ; 4 openings for hatches 20 by 30 feet on each pier, and a number of lateral truck ways through freight, cut the available floor space from 30,800 sq. ft. for Pier No. 19 and 58,000 sq. ft. for Pier No. 24, a total of 88,800 sq. ft., to about 22,OOO sq. ft. for Pier No. 19 and 34,000 sq. ft. on Pier No. 24, a total of 56,000 sq. ft. The difference of 56,000 sq. ft. available and 48,520 sq. ft. actually covered was used in the case of Pier No. 19 by left-over inbound freight, and in the case of Pier No. 24 with out- bound freight that was not taken. Time of unloading, 3 days ; loading, 4 days ; total time in port, 7 days. Time of moving freight 2 74 WHARF MANAGEMENT 2 3 s in 4J "> -TJ >> 2 TjJS c .& s ^-c OH o Q t ^ \ o SJ ' S 1 ^^ CO CO z 1 66 | OJ O C C P^J H ctf o vSS t^ ro E **^ r U f ( E H < y 0. 5 S r ^ > aH g OOO ro ON r^ \O s -_/- 1 H 1^ W 4_j vo t> v> rh ^ fO H *^ ^ Cu f t rr^ H^ HH H^ CO fe CO g a , ^ oj w W tj s CO ^< ON O vo ro 1 N H s slji O c^3 3 t^ CO "< ro vo vO OO ON O O cs vo o^ hH T3* C3 g fac/3 6 * J 13 .S Q "S fc < a c S g s^ vo t>N OO vo vn d 3. ON ro (A 1 m rnrs -o" M J=-C-S ^o g'w 1 ^^co fe o -t 1-1 cs c r* 3 ^3 C i ^ o o H is o CLEARING THE WHARVES 275 2 . ^ . tJ M ^ rt u : Q (A oo m : h (A O . "S.s U (S 1^ | S P< 2 s v.0 s CO . H w c . in -f IH H-4 vO OO vO "^ & 3 u li U i & c O ^ H *+ ro O HH l-l ri h GO* l-r 6* % a; . bJOj 11 S J in LJ H H 64 3 H t^ I/" ro O oo 3 f3 ON | 3 J ro >H IH V 'S, Joo o" \O es OO O PH CO 6 Joo oo c c M w 2 c O Q 1.0 1 _D "3 1 1 o-^ 1 '-^ 1 o H 276 WHARF MANAGEMENT from Pier No. 19, 7 days ; Pier No. 24, 6 days. No inbound freight removed from piers until all freight was discharged from ship. Average number of teams on piers at one time: First day 5, waiting 1 1 ; second day 5, waiting 4. Steamship Ancona from Geneva and Naples arrived at the south side of Pier No. 19 North on April 27, 1912. Gross tonnage, 10,OOO ; capacity, 5,400 tons; length, 480 feet; beam, 58 feet; draft loaded, 28 feet; cargo reported, 550 tons. The inbound freight discharged was vermuth, olive oil (in cases and barrels), wine, orris root, macaroni, etc. The outbound freight was oil, cotton, scrap rubber, tobacco, rags, etc. Delivered to ship from lighters, 579 tons ; total outbound freight, 6ll tons; total inbound freight, 626 tons. This freight did not cover the south of the pier. Maximum height of freight, 9 feet (macaroni units of about 25 pounds), the minimum, 2 feet 6 inches (oil in barrels on side). Steamship Sloderdijk arrived at south side of Pier 27 North on May 2, 1912; 6 hatches. This ship did not discharge her entire cargo at Pier 27, owing to lack of space. Total cargo reported, 3,400 tons; discharged at Pier 27, 2,850 tons; remainder, 350 tons taken to South Wharves ; no outbound freight taken from pier. The freight discharged was cotton bales, cluice (cases), hides (bales), peat moss (bales), rice, starch, waste (bales), wood pulp (bales), alkali (hogsheads), clay (hogsheads), coffee (bags), fish (barrels), glycerin (tanks), etc. The freight discharged on the second deck was light and bulky, consisting of cotton, peat moss, starch, waste, and wood pulp ; that on the first deck, fish, glycerin, lumber, wine, coffee, tobacco, etc. The freight on the bulkhead was entirely fish and oil in barrels. Time of unloading, 20 hours. No teams permitted on pier while unloading. Time of removal of freight from pier, 6 working days. Steamship Snowden Range from Leith arrived at Pier 25 North on May 5, 1912. The gross tonnage and capacity could not be obtained, but the following measurements were taken: length, 336 feet 5 inches; width, 47 feet; draft loaded 21 feet, light 9 feet 6 inches ; 5 hatches ; reported cargo, 2,800 tons, cargo by calculation, 2,857 tons - Ninety per cent of this freight was potatoes; balance burlap ano! fish in cases. No outbound freight taken from this pier, CLEARING THE WHARVES 277 H CO M G iJ 1 : : : a 2 MH U : : : ON > S ci * : : : i/1 ON ON JM TMD in g "o g IH 4J 2-LB. GRANULATED 48 FULL CASES CRYSTAL DOMINO TABLETS 128 SMALL CASES CRYSTAL DOMINO TABLETS 40 BARRELS ;nd, 6 wide, 4 high, 5 rows. Load full size id small cases 8 wide, 4 high, 4 rows. L ter on floor, "self-chocking." Nail door s iners, one inch thick and three inches wide ^^ ' -^ r : 3$< 4i< - LJ ~^ '^ ---^ - * Y S B M B g 5 2I 1st iHi 3 2 SSs! l-i.fi |:f-g.s 83 J a 1* I ^-sis "E S5 294 92O Taxes and insurance during construction 11,620 Interest on building cost during construction 10,000 Working capital 83,460 Capital Assets . $750,000 (A) STORAGE Estimated Income One hundred twenty-three thousand square feet of available floor space at 96 cents per square foot per year based on 16 cents per square foot per month, 50 per cent of space occupied $118,080 NOTE. Main aisles and columns occupy 25 per cent of total space inside of walls after deducting elevators, stairways, office, shipping and laborers' room. The above basis of 50 per cent there- fore presupposes an average storage occupancy throughout the year of 66 2/3 per cent of actual occupiable storage space. Estimated Expenses Rent (or in lieu of rent) l. Interest on investment: Building $525,000 Land, portion occupied by building only. . 40,000 Organization 2,000 WAREHOUSING AND STORAGE 341 Interest, taxes and in- surance during con- struction 25,540 $592,540 at 7 per cent $41,478 2. Depreciation, building above foundation . . . 500,000 at 2 per cent 10,OOO 3. Obsolescence 525,000 at l per cent 5> 2 5O 4. Fire insurance 90 per cent of value of build- ing above foundation. 450,000 at */ of l per cent 562 5. Taxes, Federal, State and Municipal 16,000 6. Repairs to buildings .... 500,000 at l per cent 5,000 7. Landlord's risk, amortiza- tion and profit on in- vestment 59 2 >54 at 2 ^2 per cent 14,814 Total Rent (or in lieu of rent) $93,104 ESTIMATED ADMINISTRATION AND OPERATING EXPENSES, TAXES, ETC. 1. One-third of executives' salaries, salaries of depart- mental heads, office salaries, general office and miscellaneous expense $10,OOO 2. Watchmen and watching supervision 2,500 3. Advertising 3,000 4. Interest on working capital $50,000 at 7 per cent. 3>5OO 5. Taxes 800 6. Contingencies 2,676 Total administration and operating expenses, taxes, etc $22,476 Total storage expenses 1 15,580 Net income from storage 2,500 342 WHARF MANAGEMENT Analysis Average Square Feet Floor Space Occupied Storage income $1 18,080 divided by Storage expenses 115,580 " Profit 2,500 " Investment Working capital 2,500 divided by 50,000 = 5 per cent profit 61,500 61,500 61,500 Dollars per Sq. Ft. per Year 1.92 1.88 .04 $50,000 on investment. Cents per Sq. Ft. per Month 16.00 15.67 33 Attention is directed to the fact that the profit here indicated covers Storage only, profit arising from ownership of the building being provided for under Rent. The proprietor's salary is included in executives' salaries. Expense Items not Included in Estimate Bailee's responsibility and risk. Loss and damage on goods. Bad debts. Maintenance of private highways. Income Items not Included in Estimate Short periods of storage. (B) HANDLING, (c) WEIGHING AND SAMPLING, (D) MISCELLANEOUS EXTRA SERVICE Estimated Income Receiving and delivering billed $80,000 Weighing and sampling billed 7,000 Extra service billed 9,000 Total Income $96,000 WAREHOUSING AND STORAGE 343 Estimated Expenses 1. Actual productive labor employed in receiving and delivering, weighing and sampling, and extra service $38,000 2. Nonproductive labor 13,000 3. Liability insurance 1,500 4. Interest on investment in equipment $50,000 at 7 per cent 3,500 5. Taxes 1,600 6. Ten per cent depreciation on Item 4 5,OOO 7. Repairs on Item 4 at 5 per cent 2,500 8. Power and light 3,000 9. Claims 500 10. Two-thirds of salaries, etc $20,000 Less amount charged to Car Service. . . 5455 H545 11. Interest on working capital $26,000 at 7 per cent 1,820 12. Miscellaneous expense 4,000 Total Expense $88,965 Profit 7,035 Investment Equipment $50,000 Working capital 26,000 $76,000 7,035 divided by 76,000 = 9.26 per cent profit on investment. Total expense $88,965 Productive labor 38,000 Handling overhead expense $50,965 Per cent overhead expense 50,965 divided by 38,000 = 134 per cent. (E) CAR SERVICE Estimated Income Unloading cars $21,OOO Loading cars , 15,000 $36,000 344 WHARF MANAGEMENT Estimated Expenses 1. Actual labor loading and unloading cars $14,000 2. Nonproductive labor 6,800 3. Liability insurance 700 4. Interest on investment at 7 per cent: Land $16,000 Tracks and platform 8,000 $24,000 l,68o 5. Taxes 750 6. Depreciation on tracks, etc 400 7. Repairs on tracks, etc 750 8. Share of executives' salaries, office salaries, etc. . 5455 9. Interest on working capital $7,460 at 7 per cent 522 10. Contingencies 19678 $32,735 Profit 3*265 Investment Tracks, etc $24,000 Working capital 7,460 $31,460 3,265 divided by 31,460= 10.38 per cent profit on investment. Total car service expense $3 2 >735 Productive labor 14,000 Car service overhead expense $18,735 Per cent overhead expenses 18,735 divided by 14,000 = 134 per cent. PAY-ROLL DIVISION In order that the warehouseman may determine his costs accord- ing to the method proposed, it becomes necessary to distribute the pay roll. The foundation of this is the use of daily time cards, either in the hands of the individual laborers or gang foremen, giving the time of the man or men, information as to the lot of goods handled and the different services performed. To be of real value this must be carefully, carried on with competent supervision and made to WAREHOUSING AND STORAGE 345 balance with the pay roll. A portion of the results will be produc- tive labor costs and the balance nonproductive items, such as idle time, cleaning, moving merchandise to make room, etc. DETERMINATION OF OVERHEAD Next must be ascertained the overhead expense which applies to handling and other services. This is done by adding to the non- productive labor, the liability insurance, interest, depreciation, taxes, repairs to equipment and other items as shown in the classification of Expense B, C, D and E. COST DEPARTMENT We recommend that each warehouseman, if he has not already done so, organize a Cost Department, headed by a man who com- bines good accounting ability with a practical warehouse experience, furnishing him with as much assistance as is necessary to keep the work up to date at all times. The American Warehousemen's Association has established a Central Bureau, referred to elsewhere in this work, which is pre- pared to furnish warehousemen specimen forms and information concerning methods of keeping cost figures. The Primer furnished by the American Warehousemen's Association outlines a simple method of cost finding. AN EQUITABLE PROFIT IN EACH DEPARTMENT Each department of the warehouseman's plant should show a profit at the end of the year. No service should be rendered without profit. All profits should be reasonable. Thus the Standard Warehouse Example shows profit after making due allowance for profit on the building, interest on the investment, and after salary to the proprietor, as follows : Storage $2,500 Handling : Weighing, sampling and miscellaneous services 7*035 Car Service 3*265 Total $12,800 No department should perform a service free or below cost to 34 6 WHARF MANAGEMENT attract storage business, for indirect rebate is thereby given which will injure the business far more than the few dollars received for the storage gained. This ideal condition, it is safe to say, has not heretofore existed in the warehouse industry. CONCLUSION The foregoing system of cost accounting and basis for tariffs, if carried out intelligently, will give the warehouseman the following knowledge : Income, cost and profit of maintaining and operating each unit of warehouse space. Income, cost and profit of handling each lot of merchandise from sill to sill. Income, cost and profit of loading and unloading cars. Income, cost and profit of weighing, sampling and all other services for which separate charges are made to the customer. These fundamental facts will be of untold assistance in quoting and defending prices and setting a new and higher standard for the entire industry. A warehouseman will then have no hesitation in quoting rates to his customers because he will have that secure feeling that his rates are based upon proved costs with a legitimate profit added. These will also permit the warehouseman to exercise intelligent discrimination in the taking of merchandise to be stored by him. Then, and only then, will the warehouse industry be enabled to ride out the squalls and serious storms which are bound to occur from time to time in the business world. Respectfully submitted, T. E. WITTERS, Chairman. In closing the authors wish to express the hope that this imper- fect pioneer effort will stimulate others to study the best methods of water-front operation and to give the benefit of their experience to the public in printed form. INDEX Accounting, steamship, 74. warehouse, 334. See also Operating costs. A-frame derrick, 148. "Airplane" sling, 138. Baggage master, duties, 47. Banana unloader, 168. Barrels, stowing method, 182. transfer method, 139. Belt conveyors in cargo transfer, 1 68, 170. Bridge crane, 160. Broken stowage, definition, 180. effect on average stowage factor, 197. Bulk cargo, definition and methods of handling, 38. stowing methods, 178. free-flowing, transfer methods, 173. Bunkering, definition, n. mechanical appliances used, 174. Burton-and-fall system in cargo transfer, 112. Cant hooks, 138. Car\ loading, instructions and dia- grams, 289. Cargo, classification, 37. damaged, record, 80. danger of shifting, 219. selection by stowage factors, 191. Cargo list, 94. Cargo mast, 117. Cargo-sheet clerk, duties, 49. Cargo tonnage, definition, 31. Cargo transfer, by crane, 146. methods, 101. signaling, 132. through hatches, 109. through side ports, 106. time studies, 233. Cargo winches, 120. Cartage congestion New York piers, 282. Center of gravity, position in rela- tion to safety of vessel, 215. Chain sling, 143. Classification societies, influence in promoting safety, 205. Clearing the wharves, 230. Coaling. See Bunkering. Coffee sorting on wharves at New Orleans, 253. Colliers, characteristics, 43. Congestion, drays, New York piers, 282. wharves, Havana, 263. wharves, New Orleans, 253. wharves, Philadelphia, 272. Containers, list of important types, 145. Conveyors, 168, 170. Cost accounting. See Accounting. Costs. See Accounting; Operating Costs. Cotton, stowage factor, 196. Crane versus ship's tackle in cargo transfer, 165. Cranes, types, 146. Damaged cargo, record keeping, 80. report, 82. Dangerous goods, classification, 221. definition and handling, 41. laws and regulations for trans- portation, 208. Dead-weight cargo, definition, 188. Dead-weight tonnage, definition, 3i. Deck loads, 200. Delivery, store-door system, 285. transit shed to warehouse, 296. wharf to dray, 282. wharf to railway car, 287. Delivery clerk, duties, 53. 347 348 INDEX Delivery department, 53. Delivery notice to send goods to wharf, 92. Delivery order to release merchan- dise, 9 Depreciation, charges in ship opera- tion, 3. charges in warehouse accounting, 335- Derricks, types, 146. Detective force on wharves, 54. Directors of steamship companies, responsibilities, i. Discharging cargo, definition, II. Discharging receipt book, 79. Displacement, definition, 31. Dock, definition, 36. Dock receipt, 92. Dock winches, electric, 127. Dockage, definition, n, 13. Drafts, assembling and appliances used in transfer, 136. starting and stopping, 132. Drum end, operation, 115. Dunnage, definition, n. use in stowage, 180. Economies, example of saving in port expenses, 9. Electric elevators in warehouses, 297. Electric trucks, use in cargo trans- fer, 232. Electric winches, 126. Elevating, definition, 12. Elevators in warehouses, 297. Extension clerk, duties, 50. Free-flowing bulk freight, transfer, .173. Freight handling, comparative costs by hand truck and by tractor and trailer, 250. Freight manifest, ship's, 97. Full cargo, definition, 187. Gang work by longshoremen, 59. Gangs, division of work in stowing, 181. Gantry cranes, 152. General cargo, definition and meth- ods of handling, 40. Grain, regulations for stowage, 207. Gross tonnage, definition, 31. Guy derrick, 149. Hammerhead crane, 151. Hand trucks, use in cargo transfer, 106, 231. Harbor dues, n. Hatch vessels, 42, 43. Havana, wharf congestion and rec- ommendations of Joint Cuban- American Commission, 263. Heavy-duty cranes, 160. Inbound freight accounting, 77. See also Accounting. Insurance underwriters, influence in promoting safety, 204. Interest, charges in ship operation, 3- Joint Cuban-American Commis- sion, recommendations for re- lief of wharf congestion at Havana, 263. Laws governing stowage, 201. Left-hand winches, 122. Lien on goods for freight charges, 89. Lighter clerk, 49. Lighterage, definition, 12. Lighters, service in loading and unloading, 34. "List" of vessel, 217. Live stock, regulations for trans- portation, 207. Loading, automobiles, 144. bags of merchandise, 139. barrels and hogsheads, 139, 182. beef, 141. dried apples, 142. eggs, 142. ingots and billets, 142. iron safe, analysis of operations, 140. locomotives, 144. steel rails, 143. Locomotive crane, 149. Locomotives, stowing of assembled, 199- Longshoremen, classification, 57. decrease in efficiency, 52. definition, 55. division for gang work, 59. INDEX 349 Longshoremen, methods of hiring, 58. National Adjustment Commis- sion award, 68. union membership, 63. wage scales, 64, 70. working conditions, 67. Loose-pulley fall in unloading lake vessels, 107. Manifests, 97. Mechanical aids in stowing, 179. Mechanical conveyors, 108. Measurement of packages, record, 94- Measurement ton, definition, 29. Moisture, danger to cargo, 223. National Adjustment Commission, award of wages to longshore- men, 68. Net sling, 138. New Orleans, wharf congestion and recommendations for re- lief, 253. Operating costs of vessel, daily averages for four vessels, 3. items in account, 4. Outbound freight accounting, 91. See also Accounting. Outward foreign manifest, 97. "Over-landed" cargo, 83. Package freight, stowing methods, 179. Packing, effect on stowage and freight rates, 197. "Paper work" in steamship opera- tion, 74. Philadelphia, study of wharf con- ditions, 272. Pier, definition, 36. Pier rent, definition, 14. Pier superintendent, duties, 45. Pilfering, precautions against, 226. Pilotage, definition, n. Planning the stowage, 176. Platform sling, 138. Port expenses of vessel, amounts by items, port of New York, 6. effect of wharf design, 27. methods of reducing, 9, 24. Port warden's fees, u. Precious cargo, definition and handling, 41. Profits in ship operation, factors affecting, I. Quay, definition, 36. Railroads, discrimination in wharf- age and dockage charges, 15. Receiving clerk, duties, 48. Refrigerator ships, 44. Removal of merchandise, notice to consignee, 85. Rigging for transfer by winches, 1 20. Right-hand winches, 122. Rope sling, 136. Seaworthiness of vessels, laws de- fining, 202. Shifting of cargo, 219. Ship operation,. See Operating costs. Ship's tackle versus crane in cargo transfer, 164. Shop crane, 158. "Short-landed" cargo, 83. Side ports, 42, 106. Signaling in cargo transfer, 132. Single boom and skid in cargo transfer, ill. Slings, 136. Specialized equipment in cargo transfer, 166. Stevedore, qualifications and duties, 5i. Stevedoring, analysis of cost, 23. cost in relation to other charges, 6, 7, 17- rates in Philadelphia, 17. Stiff-leg derrick, 147, 149. Storage, definition in ship opera- tion, 12. definition of terms, 303. fundamentals, 308. instructions for removing mer- chandise, 319. instructions for stowing mer- chandise, 313. Storage order for goods left on wharf, 87. Store clerk, duties, 47. Stowage, broken, 180, 197. 35 INDEX Stowage, damage to vessel and cargo avoided by careful, 32. effect on profits in ship opera- tion, 29. laws and regulations, 201. planning from cargo list, 176. responsibility of vessel owners for safe, 203. space required by specified com- modities, 30. Stowage clerk, duties, 46. Stowage factor, application in se- lecting cargoes, 191. average for steam and sailing vessels, 191. definition, 188. reduction, examples, 196. Stowage plan, charts, 98, 185. discussion, 98, 182. Stowing methods, 178, 195. Straight-line crane, 163. Superintendent of wharf, responsi- bility for profitable operation, I. Tally sheet for lighter transfer, 79. Tally slips, receiving and delivery, 78. Tallymen, duties, 50. Tank vessels, 43. Telphers, use on wharves, 232. Temperature, danger to cargo, 224. Time studies in cargo transfer, 233- Timekeeper, duties, 52. Tonnage, definitions, 31. Towage, definition, II. Tower crane, 150. Transfer. See Cargo transfer. Trucks in cargo transfer, 231. Turn-around of vessel, effect on profits, 2. Uniform-package freight, definition and handling, 39. Union of longshoremen, 62. Ventilation, importance in safe car- riage of cargo, 226. Vermin, methods of combating, 227. Vertical belt conveyors, 170, 172. Vessels, laws defining seaworthi- ness, 202. responsibility of owners for safety, 202. special construction for com- modities with low stowage factors, 194, 200. types, 42. Voyage account, 74. Wages of longshoremen, 64, 70. Warehouses, relation to efficient wharf management, 28. Warehousing, average occupancy of storage space, 329. classification of goods for stor- age, 326. cost accounting, 334. definition of terms, 323. report of committee on standard- ization, 321. rules for management, 299, 323. Wear and tear, effect in cargo handling, 228. Web sling, 137. Wharf, definition, 36. Wharf charges and dues, 10. Wharf congestion, Havana, and recommendations of Joint Cuban-American Commission, 263. New Orleans, and recommenda- tions for relief, 253. Philadelphia, study, 272. Wharf design, effect on port ex- penses, 27. Wharf efficiency and shipping prof- its, I. Wharf equipment, 37. Wharf office organization, 45. Wharf superintendent, qualifica- tions, 45. Wharfage, definition, 12. Winches, electric, 126. kinds and types, 122. operation, 120. right-hand and left-hand, 122. 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