Anonymous
Published: 2013-09
Total Pages: 26
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905 edition. Excerpt: ...arrangements accordingly. But however carefully these arrangements are made, it will sometimes happen that more goods are sent down for some steamer than that particular steamer can carry, and consequently some parcels will be left behind--"short shipped," as it is technically called--and will have to be taken charge of by the company till the next steamer of the line is ready to load. To enable all this to be carried out the company must own or rent a considerable quay space, with sheds for storing the goods, if necessary, and must employ a considerable staff of men, a number of whom must be permanently employed, whether any of the company's vessels are in port or not. This permanent staff for loading the vessel would consist of the foreman stevedore, who is responsible for the actual stowing and trimming of the cargo--a most troublesome and difficult operation, as the safety of the vessel depends to a very large extent on the skill with which the weight of the cargo is adjusted, in order that the centre of gravity may be so placed as to give the vessel a proper amount of stability. Under the stevedore the staff would consist of weighers, measurers, and foremen, who would take charge of gangs of labourers when the actual loading was in process. Most companies employ staffs of their own to unload and deliver the cargo of their vessels when arriving from foreign ports, and in this case also a considerable permanent staff must be employed. At each port to which the vessels of the company trade there will be a Branch Office, or a regular agent of the company, who will perform on a smaller scale all the operations carried on by the company at its Head Office. Accounts must be rendered by this branch or agency, giving the receipts...