THE MAN WHO LOADS THE SHIP.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3135, 18 September 1922, Page 8

THE MAN WHO LOADS THE SHIP.

Ulllj one part of the stevedore's work has ever appealed to mo—that part where he takes up n stout stick, very like a policeman's truncheon, and mis the rope that holds together, say, a bundle of sacks a. good sound thwack. Anvbodv could be a stevedore were he limited to such a job as that. Lufortunately for him, it is doubtful it there is any limitation. Ho is always pinching and -craping to save an inch of space here, a loot there, and so on. He has to pack his vessel so that everything lies nicely to hand when tho time comes for discharging. For consider. A tramp steamer, as her name implies, is given to wandering from those beaten tracks that liners follow. In one voyage alone she will visit probably three or tour ports—and she leaves cargo at each. Obviously the cargo for the first port of all must be nearest reach. Hilt suppose that cargo is very heavy. Useless to loud it at the top of the hold. So the stevedore has to consider quite a lot and dispose it in the safest and handiest manner possible. At that same port the ship may take in some cargo. Here again the stevedore must sow it so that it does not interfere with the discharging of the other cargo. A ship is a very delicate thing, alter all. Put too much weight in her bottoni and she will roll like a log: put too little weight, and the chances' arc that she will list so badly in a heavy wind 1 that she will turn over on her beam. Of course, a ship carries ballast in the ordinary run of things, and her cargo must be placed so as not to outbalance the ballast. If you will look at a steamer ready loaded to sail on the next tide, you will notice that she is on an even keel, there is no deviation either to one side or the other. iThere may be a slight tilt toward* her stern, but that is preferred by ships' captains. She always draws a few more inches of water there. And this equality, this preci-j Men of balance, is all brought about' by the stevedore. Yes. loading a ship is a fine art. When the holds are battened down all in readiness for the ship to sail you may safely guess that her cargo is packed almost according to rules drawn up by some master mathematician.