SHIPS AND THE SEA.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 128, 26 November 1904, Page 12

SHIPS AND THE SEA.

The following record of quick de- ! epatch is claimed on behalf of the new \ steamer Matina, a vessel of 3870 tons ! gross, employed in the Costa Rica-Man-chester trade. The vessel arrived at the Manchester docks on a Sunday evening with 40,000 bunches of bananas (a full cargo). The discharge commenced next morning at 8 a.m., and tho whole of the cargo was out by 6 p.m. tha same day — a total of nine working hours. Referring to sail training for officers, an. English shipping paper questions whether the mercantile marine is thinking sufficiently of the future of the quarterdeck. To many it is a circumstance of regret that the forecastles of our merchant steamer* are so largely filled with foreigners, but it will be infinitely worse if, one of these days, the bulk of our vessels are also found to be officered by aliens. There is fortunately no reason immediately to anticipate any such eventuality, but if it be true that seamanship, ie its highest and most comprehensive meaning, is impossible apart from sailing ship training, then we may undoubtedly see in the future a class of ship's officer comparing unfavourably with his foreign competitor. For years past the country has Been congratulating itself on the rapidity with which its sailing ship tonnage is being got rid of. It has rightly regarded the steamship as a more effective instrument of ocean commerce, and, as infinitely safer from the standpoint of the men. engaged in it. But it would be curious indeed if the admitted safety of 6team were to be neutralised in any measure by the lack of that courage, resource, and prompt judgment which sailing ship experience unquestionably fosters. It is that possible risk which is now commented upon, and its seriousness in this age of steamships of high speed and vast dimensions is particularly emphasised. There are those who think that the disappearance, of the sailing ship is- so inevitable that the nation had better make up its mind at once to train its future officers in steamships. It is worfch observing, nowever, that an exceedingly practical people like the Germans not merely decline to subscribe to such an | opinion, but, by their actions, directly challenge it. Relatively to the total tonnage of the two nations, Germany lias, we _ fancy, considerable superiority over j us in the matter of sailing ship tonnage, and from this it might be inferred that her steamship companies need take no special steps to secure sail-trained officers. But as a matter of fact they do. It is not so long ago that one of the wellequipped training ships of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Company, with its half hundred and more of embryo officers, was in the docks of London. I'hese young fellows get a real training, for they constitute the crew, and the smart handling of their sailing &nip is dependent on their intelligence and pluck. If a crack German steamship company finds it to its advantage in this way to grow its own officers, can we be quite sure that the scheme is one that is nob worthy of imitation by our great steamship corporations? According to The Times Financial and Commercial Supplement, Mr. B. Cunningham, in attempting to define "general cargo," recently, said : "Tlfe term is a most comprehensive one ; it covers such wide contrasts as bales of cotton, pigs of lead, sacks of flour, tierces of lard, cases of machinery, boxes of bacon, bundles of ( staves, hogsheads of tobacco, and so on I A modern cargo steamer will carry from I 3000 to 5000 tons of such material, comprising, perhaps, 30,000 to 40,000 separate nackages, in addition to bulk grain, I fresh meat, and live stock, making from 10,000 to 12,000 tons dead weight, and I occupying upwards of 600,000 to 700,000 cubic feet of space. The rate of discharge will sometimes reach 300 tons per hour, and the rate of loading 250 tons per hour. This is a recent rocord at Liverpool of the Cymbric, one of the most modern of the White Star liners. Another ship, the' Georgic, has discharged a full cargo of 10,246 tons weight and 716,000 cubic feet bulk, and loaded 2409 tons in a period of 60 working hours. The record I for London appears to be held by the steamer Milwaukee, which has discharged a cargo of 11,000 tons dead weight in 60 working hours. j An illustrated brochure issued by the Northumberland Shipbuilding Company, Limited, of Howdon-on-Tyne, makes reference to a tendency which has been rather marked in the shipbuilding trade j of late. That, says Lloyd's Shipbuildj ing Gazette, is the building of "spec" steamers of a standard size and type likej ly to suit the requirements of the major- j ity of shipowners. In 1899, shortly after the Northumberland yard w^s started, the managing director, Mr. Rowland Hodge, gave careful consideration to this question of a standard type of carrier, and came to the conclusion that that most suited to present-day requirements was a spar-deck steamer, 372 feet long by 48 feet beam, and 30 feet 10 inches depth moulded, capable of carrying 7000 tons deadweight, on a modernte draught. Once decided on, several of these vessels were built and sold during construction. Others were laid down in their place when these were launched, and the result was, to quote the little book mentioned, "that an extraordinary demand arose for these vessels, no fewer than 26 having been built in six years, all of the same m and model." Naturally the building of du-* plicate ships in this way makes for economy of production and quickens the rate of production. We could mention, continues the Gazette, other North-Easfc Coast yards where the same policy is pursued with equal success, to say nothing of the turret deck steamers, which are now usually built to a standard size of I 6150 tons dead weight. Such vessels as these can safely be built "for stock," and as a matter of fact are,' experience having proved that they can always be sold by the time they are ready for launching. If this tendency is apt to produce same- j ness in our mercantile fleet, it nevertheless gives the shipowner a safe and tried j type of ship and spares him much trouble in preparing specifications and going into endless details. And it Las also this advantage — it tends to equalise production, and that is no small matter to an industry which is peculiarly liable to feast and famine. The builder of such stock sizes can always lay down another ship of the type if actual orders are not forthcoming, and, in fact, can go on building steadily with comparative assurance. Special ships of the most divergent types there must always be, but with the cargo carrier, well-nigh as perfect as it can ba made on present lines, there is no longer need for so much differentiation, and the tendency to build standard vessels of this class is, therefore, likely to increase. The purchase of the wreck of the French barque Adolphe by Mr. Wilson, tugboat proprietor, of Ba'lmain, appears to have been a good speculation, notwithstanding the fact that ma' v experts expressed the opinion that ti. sum of £750 paid for the wreck was considerably in excess of her value. The Adolphe, however, lies in a comparatively sheltered position on the Oyster Bank at the entrance to Newcastle, and is not likely to break up perhaps for years. Already fear and fittings to the value of £1500 aye been salved, and it is expected that another thousand pounds' worth will be recovered this week. Mr. Wilson is confident also that he will succeed in refloating the Adolphe, and asserts that ere long she will be lying alongside a wharf. Should his hopes be realised he will reap a small fortune, for the Adolphe is a new vessel, built a couple of years ago at a cost of £42,000, and if refloated and repaired should be worth at least £20,000. The prevailing opinion in shipping circles, however, is that the Adolphe is doomed for all time.