A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10541, 18 March 1920, Page 2

A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE

(By an Australian Engineer.) For many years . past the' shipping business along our coast has become such an inextricable tangle, and such a nightmare on the Commonwealth generally, that almost the whole community is asking itself: Is this state of. things in our little shipping world going to last indefinitely? The answer is: Certainly not; out of extreme chaos order will come. Those who control our ship-to-day all belong to a school which will soon boobsolete-a school which sliould have been- obsolete and should have passed away ten years ago. They appear to be mesmerised and overawed by taose crowds of spoilt, unskilled labourers who flock to the shipping centres, knowing they are absolutely necessary for the present old-fashioned, and ridiculous system of handling cargo. In the near future there will bo no labourers required, or allowed on the wnarves, or in the sheds, or on the boats. The loading and unloading of cargo will practically be all done at the raiway sidings, bia stores, and factories. To load a big cargo boat (or any boat) it wil only bs necessary to run the railway trucks and motor lorries (which will contain tho intended cargo already packed and sealed in special standard crates or containers), in quick succession past tno ship's side. Instead of "the intended carjjo being presented in small parcels varying from a hundredweight to a ton, it will be already packed and secured in standard steel crates containing from five to ten tons each. These standard crates or containefs will be lifted in quick succession by the ship's derricks, lowered through the hatchways, and pushed (by hydraulic pushers) on steel floors of steel rollers into the place intended for thorn. The reverse operation will unload tho ship. The containers will be of various designs to suit the lines of goods, and will be of standard size and weight for each class of goods. Building material, such as timber or iron, will be securely bound in five or ten ton parcels, and provision made for the derrick hooks to lift them without delay. At present timber is handled by one or two men lifting ono ; board or batten at a time and passing: it on to the others. By the time the timber has reached its destination, the handling alorio has cost more than the timber should cost. Wool is at present bound in steel containers after beins compressed by hydraulic power, but the parcels are too small and cannot be lift-, ed directly off the trucks by the. snip'* winches. Boxes containing perishaole sooda, or fragile goods, will be packed securely and sealed in substantial steel containers of five or ten tons' capacity and handled by the ship's derricks with the greatest oure and dispatch. There will bo no'pilfering, no waste of energy, time, space, or material. Our present army of wharf labourers will be better engaged at more reproductive work on the marfs or in the factories, and will often ridicule the old idea of crowds oi' labourers running to and fro like ants along the wharf whenever a ship was being loaded or unloaded. In the shedb tho crates may be loaded <m to trucks or lorries, or unloaded in the same manner. No human hand will touch the goods, and no special conveyors or patented devices of any sort will bo necessary. . • ■ . , The writer has. at various times within the past ten years, urged the shipping companies and the Government to wako up to the now conditions in tljis new Commonwealth of ,o,urs. They all agreed that some such change of system was necessary, but they considered the system indicated above would be far too big and comprehensive. Tho writer, on the other hand, considers that the conlusiou and chaos and stagnation of business ciiused by the present old-fashioned system of handling cargo are far too Kg and extensive, and should not be tolerated by any san« and wide-awake community for twentyfour hours. Tho greatest scientist in England once stated that the practical use of flying machines heavier than air would be an absolute impossibility,- and, later, on, a British Cabinet Minister stated an the House of Commons that flying machines ! wore of no practical use either for defence or other purposes—but they were both are very much mistaken. Those who control our Commonwealth shipping at present are firmly of opinion that a ship in port would be hopelessly helpless unless there were the usual swarm of stupid labourers running the wharf, pushing small parcels of cargo ; but they are under an hereditary delusion, and. most of them will live to marvel at their own mistakes and want of' foresight.