The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-11-09

| w SiFC MliaI uay DC callCQ character To
every ship in the British merchant service;
an estimate founded on her size, shape,
build, materials, age and condition. A
merchant can thus tell whether ship in
which his goods are about to be placed is
likely to be trustworthy, or has good
character > Ill underwater can tell whcth-
er ship which he is a5outto insure should
pay high or low rate of premium-thc
higher according to its age or unsound-
ness and shipownors can tell what ought
to be the relative values Of different ships
by the same test. TO ascertain the charac
ters Of ships in this way is formidable
work. In the earlier days of the system,
the committee classified ships merely ac-
cordlng to their ages and the places where
they were built; ranking as "first-class"
those built within certain number of
years, and "second-class" those older than
this limit. Or, moro precisely they were
divided into classes A, X, I, and 0, accord
ing to the age of the hull, and into SUBJ
classes l, 2, and 3, according to the rigging
But this rude method has been superseded
by one more reasonable and discriminating,
| which would take tho actual present condi-
ton OF the ship into view seeing that
sound, substantial old ship is more worthy
of respect than cheaply built new one.
Surveyors arc appointed by Lloyd's Com
mittee at all the chief ship building ports
to report upon the ships AS it is optional
with every shipowner whether he will be-
long to Lloyd's or not, so is it free to him
to determine whether his ship shall under
so this scrutiny but he can obtain better
treights and easier insurance if his ship
ranks we'll at Lloyds and therefore it is
usually worth his while to pay the fec in
Cured for this purpose. The surveyor
asccrtains the age of the vessel, the kind of
timber mostly employed in her construc-
tion, the style Of build, the wear and tear
she has received, the amount and kind of
repair she has undergone, and her present
condition. All these particulars are taken
into account in giving her a rank or posi-
ton. The phrase or designation Al, for
anything that is first-rate of it's kind, is bor-
rowed from the phraseology of Lfoyd's
Register A kind of biography of every
ship is kept up for as in the natural course
OF things age brings on deterioration in a
ship, the rank in 1865 may not be the same
as in 1864. The surveyors record their
surveys sufficiently often to make their
register truthful as concerns the actual con-
dition of the ships.
Lloyd the mysterious becomes, then,
practically book-a register with which
the general public have not much to do
containing items of information concerning
a ships owner, captain, port, age, materials,
state of repair, &c. Or rather, this is one
half Of Lloyd, who has sort of mystical
double existence. The other half consists
of List, known equally by Lloyd's name.
Shipping intelligence is obtained from al
most every port on the globe by agents in
correspondence with Lloyd's, notifying the
arrival and departure of all ships, ships
"'spoken with" at sea, and ships wrecked or
damaged This information is regularly
booked, and is afterwards published as
Lloyd's List. Most of the shi ip news in the
daily papers is obtained from this List.
Lloyd's Register and Lloyd's List belong to
and are managed by two different commit
tees, but they are both emanations of the
one great invisible Lloyd.
A ship "spoken with" at sea 1t is
curious proceeding, whether regarded in
connection with matters ashore or matters
afioat Not only is it important for ship
owners, shippers, underwriters, and the
relatives and friends of passengers and
crews, to know something of the wherea-
bouts of particular ship at particular
time, but the captain of ship may anxious
ly desire to give or receive some informa-
tion or make some request. How is this to
be done, when ships pass each other on the
ocean They cannot with safety, and
without losing time, approach sufficiently
close Tor the captains to converse Uiva poce, /
even wish the aid of mammoth speaking
trumpet. This could be done by the Sibyl
and the Syren when they pass each other
on their voyages to and from Greenwich
but on the broad and rough ocean it is :.
very different affair. The talking is car
ried on by flags. Flags of different shapes
and celors are hoisted and the order in
which they are shown indicates the ships
name, or any one among a large number of
lhrases, sentences, questions and answers.
Avery elaborate code OF vocabulary is ne
cesary for the working out of such sys-
ten. In 1854, a Mercantile Shipping Act
wasspassed, which, among other things, re-
quInd that every merchant ship in the Bri-
tlsh empire should have a particular num-
Der, which should belong to it irrevocably,
and slould be different from the number
belonging to any other ship. There we're
35,0o0 British merchant ships then exist
ing; anil as thousand or so are added
eVerV year ta meat Tho doro,,d, ,f ;r,,,,