Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-10-14
SOME FACTS ABOUT NAVIGATION (.

EDITOR HERALD: We are an inland
berg, but are no whit less interested
in sea transit. By the proper model
and rig of the craft employed to move
our products to the market and bring
what we require in return, it is possi-
BILE to reduce the cost of transportation
to merely nominal figure. 1t is
most jealously guarded and kept a Sc
cret this cost of moving freight and
passengers by sea--and theI public is
humbugged in many ways by those
who would like to keep control of the
carrying trade In the private instruc-
tions given by the, great steamship
lines to their officers, occur the follow
ing rules, or in substance, this is the
effect: Engineers, are forbidden to
communicate to passengers the
amount of fuel consumed; the yards
and spars, instead of being, as they
should be, constructed for use and to
increase the speed of the ships, are
only shams and merely ornamental;
for in the private instructions they
are to be housed or taken down as soon
as the ships are well out of port. The
result of this is that when one Of these
immense hulks has an accident to
their machinery. they are practically
helpless and the crowd Of human
freight at the mercy of the ocean
winds and currents, these currents
many times being more than strong
enough to counteract a fair wind with
all the sail that can be spread on the
toy Spars that are i'll use. 1t may be
said that as far as ocean transit is con-
cerned, the general public are kept in
the most profound ignorance good
reasons to those holding marine stock.
Look at the developments made by
the Hon. Mr.. Plymsol in the House of
Parliament, showing how many are
the "walking coffins" that are allowed
to go to sea with their living entomb-
ed, to save the owners the expense OF
necessary repairs or alterations.
Just so with the models adopted in
naval architecture. The miserable
plans are adhered to that should have
gone out of existence long since, SIM
ply to save some old hulks, and for
fear freights might come down if it
were once publicly known that there
were infinitely better and cheaper
models. This is one of the weighty
reasons for thorough industrial and
practical education that every youth
should receive; for it Is only by that
experience gained under those who
have worked out these vital problems
can we expect an emancipation event.
ually from the thraldom of the monop-
olies that now hold life, property and
happiness too often in their keeping.
1t is proposed to make this q leading
feature in our industrial college--that
of modelling, either for improved mod
els of ocean or land transit; for in this
fast age it is right that safety rs we'll
as cheapness and speed should be
known to be secure to every one who
has a mile to travel or pound of
freight to move. .o4r.-- ,i.l..f
The practical lessons of naval and
land engineering are among the most
interesting of studies, and are only
second to those of hygiene. 1t is hoped
that at our meeting on the 15th, enough
of vitality will be infused into the or
ganization to proceed at once with the
sanitary hotel and industrial college,
thus giving opportunities to educate
both young and old in those much
needed but now neglected branches.
f.. M. SHAW.