The sun., 1879-06-01
WHArA ,LONosnoREMAN Is.
An Account by One OF Them OF tho skiIi he
quircd TO Load n Vessel.

An Account by One OF Ihem OF tho Skill hc-
quIrcd TO Load n Vessel.
An experienced and Intelligent 'longshore-
man. ono OF the leading spirits in the strike.
convorsing with reporter for THE SUN yester-
day said Il claim that no 'longshoremnn
can learn his business 80 as to be capable in all
It's branches without eight or ten years of cx-
perionce 1t takes him years before he can got
to see all the many kinds of cargo that he will
have to handle and learn how to take advantage
OF their various pcculiaritles 80 Hs to unload
them with safety and rapidity. or TO stow them
AWAY in n vessel with absolute security and tho
utmost economy Of space. ] don't say that n
man might not learn Il all sooner II nc could
change around constantly for tho purpose Of
getting tho knowledge. but tho nature OF the
business Is such that he Is likely TO be kept a
long time upon almost exactly the same sort Of
stun. For instance, n man may work year or
two on railroad iron and handle very little else.
II that happens TO be n specially Of the line he is
working for But the carrying Of railroad iron
! Is nearly done away with now. rs also steel and
wire to great extent. since we make as good
here as they do across the water. The main
steady imports are the luxuries Of lfo In cases,
and some crude necessities which we do not
produce hero in sufficient quantities. II
at all. such as soda ash. pearl ash.
bleaching powder. salt cement spcltcr
&C.. from Europe; linseed from tho
East Indes fruits from the Mediterranean
sugar and molasses from the West indies; tea
/ and spices from India and China; wool. hides.
/ and dye woods from South America and Africa.
! and so on. Now the handling Of all these things
/ requires special knowledge, without which q
/ man works at such a disadvantage as r. hard
for himself and likely 10 be n source OF serious
| loss to his employers. IL Is g serious matter
! when pigs Of speter are allowed to tumble
| oyerboard. hides permitted 10 drop from the
slings into the river or cases OF plate glass let
swing around with crash that skaters their
valuable contents. Somebody has 10 pay for
such losses. the stevedores or the vessel owners
! Those plate glass cases are difficult things 10
handle, You understand from tho size Of the
great plates adorning the fronts of our palatial
stores thnt the cases must be very large. some
times there are as many as dozen plates IN
case. heavy and fragile And you may be- sure
they suffer when green men have the handling
>. Only the other day some green men were
taking out OF steamers hold one such case
which had becn slowed a burton that is
across the vessel-the opposite Of fore and aft.
In bringing II out they had To slew II fore and
Az but thfy didn't KNOW no how to put toms
room, over II went with u whirl. smashing
everything inside 1t. The loss on that one
breAkage may have been rs much as $1,000.
SO much by way OF illustration OF the neces-
sity for knowledge In unloading a vessel. But
the slowing OF cargo IL still more important.
Loading a vessel is very exact science. and II
not properly done, the penalty liable TO be paid
IS, al least' Ie dana&Se & ana loss oi mufh OF inc
and the loss OF ali the property and human
lives on board.
A proper 'longshoremnn must be capable Of
measuring the capacity Of her separate COM
par,ments OF determining how her cargo can
be slowed to greatest advantage in the compart-
ments according 70 their form and size SO that
by putting one thing here and another there
every inch OF available space will be utilized;
OF seeing 20 II thui she Is properly dunnaged 80
that II water leaks in-ns IL is almost certain
70 dot will not reach and damage the cargo;
above nl he must be competent and careful to
pack the cargo firmly and chock IL in with
wood SO securely that hitting will be absolutely
impossible. He has TO know how many barrels
OF Hour, or casks oi tobacco, or hogsheads o.
sugar he can get In given space. making all
allowances for stanchions and other obstacles
in his way. and whether he had better stow
a burton or fore and aft A little error may
throw him out a whole line OF barrels whore
not more than the space OF one should have
been lost
Il man who cannot tell by measurement Of a
most OF Just what It Will hold Of any given kind
OF cargo is no good as a finished longshore-
man. And he cannot learn that In less than
eight or ten years OF practice. A sailing vessel
Is more apt 10 shin cargo than steamer. be-
cause she pitches and rolls more. and single
weak or neglected point in slowing cargo and
checking IL may In single hour lose the yes-
sci. Anything that gives way. in cargo is
age is inevitably followed by greater. AS tho
broken mass rolls and pitches from side TO side,
the rolling vessel and there comes II point where
she can no longer right herself, when she turns
on her beam ends and inks-all. perhaps. from
green sieyedore leaving barrel or two loose
somewhere In her hold.
q" II may be minor matter but still Is ono
worthy Of consideration that man to mako
himself valuable to his employer must be skilled
IN the mere physical knack ot handling heavy
The beef alone IN one weighs $50 pounds. and the
pickle and barrel say $50 bounds more. When
you come TO pile UP such tlerccs threo rows
hlgh IN ships hold you require to know how
10 handle them, or mere brute strength will be
sadly at isadvantage. Take 1t all in all. and
now. and which you wouldn't find space TO
print If did | think have said enough 10
sustain my claim that 1t takes eight to ten
years TO educate longshoremAn up TO know
his business properly. And what are the emolu-
menis Of the trade he has learned by SO long
ana 50 nara tralnlngF Our omRloyers say
we are making too much money. What man
earns To a great extent depends upon his luck.
the chance he gets according 10 tho compart-
ment he happens TO be set 10 work in. for as a
rule there IL one gang Of men 10 each compnrt-
ment. One compartment may require sixteen
or seventeen hours work to discharg its cargo.
while another may be emptied In seven b ten
hours. And an equal difference may exist in
Time lost IN waiting for cargo after dis.
charging, until slowing away begins, Is dead
rule. and the highest average u gang makes
in unloading and reloading steamer is twenty
hours, providing thcy work all tho time-which
they do not NOW the rates we have been got,
ting were 80 cents por hour for DAY work and
40 cents per hour at night, for tho time we were
actually at labor. But they want to cut us down
10 70 cents an hour for day and night alike.
our strike Is against that reduction. We have
never practlsed any lmpOsltOns upon our em-
ployers. but they have on us In 1874 when
wages generally began 10 come down. they took
"a dHsh at us We were then receiving 40 cents
per hour for day. and 80 cents for night work.
They cut us down 10 present wngcs. Now they
want 10 get US still lower believe have Jared
at least AS we'll us any 'lOngshoreman. for ! am
one Of those who get the first and last OF every
work that comes my way. | help TO dock the
vessel, get the passengers baggage ashore rig
up Whatever Is required on bOard-for I'm
rlgger rs well as Il 'ongshoreman. So there
are say four hours more than the men ordi-
narlly get.
Then when the vessel goes, In getting pas
sengers' baggage aboard. casting OF lines. q =.
get "a couple OF hours more. Yet with all that.
all tho work can get only amounts to an aver
age OF thiriy-One hours a week, and ordinary
hands do not get more than twenty-iour or
twenty-five. In money ] average 50 80 n week.
Yet am considered Il iirst-class man. first to be
employed and last TO be knocked on capable OF
taking charge OF anything in the business.
Common men do not average moro than $3.50 Il
week, night rates and all included.
"' How do we live 2
We'll. hard enough. tell you. l have to
support my wife and five children. besides my
self. | have couple Of rooms on the third floor
Of Il tenement house, for which / pay 80 per
month, ana | am exceptionally lucky in the
matter OF having reasonable rent. Three
years ago ] had TO pay sl3 a month. SO that
now have s705 week on tho average TO pay
for food, clothing, fuel. light. medicine and all
the other expenses necessary for the mainte-