The times., 1899-07-05
uNpER1ADEN OCEAN SHIPS.
The Danger ns Great as That of Over
laden Ones.
From the St. James CaEette.)


Frcm the St. James Gazette)
The British public have ever manifest
ed a deep interest in the welfare of the
merchant service. and it is largely due to
this interest that the annual death roll at
sea has been reduced to its present dimen-
sions. But, unfortunately. the tendency Is
TO magnify the Importance of odT passen-
ger services. and lose sight OF the fact
that the bulk of our oversee trade is con-
Quoted not in palatial liners, but in small
er-sized cargo vessels. Years ago the Ell
forts OF the sailors friend" Mr.. Plim-
soil. secured the establishment CT load
line. above which it was ruled criminal TO
inlmerse a vessel. SO salutary has been
this legislation that il is safe TO say that
overlooking in the British mercantile ma
rine is non-existent and that the safety
of life and property at sea has consequent
Iy benefited very materially. But II II Is
dangerous TO overload ship, it is equally,
If not more, risky to send a vessel to sea
undertaken. Yet such risk is taken daily
II the reader wishes for proof of this as
sertion he has but to spend a few hours
in any of our ports. and a multiplicity of
evidence will be afforded him. Huge cargo
steamers will be seen leaving the friendly
shelter of dock or harbor with dry side
like a warehouse wall. their forefoot snow
ing above the water line and their pro-
pellers half exposed. Sailing vessels leave
port in tow hardly able TO stand upright IN
dock, to say nothing of what they VIII DO
in a gale of wind or heavy sea The
landsman too often associates the helght OF
the exposed side with safety. There Is
no fear" he will say, ''of that big steamer
being swept by the seas" A few minutes
conversation, however. with those VINO
have made a trip in one OF these UNDER
laden craft will convince him OF his error.
Steer she will not, any better than a
balloon. She refuses TO look at big head
seas: falls off continually. and TINS ten
dency to get broaCs stCe on results IN her
pitching and rolling TO such an extent thaI
at last the end comes and the ship with
propeller gone or shaft broken rolls an
utterly helpless derelict until friendly
steamer comes along, rescues the crew ana
tows her to port-or she goes TO the pot
tom. This brief description of what hap
pens on undertaken craft during heaVy
weather is no fancy sketch. Any seagoer
will testify that he would rather risk his
life on a vessel so overladen that she was
like a half-tide rock than upon an under
laden vessel. A few figures upon that sub
iect will show the magnitude OF the evil.
In January last the "Syren,' the weekly
shipping journal. iabulated a list of 1T5
vessels which broke their shafts or lost
their propellers during the first eleven
months of 1885 AS a matter of fact,
the number of such disasters during the
year totaled about $50. But taking the
I75 listed. particulars Of loading are given
in 81 cases, and out of these 81 vessels no
fewer than "a had no cargo aboard, but
were in ballast 1t would be interesting 10
know how many of the ia vessels of
which no information as to cargo is forth
coming came TO grief through being un-
derladen. Certain ii is that of the q
loaded vessels many would have in their
holds just enough cargo TO justify the de-
scriptive cargo laden"
Tne ''Syren" has also published an in
teresting list of such breakdowns during
the first three montns of the current year.
The number of vessels listed is seventy
eight In thirty cases no particulars are
stated as TO whether the steamers were
laden or no, twenty-six vessels are return
ed as cargo laden and twenty-five are de-
scribed as in ballast, while no fewer than
eight OF the vessels were new craft built
in 1898. There is strong presumptive evil
denee tco. that of the cargo laden YES
sells several had hardly enough cargo
aboard to justify the name. These figures
abundantly show the magnitude OF the evil
OF sending undertaken vessels to sea. Ship
owners contend that the stress of compe-
titicn Is so keen that if no cargo offers
they cannot afford to use any other ballast
than water, the expense of putting stone
or earth ballast aboard and then taking il
out being altogether too great. They there
fore rely upon water ballast carried usu-
ally in the cellular double bottom. The
figures quoted, however, conciusiyely show
that the water ballast is altogether made.
quate in quantity to immerse a vessel to (
safe depth. The remedy suggested to re-
move this altogether unnecessary risk o
life and property is the establishment o
an underload line.
The attention of the board of trade hai
been repeatedly directed to the matter
But the president has so far contentet
himself with asserting that the officials
of his department have sufficient powers
vested in them under the Merchant Ship
ping act TO enable them to detain unsea
worthy vessels until such time as they ar,
fit TO proceed. Up to the present. however
there is not a single case on record OF al
undertaken or underballasted ship being s,
detained. although the risk run By al
lowing them 10 leave port is obvious. Tn,
reason for this glaring anomaly of off
GERS whose duty it is TO watch the safet,
of life and property at sea, OBTAINING al
unseaworthy vessels which may be loade,
over their Plimsoll mark oniy to the ex
tent of single inch. and allowing yerita
bic danger traps in the shape Of insuh
clentiy immersed vessels to proceed with
out let or hindrance, is perhaps under
standable The overload lire marks on tn
vessels hull is the legal safety line, an
IL is a perfectly easy matter to determin
whether the vessel is immersed above tina
line. But in the matter Of underloadin
there is neither guide nor index. and II
impossible to expect that minor official
should undertake the responsibility of say
ing what constitutes a safe or unsaf
amount of immersion for each of the dii
ferent types OF vessels brought under thei
notice. just as, were there no overloa
line. they would shirk the responsibilit
OF saying that a vessel was overloaded
Were each craft, however, assigned
statutory underload line the difficulty woul
be removed and q very serious peril of th
sea would be obviated. Nor would shi
owners suffer from the addition of such
safeguard. New boats, of course, would /
equipped with additional accommodate
for water ballast, old ones would have
supplement their water ballast. with MOI
solid stifiening. This would natural
imply extra cost for which the consum,
and manufacturer would have to pay Bi
he has TO pay ultimately for the salval
awards arising out OF these breakdown
and the cost of increased insurance prem
iums. and these will probably total up
a sum considerably higher than II
charges incurred for extra ballast Sti
above all question OF expense and its inc
dence is the importance OF minimizing Iii
loss and risk at sea On this ground aloI
IL Is necessary that some means should |
devised for preventing the practice
sending undertaken vessels TO sea.
HOW PULQUE is MADE.