The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1904-12-29
HANDBOOK FOR MARINERS.
Fun Of Interest and Valuable Infor-
nation for Sailors and q Guide
for CastawayA

Few persons other than those con-
nected with the sea ever come across
copy Of that marvellous compilation
Of marine intelligence. Lloyd's Calen-
dsr. Yet Its 50o-odd pages are crowd
ed with matter OF deep human interest,
and Its scope Is somewhat astonishing
to the mere landsman-
1t deals with the shipping Of the
world. That alone suggests something
vast. Here are some figures The
worlds shipping. according to Lloyd's
Register. numbers q grand total OF e.
s4s steamers and sailing vessels. their
total tonnage being no less than ss.-
s43.131 tons.
The British empire Ia mistress of the
seas In one sense from the fact that
the imperial shipping alone numbers
1l.1s4 vessels of 1s.006,s74 tons--al
most half the entire worlds shipping.
The versatility of the Calendar on
seafaring topics appears on every
page. II IL interesting. for example,
to know that vessel rises on floating
from fresh to salt water, and that at
Aberdeen harbor, for instance, q flush
deck vessel Of 20 feet nodded depth
may be laden to four inches beyond
the load line. as that IL the height
Of her rise In the water on passing to
the open sea.
There IL something particularly
fascinating in the description Of the
various provision depots for the use
Of shipwrecked mariners In remote
ocean areas.
In the Indian ocean Amsterdam Is
land has such depot in . large cav.
ern in the side Of a hill. II contains
1850 pounds Of preserved beef. 1850
pounds Of biscuit. 10 wooden shirts,
10 pair Of cotton drawers, 10 blankets
and one soldered metal box holding
four packets Of matches. There are
also q cooking pot, cots and dry wood
st. Paul and Kergueleon islands
have respectively hut Of rough stones
and cavern IN gorge containing the
same supplies In the same quantities.
They are to be found In iron.hooped
barrels. coated with tar and sand.
Heg island. In the Croxets. has q
rough hut, in which are beef, biscuits,
sardines. blankets. shoes. trousers.
spears. hatchets and cooking utensils.
Possession island also has a hut con-
taining supplies for so people for 50
days.
The outlying islands Of New Zealand
have provision depots, with notice
boards to guide shipwrecked sailors
to them. Some Of these depots con-
tain medicines. and one has q tank
to catch water. Provisions and cloth.
ing are also hidden In cairns and huts
at the entrance to Magellan strait and
at Vancouver island.
Here are some versined settings Of
the rule Of the road at sea. When two
steamships are passing:
Green to green-or red to red.
Perfect safety-go ahead"
The oceans OF the world have alto
gether S37 coaling stations. Of which
there are lis at European and Medi-
terranean ports. The Indian ocean
and China seas, with Il, have the few
est.
A comparison Of the specific gravity
Of timber and water Is interesting.
Taking the 8. 8. Of water as 100, there
are three woods which weigh heavier
mahogany being 106, oak 1T and
ebony 1873. Cork is only "a.
In the section dealing with the per-
lis Of ice and how vessels should avoid
them, the Calendar states that some
Of the icebergs encountered in the
South Atlantic during 1928 were up
ward Of 20 miles in length.