The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1907-05-31
LOADING A SHIP.
How q Transatlantic Steam.
ship Has Cargo Pot
Aboard.

The loading and trimming OF great
ocean liner is a science.
When ship lies at her berth,
Eight" her huge hold yawning for car
go, and when that cargo stands, tier
upon tier, or strewn about the shed'
it might seem simple matter to trans
fer the second into the first and let
the ship sail away to Bombay OF LlY-
erpool or Chile or wherever the ext
gencies OF trade and commerce mlght
dictate.
Thousands Of men, however, are en-
ployed every year to load BostonS
ships. They are skilled men, and they
are directed by trained men OF brains
Thousands Of dollars, many thousands
are spent each year on the loading OF
Bostons ships. The experience ana
the cunning of years Of progress are
brought to the leading OF Bostons
ships.
There are two big firms Of stevedores
who control the greater portion OF the
work Of loading and discharging ships
in this port. Of these the larger firm
I was engaged not long ago in loading
huge liner under contract, and this IS
how it was done
The firm, which has offices, sump-
tous Offices, alongside the bankers and
brokers on State street, had been made
aware that this ship OF one Of the lines
with which they had contracted for
loading and discharging would be ready
to take on cargo at a certain wharf at
a certain date
One of the firm ascertained as near
ly as possible what the nature of the
cargo was to be and how much there
would be Of it, He knew the capacity
OF the ship and the number Of her
matches Then he sent word to his
foreman to hire the required number
of longshoremen for the work.
The longshoreman is the man who
does the heavy labor He works while
there is work to do, and when there is
none he accepts idleness philosophical
ly and waits He doesn't have to wait
long as a rule, for although he is hired
by the Job there are always plenty OF
ships, and the unions look out for his
wages and hours
When the boss foreman got the mes
sage he hustled off to make round
of the unions where he knew he would
find men, and before many hours he
had two gangs of twenty men each.
They were of pretty nearly every ma
tionality, and they were all square
built, rugged sons of toll Not one Of
them but was willing and ready to
work all day, all might and all next
day without sleep or rest so long as he
got union pay for it. Union pay means
from a. M, to p M, at 30 cents an
hour; from p. m. to II at 40 cents
an hour, and from Y to a. M, at 80
cents an hour, with 60 cents an houF on
Sunday, and double time during meal
hours. ~
A longshoreman can work like a
horse, but if there is one thing that he
excels in it is in using his lungs.
Consequently when the gangs lined up
in the morning mist The work didn't be-
gin in a manner that would suggest the
stealth of a night attack or anything
of that kind, and only that the fore
men had been picked for their lung
power as much as for anything else
they would have had to use mega
phones.
"Eey, Shorty, get them matches off
(You's hear him for mile)
And, Murphy swing that derrick round.
1T takes you quite a While
To get yer legs a-moyin.
Well begin on this here pile"
Then the ''Yo, heave ho!' goes ring
ing through the morning
The matches are eff and the long,
heavy gang planks and skids are in
position. Two matches Of the four have
leen opened, one fore and one aft, and
as there is reasonable time and no par
ocular hurry the ship will be loaded
through these two.
Looking down into the vast space
Glow through the squares of the
,atches it seems as though all the
,oxes and bales and kegs and
asks in the world might be chucked
Town there without more than half
ling the void, and there can be no
opposition to contradict the remark
the 1ongshoremen that She be a
light smart drop.
AT the side of the matches stand the
umpy, powerful winches with the
team sizzling through and curling
round their big gear drums. From the
lasts above swing the long, heavy
errick arms rigged with block and
.cllle and geared to handle a weight
IA couple of tons with the facility and