The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-11-18
A VESSELS TONNAGE,
The Method Of Figuring by Which
II Is Asccrtained
STANDARD IS FIXED BY LAW.
Our Government Recognizes Two
Kinds Of Tonnage, Gross and Net
Displacement, the Scale by Which
Our Ships Of War Are Described.

The vocabulary OF the sea. always
bewilderiDs to andsmen. Is crowded
full OF strange. technical jargon and
VI words OF familiar meaning ON shore
which ahoat contract new aud ar.
bitrary Significance Take. for exam
pie. this matter OF tonnage OF ship.
ping. On shore everybody knows that
ton Is 1000 pounds II Y short ton or
2.2IO II n long one. Therefore 1t seems
10 the landlubber that a LOCO ton ship
ought TO be. IL 1t is not, a ship which
can carry thousand tons weight OF
cargo. Az IA matter Of fact. thou.
sand ton ship eau probably convey
about 1900 or 1.400 tons Of coal or
heavy merchandise.
Yet the tonnage OF shipping is not so
arbitrary us II seems. II follows
fixed standard. established ly national
law. There are two kinds OF ton.
mage recognized by our government
authorltes-gross tonnage and net ton.
mage. The gross tonnage OF vessel
Is its entire Internal capacity measured
In tons OF 100 cubic feet. and the navi-
cation laws OF the United States pre-.
scribe in careful detail how this meas
urement for tonnage shall be ascer-
talned. Net tonnage is measured by
subtracting from the gross tonnage Of
vessel all space used for the accom-.
mediation OF officers and crew. for GER
tain gear FOR the working Of the ship
and. II steam vessel. for her pro-
pelling power or machinery. including
boilers and engines.
In other words. the net tonnage nj
SHIP is virtually the space. expressed
In tous of 100 cubic feet. available for
the carrying OF passengers or cargo
In the case OF sail vessels from which
no machinery space has TO be deduct.
ed. the gross tonnage and net tonnage
Of vessel are very near!, the same.
BCt In steamers the two Measurements
are widely different Take. for exam
pie. one Of the largest ot American
merchant steamships. the Americau
liner 81. Louis. Her gross tonnage H.
] l.G2g. her net tonnage J.SgI. So with
the well known steamer Governor
Dingley of the line from Boston 10
Portland. Her gross tonnage il 3.S2G,
her net 2.SJG
In all or nearly all of the ports of
the world ship taxes or dues are based
upon tonnage. in the United States
upon net tonnage. This IL also the
standard of tolls for the Suez canal
As n result the effort OF naval archi-
tects and shipbuilders and shipowners
generally is Ia keep the net tonnage OF
a ship ms small - possible. and many
Ingenious devices for. cheating meas
urcinent" have been adopted. design
crs OF merchant vessels being as adept
in this art as designers OF racing
yachts. But the navigation laws of
the United States are exceedingly vigil
liant ON This point and are regarded as
fair and reasonable in their require
mcntS. so that this evil OF fraudulent
tonnage is believed 10 be less serious
under the dag of the United States
than In the merchant navics OF some
other countries.
I.andsmsn may well be pardoncd for
their pcrplcNity that tonnage in the
yeruacular % the sea. should mean
sometimes one thing and sometimes
another. The navy department adds
10 the Inevitable confusion by describ-
ing our ships OF war in terms not OF
gross register or net register but of
displacement Thus the Massachusetts
is spoken OF officially rs battlcship
OF 10000 tons aud tie Vermont as n
hattleship OF 10000 tons. This means
In each case that the ship displaces 81
many tons of water But the MasSa-
chusetts IL measured as merchant yes.
sells are measured would have net
tonnage of only 3,20l and would have
10 pay dues on that only IL passing
through the Suez canal. This practice
OF the navy department of using dis.
placement tonnage instead of gross or
net tonnage gives the public an cXng
gerated idea of the actual size OF our
ships Of war. As a matter Of fact. the
greatest bat,leshps we have fall short
of the bulk ~ the mightiest of our
merchantmen
Again, another compleXity as to ton
mage arises in the cargo capacity of IA
merchant ship. Take. for example. "a
typical Boston steam freighter. the
Lyra OF the Boston Towboat company.
Her gross tonnage Is 4,4lI; her net.
1916 But the Lyra has a capacity OF
upward OF 1900 tons dead weight OF
cargo
These national measurements OF
shipping though apparently arbitrary.
are Indispensable. for ships canro: be
classified with any exactness on the
basis Of the tons Of cargo they will
| actually carry. \ ship which could
receive and transport safely 5000 tons
OF weight OF pig iron would not holu
5000 tons of hay or cotton. There
fore the governments OF the world
have had to prescribe measurement
standards OF their own. In which the
great marine insurance companies
have had n powerful hand. And the
I a.W. 4 4 -. l.