Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-07-23
FOOD FOR A BIG SHIP.
Takes Enough Apparently to Provi-
sion an Army,

sion an Army.
When an ocean liner swings free
from her dock, 1t Is a curious mans
opportunity, II he Is In the neighbor-
hood. to get a fair comprehension OF
her capacity-of her immensity. Be-
side her the coast steamers are chill
dren: the wheezlng little tugs at her
bow and stern are mere infants. The
throng Of passengers on her decks are
pigmies. At such times you think OF
the ocean liner as leviathian OF the
deep and apply to her the participle
looming" OF all the monstrosities
of modern transportations, the ocean
liner is the most amazing.
Figures Of her capacity are made
auate without graphic illustration. To
tell the inlander that the Deutschland,
for example, is so many feet long and
50 many feet deep Is to give him an
imperfect impression Of the actual
magnitude Of the monster. Pictorial
figures, such as you see in the Illus
tration, or a visit to the dock or
steamer help wonderfully in acquiring
a comprehension Of the largeness OF
modern ocean liner. 1t is desirable also
t. go down into the engine room and
look upward There you may get
startling conception Of the magnitude
of the vessel You learn then for the
first time that she Is as large as
factory, and, pertinently, you obtain a
conviction Of the great depth Of the
vessel and, thus, Of her great capacity.
And IL you stand on its dock during
loading time and sweep your eyes over
the immense quantities Of cargo there,
you gasp and ask with amazement:
For how many steamers is all this
material consigned?"
In the beginning Of your later refec-
tions, it is nearly impossible to under
stand that the great stretch Of mer-
chandise Is really consigned not to a
fleet of giants Of the ocean, but to
one steamer that is to say, the ex-
panse Of merchandise Is so great that
II Is inconceivable that it can all be
crowded into one ship.
The job of a commissary agent OF
the Deutschland, for example, Is the
job Of equipping an army. If the
provisions for one trip of the Deutsch-
land were spread out end to end on the
dock, the steamship company would, to
make a bull, need to extend the struc-
ture. If to the 5000 tons Of coal were
added 375 barrels Of beer 5000 cases
Of refreshing liquids, tank containing
400 tons Of water, 80 casks Of flour,
51,575 barrels Of potatoes, $500 pounds
of fresh fruit 5000 pounds Of fowls,
1900 pounds Of beef, 1900 pounds OF
mutton and the list runs on-the sup
ply would overrun the dock even far
out into the adjoining streets.
All this material Is brought thither
by freight train after freight train, by
dray after dray. by small wagon after
small wagon. But the most impress
sive part Of the preliminary transpor-
tation Of this immense cargo Is the
number Of freight trains. 1t Is no
uncommon sight to see several lines Of
freight trains all verging toward the
dock wherein rests a great ocean liner
Of the type Of the Deutschland. In the
ordinary mind, the freight train Is the
standard Of large capacity. but when
train after train unloads its contents
on the pier Of transatlantic passenger
system, then is borne upon the ordi-
nary mind the sublime fact that the
ocean liner Is a freak in its immensity.
The parade Of people along the dock
IA not nearly so impressive as the
parade of the freight trains In to the
enclosure and the increasing expanse
of merchandise there And when the
steamer begins to load its cargo, your
wonderment repeats. Into the hunks
go 5000 or 1000 tons Of coal and the
absorption Of that quantity Of mate
rial Is unnoticeable Men run constant
ly up the gangways bearing huge quar-
ters of beef; more men follow with
quarters and halves Of mutton and
pigs, more men with hams-and to all
this activity are added the grinding
and rasping Of two or three steam der
ricks which lift and relift, from morn
ing till night, an unending quantity OF
packed goods for an unending series
of compartments within the storehouse
of the liner, so that when the parade
of passengers takes place it Is ridic-
ulously unimpressive.
The observer Is astounded at the ca
pacity Of human beings for the con-
sumption Of foods. Apparently they
are commissioning the steamer for the
sustenance Of thousands Of people an
indenite length of time, and yet the
Deutschland Is an eight-day boat At
Liverpool she will stock up again. Log
ically, the passengers. when they ar
rive on the other side, should be gi-
gantically corpulent. 1t Is possible
without effort to accept many tales Of
voracious appetites of men and women
subsequent to their attacks of NAL de
mer.
But Of course in the provisioning Of
a modern transatlantic liner 1t Is nee
essary to make generous allowances
for waste. All material Is bought at
wholesale: much of the beef is pur-
chased on the hoof; and in spite Of
refrigerator plant as cold as the cold
est days mean loss of trade or dissat-
isfaction amounting to the loss Of pres
tige, which in the end, Is the same
thing. Hence It Is good business to